A Cop Watcher Was Almost Killed by a Drunk Driver After Surveilling a DWI Checkpoint

Hey DO, just post audio of the interview

So I went down the cop watch rabbit hole on you tube and apparently these clowns dont understand how policing work.  They think our tax dollars are being wasted bc the cops pull people over for speeding and such.  Apparently they dont realize that every department has a traffic enforcement division whose whole job is traffic laws.    

What happened to the car that hit him? Not mentioned in either article.

Arlington is notorious for their "Safety Checkpoints" of which I have been through before, but we all know exactly what its about.  But is it really worth all the time and effort they put into it?  The one I went through had 6 cops, 2 in each lane checking licenses, insurance and inspections.  On top of that, they had numerous motorcycle cops and other police, blocking any U-turns and turn ins to neighborhood for at least a 1/2 mile back.  Then the cops they had in the parking lot, writing tickets and the towing companies towing cars with no insurance.  

There are no such thing as DWI checkpoints in Texas, there are safety checkpoints and they do them day and night, weekdays and weekends in Arlington. There are no refusal holidays and there was one from Saturday before thanksgiving to the Sunday after

@monkeypuncher All reporters get every story wrong.

The next time you are reading a story, remember what happened here.  It wasn't an exception -- it's the rule.

Reporters always get it wrong.

His own fb post said he was on the way home from cop watching.....

@ghkyluhhje Misandrist.

@ScottsMerkin That doesn't make any sense.  They could have a Department of Porn Watching and Masturbation, but it's still a waste of tax dollars to have cops sitting around watching porn and whacking it.

@ScottsMerkin

Thanks for taking one for the team, aka "Better you than me."

@ScottsMerkin

Did it generate sufficient revenue to cover the cost of the operation plus a 14% return on invested capital?

@monkeypuncher So he lied on his facebook page? I mean, here is his quote....

"So last night on my way home from cop watching a drunk driver was going around 100 mph and smashed into the back of me, I could not control the car , I went sideways, then flipped 3 times, hit a cement piller to stop my roll and put me in a ditch on The side of 287. I was 2 miles always from being home. I am incredible lucky to be breathing. I can't tell you how lucky I am to be alive."

Nothing in there about being at the store....apparently you don't know the story

@everlastingphelps ok phelps, way to be an idiot.  but they arent charged with watching porn, they are charged with enforcing traffic laws.  And while I believe that the 35 mph speed limit on a 6 lane road is beyond dumb, artificially low and set to make it easy to be caught speeding, they arent the ones who set the limit.  

@holmantx @ScottsMerkin Doesn't matter.  It generated overtime, which is all the cops care about.

@Joe.T what point?

@RonPaul @ScottsMerkin

Joe T. Clueless

@ghkyluhhje @everlastingphelps http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/misandrist

I wish you would go back to what the "founders intended" and just spewed your ignorance on broadsides posted in the town square and stayed off the internet.

@StarBuster They don't hire them to masturbate to it.

@ScottsMerkin @everlastingphelps I'm being an idiot?  Your position is, "well, if the government decides to do something, that means it isn't a waste of tax dollars."

@StarBuster Then they are doing a shitty job.  Get out on patrol and find the drunk drivers instead of sitting on their asses harassing innocent citizens in the hopes that the drunks will come to them.

@everlastingphelps @holmantx @ScottsMerkin

Now that's an ugly thing to say!

Like any perpetual motion machine, the cost to produce revenue must be surpassed by the revenue generated.  That includes a little overtime grease,

Otherwise we'll find our crime fighters in the same boat the BATF was in, having film an assault on a Branch Davidian Mt. Carmel compound as a publicity stunt in hopes of garnering their fair share of the finite law enforcement revenue pie.

What's next?  Seizing property on arrest then selling it for funding even if the charges are dismissed?

Who's gonna pay for the car wrecks while texting on the way to give a 'public' speech?

You're too hard, man.

