[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by thorn69

I do my job and I do my job quite well! But as I've already said, I get labeled an a-hole no matter which way I decide to go on a specific matter. Police work is always questioned one way or the other because it always intervenes between two differing viewpoints. So one side isn't going to be happy when an arrest is made and the other side is. That's just how it is!

That's how it is, is it? Is that as far as your dedication to duty goes?

I've never excessively done, or not done, anything unless you're talking about excessively tacking on more and more charges on a criminal violator? That's every police officer though. We all do that for the reason I mentioned in another post. We want arrests to stick and for criminals to go to jail for the longest duration possible and pay the heaviest fines. It makes the streets safer for people for a longer period of time.

This is what I am talking about. It is not your responsibility to make moral judgements about whether or not a person should be charged. Your job is enforcement. What you are doing is selectively enforcing laws, and that is a breach of professional integrity. I can't really blame you for that, though, as it is impossible to enforce all laws within a given area equally. There are just too many of them. I couldn't know them all and I'm expected to obey them. You don't know them all and you're expected to enforce them. The jury sure as hell doesn't know them all and they're expected to deliver a verdict based upon argument made by lawyers, of all people.

Still, it should be a matter of personal pride to hold yourself to a higher standard. You're supposed to be a public officer, and it is not your responsibility or priviledge to decide who is and who is not worthy of punishment by omitting or tacking on charges as you see fit. People look up to police officers, except for when they demonstrate the kind of conduct you advocate, in which case they look down upon them.

Of course our very liberal justice system seems to have a big heart for these criminal lowlifes and consistently allows them to come back again and again to re-commit their crimes on our society. That's the part I've never really understood, especially when it's always the same old bozos out there doing the same old criminal thing. I've arrested some folks over 25 times for the same exact crime. You'd think they'd learn? But what it is - is they just don't care. The laws are too lax and it's all a joke to them. They know they will be out on the streets again to recommit their same old crime again. It's a way of life for them. I just wish we could suprise them and say, "That's strike 25 pal, time for you to get used to prison for the rest of your life!"

I have the same problem with the justice system that you have, though you may not realize it. Where you see criminals going unpunished, I see the wisdom behind the mentality of "criminal intent". I see that criminals can be rehabilitated and lead normal lives. I also see how our justice system allows far too many criminals to walk free because the jails simply cannot handle so many violators. I see how the excessive numbers of laws make it simply impossible to create an effective system of rehabilition or punishment.

It scares me that someone as apparently vindictive as yourself is allowed to enforce the law. If it were up to me, I'd put your contract up for bid to private LE suppliers, and you'd change your tune or be out of a job in short order.

You know, I've noted there are quite a few bleeding heart liberals on this site with a "hug-a-thug" mentality. That's sad!

I haven't noticed the same thing. Most people here are fairly keen on criminal prosecution. You should have seen the last thread on the death penalty! However, most are not as draconian as you and some others, including myself, fault the system rather than the people. There are even a few that bother to look at underlying societal issues.