Have a buddy in a neighboring county that is a Deputy Sheriff. A few years ago they got a new Sheriff, as a "Cost Saving" measure he disbanded the motorcycle unit.

A few months later the new Sheriff was telling the deputies they needed to write more tickets because their revenue was down. For the most part the patrol officers in cars were writing just as many tickets as they always had. The thing is the motor officers did pretty much nothing but write tickets all day. Get rid of them, put them in cars and make them respond to all the regular calls and you get less tickets written.

There are some other areas where motor officer excel too. Things like getting through traffic or patrolling limited access areas like parks.

 

I believe that there is one race, it's called the human race and we are all in this rat race we call life together. Problem is some humans believe that their agenda is all that matters. I have done a lot of really stupid stuff in my life and it's a miracle that I am still alive. I remember when I was a new driver how wonderful it felt to have that feeling freedom. And when I was too drunk to drive safely they would take your beer and follow you or park your car and take you home. People got sick and tired of being sick and tired, of people killing people driving drunk. Along came MADD, unfortunately it would not bring back those lost. Change came because people realized it was the right thing to do. As an older man now I sit at a stoplight and watch several cars running the red light and holding their phones. I see as we all do phones attached to people like they are an appendage that has "grown there". I spend a lot of time in a city that has red light cameras all over the place and constantly hear people bitch about getting a ticket in the mail. That red octagon sign that says STOP doesn't mean "slow to observe police", it means stop! Until the time comes that people raise enough hell, it won't change. I realize that know one wants to get busted for speeding or anything else, however I personally believe that it should hurt bad, really bad for driving offenses like driving distracted. We can have or make all kinds of laws but they have to be enforced to change anything. I only wish that the police on bikes and horses were back to work busting the offenders and making it hurt their pocketbooks or perhaps taking the license from habitual offenders. Yes, people would scream about their civil rights and we would all hear about it for some time. All that money from the offenders would fix a lot of roads and put more police on the road.
Excuse me officer, I just woke up and must've been dreaming.

 

I rode motors for 14 years and I often made this analogy when admin discussed reassigning traffic to patrol. If admin wants ticket production and collision reduction, the best tool for that is a motor. A cop trying to write tickets with a patrol car is hindered much the same way as a person who uses a wheel chair. You adapt but it's more difficult to get around. Motors can park anywhere and chase violators through heavy traffic that will frustrate and stymie a car cop. Car cops often see violators but they can't maneuver around to chase them. And car cops are tied up responding to calls for service, that last thing they want to do after running from call to call is to add to their workload by making a car stop.
If admin wants to get rid of motors because it's dangerous, then there is a problem with motor training.
As far as revenue generation, California limits cities to 10% of the fine revenue. Most of it goes to the counties and state.

 

Because of the $$$$$$$$$$$ lost in the cell phone market resulting from this, and the powerful lobbies which keep that from happening.

 

That and if you can talk you way out of a ticket from a motor cop you better go buy a lottery ticket because it's your lucky day.

 

On the face of it, this seems a bit counter intuitive. If the issue is distracted driving, wouldn't the motorcycle unit be more effective and efficient in finding these offenders and giving them a ticket? When I'm on my motorcycle, I can easily see these distracted drivers.

 

I read the article. Like too many "news" items today, there is no information in this article specifically linking the officer injuries to "distracted driving." Calm down, I AM NOT disputing that presumption!!!!

We are all far too familiar with the scenario. I would not be surprised at all to learn the increased injuries ARE due to it. But still, the article only alludes to it as a reason. It SAYs there were 15 injuries. It does not give a reason for ANY of them! It merely slips into the next sentence discussing the recent advent of "distracted driving," thus subtly suggesting the two are connected. There is not a sentence in that entire story citing even one incident of distracted driving leading to these crashes. For a reporter getting a story from the department, that would normally be a perfectly acceptable question for the Public Affairs Officer. Maybe it's just poor reporting, but it is not proof that it is any more dangerous to ride a motorcycle in St. Paul than... who knows?

What really grinds my gall is that despite all these laws against "distracted driving," the cops are excluded. They have one or more two-way radios, a computer, a cell phone (or several) and can operate all of them while driving waaaay over the speed limit. YES, I fully understand the reasons why and all that, but cops are still human beings. Don't believe all the BS about "special training" etc... Unless they have a vastly superior intelligence allowing them to better handle such multiple tasks - while performing an already dangerous activity - they are no (or little at least) different than anyone else.

 

I was thinking about this while sitting in traffic today. Since the article does not specify, I'm wondering if the "distracted drivers" are the motor officers???

With all the electronic gadgets cops use these days, it's become standard equipment. Yet motorcycles require more driver input than an automobile. More attention to what you're doing. More attention to the controls and just about everything else. All those gadgets in a cruiser have the added benefit of one hand typically being free. The ability to momentarily divert your attention at a screen or device with less chance of catastrophe. Your feet, rarely moving more than an inch or two. No danger of falling over!!! Yeah, maybe, just maybe, it's the officers duties that are causing too much distraction for bikes & horses instead of preoccupied people running over them??? I'd love to get some insight on that.