Copwatch Invited for Ride-Along - Got Questions for a Keene Police Lt.?

[dalebert]

"Lauren Canario VOLUNTARILY enters a police car!"

And in other news, Hell froze over...

[Caleb]

Shane, a very real concern that I had with your department was my perception that the college students were treated as second class citizens, that they were singled out for enforcement. Granted, I got this perception by talking with college students, so its only anecdotal, but it does seem to be the perception of many at the college that greater scrutiny is applied to them than to the citizens at large.

[David]

Excellent post Kevin Dean.
Shane Maxfield, I believe the large part of the frustration, and paranoia is due to the inherit part of your job.  The police are the enforcement wing of gov't.  Every bad law, every minor and major tyranny is enforced by the police.  A ride along may reduce the paranoia, particularly as it relates to your police department, but it will not change the fact that your job requirements put you at odds with us. 
Eminent domain, parisitical levels of taxation, thousands of victimless crime laws, all are enforced by law enforcement. 
I realize you cannot change the laws, but please question them.  Ignore them when you can.   
I don't believe you are 'thugs', I just believe gov't to be a self-feeding cancer, and unfortunately you work for one of the many enforcement agencies. 

[FTL_Ian]

Some of my colleagues think I'm nuts.  Here goes.

Welcome, Shane.  Don't mind some of the trolls.  You can tell who they are by their karma, generally.  +1 karma to you for coming here!

I think the war on drugs is a clear failure

[FTL_Ian]

I think the war on drugs is a clear failure

Will you join LEAP?  You'd be the 2nd on-duty LEO in NH (maybe all of America) to do so.

[TackleTheWorld]

These from Lauren, again the replies are my own opinions:

This sounds like fun.  Jury's still out on that.

No really, I look forward to it.  I understand that you would be defensive when coming into a new environment. And you probably didn't notice that you are being sarcastic and flippant. It's because you are scared.  I know how that is. 
The same reason police yell orders instead of listening to distressed people.  Understandable, but unproductive.  I'd bet in your cruiser you'd be more relaxed and open. 

[highline]

Some of my colleagues think I'm nuts.  Here goes.

Welcome, Shane.  Don't mind some of the trolls.  You can tell who they are by their karma, generally.  +1 karma to you for coming here!

I think the war on drugs is a clear failure

Absolutely, Ian.   

It is great to meet others in law enforcement who are not afraid to speak the truth about this.

[FTL_Ian]

Maybe you and Van Wickler can meet up with him if he's interested.

[highline]

 an excellent idea sir. I do believe I shall call Keene PD tonight on my midnight shift and attempt to lure the good Lieutenant out with a free lunch

[Shane Maxfield]

Coconut,

That brings another question, what are your officers comfortable with us doing during a pullover? Is it acceptable to talk to the driver while you're processing whatever you need?  -  Different officers have different comfort levels, so I can't presume to speak for them on that.  However, as long as you're not going out of your way to directly interfere with what's going on you should be fine, and if you stay out of the road even better.  We're responsible for people's safety during the stop, and if you're out in the road the officer will probably tell you to move away.  You're also one more person he has to pay attention to, so that may make him nervous.  I've already told them you guys are out there to observe, and if you do your stuff civilly you won't have a problem.  I suspect the reason the drunk guys had issue with you the other night could be because there were three of you, all shooting from the same spot on the sidewalk, which made it appear you were just trying to be intimidating and obnoxious.  Just my opinion, mind you.  And yes, here in Keene you are safe coming out to shoot stuff alone, but I would caution you on your interactions with the KSC folk, as a lot of them, especially when drunk, look for reasons to hassle anyone.  And if they do hassle you, please don't be afraid to ask for a hand from us.  We work for you too.

