Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I have to admit that I was surprised, although not always pleasantly, by the reaction to last week’s entry about the partying cops in DC. That got 43 comments in less than ten days, which I think is a new record. The comments ran roughly two to one in agreement vs. “you’re an idiot,” but the latter were somewhat more strongly worded.

This blog, which used to be my weekly editorial in a different format, is not much more than a place for my opinion. The operative word in that sentence is “my,” because it doesn’t represent the opinion or official position of Officer.com, Cygnus Business Media, the John Birch Society, or my dog. If I didn’t make it controversial, most people wouldn’t bother to read it.

Several people took my comparison of an element of east and west coast police cultures as an indictment of one over the other, and a blanket statement that everyone acts in a certain way. Here’s an illustration that might be a little easier to wrap yourself around: it is commonplace in American culture to identify oneself with one or more professional or collegiate sports teams. The hard-core fans occasionally go so far as to visit violence against people in the opposing camp. Does every American do this? Of course not. But it is a common practice in our culture.

If you don’t agree with what I say, that doesn’t make you wrong. It also doesn’t make me right. It would be difficult to get a true consensus opinion on just about anything in our maybe-too-diverse society. I find it enlightening to understand the other guy’s side, even if there’s still no chance I’m going to go over to it. I almost never agree with what Bill Maher or Rush Limbaugh has to say, but I still listen to them occasionally. Even blind squirrels find acorns now and again.

Your comments are always welcome, pro or con. I do occasionally edit them before I approve them to post, but never without noting the edits. But don’t get too riled over such a small thing. Besides, if you think you can do better, you can get your own blog for free. Get enough people to read it, and maybe you’ll be offered my job.

Speed Traps

We’re coming up on Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer vacation season. CNN has been running a feature on the communities across the country best known as speed traps. They didn’t mention that the so-called “speed traps” are completely ineffective for people driving the speed limit. They also prefaced this story with a dashcam video tape of a police pursuit where the fleeing vehicle lost control and flipped several times, and in the same half hour, there was a public service announcement from New Jersey Governor John Corzine, who noted that he should be dead because he was in an accident while not wearing a seat belt. I wonder if I’m the only one that saw a connection there?

For those of you driving cars with flashing blue lights this weekend and thereafter, don’t forget your own seat belt. Half the cops killed the last few years have died in traffic incidents, and half of those in single vehicle accidents. In most cases, the cop was driving outside his skill envelope with good intentions, chasing a bad guy or rushing to assist another officer. Very few people, cops included, are as good behind the wheel as they think they are. And for those that maintain that they don’t want to be trapped by the seat belt if someone assaults them in their car, do some research and look at the numbers. You’re probably more likely to be trampled by buffalo than shot while inside your car.

Travel Rant

When I took this job, I thought I might go to three or four trade shows or conferences each year. It’s been a little busier than that. Last year, I chalked up 37,000 frequent flyer miles. That’s nothing for a true road warrior, but it’s a lot for me. I occasionally get irritated at the airlines, like everyone else, but I think they’re doing the best they can to continue operations and still maintain solvency. You think you’re feeling the effect of $3/gallon gas when you fill the family truckster? Every time a 737 gets a visit from a fuel truck, it costs as much as $6300 more than it did this time last year, and the airfares are about the same. I cut the airlines some slack. It’s the passengers that torque me off, and here are some of the rules that will be in effect when I become King:

1. Do not stop in a doorway, hallway chokepoint, or other high traffic area to look at your cell phone, fiddle with your iPod earphones, or read your ticket. I have an idea where I’m going, you apparently do not. Get out of the way.
2. There will be “nothing complicated” counters in every location where people wait in line. If you just want to check in, you may use this. If you want to check in, change your seat reservation, confirm that your return flight has a movie you haven’t seen yet, and check availability of frequent flyer freebie seats for next year’s trip to Sea World, your line is over there.
3. Yes, those Nextel phones with the walkie-talkies are six kinds of keen, but the rest of us don’t have the smallest interest in hearing your conversation, and even less in listening to that annoying beep every time you press the transmit key. If the radio works, chances are the phone will, too.  Please use it, and not on speaker.
4. You know that little speech that mentions how your carry-on has to fit under the seat in front of you? Well, fella, that’s where it’s going. Rather than place 40 lbs. of junk over my head to rain down on me if something goes sideways in flight, you can deal with the reduced legroom. The overhead bin is for coats and similar non-lethal items. The airline will also tote your bag in the cargo hold, and return it to you when you get where you’re going. Yes, they do occasionally lose them - about one in 1000 bags. They’ve lost mine twice in thirty years. Both times, I had it back within a day.
5. If you and I are in adjacent seats and chatting, and I lean my head back and shut my eyes, this is my subtle way of indicating to you that it’s my nap time. Please take the hint. If you are telling me about your traffic stop experience that you believe is unique in the annals of law enforcement, it is always going to be my nap time.
6. Finally, this one’s for the TSA: I know you have the most thankless job in America, and having done another job that is only slightly less thankless, I’ve got your back. But, please, get together on one set of rules about what you want me to do, where I can carry what, and how you’re going work that applies at all the airports. I’ll follow the rules, but first I need to know what they are. And stop making the flight crew go through the checkpoint. If the captain or first officer wants the plane to crash, it’s going to crash. Neither of them needs a gun to make it happen.