Rough night!

[PursuitSS]

First we pull over a vehicle that one of the four occupants was yelling unprintables at us. The jerk that yelled at us started in on us as soon as we walked up to the vehicle..................THEN the parents of one of the teenagers showed up and started to interfer with the vehicle stop.

I asked politely for them to return to their vehicle, they didn't and started in on me...............at this point I informed them to IMMEDIATELY return to their vehicle or they would be arrested!

Three hours later we are fueling up at a gas station (2 am) and a vehicle drives by and stands on it! We have to hang up the nozzle, jump in, start the vehicle and engage. The vehicle we are in pursuit of is a late model small Ford two door 4 cyl. He has  almost a mile lead on us as we punch it. We are in my partners car, a 1996 Caprice 9C1 Interceptor.

If they stay on pavement they DON'T STAND A CHANCE OF SHAKING US! They didn't, they hit the first gravel road. We lose sight of them (which breaks "Fresh Pursuit" guidelines). We continue to look for them but CAN'T find them. As we are backtracking we see the vehicle parked by a house. We are out of jurisdiction so we ask for the nearest Deputy to continue on to our location.

When we go up to the house they meet us in the yard, SUPRISE,
we have arrested one of the people before (active warrant). The  vehicle license checks back to the sister of the driver of the vehicle we had issues with earlier this evening. They inform us that the vehicle has not been moved since 15:00 (ELEVEN HOURS AGO), SUPRISE AGAIN.........the engine is HOT! The Deputy doesn't want to push the issue even though under current RSMO (Missouri Law) it's a FELONY!

We go back to the station and write reports............BAD night!

PursuitSS

[Michigunner]

I wish they could be thrown in jail for a couple of years.

Bill

[Richard S]

PursuitSS:

Those types never learn.  You'll collar them.  It's only a matter of time.

Stay safe, and thank you for your service.

[MountainMan]

A more interesting night then I had.  

[PursuitSS]

Being that I furnish my own vehicle I'm considering retiring the 1996 Impala SS that I drive and picking up a 2002 LS1 Camaro B4C (Police package). I don't need the increased top end (161 mph) but I do need the off the line performance (1/4 mile in 12.9 seconds).

This situation has happened way too many times.

PursuitSS

[R9SCarry]

Pursuit - I do not envy you either your frustrations or your dangers.

Stay safe.

[bigyimmy]

They make you buy your own police car?

[theirishguard]

Get a Ford GT about 4 seconds or get a large truck with a hugh engine plow and 4 wheel drive.
Tom

[PursuitSS]

They make you buy your own police car?

Small Department. It's quite common for small Departments to require their Officers to provide their patrol cars.

Get a Ford GT about 4 seconds or get a large truck with a hugh engine plow and 4 wheel drive.
Tom

How about this instead?



Just kidding, I couldn't afford the fuel!

PursuitSS

[Michigunner]

PursuitSS,

When my wife and I travel, we constantly see extreme tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, and high speeding.

I often joke that it would be nice if police could shoot one offender a day until conditions improved.  Then, a decision could be made about what frequency would be best.

I am only half-serious, of course.  Make that 50-70%, please.

I am a great admirer of law enforcement officers and often wave when they drive by.  They probably think I'm some sort of dork.

Thank God we live in a country where the police have so much power in their hands, yet we enjoy ourselves without fear of mistreatment.  I think about that often.

George Orwell said:  We sleep safe in our beds only because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

Thank you, PursuitSS.  You are appreciated every day.

Bill

[PursuitSS]

Thanks for the kind words, believe it or not, I do it because I enjoy it.

PursuitSS

[riffraff]

Persuit SS and all,

Persuit SS, thank you for your service.  I do not know you but I get the feeling that you are a good Police Officer.

The problem is that about 10% of the officers out there should not be wearing the uniform and those 10% make the other 90% look very bad on many occasions.  But the other problem is that the 90% of decent officers are reluctant to get the bad apples kicked off the force,  it has something to do with the "thin blue line".  Police forces are going to have to start dealing with the problem of bad apples because the longer they put it off, unfortunately, the public's opinion of police forces in general suffers greatly.

Read closly: I like Police, we need police but the lowered general public opinion of police officers is not solely due to the fact that the general population seems to be getting sleezier.  When we see on TV where Police Officers from many jurisdictions and even some New Orleans officers were manhandleing people and confiscating private propery(guns) from people who were on there private property.  That kind of image gets some people really p***** off.   Of course a few weeks later a Federal Judge directed all illegally confiscated guns to be returned to their owners pronto.  But what is the punishment for the officers who broke the law?  Nothing.  Do you know why police officers sometimes call their badge a "shield",?  because it shields them from prosecution.
My intention with this post is not to stir the pot or p*** anybody off.  These are simply the facts as I have come to know them in my 43 years on the planet.   I am prepared for criticism but I won't be flamed.

Mike

[PursuitSS]

A few "ramblings".

A lot of what you state is true. With 680,000 Law Enforcement Officers in the US there is going to be some "bad apples". What the term "Thin Blue Line" refers to is that we are all that stands between a polite society and anarchy.

I would argue that 10% of Officers are "bad", the days of the good old boy system have pretty much passed. The reason that you hear about problems like LA's Rampart Division are that GOOD Cops turn them in. We tend to weed out the "Badge Heavy" jerks, I volunteer at the local Academy and we are always watching attitude of the cadets.

For the most part you MUST want to help your fellow man or you will not last. We had a situation a few years ago where we had a barracaded hostage situation, how can you pay the average person enough to knowingly do a dynamic entry when you know there is a stong chance of taking a round(s)? When I went in I had to clear my mind of my wife and kids and "let go". A "bad apple" will not have the internal fortitude to place his feelings aside to save someone else.

IF you are going to be a "good" Cop you have to realize that one night you might have to give it all for a stranger you have never met. My wife was an Officer for fourteen years and knows what can happen and supports my profession. (but she will NOT listen to a scanner)

PursuitSS

[Michigunner]

Very well said.

[riffraff]

Persuit SS and all,

I thank you and all the good cops that help protect us all.  I do support law enforcment in the best way I know how in calling for more city jails, more county jails, more state prisons and more federal prisons.  The Liberals always wine and moan about how we have the largest percentage of our population of any industrialized country in the world in prison.  Well WAAHH.  The only solution to the problem is more judges, more prosecutors, more jail space and of course judging from some of the very evil sick crimes that I hear about on all the various news outlets, I would say that we need about 1000 executions per year in this country to start to get things straight.

Of course we could make a lot of prison space by legalizing certain drugs.  But this is a non starter as if we legalized some drugs there would be a whole lot of county, state and federal law enforcement people with nothing to do.  The Justice System is after all a giant goverment beurocracy and they are not about to put themselves out of a job by cutting back on the so called "War on Drugs".

Once again this is not intended to p*** anyone off.  These are only my opinions and I learned long ago that my opinions don't mean S***.  The world is going to do what it is going to do and there really isn't anything I can do about it.

Mike