Conversely, as I was saying earlier, over the last 30 years I’ve observed far more sheriff deputies stopped to help block traffic for a stalled car, push a stalled car out of harms way or even seen one help change a tire on one occasion. They stop to move dangerous items that have been dropped on the roadway, ect. They are the lowest paid of all law enforcement yet they do more as a public servant then all the rest put together. Go figure. I’m sure it happens occasionally but I can’t remember the last time I seen a municipal cop help any driver. Once in a blue moon I see the state police helping a driver. Most of the time though the last two mentioned groups would instead just as soon help you out of your money. And no, I don’t know any law enforcement officer, even a sheriff deputy, so I’m not looking at this in a prejudice manner. I’m just reporting what I’ve observed over the years.

I believe it leaves no doubt about the corrupting effects of revenue on law enforcement departments.

Radar guns had just came into use. The general public did not, for the most part, understand the new voodoo that made up the equipment and local courts backed their officers and new gadget without question. One patrol car had the cover of the heater/air conditioner blower motor removed for service from the interior. Just so happened the blower fan spun at 42 mph. This being found out when my uncle was playing with the new radar gun on a slow day. So he would set up in a 30mph zone, and tag away! So when the city needed revenue, THAT patrol went out. As the tickets rolled in, all being in the 42 mph range, a local lawyer handling most of the tickets put it together, and the car was fixed, the revenue went down, and people got wise.

But as it was then as it is now, it’s all about the money, and regardless how unscrupulous the means of attaining the revenue, the cops and cities are always self serving crooks.Drive by your local cop bar hangout, watch them stumble out drunk and they will be the first ones handing out DUI’s the next night. Maybe “self” should be added before serve to the side stickers on all cop cars.

The reason why most Sheriff Deputies do not write tickest is because their boss is an elected official. How well would that go over with his voters if his employees were out handing them tickets. I’ve been in law enforcement many years and have found that the level of ticket writing is comparative to the attitude of the current administration (i.e. the mayor.city manager or department head). I sincerely hope that the tickets that I’ve handed out over the years have been for the better of the driver.

I have been approached by past violators to tell me that the ticket I gave them cause them problems with their insurance or finances. Your life and other lives versus you paying for your selfishness on the roadway, you choose. But there was one DUI I gave a young man some time ago and he came to me five years later and said that what I did for him that night change his life for the better. He said that the DUI saved his life and he started making better choices in his life. The reason why he was stopped was for a speeding violation.

It may not mean anything to you but to a deputy,city police officer,constable,state trooper or any law enforcement agent to actually know that you mattered in saving a life is worth the venom that is injected in us on a daily basis. Remember drive safe and watch out for your fellow driver.