WOW!!!!!!!!!!

[nurkvinny]

I pay Pataskala taxes and am 100% ok with this. My definition of "up in arms" must be much different than OP's.

[BloodRed]

While I have no problem with responsible officers doing this, I do forsee people complaining about "bad" cops taking bribes and not collecting the fines due.

[TurboNova]

While I have no problem with responsible officers doing this, I do forsee people complaining about "bad" cops taking bribes and not collecting the fines due.

 

There are more checks and balances in place than that of taking a "bribe" Im sure the fine/court costs are assesed by Licking County Municipal courts and Pataskala PD cannot simply open the excel spreadsheet and delete Joe Blows name and fines due.

 

I guess some person could pay a shady cop a couple bucks to give them a pass from going to jail but the warrant/fine would still be active.

 

Its an order in with a payout, pd takes you to clerks office if you have enough money to pay the fine, they un-handcuff you. If you dont they just slate you at the county jail.

[KennyFKINPowerz]

My comments have nothing to do with my personal experiences, it's just a very basic business statement. Do we really expect or want our municipalities looking at people's personal situations when collecting on debts owed? There's no room for empathy only expectations of accountability. Don't get caught up in the drama of others, they wear big-boy pants when they do the crime, they need to man-up and pay the fine.

 

We pay police to serve and protect and yes, collecting fines like this is serviing. It's not going to put them in any different position when it comes to responding to Mary Joe's 911 call. They are either running radar, investigating other crimes, cruising the roads, etc.....no different. They get the call, they will respond. Help me understand how an emergency call is going to be affected any differently by their actions collecting vs doing anything else?

 

 

Now if you still have a concern, go thank the dead beats not paying their bills. Don't be mad at those trying to hold them even further accountable for making their bad situation worse and costing all of us more money and wasted time.

 

 

Don't know. Perhaps if they have the resources they will.

 

 

 

Yes. Dual role already outlined. Who better to go collect from a skipped out deadbeat.....an officer with authority and a gun for protection. Your anaology here makes no sense. Trash collectors have zero in common in terms of skills that makes them qualified or appropriate to devliver kids. A cop however is an excellent bill collector and meets all the requirements. It's no different than them serviing an arrest warrant only in this case the deadbeats are lucky they aren't and instead are just asking them to pay what they owe the city.

 

 

 

So you'll bring more people and paperwork and payroll into the mix thus eliminating the profitability in motion? Not smart. Again, police issue warrants all the time. This collection work is likely safer and easier and more profitable than the cops writing tickets on the freeway. Go to location, collect money, leave, profit.

 

 

 

90% of what a Pic-town cop does is revenue generation. Radar traps, parking tickets, etc....$100 from a deadbeat is no different.

 

 

 

ANYONE who doesn't pay a bill they are RESPONSIBLE for and KNOWINGLY skips out doing so is a fucking deadbeat or lazy ass or both. I personally pay my bills and any fines I get. Even if I fall on hard times, I won't skip out on my responsibilities. Like I said earlier, 99% of the deadbeats we're speaking of have cell phones, fancy shoes, watches drink or smoke. You can easily pick something for them to eliminate to pay the fines. They CHOOSE not to. Time for that shit to end.

 

Now if Blockbuster has police officers with legal authority and a gun to collect their customers late fees., then so be it. Last I checked they don't and the city does so the city in turn is using it's resources wisely and getting shit done. Good for all of us.

 

No its not a very basic business statement at all. You obviously have a skewed interpretation of how good business's operate if this is your logic.

 

Let me paint the scenario. Officer #1 and 2 are in the process of handcuffing and processing a person who failed to pay a stop sign ticket. Their response to the emergency call is delayed because they are in the middle of processing this extremely dangerous stop sign runner. It takes them 4 minutes longer to get to the cal. In the meantime the murder slipped out the back door 2 min prior to their arrival. Now I hope you can see.

 

So they are deadbeats and there is no room for error. The couldn't possibly be good upstanding citizens who received a red light camera citation in the mail in the middle of a move or something? In the meantime officers come busting in to their place of employment and causing issues with that persons employer over a simple misunderstanding.

 

Im not sure how your justifying what you are saying here. How is a police Officer trained in debt collection? Just like a trash man being trained as a Dr.

 

Try this on for size. Officer 1 and 2 spend 3 weeks tracking down someone for a traffic ticket. Each office makes say 20.00 an hour and it takes a total of say 12 hours over the course of these 3 weeks, here and there, following leads. Thats 240.00 per officer. So that is a combined total of 480.00 for the partners. The ticket is say 150.00 ticket. That is a loss of 330.00 of tax payers money.

