Snark it! Snark it good!

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So, if we have any LEOs here, I'm truly sorry for this mini-rant. I would hope you don't treat people the way I was treated tonight. I had a flat tire when on my way to pick up my mom in town. I pull over on the entrance to the highway to check on the tire. As I turn on my hazard lights, I see a City officer drive past me, he slows down, and then just takes off. I call the city non-emergent number since it's already after sundown and I'm on the side of a double lane highway entrance and I asked if I could get an officer to come out and make sure I don't get hurt. I get told it isn't possible they are too busy, and to try calling the sheriff office. So I call the sheriff and get told that it isn't their jurisdiction and to call the city department. I told them I called them first, and they wouldn't/couldn't do anything. So, I get out and start working the jack, I see another officer across the street just looking at me. About 5 minutes later he leaves. I get passed by another officer within that time. I get the tire off, I'm getting the other tire on and I see ANOTHER officer back where the first officer was sitting, across the street in direct line of sight. I get the donut on, I get everything cleaned up, I get in the car and the battery is dead. Car won't start. I call non-emergent again and ask if the officer across the street can come give me a jump, I get told no. There is no "we can't do that anymore" or anything like that, just NO. So I call the sheriff and they tell me they can send the tow truck out however they are going to charge me $150 for the truck to come out, and more for the actual jump. I walk across the street to the officer that is sitting there and just ask him if he can help me out. He said no, cause of the new computers in the car and everything else they don't want to risk damaging the electronics from a jump. That to me seems like a perfectly reasonable answer "Sorry sir, we can't because of X,Y,Z" Not just "no unless you want to pay out the ass for it then we can send a truck out"
That officer asks if I have someone to call, I explain my dad is at the house, except he can't come get me cause he is disabled due to a traumatic brain injury. He asks where they live, I tell him the address (about 2.5 miles away) and he says "Well at least it isn't that far, you can walk it." On the walk to the house I get passed by another officer who just keeps on going.

This has left SUCH a bad taste in my mouth regarding police. I usually try to stay pretty positive regarding them. However tonight's experience, really pisses me off. On the side of ALL of their cars says "To Serve and Protect" apparently though it's only the city's coffers!
 
C-Bear -

That sounds like a really sucky evening. Whether or not the electronics could be dinged by jumping off another vehicle is beyond my experience. However, back when I was still running EMS calls, several of the deputies in my area carried those "booster boxes" that were basically just batteries with jumper cables attached and were good for a couple of jumps. They would use those for a quick jump for folks (if it worked and it wasn't some other problem with the car). They said they preferred using those to having to pop their hood and hook up cables.
 
the have stated many times, and supported by courts, that the duty to "serve and protect" doesn't really exist. the police can refuse to offer help. mostly, their job is to arrest and revenue. they have to justify their budgets just like any business.

that's not to say they don't do a great deal of good though "on the whole", and sometimes some great bad, but mostly be glad they leave you alone...
 
Holy crap Batman, last time I checked we were at page 36, and now it's page 46. You guys have been busy! Hope everyone is having a safe entry into the new year.
 
Chameleonbear said:
So, if we have any LEOs here, I'm truly sorry for this mini-rant. I would hope you don't treat people the way I was treated tonight. I had a flat tire when on my way to pick up my mom in town. I pull over on the entrance to the highway to check on the tire. As I turn on my hazard lights, I see a City officer drive past me, he slows down, and then just takes off. I call the city non-emergent number since it's already after sundown and I'm on the side of a double lane highway entrance and I asked if I could get an officer to come out and make sure I don't get hurt. I get told it isn't possible they are too busy, and to try calling the sheriff office. So I call the sheriff and get told that it isn't their jurisdiction and to call the city department. I told them I called them first, and they wouldn't/couldn't do anything. So, I get out and start working the jack, I see another officer across the street just looking at me. About 5 minutes later he leaves. I get passed by another officer within that time. I get the tire off, I'm getting the other tire on and I see ANOTHER officer back where the first officer was sitting, across the street in direct line of sight. I get the donut on, I get everything cleaned up, I get in the car and the battery is dead. Car won't start. I call non-emergent again and ask if the officer across the street can come give me a jump, I get told no. There is no "we can't do that anymore" or anything like that, just NO. So I call the sheriff and they tell me they can send the tow truck out however they are going to charge me $150 for the truck to come out, and more for the actual jump. I walk across the street to the officer that is sitting there and just ask him if he can help me out. He said no, cause of the new computers in the car and everything else they don't want to risk damaging the electronics from a jump. That to me seems like a perfectly reasonable answer "Sorry sir, we can't because of X,Y,Z" Not just "no unless you want to pay out the ass for it then we can send a truck out"
That officer asks if I have someone to call, I explain my dad is at the house, except he can't come get me cause he is disabled due to a traumatic brain injury. He asks where they live, I tell him the address (about 2.5 miles away) and he says "Well at least it isn't that far, you can walk it." On the walk to the house I get passed by another officer who just keeps on going.

This has left SUCH a bad taste in my mouth regarding police. I usually try to stay pretty positive regarding them. However tonight's experience, really pisses me off. On the side of ALL of their cars says "To Serve and Protect" apparently though it's only the city's coffers!
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear all that C-Bear, just glad you made it out safely.
 
Happy newyear to my all of my forumfriends.
C-Bear, that really sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. I can add that it's not different across the globe.
A couple of years ago, a friend of mine went to a concert. The large parking lot was "guarded" by police officers. They were mainly there in order to get traffic smoothly on and off the large parking lot. When my friend got back to the car with his friends (all but one were female friends, if I recall correctly), they realized they had a flat tire.
He was 14 back then and th eonly 18+ (and legally allowed to drive) was a young girl. No one knew how to change a tire so they went and asked an officer if he could help out a bit. He was very rude to them and said they should be able to do it themselves, and if they weren't gone from the parking lot in 40 minutes, the parking lot would be closed and the car would be stuck.
So they had to call someone's dad, that had to drive 25 minutes to come over, change the tire, and they were gone just in time...
 
To top it all off, my spare went flat when I was dropping it off. Yeah that kind of a day!

Apparently there is something different about today.

Ya'll got awfully close to that trip nines on this thread last night.
 
Hey Gus, I think I just saw you on TV. I'm watching Flashpoint... It's actually a pretty good show Apparently it's based and filmed in Toronto.
 
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