@everlastingphelps @ScottsMerkin To carry it even further, a citizen-led 'Whack Watch' isn't going to do much to end the Porn and Masturbation Dept.  It would probably rake in great revenue on the internet, however.

You get Scott's point, I know you do.  If you want to end the wasteful, frivolous enforcement of stupid laws, repeal the laws.

@everlastingphelps you are purposefully misstating my position.  You know damn well traffic enforcement is standard in police departments across the country.  Im not saying they dont do things that waste tax dollars, but I dont really want people going 60 in 30 in my neighborhood or blasting through red lights and stop signs.  But if you want to defend cop block, feel free

@everlastingphelps @StarBuster I can support cops and still admit, a lot of what they are told to do/enforce is about revenue generation.  Prime example,  an Arlington cop pulled me over for going 7 over the speed limit, asked why I was speeding, told me to slow down and let me go.  That was to try and make the city safer.   

A Pantego officer, pulls my wife over for going 3 mph over the limit (not a school zone) and this was the interaction.  "License and insurance ma'am, Thank you.  Do you have any guns, drugs or anything illegal in the car I need to know about"  No she answers.  3 minutes later he comes back "Ma'am sign here please, this is not an admission of guilt, just verifying that you received notice of your court date 2 weeks from today, Thank you and have a nice day"

@StarBuster Then why does the city budget include millions of dollars for police overtime?

Arlington, the specific PD in this article, does in fact pay overtime.

http://www.arlingtontx.gov/pdf/police_management_study.pdf

 In January of 2002 the Chief advanced a “100 day plan” to focus on 2001 trends of increased response time with no corresponding increase in calls for service; an increase in crime, overtime, and time spent on calls with no corresponding increase in clearance rates. 

@holmantx @everlastingphelps

"What's next?  Seizing property on arrest then selling it for funding even if the charges are dismissed?"  

Pretty sure thats standard procedure here in Texas now, I think there was even a story or 2 here on UP about some smaller texas towns, confiscating cash, even small sums saying they believed they were being used for illegal purposes.

@ghkyluhhje @everlastingphelps It was coherent enough to illustrate the disjointed logic of your 'founders intended..' comment.

@RTGolden1 @everlastingphelps @ScottsMerkin Well, you got me there.  It's obvious to everyone that I've never advocated repealing a law.

@StarBuster Fuck safety.  Who grows up saying, "I want to be a cop so I'll have a safe job?"  

Checkpoints don't catch drunk drivers.  The simply don't work as well as patrols.  Any cop who picks his own personal safety over that of the People should turn in his badge.  That's not a hero, despite what cops like to flatter themselves with.

http://ktar.com/6/673539/Study-Says-DUI-Checkpoints-Ineffective

Checkpoints don't catch drunks and they don't reduce fatalities.  That means that the cops are shifting the danger from themselves (in the side of the road) to the general population (in increased DUI deaths.)  Real fucking noble, "hero."

Put in an application?  No thanks, I'll stick with the real danger and reward, not wearing a badge.

@ScottsMerkin @holmantx @everlastingphelps

I'm always the last to get the word.

@StarBuster The second officer has an illegal quota system he has to deal with and the first doesn't.

Stop with the bullshit.  We're all adults here and we know what's up.

@StarBuster Here's a 1 year quote:

http://www.arlingtontx.gov/budget/pdf/proposed_operatingbudget_FY2013.pdf

P149, they note a 10% reduction in police overtime.  How do you reduce overtime you aren't paying?  

Face it.  You're wrong, and you're peddling bullshit on purpose.  In your own denial, you admit that they pay overtime when you exceed 184hrs/28dys.  That's a 46 hour workweek before you hit overtime.

Cops get paid.  Cops get paid well.  Cops get overtime.  Cops get lots of overtime, and overtime is a significant part of the city budget everywhere, especially when they can point a Federal grant at it (like with DUI checkpoints.)

@StarBuster No, they aren't.

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Crashes/CrashesAlcohol.aspx

Seriously, do you actually check any of this or are you just a mindless drone parroting whatever the waste-of-space consultant the brass hired last squaked at you?