Now we have a debt collection agency that takes 20% off the top. That is 30.00. Which leave a total of 120.00 to go towards the department Charger payments. And not a single department resource was used and the streets are safer from more red light runners .

That is sound business practice right there.

[TurboNova]

Well they are not going to go outside their juridiction which is pataskala, they may call cpd or the s.o to look at a specific address and if they are detained then pataskala will come pick them up. Not many hours at all will be lost in this effort, its not like they will be sitting in your driveway or having a swat call out with containment around your house. There are many trivial things police must do throughout the day that take away from "catching a murderer". Also they arent going to have every officer working on that shift working the same MM traffic warrant. Also have you ever read the "police beat" in pataskala paper, not much else is really going on.

[TTQ B4U]

No its not a very basic business statement at all. You obviously have a skewed interpretation of how good business's operate if this is your logic.

 

Let me paint the scenario. Officer #1 and 2 are in the process of handcuffing and processing a person who failed to pay a stop sign ticket. Their response to the emergency call is delayed because they are in the middle of processing this extremely dangerous stop sign runner. It takes them 4 minutes longer to get to the cal. In the meantime the murder slipped out the back door 2 min prior to their arrival. Now I hope you can see.

 

insert any scenerio you want, a cop on the streets is a cop on the streets no different if he's running radar, serving a warrant responding to another call or collecting from a deadbeat. Thier on the clock and available for a Mary Joe's call just the same. the response times will always vary, and if anything it's easier to walk away from collecting a fine than it is writing up a shoplifter. end of day if you want to blame responese time or costs on anyone, blame the deadbeat.

 

 

So they are deadbeats and there is no room for error. The couldn't possibly be good upstanding citizens who received a red light camera citation in the mail in the middle of a move or something? In the meantime officers come busting in to their place of employment and causing issues with that persons employer over a simple misunderstanding

.

 

a good upstanding citizen who decided NOT to pay their bill. in the middle of a move? give me a fucking break, they aren't knocking on the door of someone served 30 days ago. besides, if you don't pay your bill and a cop shows up at work, that's YOUR fault so oh well if you're embarrassed.

 

Im not sure how your justifying what you are saying here. How is a police Officer trained in debt collection? Just like a trash man being trained as a Dr.

 

They serve warrants which is the same thing...they track you down, have authority to do so and will go to the ends of the earth to get your signature. The only difference here is it's on a check not a copy of an arrest warrant. It's exactly in line with what they do.

 

Try this on for size. Officer 1 and 2 spend 3 weeks tracking down someone for a traffic ticket. Each office makes say 20.00 an hour and it takes a total of say 12 hours over the course of these 3 weeks, here and there, following leads. Thats 240.00 per officer. So that is a combined total of 480.00 for the partners. The ticket is say 150.00 ticket. That is a loss of 330.00 of tax payers money.

Now we have a debt collection agency that takes 20% off the top. That is 30.00. Which leave a total of 120.00 to go towards the department Charger payments. And not a single department resource was used and the streets are safer from more red light runners .

That is sound business practice right there.

 

Dude, I thought I typed a lot. ^^ again, inject whatever you want, if the broke dick bastards out there don't like it pay up and shut up. They aren't spending hours "tracking people down" they are going off a list of work and home for deadbeats and in the mean time 100% capable and able to take emergency calls. No need to involve a 3rd party collection agency and IMO it's much safer and more efficient.

[TTQ B4U]

Well they are not going to go outside their juridiction which is pataskala, they may call cpd or the s.o to look at a specific address and if they are detained then pataskala will come pick them up. Not many hours at all will be lost in this effort, its not like they will be sitting in your driveway or having a swat call out with containment around your house. There are many trivial things police must do throughout the day that take away from "catching a murderer". Also they arent going to have every officer working on that shift working the same MM traffic warrant. Also have you ever read the "police beat" in pataskala paper, not much else is really going on.

 

^^ the only really qualified person in this thread that can relate first hand. Thank you.

[Snowflake]

I pay Pataskala taxes and am 100% ok with this. My definition of "up in arms" must be much different than OP's.

 

 

I agree

 

 

 

Major thread fail on all kinds of level. Sounds like the OP has his mind made up about this. Its true that you cant change stupid.

