Sorry - gotta disagree. I understand the basic premise here, but I am sticking to my post. We aren’t talking about wholesale corporate buyout of law enforcement (Robocop, anyone?), but ads from local small businesses. There’s a difference - these will most likely be the same sort of companies that sponsor the little league teams. It’s not that big a deal.
Buying a car from a police auction doesn’t mean you’ll get extra protection. Buying tickets to the Policeman’s ball doesn’t entitle you to a hotline direct to the chief.
Police departments already turn to the private sector for different forms of funding, and nothing frightening has happened. Christ, let Jimmy’s bail bonds put up a sticker on officer Friendly’s bumper if it helps the department maintain their fleet. It’s all a matter of scope, and so far not worthy of much hand-wringing, IMO.
I’m thinking lard-assed cops aren’t the demographic - the ads will be for the people being arrested - more along the lines of
“If you can read this, your face is being slammed against the trunk of this cruiser. Did you really let these fat bastards catch you? Next time, drink join Johnny’s Gym!”
Hang on a minute, folks. Don’t forget that we are talking about the country where the senior local law enforcement officers are elected, for Chrissakes. (Sorry about all the blasphemy, I was just trying to keep in the (Holy) spirit of things with local terminology.)
As are the education boards. Creationism anyone? Applying British ideas of common sense does not work when discussing American habits.
[quote=“urodacus”]Hang on a minute, folks. Don’t forget that we are talking about the country where the senior local law enforcement officers are elected, for Chrissakes. (Sorry about all the blasphemy, I was just trying to keep in the (Holy) spirit of things with local terminology.)
As are the education boards. Creationism anyone? Applying British ideas of common sense does not work when discussing American habits.
:s[/quote]
Wha?? TC, Nama, Gao are all Americans. I myself am dual (mom is American, Dad is Canadian) so I reserve the authority to whine about everyone north of the Rio Grande. The reason I don’t put a flag under my name is because Canadian half wants to slap a Maple Leaf on everything I can touch, and my American half thinks its a wussie thing to do.
Anyway, back to beating this horse - it’s a quarter of the rear panel, it’s been done in other cities, and it’s an elected official’s attempt to keep the cruisers on the road. The sky isn’t going to fall, and the imaginary jack-booted corpo nazis aren’t going to be sweeping in with their black helicopters anytime soon.
So what happens when some DuPont factory blows a gasket and dumps 20,000 liters of green sludge into the local trout stream. The good folks of the town start picketing the plant, and the police come to keep the peace and keep an eye on things… only every car says, “Sponsored by DuPont”. Perception problem? Going to make it easier to maintain law and order?
It’s not about conspiracies. It’s about proper respect and support for public institutions to ensure that they function properly. When it comes to law enforcement and the judiciary, there shouldn’t even be a hint of undue influence. (And yes, election of those officials is troublesome.)
Hmm, well, we’ll have to see how the other cities in the US that have had ads put on the backs of the cruisers from their underfunded police departments have handled problems with the local DuPont factories.
Actually, could you look that up for me? I’m a little too busy building my rocket to knock the approaching asteroid safely out of the earth’s trajectory…seems the guidance system has been messed up with the Y2K bug…
Folks…lets keep in mind…Jaboney is a Canadian…and I believe this topic is about USA Police Departments…all his extrapolations, now into hypothetical non-reaction to a major chemical spill because of some sticker on a PD car, should be approached from this point of understanding.
And yes, IMO, this is a salient fact.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]Folks…lets keep in mind…Jaboney is a Canadian…and I believe this topic is about USA Police Departments…all his extrapolations, now into hypothetical non-reaction to a major chemical spill because of some sticker on a PD car, should be approached from this point of understanding.
And yes, IMO, this is a salient fact.[/quote]
TC,
You made a point of clearly qualifying that it was just your opinion --and obviously you are entitled to it-- but, respectfully, why do you think that where Jaboney comes from is salient here? I don’t see how it makes any difference.
Good point, JD. What if this Rodney King, and to be truthful all I remember was that he got beaten badly by cops . . is he still alive? Anyway, what if Rodney King gets like a lovely lump for his wongful beating, could he, and indeed should he be allowed to plop his sticker on the door saying, “watch these arseholes, they might hitcha. Been hit, call me for full pro bono legal work”?
If not why not, as they say in the undergrad world.
Well, I don’t know about all that HG. My thinking was that TC meant Jaboney’s knowledge of local US police forces was/is somewhat limited to CNN and Roscoe P Coaltrain.
