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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 215
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RE: December 2008 Patrol Response to: Shoplifting
Quassia, at no time did I say an officer not running a background was protocol or even common. If you're going to respond to something I say, please make sure it's actually something I said.
I know full well that dispatchers run LEIN. Fact of the matter is, at the time of the incident I spoke of that was the ONLY way an officer could run a background check in the field. See, computers are a relatively new contraption. Back in the stone age cops didn't have them in their cars; to run plates, check suspect info, etc they had to call dispatch and ask them to do the checks. I have no doubt officers do more checks now then they did back in those halcyon days of yore. It's easier when the computer is right at your fingertips and you don't have to wait for an overworked dispatcher to get to you. However, I also have no doubt that SOME cops still don't do checks on people for minor crimes, or people they're just transporting. You and I seem to be in complete agreement that that is not smart, and that the officer should always do the background check. So we're fighting over...what?
Presumption goes both ways. Don't presume that I am some ignorant rentacop who doesn't have a clue as to what he's speaking of, which you've done in BOTH posts in this thread so far. I would like to think my post history shows that, although occasionally an asshole, I'm rarely ignorant.
I am on this board for 3 reasons.
1)To share my experiences and knowledge.
2)To learn from the experiences and knowledge of others.
3)To be able to occasionally 'let my hair down' with other people who actually know about all the stress and BS that the job entails.
I am NOT here to engage in a flame war. Already had one of those on this board and I'm sure Mr. Griffin would just as soon not have to break out the baseball bat again. However, I wrote a post coming straight from my own experiences in an area I have great expertise in and with an eye towards helping other officers. I did not expect to be slammed as a liar by someone claiming that I didn't know what I was talking about. Perhaps you just had a knee jerk reaction, thinking that here was another civilian dweeb who didn't know jack-all that was slamming cops. I think that's the case since nothing you said actually touched upon my post. Perhaps it would serve you better, before trying to rip a poster a new one, to go through their post history and learn a little bit about them before you open mouth and insert foot?
Just to recap, since I know these types of 'drama' threads tend to go all over the place, I told a story of an incident that happened to me as a cautionary tale to others; basically that, no matter how small the crime, always do a background check. You replied that I didn't know the full story because cops always run background checks. How did you come to the conclusion that I didn't know the full story? Because I'm security. That is the ONLY reason. Anyways, let me ask you this question Quassia. Do you HONESTLY believe that the responding officer in that incident did a background on the suspect, saw that he was an escaped 2 time murderer/capital murderer, shrugged and DID NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT? Just dropped the guy off at the magistrates and went on his way? Obviously he didn't do the background search. However, the truth of the matter is I DO know the full story. I was there. From start (when I observed the suspect enter the store and beeline for the meat department) until finish (when I prosecuted his case in front of the Honorable Judge Cloud and convicted him of shoplifting). I don't recall Officer Quassia being present in this incident. I know certain facts that I didn't bother putting in the story because I'm WAY to longwinded and am trying (and failing miserably) to be breve. Facts like the officer never called dispatch with the suspects information because he didn't HAVE the information. It was in my breast pocket. When I gave the officer the suspect's ID he told me to keep it, he was just there to transport.
You seem very protective of Police as a whole. That's good. So am I. And fact is, so are most of the posters here. But there are 2 ways of learning. One is through direct experience, ie. by doing. The other is through indirrect experience, or through the experiences of others. Everyone makes mistakes. We do ourselves a disservice if we turn a blind eye to those mistakes. Instead, we should learn from those mistakes by discussing and critiquing them. Ever attend one of Dave Smith's 'Street Survival' lectures? He goes over mistake after mistake made by cops in the street. Some of those mistakes got the officer killed. Some of those killings were captured on tape by dashboard mounted cameras. Does that mean he's anti-cop? If you attended his lecture, would you jump up and rip into him like you did me because he obviousely 'didn't know the full story'? Well, I told my little story for the same reason he shows those tapes. To teach. To give 'food for thought'. Not as a slam on cops. Now, maybe YOU do checks on every single person you meet. But not every cop does so every single time. Maybe it's a little old lady, or a priest, or some other non-threatening person going in the backseat. Maybe it's near time for lunch, or the officer really has gotta hit the head and doesn't want to take the time just this once. Who knows? Doesn't matter. Maybe that officer reads my little story and decides his bladder can stretch a little further to do the check. Because think of this. About 18 years ago a Police Officer responding to a shoplifting call put an escaped two time murderer who had sworn he wouldn't go back to jail in the back of his car without knowing that the man was, in fact, a capital murderer. He did so without doing a frisk, trusting to the Security Officers skill, and without changing handcuffs, trusting to the Security Officer's equipment. He did this ALL because he thought it was just another petit misdemeanor criminal offense and thus no big deal. That type of thinking gets officers killed. It is thinking that ALL of us should be fighting to change. In ourselves, in our partners, and in our comrades. No matter where they sit in the LEO Heirarchy.
Last edited @ 2/3/2009 11:06 PM
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