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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Aug 13, 2015 - 10:56am PT
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Reilly-
I hate to even imagine what a similar ticket would cost in Kalifornica. I'm gonna' guess at $500?
We now (as I'm sure you already know) have an 80 mph speed limit on the Interstates, which doesn't seem to be getting the enforcement that was originally envisioned. I generally set the cruise control a 84 mph, which is below the new "mandatory ticketing" threshold. In dry daytime conditions, the traffic seems to be moving at around 86 to 88 mph otherwise. I was "gunned" about a week ago by the WHP at 88, but since I was in a pack of other vehicles moving at identical speeds, I didn't stand out that much with Wyoming plates. Last I saw the cop, he was still just sitting there in the median, radar gunning the oncoming traffic, and waiting for even bigger game.
Rodger
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ME Climb
climber
Behind the Orange Curtain
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Aug 14, 2015 - 08:44am PT
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So I didn't watch the whole video or read all the replies before I saw a bright shiny object and got distracted. In what I did see in the video was an officer contacting a subject for an unknown reason. Was it the illegally parked vehicle, a call for service regarding a subject w strange behavior, a call regarding a disturbance. I don't know. I do not like the fact the cop stayed in his car for several seconds before getting out. My guess he was running a records check on the car.
Once he contacts the guy he immediately asks him to remove his hands from his pocket. This shows me the cop has a reason to detain him for something, again don't know why. When guy refuses he then draws his handgun and requests a back up unit and advises his dispatcher that he is "at that location."
He then puts his gun at the "low ready". This position is used when you aren't actively targeting something, but reduces the reaction time to get the gun onto target. The guy then makes some very interesting statements about "they have done enough" to his family. Sounds to me that there is some schizophrenia on board.
The subject then starts moving around the vehicle and boat. My first thought is he looking for cover so he has a tactical advantage over the cop. Is he looking for a safe place he can shoot from. The cop moves to minimize any advantage the guy would have.
The cop did a good job trying to talk the guy down.
Again my guess is the guy has some pretty serious psych issues.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Aug 14, 2015 - 09:13am PT
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Reilly...Sounds like you got profiled by the WHP...? They probably don't take kindly to uppity Californians sporting full-length , leopard - skin coats speeding down the interstate in a Bentley pimp mobile...? rj
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Aug 14, 2015 - 09:54am PT
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Alpy, above, requested some numbers to substantiate my claims.
From the records of the Casper Journal, weekly newspaper, the City of Casper police department issued ~ 15,000 citations in 2014. That's roughly 42 per day, and the average fine ~ $200.00. That's Roughly $8200 a day in non-tax revenues, for an annual "take" of $3 Million. Not. Chump. Change. They now want to buy 42 more patrol cars and hire 42 more cops.
DMT- I have no objection to lowering speeds around schools, if and when there are actually any children present who are at risk.
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Alpamayo
Trad climber
Davis, CA
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Aug 14, 2015 - 10:08am PT
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How many officers wrote those tickets? What is the cost per officer for their time (not just salary...benefits, operational costs etc.). I agree that's a lot of money, but I'm still a little doubtful of the claim that hiring more officers to write more tickets is a cost effective way of increasing the bottom line. Maybe it is...sounds like a lot of cops for little ol' Casper.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 14, 2015 - 11:37am PT
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I'm still a little doubtful of the claim that hiring more officers to write more tickets is a cost effective way of increasing the bottom line.
You're looking at this in the wrong way. Bureaucracies exist in the same
way things like MRSA exist - to breed exponentially even if they kill their
host. In other words, in the words of Deep Throat, follow the money trail
to the pot of pension gold. That's what it's all about.
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Gorgeous George
Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
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Aug 14, 2015 - 01:55pm PT
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As a veteran civil rights attorney in L.A. I feel compelled to say a couple of things.
First, people must be more circumspect about how they deal with the police, trying to provoke or agitate them does no one any good, least of all yourself. The cops will only use it as a circumstance to justify their excessive response. I always counsel young folks and gang members to try and be polite and cooperative. If you show respect you usually get it back. Why give them an excuse?
That being said, it is clear the officer acted improvidently by reacting to the agitated words by pulling his gun. No obvious circumstances support his "fear" that the videographer might be armed with a weapon, hence his demand to the videographer that he remove his hands from his pockets are an over blown reaction, probably against police guidelines, and don't comply with a "Terry" stop, a temporary detention in which an officer can stop someone and conduct a quick "pat down" of the outer clothing to insure the person is not armed. He must be able to articulate the reason he suspects a "crime is afoot," which IMHO cannot be discerned from the video.
Finally, and really the only important thing to get from my statements, is that the person aggrieved should file a personnel complaint against the officer with the Department. They are required by law to conduct an investigation and inform the complainant of their conclusions. The ultimate decision is not important, they always get a pass, it's that the complaint goes into the officer's personnel file and will be there for future reference in promotion or disciplinary decisions, and when a defense attorney or other civil rights attorney searches the record in the future to see if the officer has a history of misconduct.
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