And now for the standard issue song and dance. Manpower.

I know for a fact in Portsmouth, other cities I don’t know, but we don’t have time for a lot of traffic enforcement options. We litterally go call to call to call.

But you did answer my question.

Regarding the “plain view” issue. That may be true. I am not going to sit here and tell you that every cop out there is a ball of fire for enforcement. BUT… Is he/she on the way to a Domestic call? A robbery? Burglary in progress? We don’t run lights and sirens to those. We GO GO GO but not lights and sirens. We don’t want to “spook” someone into doing something they ordinarily wouldn’t by blaring up to the house with lights and sirens going. So yes, he may have witnessed it, but may be otherwise occupied and unable to do anything. Just a thought.

Now… if you see that same cop pull off and into a 7-11 (they have replaced Dunkin’ Donuts for those that were getting ready to say something), then you may have grounds for a discussion with the officers supervisor. However, he may also have been cancelled off the call.

It can be a rather tangled web sometimes.

Thanks for entertaining my questions…

I’d like to see the police pull over more folks when they witness dumbassery (my all purpose term, it seems) on the road. And the folks who engage in that behavior are often not alert enough to notice the cruiser a few lengths back. I can’t tell you how many times I saw someone do something unsafe and stupid in the plain view of a cop who didn’t seem to want to be bothered about it.

I know that these types of violations are hard to prove – it’s essentially the cop’s word against the motorists (that said, I think we all know how that record stacks up over time). But really, I don’t care if tickets are given or not – I just want people to be told that what they’re doing isn’t safe. I suspect that that will be sufficient for most.

This was posted tongue in cheek…

Even this is somewhat misleading. Radio waves and light waves (and X-rays and gamma-rays) are electromagnetic waves. All electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed in free space, but only in free space. We call that “the speed of light.” (Have you ever seen the bumper-sticker that said, “186,000 miles per second. Not just a good idea, it the Law.”?)

Anyway, the speed of electromagnetic waves through a medium (such as air or water) DO travel at different rates depending on their wavelengths, and so refract differently. That’s why we have rainbows.

How would you suggest police handle tailgating, unsafe lane changes, lane discipline and such…?

The reason I am asking, is not to be argumentative, but to honestly get a feel for how citizens want us to address these issues.

The driver’s test I agree with. Lately, since 9/11, all they have done is made it harder to get in the door so to speak. The “test” is the same, and does give the impression of being purchased at Wal Mart as opposed to an actual test of skill. Trust me I see this EVERY DAY.

As far as the unsafe driving, it usually doesn’t occur when we are “around”, especially in marked cars. Back to that “voluntary compliance” thing I mentioned above. So, with “unmarked” non-Crown Vic cars, we can be around and be less observed. Thus allowing us to issue more summonses. But is that really the answer? The State Police receive ZERO money from any revenue they generate with summonses. It all goes to the Commonwealth’s Library Fund to support public libraries. In localities, the money generated goes to the “General Fund”, it does NOT go to the Police Department directly. And of course, officers receive NO BENEFIT from writing summonses, they simply end up with more court time.

Here’s one you may not expect a cop to say. Do you remember (I don’t even know if its still active… NOTE TO SELF: CHECK) a website that was called speedtrap.com? They, the owners, thought they were getting over on us cops by posting our favorite “fishing holes”. When actually they were helping. If you read that a cop sits at the corner of X Street and Y Avenue, most days, are you going to make sure you stop at the stop sign? Probably. Voluntary compliance which is EVERY cops goal.

So, my question remains. Those are the problems, how would you propose that we solve them?

The velocity (or speed) of a radio wave radiated into free space by a transmitting antenna is equal to the speed of light – 186,000 miles per second or 300,000,000 meters per second. Because of various factors, such as barometric pressure, humidity, molecular content, etc., radio waves travel inside the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed slightly less than the speed of light. Normally, in discussions of the velocity of radio waves, the velocity referred to is the speed at which radio waves travel in free space.

Citation

Oh… And I was an electronics technician specializing in Radio Frequency transmission while I was in the Navy (read that as RADAR, COMMUNICATIONS)

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Safe driving? Yeah. I’ve plenty of suggestions. Like actually making the driving test mean something. Then I’d focus on things like tailgating, unsafe lane changes, and lane discipline (i.e., passing on the left only, and staying to the right unless you’re passing).

Any other questions?

My point VP was that while you may outrun the car, marshalling up more cars and more officers is the job of the radio, most of which are manufactured by Motorola.

We have a Pathfinder, a pickup and a couple others. They are fun but I feel a little different about them than most cops. I don’t think they should be used for traffic purposes. They are siezure cars and are mostly used elsewhere in the department.

Personally, if I put a marked car in the median somewhere and leave it there, its just about as effective as putting an officer there and him/her writing tickets. The parked car creates “voluntary compliance” with the law. And is entertaining to watch people when they see it.

MB: What exactly is your solution to “safe driving”? You have identified a problem, do you have a solution?

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In any event, I think these cars are mostly new toys for the troopers. What I’d love to see them focus on is actually doing something about safe driving, and not the revenue collection efforts that are speeding tickets.

SW – why do you think VA is the only state that outlaws radar detectors? And I agree on Crown Vics. I automatically slow down whenever I see one. And yes, there are some on the road that aren’t cop cars.

You can’t out run Motorola… 186000 miles per second… roughly…