But what I want to know is this: What kind of person becomes a cop who can hand out $197 jay walking tickets. That's what I want to know. Who can put on that uniform everyday and sell his soul for a pay check. I don't get it.
I would not even be able to look myself in the mirror doing what these "good guys" do everyday. Hassling people and taking hard earned dollars for what? These union thugs are leeches on the back of society. Sure, a city council directs them to do this, I have no problem hating politicians, or hating the ambulance chasing lawyers in robes who back up the boys in blue.
At the end of the day if they couldn't find a special type of human blood sucking leech to do the job, then no tickets would or could be issued. Where do they find these people?
“And the crackdown is raising questions...”
I’d love to know who besides the New York Times is raising questions. Names, please?
“about whether the authorities are taking sides with the long-dominant automobile here at the very time when a pedestrian culture is taking off”
Translation: “When will the rubes in Los Angeles GET IT? Cars = bad. Filthy unpleasant uncomfortable inconvenient public transportation with the occasional Town Car hired for Going Out to Dinner = Good! Because that’s the way WE do it in New York and everyone wants to be like New York. WE don’t need to own a car so NO ONE needs to own a car! We don’t like cars, so no one gets to like cars!”
“What do you mean, the entire city of Los Angeles was built to accommodate an automobile-powered culture? And your people like it that way? That can’t be true. And even if it is, it’s only because you’re stupid. CHANGE IT. CHANGE IT NOW! THE PEDESTRIAN CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES IS TAKING OFF! REALLY! BECAUSE WE’RE NEW YORK AND WE SAY SO!!!”
I would have to ask myself - is there nothing better I could be doing as a law enforcement officer other than handing out jaywalking tickets? No other crimes in LA that need attention?
One day I was walking to a sandwich shop to get lunch. A bunch of morons were jaywalking across a busy street, texting away, and completely oblivious to their surroundings; so much so that they didn't realize that they were jaywalking in front of a Sheriff's deputy until he yelled "If you're gonna jaywalk, could you at least put down the phone?!" over his loudspeaker at them.
(My other pet peeve is bicyclists who can't figure out which side of the road is the right one; or that the sidewalk isn't part of the road. Twice last week I almost killed the same guy who was riding on the wrong side of the road, at night, with no lights.)