Posted on 10/15/2011 12:07:44 PM PDT by decimon
There's nothing worse than a bored law enforcement officer, as a few Beverly, Massachusetts residents learned firsthand when the local police went around checking vehicles for unlocked doors and open windows. Owners received warnings for failing to protect their property and officers proceeded to lock every door they could, including vehicles with their keys still inside.
(Excerpt) Read more at autoblog.com ...
I leave my keys in the ignition of my truck here at home. During the winter I go out and start it before I walk down to the post office.
The officers should be liable for any costs incurred. They are *not* our nannies. We are their employers.
The police are obviously bored and have little to do. If I were a taxpayer in that town, I would want to see their budget substantially cut.
“Owners received warnings for failing to protect their property....”
I leave my windows down and doors unlocked so people won’t break the windows to get in the car - which has happened to me twice in the past.
So......I’d get a warning for protecting my property?
These cops are morons.
Sounds like this department is overstaffed. The township could save the taxpayers some money.
How about a warning to the police department about entering private property without permission or warrant? If a private citizen was doing this, the police department would be out to arrest him.
>>I leave my windows down and doors unlocked so people won’t break the windows to get in the car - which has happened to me twice in the past.
So......I’d get a warning for protecting my property?<<
Exactly. These days radios are electronically linked to their cars — they are useless when taken from the car. Lock the glove box and don’t keep valuables in the trunk and there ain’t nothing to take.
I had a rag top and some a*hole tore through the roof with a blade — cost the insurance company 3 grand and the roof was never quite the same even after the replacement. THEN a friend of mine with a soft top told me that people with rag tops NEVER lock their cars and usually leave the windows down.
I agree this town has too many cops — but the “who should be let go” test has already been performed. Any cop who thinks it is against any law to keep one’s private property locked, unlocked or wide open is too ignorant (and probably stupid) and certainly too idle to be kept on the taxpayers’ payroll.
Actually the people who elected local politicians who are probably behind this are morons.
If these police have nothing better to do they could find a quiet place and Choke their Chicken.
I leave my car doors unlocked so no one will break the windows, there is nothing left in the car worth stealing.
If you want the car doors locked , find some damned fool legislator and make it a law.
I haven’t locked my truck for ten years here in NH. Any idiot that breaks in to a house in my area is likely to get dead,
Since when was teaching residents "hard lessons" the job of a police department? Silly me, I thought they were tasked with upholding laws and arresting criminals.
I got used to locking my car during my career with NY State Corrections. We had to lock our cars as they were parked on state property. At home, I decided it was a good idea to lock it because I didn’t want to come out some morning to find some drunk or other type of person asleep in the back seat of my car. Even though I’ve been retired since 2003, I’ve never gotten over being security conscious.
Sounds like they’ve been Barney Fifed.
When I lived in West Germany in the 70’s, I got a citation for not locking my car overnite.
I think it was the idiots from the East Coast,places like Massachusets who turned California into what it is today.
Just bad humor and really, don’t they have more important things to do?
This goes back to the 60s, when an ad campaign went something like “Help keep a good kid from going bad.”. The idea was, don’t leave car keys in the ignition, and by extension the implication that somehow, it’s the owners fault if the car was stolen. In those days most people still knew what’s what and the public outcry quashed the ad.
For some bizarre reason most cops tend to think this way. Maybe they just see the bad side of people all the time, but a thief is a thief, locks just keep honest people out, and generally make things a lot more complicated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.