[El Karacho1647545492]

Like many/all of the claims made in this thread, my OPINION is 100% made up on the spot and not based on any provable evidence or financial modeling.

 

However, if I were to characterize the typical person who gets up in arms about this sort of alleged "misuse" of taxpayer dollars, I would characterize them using the following unsubstantiated claims:

- They are the same people who, when observing a stationary officer checking speeds in a relatively safe zone, would say "why aren't those guys doing something useful, like catching criminals or collecting deadbeat's delinquent fines".

 

- They are also the same people who believe the police, when tasked with "stopping crime", should do so without bothering the citizens who may or may not be doing anything illegal, because 4th amendment that's why.

 

How exactly do you suggest police funds be spent? You don't think they should provide a public service to collect delinquent debts...I didn't read anything about special pay or hours for this, did you? I think it'd be foolish NOT to have people who are already on the city's clock. If it were as easy as telling police to "get out there and just stop crimes for once instead of all that other hullabaloo," there'd be 0 crime nationwide.

 

To the suggestion that was made regarding wage garnishment/suspension of welfare services...you think the people who won't pay these fines are all upstanding citizens? I think there's a good chance some will turn to illegal means to get the money, especially if the government gets in the business of garnishing wages. More wages go off the books, less tax revenue for police, crime goes up and policing goes down, and all of a sudden Pataskala is a shithole.

 

What a completely ridiculous thing to get all hot and bothered about.

[twistedfocus1647545489]

Pataskala is a shithole.

 

 

 

 

 

:gabe:

[Spidey2721]

just go pay your fine and be done with it.

[El Karacho1647545492]

:gabe:

 

youll never hear me dispute that I said that.

[BIG_brother1647545517]

I see no problem here. You dont pay a ticket, so now theyre collecting. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

x2

[nurkvinny]

BTW, I have had to call the PPD before for a guy hitting his gf and kicking random cars at Krogers. They were there in 3 minutes and had to leave a traffic stop to respond. Why would someone think it would take any longer or any shorter for a cop to respond to a real emergency if they were writing a speeding ticket or if they were serving debt papers to a deadbeat?

 

The more people that are finally held responsible for their debts, the better.

 

Kudos.

 

Would this work in Columbus or Chicago or Pittsburgh? Who knows. I think it will work just fine here.

[Avenger1647545502]

Pataskala got those Chargers for CHEAP too...and they offset some of the cost by finally selling off those MP5s that Chief Wilson bought back in the 90s.

[jeffro]

ITT: John vs Tim

[TTQ B4U]

ITT: John vs Tim

 

:gabe:

 

 

http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/image/145241729/original.jpg

[Drewhop]

We have a system on our repo vehicle that scans plates when driving down a street. It checks the plate number against a data base and even if I dont have a repo order I can get one within minutes.

 

I dont know if police use a system like this but would be great on patrol cars to assist in fine collection in the future.

[TTQ B4U]

We have a system on our repo vehicle that scans plates when driving down a street. It checks the plate number against a data base and even if I dont have a repo order I can get one within minutes.

 

I dont know if police use a system like this but would be great on patrol cars to assist in fine collection in the future.

 

 

You've never seen the cameras on LEO vehicles? Really? Most of the Sheriffs and many of the CPD vehicles have them on the back so that they can scan traffic in both directions. They cruze parking lots, streets, etc...and it runs plates for them against a slew of violations from expired tags to stolen vehicles.

 

Here's an example set up to scan traffic in both directions, two cameras on one side, one on the other. CPD and FCS are set up the same.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_y7NgL5zbq3U/TER5EIjZ20I/AAAAAAAAAtk/8tbGe_LcJU4/s1600/0710_platereader2.jpg

[Mensan]

Regardless of anyone's opinion of this matter, what is being done boils down to debt collection. It matters not to whom the debt is owed, anyone collecting a debt is obligated to do so under the regulations put in place by the federal government, 15 USC 1692. Pataskala must follow these laws. From what I have read, it appears they are not. That is unacceptable. Police departments and the court system are NOT above the law.

[KennyFKINPowerz]

insert any scenerio you want, a cop on the streets is a cop on the streets no different if he's running radar, serving a warrant responding to another call or collecting from a deadbeat. Thier on the clock and available for a Mary Joe's call just the same. the response times will always vary, and if anything it's easier to walk away from collecting a fine than it is writing up a shoplifter. end of day if you want to blame responese time or costs on anyone, blame the deadbeat.

 

 

.

