Hi, I have numerous friends in law enforcement, some with the largest police force in the country (you probably can guess what it is), and none of them want to have any activity unless they absolutely have to. All I hear is “what’s the point?”. One friend told me he’s not writing any more moving violations anymore because traffic court just isn’t worth it. One friend spent all night vouchering property and the moment he finished the guy came back to get his property back, so now he doesn’t want to arrest anymore. Can anyone relate with not wanting to do anything unless they absolutely have to?
Why even write Citations/Summonses or make arrests unless you have to?
r/AskLE
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Yeah, there are a ton of people in all lines of work that want to just do the minimum they have to do to get by.
It’s not unique to Law Enforcement.
I don’t get paid extra for writing 30 tickets instead of one, so why am i going to run every single plate i come across hoping to find an expired tag? To give myself an extra 3 hours of paperwork?
It’s better to just ticket the people who’s asking for it and leave it be.
Policing adjusted and adapted to useless prosecutors and overloaded judicial systems. For example, instead of citing a speeding violation, the stop is used to find more serious violations such as drugs, warrants, etc. Priorities change and the pendulum swings — and we’re seeing it swinging back now.
I dont think it comes as a surprise to anyone that police officers are also human. You get burnt out, and sick of your job just like everyone else does in every profession. There is a philosphy "why make mor ework for yourself?" – However we are also paid to proactively stop and prevent crime. This means making traffic stops, and doing things you dont necessarily feel like doing, but you have to. It comes iwth the territory, in police work asking "whats the point?" likely means this officer needs a vacation, or a different career path, but not all the time. When you work in a high call volume area, you are confronted everyday with the need to prioritize what you are going to do, such as arrest people or give someone a warning instead of a ticket. its all discretionary for the most part.
Something a mentor told me right when I started, ‘No one ever got fired for doing the bare minimum but plenty got fired for doing too much’
He was right. Admin will tell you to go out and be proactive and then write you up the moment you fuck up. Also, my city is full of really poor people. How is me writing a $300 minimum ticket going to help them? I prefer to just pull them over, talk to them, and if i sense that there’s more, I’ll dig. Otherwise, I let them go with a warning and tell them how much the tickets cost.
Your friends are what’s wrong with the job and should find new employment. Way too many people signed up for a job that requires you to summons or arrest someone and then decide they’re not going that. They’re no good to anyone. Especially the POs who do work and have to pick up their slack.
You don’t get cool stories sitting on your ass
I don’t give a shit what happens on the back end. Soft ass judges will do what they do. I’m going to keep doing my job.
You’re on your way to becoming “that guy,” that everyone hates, that ducks calls, and finds a way out of work.
I’m lucky if calls allow me to stop 2-3 vehicle per week. Then again, if someone didn’t commit a felony or any of the “shall arrest” misdemeanors they either get a citation for it or they go abt their day with no repercussions.