Ouch

[ShadowsPapa]

Pot, meet kettle

Yeah, right. You are the one talking hard-ons and assuming because a person of a certain leaning wants one thing, they are against another. I guess you don't really get to know real people.

Those who want laws enforced also know there's a cost.
The money isn't spent where it should be.
We have a new school that is more fancy than many corporate headquarters, and as many have said it, their new football stadium blows away that of many large colleges. Why?
It's deemed the most beautiful school and most modern field in the area but they've cut 100 troopers in the last 20 years while traffic counts skyrocket.
I want the IHP fully staffed again. If it costs more, so be it. But - cut the crap spending in other places.

Lock 'em up? Sadly, as one judge put it, there's no laws against stupid - but maybe there should be?
I say if you take a life, you are responsible and a few hours in jail and $250 fine doesn't really do anything.
Like a co-worker who studied economics as well as other studies, some realted to law enforcement said - if there's nothing to deter people, then they will do what they want. The deterrent has to be painful enough to prevent at least most from "doing that thing".
Driving drunk is illegal - and yet driving sleepy isn't. Apparently driving drunk isn't stupid, driving sleepy is, and there's no law against stupid - that's a quote from a judge - there is no law against stupid.

Training is necessary, and because it involves public safety, I believe annual mental health evaluations as well as physical health evaluations should be mandatory.
It's not just a matter of numbers, it's a matter of quality.
I used to personally know some of the troopers in Central Iowa - worked on their cars, was friends with them. Some of the most stable, intelligent people around. We need to get back to that.

You get a few different personalities when hiring officers. Those who crave the authority, those who are desperate for a job and those who want to serve the people. My son and daughter have training and recurrent training all of the time. It just so happens that money is the nbr one reason for the lack of training. That is a forbidden topic. You hear about lack of training all of the time. I have not seen that here. Kind of like 3.6l cam failures, it happens but not the norm.

I've noted an interesting trend with the police officers around here - many are those who "want to give back.

As far as money goes - we've lost our way. I don't mind the money going out - I mind where it's going. If we need more police who are better trained, then go for it. Prioritize it.

Ironically, my home town often comes up as one of the safest places in the state (aside from the school shooting, that is). And you'll find a decent balance of people in the police force. Mom used to call them the keystone cops - but things have changed since then (like one shooting himself in the foot, another officer dragging his partner under the patrol car for several feet before stopping, that sort of thing)

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[Lost1wing]

I don't want to attract a rocket scientist, but having at least the equivalent of a 2 year degree for a beat cop and a bachelor's for a lieutenant or above seems reasonable for someone whose entire job is to make life-or-death decisions, investigate crimes, and testify effectively in court.

I've read way too many police reports that sound like they were written in crayon, it doesn't help that police departments don't want people who are intelligent or have critical thinking skills. They want average to low-average intelligence with a focus on obedience and conformity to the police culture. (Jordan v New London, 2003)

As for the "no rights when breaking in" - that varies by state, but is true for any state with a Castle Doctrine.

That works in most place Florida being one of them. Other places, you still have to "defend" yourself. If you use an illegal weapon, the home owner has no rights and the dead criminal's family can sue. You have heard of Chicago?

 

[Sweetums]

That works in most place Florida being one of them. Other places, you still have to "defend" yourself. If you use an illegal weapon, the home owner has no rights and the dead criminal's family can sue. You have heard of Chicago?

Yep, Illinois has some... interesting takes on self defense. That's why I also specified "varies by state" and those with the Castle Doctrine.

Fortunately we have a pretty good relationship with our local PD. One of our former neighbors was high in the department and his kid is now a supervisor and over some special teams. The other former neighbor and my brother helped train their SWAT (don't get taken hostage in my town, those guys watched too much Speed and have a habit of shooting hostages). We also have a couple FD guys on the block.

One of the Lieutenants told me "We don't worry about your block, if a call comes in about a problem we know we are just showing up to clean up the mess. Please make sure at least part of the bad-guy is over the threshold, it makes the report easier."
Fortunately the worst we have to worry about is the occasional weed deal at the nearby park an fools doing sideshows and burnouts at night.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That works in most place Florida being one of them. Other places, you still have to "defend" yourself. If you use an illegal weapon, the home owner has no rights and the dead criminal's family can sue. You have heard of Chicago?

Just make sure you are really at risk. One store owner found out the hard way that when the bad guy turns and runs, you STOP SHOOTING at him. You are no longer at risk.

 

[Lost1wing]

Just make sure you are really at risk. One store owner found out the hard way that when the bad guy turns and runs, you STOP SHOOTING at him. You are no longer at risk.

Yes, that is different from state to state too. He could be turning around to look for a weapon or he knows the rules and turns around. We enforce the rules that protect the criminals. Once he crosses the line, his rights should be gone. Turning his back should not restore his rights.

Just like the hands up don't shoot as he attacked the police officer. He should have lost his rights the moment he advanced. Just my thought and who cares what I think. I'd probably never sit on a jury.

