Because that’s the job. If the police want to be respected again, they need to earn it by proving they aren’t all what everyone believes them to be. Responding to criticism by ceasing to do the job is just earning more hatred.
> If the police want to be respected again, they need to earn it by proving they aren’t all what everyone believes them to be
And if they won’t—and continue to collect a paycheque—they should be fired for cause.
We did it in 1857 in New York, when the corrupt Municipal police were replaced by the Metropolitans, consolidating “the police in New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Westchester County (which then included The Bronx), under a Governor of New York-appointed board of commissioners” [1]. Perhaps Sacramento can repeat the feat.
Issuing parking citations is usually a low-risk task and if it's suddenly become one where you're likely to be assaulted then the job itself has changed. It's reasonable to complain about this.
Despite being called "parking cops", parking officers in most cities aren't like... cops. The employees complaining here aren't in the police union, they don't have police powers, and they don't have police pay or training.
In Oakland, we have empty cars with weeds growing under them from sitting in the same spot for over a year. When I've asked the city, they respond that their lots are full, or that they assumed someone was living in the car, despite any evidence of the later. I remember a time when being parked in a street sweeping area, or having missing registration was immediately caught with a hefty fine. I'm curious why the city no longer feels the need for this revenue, or that laws no longer need to be enforced. It's weird for me to miss law enforcement, but there is definitely a threshold where not enforcing the laws feels more arbitrary.
On a side note, if you mark a car as abandoned in SeeClickFix, people will show up and start dismantling the car searching for parts to hock before the city shows up. Interesting times.
San Jose has this same problem with abandoned vehicles. They will only do something if they can be classified as "blight". In practice that means the vehicle has to be so extensively damaged as to be inoperable. When I last looked into it, it was because they had grant money to clean up blight, but no budget for cleaning up abandoned vehicles otherwise. The towing and storage cost more than what they can usually recoup by fining the owner or by selling them for scrap.
This has resulted in things like my entire neighborhood being taken over by shady car dealerships using the streets for overflow that they can't fit on their lots. And so actual people end up finding other places to park, like on the sidewalk, or right in the middle of dead-end streets. I do see those getting ticketed occasionally, at least. Meanwhile the unregistered dealer inventory with no plates that are otherwise legally parked don't suffer any consequences.
> At Thursday’s rally, Mishan Schexnayder, a parking officer with SFMTA, told CBS News that she was assaulted after giving out a parking ticket two years ago. Schexnayder said after she put a citation under someone’s wiper, he followed her and punched her window, and glass from the window cut her eye.
Cascading lawlessness. That person should have not only had their license revoked, they should be in jail. Instead “SFMTA is pressing charges but the case is still pending.”
New York fired en masse and replaced its police in 1857, when the corrupt Municipal police were replaced by the Metropolitans, consolidating “the police in New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Westchester County (which then included The Bronx), under a Governor of New York-appointed board of commissioners” [1]. Perhaps Sacramento can repeat the feat.
The only thing stopping tens of thousands of genuine good upstanding citizens from permanently ending most of SFs' crime is the undeniable fact the SF police would be taken to task in arresting those good upstanding citizens for completely ridiculous and utter nonsense reasons like "murder."
Until the voters of SF realize what I'm describing isn't a crime, this will continue. That, or all the good people will be eradicated by criminals.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 55.9 ms ] threadI doubt traffic violations have decreased by this percentage. In San Jose it feels similar. Police just seem to be doing less.
As a police officer: Why risk your life to arrest someone who will immediately be released, all in the name of a citizenry that hates you (ACAB)?
And if they won’t—and continue to collect a paycheque—they should be fired for cause.
We did it in 1857 in New York, when the corrupt Municipal police were replaced by the Metropolitans, consolidating “the police in New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Westchester County (which then included The Bronx), under a Governor of New York-appointed board of commissioners” [1]. Perhaps Sacramento can repeat the feat.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_New_York_City...
On a side note, if you mark a car as abandoned in SeeClickFix, people will show up and start dismantling the car searching for parts to hock before the city shows up. Interesting times.
This has resulted in things like my entire neighborhood being taken over by shady car dealerships using the streets for overflow that they can't fit on their lots. And so actual people end up finding other places to park, like on the sidewalk, or right in the middle of dead-end streets. I do see those getting ticketed occasionally, at least. Meanwhile the unregistered dealer inventory with no plates that are otherwise legally parked don't suffer any consequences.
https://old.reddit.com/r/oakland/comments/1aq2rwt/fyi_abando...
Cascading lawlessness. That person should have not only had their license revoked, they should be in jail. Instead “SFMTA is pressing charges but the case is still pending.”
New York fired en masse and replaced its police in 1857, when the corrupt Municipal police were replaced by the Metropolitans, consolidating “the police in New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Westchester County (which then included The Bronx), under a Governor of New York-appointed board of commissioners” [1]. Perhaps Sacramento can repeat the feat.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_New_York_City...
The only thing stopping tens of thousands of genuine good upstanding citizens from permanently ending most of SFs' crime is the undeniable fact the SF police would be taken to task in arresting those good upstanding citizens for completely ridiculous and utter nonsense reasons like "murder."
Until the voters of SF realize what I'm describing isn't a crime, this will continue. That, or all the good people will be eradicated by criminals.
“Cascading lawlessness” is melodramatic moral panic