That reminds me of the time I drove down to Mt. St. Helens with my sister. There’s a great interpretative center there, and one of the National Park staffers was speaking before a large crowd of tourists. Doing a great job of it too: very informative and well-presented.
He made one big mistake though: he spoke with a British accent.
Old fella next to me leaned over to his wife and friends to ask, in a voice not too different from Roscoe’s, “Whhy duh we needha foruhner tah come here undh tell us abhout ouhr mount’in?”
Gee, I don’t know: because training in the discipline yields a few insights?
That just applies to him, of course. Me, I’ll be sure to mind my own business till I’ve spent a few years south of the line. If I do that and get another post-graduate degree studying politics and governance, maybe I’ll be permitted to contribute. shit. Forgot about the French family name. Well, I guess that rules me out permanently.
Well, that’s all high and mighty like J, but what is your distrust not only of the (present) government of the US but apparently also its police forces based upon?
Ponch and John never kicked Rodney King’s ass. Hell, I only ever saw them once manhandle anyone. A deaf guy who raised his hands to block the sun so he could read John’s lips. John slapped him down. But, his daughter was hot for John, so everything worked out in the end.
Your points are well taken. I agree that this specific case yields more tackiness than corruption, but regardless I don’t want the police forming business relationships with individuals/entities they may one day end up investigating. Jaboney’s DuPont example was spot on.
High and mighty? How about trying to keep my nose above the nativist prattle?
Formal training provides specific knowledge and insight; Life on the ground provides different forms of the same. Both are valuable.
My posts all address the systemic problems of this kind of scheme; None discuss Roscoe, Rodney, or the big bad corrupt Man.
Distrust of the current administration and this strategy for partially funding the police are entirely separate issues.
My reasons for looking askance at this scheme have been stated.
Public law enforcement should not be seen to be beholden to private interests. It undermines trust in and respect for the institution, and that serves society poorly.
Public law enforcement should not be beholden to private interests, however slightly. The reasons are obvious, I think.
Money’s fungible. Bringing in more for cars frees up more for other uses: salaries for instance. What do you think? Why not? Would you have no problem with companies directly providing police salaries? But that’s a fair distance from what’s being discussed here… isn’t it? I don’t know… how much do a few fitted out police cars cost? What’s the annual salary for a beat cop who might make little more than minimum wage?
Here’s scenario to consider, from the realm of unintended consequences.
You’ve got a language school.
You’re having a problem with some punks hanging around on the street around your school: racing modified scooters up and down the street, the sidewalk… noisy, nasty, dirty, and maybe dangerous for your students, who might get clipped by one of these yahoos.
You call the police.
You’re an upstanding member of the community, a businessman, and they don’t like punks endangering kids.
They park a car or two outside your school for a few days, after which they put a drop box right outside your door, and start swinging by every hour to sign in and prove that they’re making the rounds.
And on every police car, sitting in front of your school, it reads: “GRAM ENGLISH”.
The parents are going to get edgy about the bad neighbourhood.
When they’re wondering if maybe they should change schools, the competition sponsoring the cops would provide a comforting image, wouldn’t it?
Damn, if I were running Gram, I’d sponsor the police, then I’d sponsor the punks to the tune of a half-sac of beer daily to blitz up and down in front of your school. Advertising on wheels. Maybe cheaper and more effective than those damnable blue trucks.
If I didn’t know better, I would say you use the “Foreigners shouldn’t comment on American policy” line whenever you find yourself unable to address their points.
[quote=“gao_bo_han”]TC,
If I didn’t know better, I would say you use the “Foreigners shouldn’t comment on American policy” line whenever you find yourself unable to address their points.
If I didn’t know better.[/quote]GBH -
Thats the easy come-back that doesn’t have much merit.
The USA isn’t perfect, never will be. But as is mentioned by other posters, there are those that use this lack of perfection as a constant prod to harp on the USA in any manner possible. Nothing new or uniques in their blather. “Yeah…we ain’t perfect…so what? We’re trying…wtf are you doing?”
JDSmith sums it up pretty well.
IMO, Jaboney is just an opportunist USA basher. Sometimes subtly…sometimes overtly. But thats just my opinion.
Kinda like those who see a 3 paragraph response and then pick out 1 sentence, use it out of context and build a reply to a position they construct from this. Classic diversion.
added:
Oh, and what points are you suggesting I’m avoiding response to? The fantasy extrapolations used to create bs positions? Sorry, not going to waste time or bandwidth on mental masturbation.
I addressed the topic in a pretty clear and substantive manner. No need to belabor the point.
I post what I think is true and correct…unless otherwise indicated…