 

a good upstanding citizen who decided NOT to pay their bill. in the middle of a move? give me a fucking break, they aren't knocking on the door of someone served 30 days ago. besides, if you don't pay your bill and a cop shows up at work, that's YOUR fault so oh well if you're embarrassed.

 

 

 

They serve warrants which is the same thing...they track you down, have authority to do so and will go to the ends of the earth to get your signature. The only difference here is it's on a check not a copy of an arrest warrant. It's exactly in line with what they do.

 

 

 

Dude, I thought I typed a lot. ^^ again, inject whatever you want, if the broke dick bastards out there don't like it pay up and shut up. They aren't spending hours "tracking people down" they are going off a list of work and home for deadbeats and in the mean time 100% capable and able to take emergency calls. No need to involve a 3rd party collection agency and IMO it's much safer and more efficient.

 

How can you possibly argue that they are all deadbeats? You must just be that great of a person Seriously though, there are so many scenarios that you can paint one way or the other but that does not make all of those individuals deadbeats. You have no idea what their situation is. How the fuck do you know if they are spending hours tracking people down? Everything you are arguing is pure speculation on your end. Plain and simple, I have a problem with this practice and I dont believe officers should be collecting debts. This stems from a money hungry department. 99% of departments do not do this and there is a reason why. Im sure if you asked these officers what they think about having to do this, they would say it is BS. I have been through the academy and they dont teach debt collection there.

[TTQ B4U]

How can you possibly argue that they are all deadbeats?

 

Simple, if you don't pay debts incurred by your own doing, there are no excuses, you pay or by my own declaration, you're a deadbeat. If you want to lump in the 1% that move and lose a bill, etc...then I'll call them dumb-beats. Dumbasses that can't manage their affairs combined with deadbeats that don't care. Either way, not our problem or concern. Pay up.

 

Seriously though, there are so many scenarios that you can paint one way or the other but that does not make all of those individuals deadbeats. You have no idea what their situation is.

 

Again, real simple; that noise/drama is not the a factor in collecting money rightfully owed. Sorry, I'm only empathetic to a point but in the case of why, It really doesn't matter. Remove the word deadbeats if it makes you feel better. Bottom line is none of their personal baggage matters. We don't have time for that as a society.

 

How the fuck do you know if they are spending hours tracking people down? Everything you are arguing is pure speculation on your end

.

 

See my post above about the only qualified person here making a comment. I'll let you figure out what his line of work is. Hint, Hint, he knows better than any of us. Now my reasons for specutlation are I know the process for serving a warrant and it's not time consuming. Regardless, I've pointed out that their driving to home or work of someone owing the city money doesn't change their response time or impact the citizens one bit. They are on the job ready to roll regardless.

 

Plain and simple, I have a problem with this practice and I dont believe officers should be collecting debts. This stems from a money hungry department. 99% of departments do not do this and there is a reason why

.

 

All municipalities and even their cititzens are money hungry. Collecting debt and profiting from those that don't abide by the laws is not a negative thing. I'd have an even bigger problem if the city didn't take proactive action to collect. So again, money hungry is not a bad thing. We can agree to disagree on the resources used. I've proven my points multiple times on police being good to use and the public response times not being impacted. We don't need to bring in a third party collection agency and pay them 20% or more to do what already employed public servants can do.

 

There's also a value in having these deadbeats be confronted by a LEO at work. Much higher impact value than having a collection call that they will likely continue to blow off occur. I'll bet you $5 they won't fucking skip on a parking ticket again if they suffer the embarrasement of a cop showing up at their job to collect the money. That makes a statement and is worth any delta in cost that is likely minimal anyway.

 

Im sure if you asked these officers what they think about having to do this, they would say it is BS. I have been through the academy and they dont teach debt collection there.

 

Fact is their opinion doesn't serve a value when it comes to how to financially run the city. They are employees to serve and protect, this is part of the expectations put upon them now. They have an option of finding another line of work if they truely don't want to do it.

[jeffro]

We have a system on our repo vehicle that scans plates when driving down a street. It checks the plate number against a data base and even if I dont have a repo order I can get one within minutes.

 

I dont know if police use a system like this but would be great on patrol cars to assist in fine collection in the future.

 

Seriously? Thats crazy.

[KennyFKINPowerz]

Simple, if you don't pay debts incurred by your own doing, there are no excuses, you pay or by my own declaration, you're a deadbeat. If you want to lump in the 1% that move and lose a bill, etc...then I'll call them dumb-beats. Dumbasses that can't manage their affairs combined with deadbeats that don't care. Either way, not our problem or concern. Pay up.

