How is your local law enforcement?

[zenkidori]

I'll remember that next time I'm on my way to California.

[ryosuke]

haha, just had an encounter with the feds, which does not happen often to me.
well, what happened? we drove a friend home from the cinema, down this particular road that has tram rails next to it and on the other side of the rails another very narrow street that serves the houses on the other side of the rails. there are two places to cross the rails, the first only allows driving from the normal road over the rails to the narrow street and the second crossing only allows driving from the narrow street to the road.
anyway, we drove past the first crossing and the codriver said there was the second one and we could use that. approaching the second one the road was empty, so the turn was quickly made and we all suddenly saw the sign prohibiting drivethrough because of a one way street (that in this case only last for a couple of meters over the crossing). and then a second later we all saw the policecar that was coming to the crossing from the other side. so we drove over the crossing and into the narrow parralel street with the driver getting worried and it only took a few more seconds and the lights on the policecar came on. driver stopped getting even more worried, the cops left their car and came by our side.
the cop introduced himself with: "good evening, this is the police."
then he demanded drivers license and the car's papers as usual.
afterwards he asked the driver if she had been drinking. she said "no", he said "ok".
then he wanted to start a sentence, but she interrupted with "oh, yes, i have seen that sign...". he responed: "erm, that is what you should not say!" she replied:" ok, i have not seen that sign." he:"well, ok, thats it, good evening."
and thus we drove off...those guys were pretty cool.

[Z Draci]

I recently got in trouble in the middle of the night for doing impressions of Tiff in an open dirt lot. Turns out that the lot was part of a public park! Somebody called the CHP (California Highway Patrol) on us and they showed up right at the moment we were leaving the lot.

They were very stern and obviously annoyed/angry at us. They threatened us about what the consequences of our actions could be--$500 fine, plus possible suspension of license. I simply admitted to what I did and appologised for possibly causing any kind of disturbance in the neighbourhood. Even though they did not act nice or polite, they just told us to don't come back to do things like this.

They were probably surprised at how straighforward I was in admitting to the wrongdoing. We were actually criminals breaking the law so their attitude was justified. I can't blame them for doing their job properly. I just wanted their job to go as smooth as possible. In return, we got only a stern warning.

[liberal noob]

We have too many cruisers with miss-matched graphics. Our town is quiet so we don’t need that many cops.

[un-dee]

I got a question, what qualification do you need to become a cop were you people live. Here its since about 10 years that all cops need the highest grade school diploma there is and since then many things have really improved in dealing with the police.

[avanti]

Here in Italy the police is mostly very nice and helpful, at least the ones I have met, anyways, that BMW Gumball video should be proof enough

[zenkidori]

update: The cops in my state are pretty decent overall. the worst thing is that in the quieter parts(nearly the whole state) cops tend to get bored and write traffic tickets. but since moving to denver i've only gotten warnings.

[liberal noob]

Originally Posted by un-dee

I got a question, what qualification do you need to become a cop were you people live. Here its since about 10 years that all cops need the highest grade school diploma there is and since then many things have really improved in dealing with the police.

You need a degree in Criminal Justice before you become a cop in the US.

[:A:]

I'm an ongoing Policeofficer in Germany.

The american police is our "anti-example". If you want to know how to solve a (critical) situation right in the way of professionalism or behavior --> do the oppsite of what american cops would do. We also have to stick to the law as much as possible. That is pretty a german thing but with one addition: in case of police brutality, rape, abuse or corruptibility there is no "backup from the colleagues" and no "put under the carpet". The policeofficer instantly gets the order to gave back the uniform, gun and is no more allowed to entry a policestation (for official purposes). The other way around as ryosuke wrotes is no problem. I'm also very patient and relaxed in handeling car offences. There is also no need stress the law as far as possible. everything should be balanced.

The other thing is the constitution. we have to learn the civil rights by heart and the whole approach of the german police is non-confrontational. All that means violence is always the last option of law enforcement. So no basis for police brutality in Germany.

By the way: it makes no sense to threaten the citizens. if they're frightened by the police they make no report which means we can't do our work properly and get the real bad boys.

Sorry for my english. it's been awhile.

[jayhawk]

Your English is fine. And I think that the way you described your work is typical of the culture of the country. Is it any better or worse than America? Depends.

A decade ago my city had the highest murder rate in America. Now it is not even on the rankings, because of the excellent job the police officers do.

[:A:]

In which city do you live? Washington or Chigaco? I heard they made improvements on the crimestatistics...and sadly New Orleans is in free fall, after Katrina. Glad to hear this--by the way.

