It is not Trump's speech.
It is not Keith Ellison (Muslim) not standing to honor the wife of an American serviceman killed in Yemen.
It is this:
Soldier in Miami Takes Pictures of Illegally Parked Police Cars
I did not read the entire article, I will admit. Maybe I am wrong about the view of the person taking the pictures, or the article in general. But it is a basic misunderstanding, and contempt, and condescension, etc., etc. that just gets my blood boiling.
Why do we have parking laws?
Why is it illegal to park like the vehicle below?
It blocks the crosswalk - makes it unsafe for pedestrians to have to go around.
It is too close to a fire hydrant, makes it unsafe for a firetruck to have to work around in case of a fire.
Cities have "NO PARKING" all over the place - when cars can clearly fit, like the one above. Some cities, or in some areas of cities, they want to generate revenue for parking so EVERYWHERE is illegal to park, except in metered or paid spaces.
I will cut to the chase. Why do we have police cars?
Police officers respond to emergencies. Police officers work shifts, and during those shifts they must respond to a domestic violence call, a subject with a gun, a vehicle accident, and yes, to barking dogs (but barking dogs can lead to murder). Instead of measuring each instance on a case by case basis - typically police officers park in a place where they can get to their cars quickly, which is often in an "illegal" space. Police officers often drive on the wring side of the road, they speed, they do not use their turn signal, they have sirens - they do many things that for a normal citizen would be considered illegal. In most states - they are exempt from those moving violations if they are responding to a call. And, in most localities, they are exempt from parking laws.
Now, this is not to say that they should not consider safety where they park, such as forcing cars to drive around the parked police car in to oncoming traffic. But citizens must realize that police officers DO NOT KNOW what they will have to respond to, and how quickly they will need to get to their vehicles and get them moving.
I have heard people complain when cops that are in a restaurant have parked illegally. It is a known fact, that the more comfortable an officer is while eating, the better tasting the food, and the more the officer eats, the higher the probability the officer is about to get into something requiring running.
*Further, if there is a hose dragger reading this - police get the fire calls too, so if a fire truck needs to access the hydrant - the cop should know to move the car, or you may block it in.
4 comments:
Firemen get really angry when you drive your police car over their deployed and charged hoses. I learned this the hard way. My comment at the time (if my addled memory serves) was, "sorry". Somehow that response was not adequate so I modified it to "very sorry" (hose-dragger). Giving them a pound of flesh or my two-year old daughter wasn't in the cards so they had to make do with that.
The numb-nutz that complained about the police car (which can park wherever it wants to except downtown Los Angeles where the city tows out-of-town government cars -- including FBI cars with the red light in the dash and the mike over the R/V mirror) needs to get a frigging life. But there are always people who whine about anything that the police do or don't do. UNTIL they're in a world of hurt. THEN they don't care that you're parked in a crosswalk or in front of a hydrant or on their freshly sodded lawn. That includes firemen as well, who are brave until people start shooting holes in their trucks and engines. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to run into a burning building and they seem to like that...but they don't roll in to the rescue when they're taking incoming fire. They sort of ignore you driving over the charged and deployed hoses when you're saving THEM.
My experience is that they (hose-draggers) don't hurry to fires either, or medical calls. Maybe its based on their experience, and my lack of it - but I ran into two burning buildings, one of which was empty, but in both cases the fire fighters laughed at me. I didn't know the dangers that were involved they said. Of course I didn't, but there was a chance people were inside - and that was my job, I thought. As far as the fires go - I get it that once the house or structure is burning, there is little that will save it. But even if you report smoke in your house when you don't have a fire - they don't hurry?
The call goes out to the Fire Department (or at least it did in Anaheim, CA) before it went to the Police Department. I recall watching a fire truck rolling code (usually a medical aid) BEFORE I received the call to support them on a number of occasions.
Anaheim Fire was a very good department and I have no problem with their work. It was very professional. However, speaking of professions, only firemen and hookers make their living laying on their back...
As with you, I didn't stay at the PD that long and moved on, but the lessons that I learned there were invaluable in my professional career. It was a great experience.
I do read your posts, though I seldom comment, mia culpa.
People get offended over the stupidest stuff now days. What would have been laughed about and then forgotten in the past, now becomes a viral mob of people saying and threatening horrible crap.
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