Posted on 12/11/2005 2:30:55 PM PST by elkfersupper
Edgewood / Tijeras area, just East of Albuquerque in central NM. Tijeras canyon is a chokepoint.
I also drive on business throughout central and eastern NM, and West Texas.
I was in fact "checkpointed" again Friday, 12/16/05. This one was my 20th-something
If you're on pavement in NM, you're going to find a checkpoint.
Sometimes, you don't even have to be on pavement, because we have numerous dirt or gravel state highways.
I prefer DAMM: DRIVERS Against Mad Mothers.
Hats off to you!
Just curious, how many younger officers in your department or that you are otherwise aware of share that sentiment?
Winston, is that you?
"One of the most important signs of the existence of a democracy is that when there is a knock at the door at 5 in the morning, one is completely certain that it is the milkman."-Winston Churchill
I'm not sure that will work anymore, since MADD seems to have total control over police, prosecutors, the judiciary, and legislators.
I generally get dismissed when I disclose that I will not vote to convict if the case involves roadblocks, undercover or ninja-suited police, or no-knock searches / late night forced entries.
Just a few things formerly known as "due process" and "presumption of innocence".
BTW, the erosion continues. From yesterday's Albuquerque Tribune:
"On Thursday, the New Mexico Supreme Court changed a Metro Court rule that had been cited as a major loophole in DWI cases.
Under previous rules, judges dismissed some cases if defense lawyers had not been able to interview witnesses before the trial."
Thank you for posting that.
Repeat this often.
It is unfortunate that we have to endure this level of surveilance.
All this gestapo yet NM still has per capita the highest DUI fatality rate
And one of the lowest per million vehicle miles driven.
But you see, MADD decides which permutation of the statistics to cite which makes every State the "worst" state in some category.
For years, Rhode Island was the "worst" State per million vehicle miles driven, but low in per capita.
The reason? High population density, not many miles of highway.
In my mind, it is all an exercise to accustom people to surrendering to authority every few miles, or whenever and wherever the authority decides.....then there's the revenue.
Well, it is a tiny department, for a very small town. There is the Chief, a man in his sixties; there is a fulltime officer and his K9; the human is 23 years old and his dog is three.... and there is myself ("reserve", i.e. "parttime"); getting awfully close to 40. We just hired another fulltime officer - a lady in her late 20's to handle juvenile and "women's" enforcement issues.
The chief is an old-school, small-town, good-ole-boy type of cop; does that tell you anything? In any case, our mayor is a youngish man, about 35, and he has severely reined-in the chief. The K9 handler and myself see things pretty much eye-to-eye, but he will (and does) write a traffic ticket at the drop of a hat. The "new" officer is a former social worker, and may weigh 120 pounds soaking wet. I don't know how she got through the academy (and rumor has it she barely did), but she IS a relative of a city councilman - which explains her presence on the payroll.
The county, on the other hand, has a stock of GREAT young officers! Our area is relatively peaceful and quiet, so the LEOs here have not developed that us-against-them mentality that seems to plague the larger departments.
Unfortunately, these days, Law Enforcement is attracting young kids still wet behind the ears; those with an inflated notion of their own importance, have a chip on their shoulder, or want to be J-Billy-Badass. Sad.
Nice to know there are still places like that in CONUS. I have been well on my way to thinking that I might have to spend my golden years in Panama or Costa Rica. At least they're honest about being a police state.
I invite you to NW Georgia: as long as you don't have small children that you HAVE to put in the publik skrewls, it is a wonderful place to live.
Low tax rates, friendly people that mind their own business, politicians no more crooked than average, and one of the best "sportsman friendly" states in the Nation.
A drunk 17 year old hispanic male (with 3 friends in his car) ran a stop sign westbound on East Moss (Chula Vista) and Melrose Ave. My wife was northbound on Melrose. The impact shoved my wife's car a full lane width west and wrapped the Saturn SW2 around the front of the drunk driver's car. The accident happened 3 blocks from my dad's home where I was visiting after a night at my 30th high school reunion.
I had only 5 payments left on the SW2. It only had 35,000 miles on it. The way we drive in Idaho, that may have last us another 10 years. We were due to drive home to Idaho the next morning. My wife was Ok, but we had to strip all of our luggage and personal effects from the car. I rented a car from Enterprise to drive home to Idaho. The drunk was convicted and won't be eligible for a driver's license until he is age 30. The insurance payoff was only for "current value" of the car. We purchased an F150 4x4 that will be paid off next year. Our family ended up with years of car payments again because of the dumbass drunk.
We lost five members of my high school class before graduation day. Two, Donna Cole and Jackie Brower, were in my German class. We had been friends for almost 5 years since my return to Chula Vista. They were killed in separate accidents a couple weeks apart. Head-on collisions caused by a drunk driver in the other car in both cases.
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