Mt friend Frank got me a job as a park patrolman with him on the NY State Park Police. We were on strike against NY Telephone Company (which lasted 7 months, a whole 'nother story) and he knew that I was looking and knew me well enough to vouch for me. This was a little before LEO certifications became the rule in NY, so I was hired, as was Frank, direct off the street based on my US Navy Shore Patrol experience and the fact that I was a member of my town's reserve police contingent.HK_USP_45 wrote:After 35 years in law enforcement, I can safely say I never gave anyone a ticket. They had to earn it. For 30 of those 35 years (the first five are not considered), I can safely say I never wrote a citation because I was mad. I always had my mind made up when I initiated the stop. There were times I moved from actual citation to warning but not the other way. Had a guy get out of his car cussing me and the city and anything else he could think of and I told him he was getting a warning because I wasn't going to let him force me into citing him because I was really mad. There needed to be at least one adult present.
This was primarily a summer job, full time, but short term, mostly filled by teachers on vacation or young guys working their way into "big city" departments and such, but the state was kind (or the Lieutenant) and kept us on after the summer season ended on Labor Day.
One day a very light rain was falling and Frank, who was usually a motor officer, was riding with me in the patrol car, when we spotted a carload of kids pulling out of the park maintenance shop in a Volkswagon convertible with a 16 foot fence rail sticking up out of the car. I lit them up and pulled them over after a slow speed chase, and then, in a scene that really in retrospect reminds me of Barney Fife, we approached the miscreants. The Barney Fife reference? Frank had a gun and I did not. NY State Park Police temps provided their own guns, and I did not have a NY State Pistol Permit and was not eligible for armed status.
When asked what they were doing taking the fence rail they turned into a car full of ACLU attorneys; "The air is free, the trees are free, this is part of a tree, therefore . . ." and every time one of them opened their mouths to argue, Frank found another reason to write them a ticket. All I did was cite them for failure to yield and failure to signal, both based on following them for a mile or so at 30mph with lights on, blowing the siren and gesturing for them to pull over, and them reacting by pointing at themselves and shrugging and waving us by.