PBA: Don't ticket cops

Newsday ^ | 4/3/04 | BY J. JIONI PALMER

[sakic]

The law requires everyone to follow the speed limit and other traffic regulations, but in Suffolk County, exceptions should be made for cops and their families, police union officials say.

Police Benevolent Association president Jeff Frayler said Thursday it has been union policy to discourage Suffolk police officers from issuing tickets to fellow officers, regardless of where they work.

[sakic]

Bastards

[Yeti]

"It's a slap in the face to the public," he said. "If you can't trust them to enforce a minor infraction, why would you with something more serious? Where do they draw they line?"

If they'll be this unashamed about their corruption in this regard publicly, what kind of mischief will they make in private?

[sakic]

What's most amazing is that this is their public policy and there is no uproar about it.

How are we ever supposed to assume that corruption isn't rampant in that police department? It's probably the same in every police department. That's why some folks carry PBA placards on their dashboards even though they are not cops.

[tpaine]

Hmmm it seems they claim that,
"Police officers have discretion whenever they stop anyone, but they should particularly extend that courtesy in the case of other police officers and their families", as "It is a professional courtesy."

Frayler's comments may echo views expressed in the spring union newsletter, in which treasurer Bill Mauck exhorts "you don't summons another cop" and says that when officers decline to cite each other, "the emotion you feel should be that of joy."

Maurice Mitchell, a project coordinator with the Long Island Progressive Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group, said the PBA's position may undermine taxpayer confidence in law enforcement.

"It's a slap in the face to the public," he said. "If you can't trust them to enforce a minor infraction, why would you with something more serious? Where do they draw they line?"

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said he is appalled the PBA would encourage its members to have two sets of rules.
"We can't be sending the message that some are above the law," said Levy, a Democrat who had earlier issued an executive order forbidding his staff to possess law enforcement cards to help them get out of tickets. "It goes to the very core of the professionalism in our government."

Angie Carpenter, a Republican lawmaker from West Islip and chairwoman of the legislature's public safety committee, is said to say she didn't have a problem with the PBA's policy because she believes it will be applied judiciously.

"It's the same way they would offer a professional courtesy to a doctor pulled over on the way to the hospital to deliver a baby," she claimed.

"Besides, I can't imagine that if some police officer was to commit an egregious offense that they wouldn't be cited, regardless of who they are."


Deputy Police Commissioner Roger Shannon claimed that while police officers are not required to issue tickets when they make traffic stops, the department has no policy that excludes any group of people from enforcement of the law. -- How mealy-mouthed can you get?

[sakic]

I wonder if there will be an investigation that costs lots of money and results in a $5 dollar fine for the head of the PBA?

[Thumper1960]

Unions, basically psuedo-Socialistic animals, subscribe to the 'all persons are created equal, but some are more equal than others' credo.

Yet, another reason to ban all government employee unions, and mount an effort to ban unions from all US territories.

[sakic]

The problem isn't unions. It's cops openly behaving criminally and nobody having the balls to confront them on it.

[Joe Boucher]

This is crap, every day I drive I-95 from Port St, Lucie Fl.
to either WEst Palm or Ft. Lauderdale. Every morning I have county local and state police and firemen driving at least 10 and often 15 to 20 miles an hour over the speed limit and I have yet to see one stopped.
Late for their donuts?

[NeonKnight]

Yet, another reason to ban all government employee unions, and mount an effort to ban unions from all US territories.

I have no problem with employees getting together and presenting a unified negotiating position with their employers. Personally, I prefer to negotiate for myself. My leverage being the market value of my skills, and a verifiable resume demonstrating consistant productivity.

[sakic]

Late for their donuts?

Nope. Just enjoying special citizen status.

[dennisw]

This reminds me of yesterday's thread--->>

Muslims must not denounce other Muslims

[Thumper1960]

It is also unions which harbor misplaced loyalty in nearly all areas of importance. To have any "leadership" figures advocate criminal conspiracy as a way of life is unacceptable. Since the people cannot sack the union official and eliminate the unionist culture, the only choice is to remove the vehicle which permits individuals to act in an illegal manner.

[sakic]

No matter what the union says, the police department has the right and obligation to ticket their fellow officers. Any officer found to overlook a fellow officer breaking the law should be fired and brought up on charges.

[Thumper1960]

No matter what the union says, the police department has the right and obligation to ticket their fellow officers. Any officer found to overlook a fellow officer breaking the law should be fired and brought up on charges.

I agree. Any officer who who uses subjective criteria in a decision as to writing a ticket should be fired. Of course, the PBA would defend him in any such event. Thereby wasting court time, tax dollars and torching public goodwill towards the police departments.

No matter what the union says.......

Officers with a predilection to shading right and wrong have the "brotherhood" backing them up. The LEO community, being tight-ranked, defers to its own.

[Truth29]

A $5 fine?

Probably not. They are beyond that. There won't be even a token punishment. Only if the citizens won't tolerate this behavior on a wide scale will anything be done. It's not about the law. It is about power.

[sakic]

I'd love to see some of the politicians in that area asked questions about this publicly just to watch them squirm with fear that they might lose police support for their administrations.

[sakic]

It's precisely stories like this that make it difficult to believe anything cops say when another cop is accused of a serious crime. The Blue Wall of Silence would appear to be a permanent fixture.

[decimon]

"Stop right where you are! You know the score, pal. You're not cop, you're little people."

[Thumper1960]

Here in Pennsylvania, it has been reported that the Guv, "Fast Eddie" Rendell, of Demoncrat National Committee chairmanship infamy, had his personal limo clocked going 105+mph on the PA Turnpike nine times since last November. Red lights flashing and sirens wailing. The guv has State Police drivers. Of course, when one trooper gave chase on one occassion, the speeding guv's driver radioed to the pursuer that the limo was "Executive One". Guess what? Yup! Chase terminated and the zooming guv went on his merry way.

With such stories as that, and the under-reported special treatment the LEO community gives its own, and its political and social allies, is it any wonder that the common man has contempt for the law?

Such stories as these are a small snippet of why lawlessness and indifference grow. When those that rule and lord over us get their own house in order, the rest of us may feel we should join them. Until then, it's just another day at the anarchy ranch.

[coloradan]

The caste system continues its expansion.