[bartboy9891]

My city is pretty small and the police station is maybe 2 or 3 minutes from my house. I hear that they are generally pretty nice and let you off with warnings if you cooperate with them. Someone I know got pulled over 12 times for various reasons and he got off the hook each time with a warning.

[epp_b]

Well, I've never had any sort of confrontation by the police, so I wouldn't know As far I do know, however, I think they're generally pretty respectful here. I live in a small rural town of about 3500, so it's pretty rare that they deal with serious criminal offenses -- it's mostly traffic infringements, I think.

...and he spinned his tires in the mud.

He got a warning for that? Common sense to police officer: MUD IS SLIPPERY!

I recently got in trouble in the middle of the night for doing impressions of Tiff in an open dirt lot. Turns out that the lot was part of a public park! Somebody called the CHP (California Highway Patrol) on us and they showed up right at the moment we were leaving the lot.

...

Even though they did not act nice or polite, they just told us to don't come back to do things like this

Sigh...I wish common sense would override law sometimes. It sounds like you were alone in an empty lot and just having some fun.

Here in Italy the police is mostly very nice and helpful, at least the ones I have met, anyways, that BMW Gumball video should be proof enough

Ah, Italian police...those are the ones that pull you over after speeding and do nothing but close the filler cap that you left open, right?

I'm an ongoing Policeofficer in Germany.

...

By the way: it makes no sense to threaten the citizens. if they're frightened by the police they make no report which means we can't do our work properly and get the real bad boys.

Das ist sehr gut

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by SL65

Generally speaking, cops in Aus are real bitches...especially come long weekends when the chance of loosing ur licence doubles. But if you do get pulled over, they are quite linient compared to other nations cops.

There are a few crooked cops here and there but then again, where don't you find cops..Singapore?

General public safety is a huge issue in Sydney At night time, there are certain parts of the city where tourists wouldnt want to go. Its kinda like BigBro here in that there are cameras being put up everywhere.

I find myself disagreeing, although lets not forget the South Australian Police and NSW Police are two different entities. The cops I've worked with are just people like you and me. They have a job to do and I remember that they have to deal with the absolute scum of the earth sometimes, so I've always generally been polite to them, and often they're polite back. Most people will treat you how you treat them. I intend joining SAPOL within the next couple of years, and I'm pretty sure I'll continue being respectful and polite.

I've been pulled over twice and both times the cop was pretty damn lenient. The first time I was doing 140kph on a country road and he chased me down (in a Rodeo!), then gave me a warning about the neon nights on my windscreen washers. Second time I was caught doing 98 in an 80 zone, then 80 in a 60 zone (kph). Luckily he decided to ignore the second offence, or it would've been much more expensive!

[AnGuRuSO]

Sydney's alright, just so long as you don't drive a street racing car. Skylines, Supras, 300ZX you get pulled over every hour driving one of those.

[Cobol74]

One Warning - British Police are armed with 'weapons grade' sarcasm.

My county force (Hampshire) seems OK and I used to know some in the Met (London) Police through school and the Rugby club and they were OK. You get the odd officious one however who will nail you for anything piffling. Usually if they are not Traffic (Specialist Traffic Police) then you can talk your way out of most things, Traffic especially in London will tend to issue tickets more easily.

[m102486]

I live the philippines cops here are generally nice, if you've got lots of money. On traffic violations, the middle class suffers most becuase

A. cops treat rich and powerful people well.

B. if your poor and have a shitty car they'll let you go(no money tto bribe, why waste their time on that).

I've been caught alot of times (ex. beating the red light) but never got a ticket. bribes here cost about Minimum is about $1 but it usually doesnt go over $50.


although its wrong I still do it because we have F__king laws, when we get caught they get our license then we have to claim it then go to a seminar, that waste so much time, so we tend to bribe cops for small violation/crimes.

[trionic]

Finnish polices training future Iraq polices(in Jordan I guess) noticed that USA instructors teached totally different operating models. It was all about humiliating target persons.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by trionic

Finnish polices training future Iraq polices(in Jordan I guess) noticed that USA instructors teached totally different operating models. It was all about humiliating target persons.

That is not true and try not to generalize.

In the United States, there are an estimated 17,784 law enforcement agencies, spread out across the federal, state, and local levels of government. Policing and law enforcement services are mainly the jurisdiction of local government, with an estimated 12,666 local police agencies and 3,070 sheriff's departments. Local police include county police, metropolitan police, city, and town police departments. In addition, there are 1,376 special-purpose district police agencies, with jurisdiction over parks, schools, housing, transit, etc.[

[Blind_Io]

My town has no police force. The last time I checked we needed 52 more officers than we have. They have had to "borrow" officers from other jurisdictions and they are still short handed.