 

[WestwallNF104A]

Yeah, mine was the freeway came to a stop but the bus drive wasn't paying attention and slammed into the back of me and pushed me into a truck towing a boat and sent the boat off the trailer. It totaled my brand new F-150 that I hadn't even made a payment on, the boat, trailer and the truck towing the boat. The bus didn't even have a dent on it. The bus was loaded with 63 High School Kids plus 3 teachers the were 5 hours away from their home town touring a local college. At my first settlement hearing they offered me $30K after I had already had 2 neck surgeries, spinal cord stimulator and SI Joint Fusion. They came up to $35K and then we walked out and didn't came back to settlement for another 3 years right before we would have gone to trial.

Yeah, typical of insurance companies. I truly despise them.

 

[WestwallNF104A]

It's not politically correct to do so. This came from a friend who was directly involved:
Woman hit another car at an intersection. No insurance. No citation. Was allowed to drive away from scene by Des Moines police. As the police explained - she wasn't meaning any harm and can't afford insurance, let her go. It's a political hot potato here. People are handed licenses like candy.
WHO TV set up outside of a court house a few years back. One reporter inside, another outside with camera. The guy inside would tell the one outside "coming out, license revoked, ordered not to drive, here's their description".
The outside reporter and camera operator would find the person walking out and try to ask how they will get home now without a license. They are shoved aside as those people got into their cars and drove away.
How are you going to catch them with police and patrol numbers down to 1/5 what they used to be?
And if they are certain people - it's suggested to "leave them alone" here in Polk County.

That most likely means they were also an illegal alien. California PD won't even bother to write a report if an illegal is involved.

 

[Orange01z28]

Another judgement-proof idiot. Can't get blood from a stone.

They really need to start jailing these people. As one judge put it when this came up in court "If you can't afford insurance, you can't afford to drive".

Start revoking their ability to register a car for starters. Lapsed insurance means no more renewal stickers or plates for at least the next 5 years.

No insurance should be an instant report to these guys and a plane ticket

https://www.ice.gov/

 

[WestwallNF104A]

The other thing I would do is that if you have no insurance, you forfeit your right to sue anyone else for vehicle-related damages or injuries. You don't get to get a payday off someone else's insurance if you aren't playing by the same rules.

I LOVE that idea!

 

[Orange01z28]

It's not politically correct to do so. This came from a friend who was directly involved:
Woman hit another car at an intersection. No insurance. No citation. Was allowed to drive away from scene by Des Moines police. As the police explained - she wasn't meaning any harm and can't afford insurance, let her go. It's a political hot potato here. People are handed licenses like candy.
WHO TV set up outside of a court house a few years back. One reporter inside, another outside with camera. The guy inside would tell the one outside "coming out, license revoked, ordered not to drive, here's their description".
The outside reporter and camera operator would find the person walking out and try to ask how they will get home now without a license. They are shoved aside as those people got into their cars and drove away.
How are you going to catch them with police and patrol numbers down to 1/5 what they used to be?
And if they are certain people - it's suggested to "leave them alone" here in Polk County.

I can't afford insurance either. Can I get in on this action?

 

[WestwallNF104A]

This is my son's TJ. Hard to imagine how the Audi was able to launch the TJ up high enough to contact a tree limb. He landed on all 4 wheels and the Audi made a second contact, side swipping the TJ and wedging into the right front wheel well.

The joy of elastic collisions....

 

[Sweetums]

No insurance should be an instant report to these guys and a plane ticket

https://www.ice.gov/

What does ICE have to do with car insurance? Or are you assuming that the only people without car insurance are in the country illegally?

 

[Orange01z28]

What does ICE have to do with car insurance? Or are you assuming that the only people without car insurance are in the country illegally?

Most of the time, this is the case in the states I've lived in

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That most likely means they were also an illegal alien. California PD won't even bother to write a report if an illegal is involved.

In that case and two others I can quote from those involved, but...... those are the ones that get talked about or make the news.
In that case, yes.
But what we don't see are the others who should know better and have zero "excuse".

Like the Iowa driving handbook states on the cover - "driving on public roads is a privilege, not a right" but that's sadly not how it's handled these days.

IMO, instead of TV reporters sitting at the courthouse waiting for people to come out, it should have been at least one police officer.
Some will respond:
But that costs money!!!

Sure it does - however:
Ya think that responding to an accident, cleaning up the mess, ambulances, fire trucks, whatever, doesn't cost you money? Why not PREVENT the issue instead of reacting to it? It's cheaper.
Every accident takes HOURS or even DAYS of investigation behind the scenes that no one normally sees. Having friends in the IHP, and, having been there while the trooper explained investigations, the hardware and software involved and the time HE had to spend on the investigation months after the accident, and the cleanup..... people don't get the costs involved and believe it's cheaper to not enforce laws or prevent accidents.
They are very mistaken.

 

[Lost1wing]

The joy of elastic collisions....

There's a ton of damage under the TJ yet not much evidence on the Audi hood. Most of the Audi's hood was buckled not scraped. We could only guess that the Audi went under the rear of the TJ and launched it. It would have been a great video but the Audi drived "said" his camera was not turned on. Convenient! He still received a citation.

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