 

 

 

Again, real simple; that noise/drama is not the a factor in collecting money rightfully owed. Sorry, I'm only empathetic to a point but in the case of why, It really doesn't matter. Remove the word deadbeats if it makes you feel better. Bottom line is none of their personal baggage matters. We don't have time for that as a society.

 

.

 

See my post above about the only qualified person here making a comment. I'll let you figure out what his line of work is. Hint, Hint, he knows better than any of us. Now my reasons for specutlation are I know the process for serving a warrant and it's not time consuming. Regardless, I've pointed out that their driving to home or work of someone owing the city money doesn't change their response time or impact the citizens one bit. They are on the job ready to roll regardless.

 

.

 

All municipalities and even their cititzens are money hungry. Collecting debt and profiting from those that don't abide by the laws is not a negative thing. I'd have an even bigger problem if the city didn't take proactive action to collect. So again, money hungry is not a bad thing. We can agree to disagree on the resources used. I've proven my points multiple times on police being good to use and the public response times not being impacted. We don't need to bring in a third party collection agency and pay them 20% or more to do what already employed public servants can do.

 

There's also a value in having these deadbeats be confronted by a LEO at work. Much higher impact value than having a collection call that they will likely continue to blow off occur. I'll bet you $5 they won't fucking skip on a parking ticket again if they suffer the embarrasement of a cop showing up at their job to collect the money. That makes a statement and is worth any delta in cost that is likely minimal anyway.

 

 

 

Fact is their opinion doesn't serve a value when it comes to how to financially run the city. They are employees to serve and protect, this is part of the expectations put upon them now. They have an option of finding another line of work if they truely don't want to do it.

 

Well it must be nice for life to be so cut in dry in your world because that's not usually the case for most people. There is a very large gray area in life and that is where most people live. If that is really your reasoning, then what about people who are laid off and cant pay their bills or people who have a medical condition that has sidelined them and they cant pay their bills. Are those people deadbeats as well?

 

Im not arguing that all of these people are good honest upstanding citizens. But I am sure there are a percentage of them that are. And what about the case where Pataskala has made a mistake and now you have officers storming in to your place of employment looking for you. And in most cases its not going to be cleared up there. Your probably gonna be arrested at your job and it will have to be cleared up through the Clerk of courts. If you look at one of the responses on 10tv's site. Pataskala has made that mistake in the past. What kind of damage is that going to do to your employment? Some employers dont want that negative publicity so there is the possibility of losing your job because of this.

 

And yes noise/drama is a big factor in collecting money owed. There are federal laws in place that debt collectors must follow.

 

Actually serving a warrant can be very time consuming especially if it involves an arrest. Do you have any idea of the paperwork that is involved?

 

Maybe you need to go on a ride along and see the impact that things like paperwork and administrative tasks has on response time. If your pulling officers off the streets so to speak to do this, then there are not as many officers available which DO impact response times.

 

Again I have never argued the fact that the city should not collect on these debts. I have argued that I dont believe Police Officers should be doing the debt collection.

 

Going along with your reasoning, Police Officers should be doing maintenance on city sewer systems while they are at it to since they are public servants and already on the payroll.

 

Your vision on an embarrassment at the job does not fly either. Not in today's world. As sensitive and politically correct as everyone has to be now days. It will take 1 mistake or 1 person to loose their job over something like this and who gets to pay for that when the PD gets sued?

 

You say the expectation if for them to serve and protect and to take on these additional roles but I guarantee that it will be the other way around in different situations. How many times have we heard many people say, including officers, that its not an officers job to help change a tire or help move a broken down car out of the way?

[TTQ B4U]

Well it must be nice for life to be so cut in dry in your world because that's not usually the case for most people. There is a very large gray area in life and that is where most people live. If that is really your reasoning, then what about people who are laid off and cant pay their bills or people who have a medical condition that has sidelined them and they cant pay their bills. Are those people deadbeats as well?

 

You're injecting way too much emotion into the situation. This isn''t about emotion. Rules are rules and responsibilities are black and white. The gray area that you mention surrounds all of us in life but it doesn't cover up or negate the fact that people need to put priorities in place and honestly, if they are strapped for cash, then they should be going around putting themselves in these situations. Take responsibility in life, act responsibly and don't pull this bullshit when it's your turn to pay. This shit doesn't just happen to them it happens because of them. I'm sorry I'm so blunt. I empathize only so far. Being laid off or sick doesn't negate the importance of acting responsibly and avoiding the ticket or fine nor does it serve as a crutch to not pay the bill when it's due. Sorry. That's life.

