The real problem of drunken driving

Manchester Union Leader ^ | May 7, 2005 | John Doyle

[cajun-jack]

they might not get all of the money, but they get a sizable portion of it...sorry, i can't give u a url, so i guess you think i'm just a redneck that don't no nuthin...BS the cops nowadays are little shaved head nazi punks that are dying to shoot someone.

I told one of 'em the other day, "if you really like jacking with someone for slightly more than minimu wage, get a job at the return counter at wall-mart!!!!!!!!!

don't tell me i am a cop hater...was one for many years...these lil para military wannabees are not cops and never will be.

[Mad Dawg]

One town was so notorious for their speedtraps and roadblocks on the highway that Legislation was passed to limit their revenue raising ability by forbidding them to do traffic enforcement on the highway.

It's complex, I guess.

If police departments get fines, isn't that the responsibility of the voters in that municipality? If the arrests (for big stuff, like DWI/DUI) lead to big fines, isn't that the responsibility of the judges and the law-makers in that jurisdiction?

I got into this because early in the thread someone seemed to suggest that these stupid alcohol-related arrests were somehow the responsibility of the police And they made these arrests so they could make more money. Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems paranoid to me. The police don't write the laws or preside at trials. If they can fund themselves as is suggested, they didn't seize that power, it was given to them.

I think since police and deputies are, so to speak, the interface between a lot of laws (especially traffic laws) and the public. And when people are inconvenienced or more they blame, not the legislators giving the power to the police, or the judges applying the law in particular situations, but the officer who sees probable cause to make an arrest or issue a summons. It seems to me to be a way to avoid the responsibilities of citizenship in a representative republic.

But hey, now I know we're all nazi-punks who just want to shoot people, so I guess the issue is about as resolved as it's going to be.