You also haven't addressed why the guys are allowed to pull over and switch on their lights just to get me to ride over. However, thinking they "punked" me is completely wrong. I wouldn't be out if I wasn't enjoying the night, and I don't mind pedaling a few feet whether it's a legitimate stop or not.  -  That's not exactly the case nor was it our intention, I wish you would've asked me that night and I could have shown you what we were doing.  Long story short, as you know scrap metal prices are skyrocketing, so some people have gotten the idea to steal anything made of metal and sell it to scrappers.  It's usually copper (pipe and cable) that they take, lately it's steel.  The day before your CW thing kicked off we got zapped for over $8000 in storm grates stolen (yes, "they" pry them right out of the street).  Many of our grates have been partially paved over, so you can see when "they" are going for one because the blacktop on the edges is being pried and carved out.  Obviously, you as an avid biker knows what would happen if you bike (or jog or drive) onto one of these stormwater pits that has had the grate stolen...anyway we had been checking the ones on Main St. and some side streets.  I was the guy checking the one down near Wyman Way and, yes, when I saw you pedalling like mad to get down to me I hurried and finished my business and drove off.  Later on, when it looked like you guys were just hanging out near the Colonial, I told my guys to wait until they were a ways North or South, or on a side street to make car stops, to make you work for it.  And yes, that was me your friend overheard on foot talking about giving you a workout.  At that point we thought you guys were trying to make a nuisance out of yourselves and insert yourselves into car stops and such.  Sorry 'bout that, glad you enjoyed the night (except the end).


I'm surprised you remember that, and I'm thankful I got my bag back. Is there a procedure for opening a case to try and catch people that perpetrate small theft? because I never heard anything after that day, so I assume they got away with it.  -  I remember most folks I interact with.  Flag me down if you see me driving around tonight, I'll let you read the report...

[Jacobus]

I fear the police, though I break no major laws.  The few interactions I have had, in any context, were filled with anxiety.  I feel completely powerless and horrible for some time after.

I've tried smiling and being as nice as possible.  I've tried looking straight ahead and saying as little as possible.  Either way I stammer my words and feel humiliated.

Do you have any practices you would recommend for me to do on my next encounter?

[highline]

If I were on a car stop and the person filming me approached the vehicle I would ask them to back away and not have contact with the driver.  Film me till your hearts content - but I would be apprehensive to have an unknown third party getting involved with my stop.  I would advise CW members to steer clear of doing this.

I would even be happy to do an on-camera interview with the CW person after I clear the stop.      I would speak about the law the person violated, the action I took, etc.

I believe that CW can actually make our communities safer... because we have more people out there watching both us and people of the criminal element who would be stealing stuff. 

The Lieutenant is not kidding about the metal thefts.  In my jurisdiction we have had a TON of them.  Usually it is junkies who need $ to buy drugs.....   

[Shane Maxfield]

I fear the police, though I break no major laws.  The few interactions I have had, in any context, were filled with anxiety.  I feel completely powerless and horrible for some time after.

I've tried smiling and being as nice as possible.  I've tried looking straight ahead and saying as little as possible.  Either way I stammer my words and feel humiliated.

Do you have any practices you would recommend for me to do on my next encounter?

I'm really sorry you feel that way...you near Keene?  As for your next encounter, I'm not sure what you could do...the situation is almost doomed to be uptight, since the officer is probably somewhat rigid or stuffy, you're nervous, he can tell your nervous and is wondering why??  I, actually, would suggest that at the conclusion of whatever the next encounter is, you ask the officer if he has a minute or two to talk to you.  Then, ask him/her.  Hopefully they will take the time, and perhaps they'll relax a bit and you can see that they're human too.  Try that.

[Shane Maxfield]

do cops have to take urine or blood test to make sure they are not using drugs or drinking booze on the job?

if not, they should.

Kola

Some places require this I'm sure, Keene does not.  There have been some alcohol issues here in the past, we dealt with it pretty decisively.  Detecting drug use would be harder, and I personally wouldn't care if they piss-tested us periodically (did it a few times a year for 20yrs in the Marines)...however, the unions would squack like hell.  Our background process is pretty thorough, so we seem to be sifting out bad risks before we hire them.

[highline]

I am a firm believer that law enforcement officers should be subjected to random drug tests.  I believe it should be a state mandate.

As an active member of a police union I have absolutely no objection to this.  We should be held to a higher standard.