 

Im not arguing that all of these people are good honest upstanding citizens. But I am sure there are a percentage of them that are

.

 

To you're point I'll the percentage you speak of as good honest people lack something of what counts when they go around not paying their fines. They may be nice but they are not honest if they drive the city to extremes to collect a fine they themselves are not being responsible for paying. Agian, I don't have sympathy there and you won't change that.

 

And what about the case where Pataskala has made a mistake and now you have officers storming in to your place of employment looking for you. And in most cases its not going to be cleared up there. Your probably gonna be arrested at your job and it will have to be cleared up through the Clerk of courts.

 

The likelihood of that is very slim to none. By the time the collections reaches this point, I think it's pretty fair to say they have exhausted all means to get the money from these people and know who they are and where they are. I've yet to see anyone knock on my door demanding I pay a bill that I didn't incur. Sure, I've gotten a collection call for someone with my same last name, but never a knock on my door. In the very slim chance in hell it happens, oh well. Again, that's life. Cities can't operate on the premise of avoiding the rare instances or operate on exceptions.

 

If you look at one of the responses on 10tv's site. Pataskala has made that mistake in the past. What kind of damage is that going to do to your employment? Some employers dont want that negative publicity so there is the possibility of losing your job because of this.

 

The comments on their site and yahoo and other "public" hold very little credibility with me. If a cop showed up at my job right now today to clarify a business matter it would be pretty easy to work through. There's no "publicity" other than a little bit of rumor mill BS. In my case my boss would say it was likely Tim Speeding down 270 and the cop finally caught up :gabe: If there's even a shade of something really being wrong, then that's on me for having that "shade" of perception in other peoples mind. AGain, depends on what image and life you lead. For me, not a worry in the world. To others that possibly could have a worry, then they likely brought that on themselves.

 

And yes noise/drama is a big factor in collecting money owed. There are federal laws in place that debt collectors must follow

.

 

Not here. If you don't pay parking tickets or traffic fines, etc....I say have at it. THe BS that debt collectors must follow is exactly that...BS. I hope the city found a way around all of it. Efficient collection and move on.

 

Actually serving a warrant can be very time consuming especially if it involves an arrest. Do you have any idea of the paperwork that is involved?

 

My wife worked for the prosecutors office and I've had plenty of experience with the legal system including ride alongs. That's not what we're talking here. Simple show up, collect money and or process the debtor into the system as noramlly would be done by an LEO.

 

Maybe you need to go on a ride along and see the impact that things like paperwork and administrative tasks has on response time. If your pulling officers off the streets so to speak to do this, then there are not as many officers available which DO impact response times.

 

Been there done that many times. I worked in IT and have been behind the scenes of the processes and systems invovled too. However, again, this is simple collections not arresting of every single person involved. If that was the case, there would be a task force involved liken when they go around rounding up all the deadbeat dads.

 

Again I have never argued the fact that the city should not collect on these debts. I have argued that I dont believe Police Officers should be doing the debt collection.

 

and you've done a fine job. the 10tv.com board posters would be proud.

 

Going along with your reasoning, Police Officers should be doing maintenance on city sewer systems while they are at it to since they are public servants and already on the payroll.

 

Perhaps, but right now we don't need them to do that as their skill set and authority and impact of showing up to collect a debt is all we really need them for now.

Your vision on an embarrassment at the job does not fly either. Not in today's world. As sensitive and politically correct as everyone has to be now days. It will take 1 mistake or 1 person to loose their job over something like this and who gets to pay for that when the PD gets sued?

 

There's no greater exposure to the police making a mistake here than any ohter situation they are involved in during the course of their days. They could easily come to my work assuming they are arresting a guy in a similar vehicle with a plate simliar to mine. Again, odds are slim and no greater than any other task in their daily routine. To effectively sue and win a case just as in any other situation that faces them, there would have to be proof of negligence on their part.

 

You say the expectation if for them to serve and protect and to take on these additional roles but I guarantee that it will be the other way around in different situations. How many times have we heard many people say, including officers, that its not an officers job to help change a tire or help move a broken down car out of the way?

 

Again, what people way about their role while on the job means nothing. They don't get their directives and key job accountabilities from what you or I say or what posters on 10tv think. Noise, that's all that the spewing of opinions on them is.