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I don't understand this story. Why wouldn't the police do anything? If I'm an officer who's motivated by helping others, it's a clear way to do that. If I'm mot

I don't understand this story. Why wouldn't the police do anything? If I'm an officer who's motivated by helping others, it's a clear way to do that. If I'm motivated by a desire for justice, easy way to promote that. If I'm motivated by power, I can go take down the thieves and bring them down a notch. Perhaps one explanation is that the police get enough zany people calling in about enough zany things that they don't take any info from ordinary people seriously because it's that unreliable. But not sure if I even buy this explanation myself. Anybody with good knowledge of police workings have insight into why things happen like they do in the linked article?

tatterdemalion 12y ago
Most police are motivated by none of these things. Policing is a job. Depending on how career-oriented they are, they want to be promoted or they want not to be fired. And chasing down petty criminals that they probably don't have enough evidence to charge is not helping their stats, which is all that matters in either case.
- a3n 12y ago
  Although individual discretion probably has some influence, this seems more like a policy issue.
d4mi3n 12y ago
I have a friend who works in the records department of the San Mateo shariff's office. She's on the graveyard shift, which is slow, and they're constantly getting crazy calls about all manner of things. It wouldn't surprise me if there were policies or protocols around when reported information is considered actionable considering all the silly stories I've heard about loonies calling the local PD.
- jpatokal 12y ago
  I'm sure they do, but is "my iPhone was stolen, and the GPS tracker says it's at X" still a crazy call by a loonie in 2014?
- waterlesscloud 12y ago
  Long ago, living with my brother in an Atlanta suburb, his car was broken into and the stereo was stolen overnight. Before we even woke up in the morning, the police were knocking at our door. They'd caught the thieves, sitting in some office park parking lot at night with all their loot. The cops didn't know what they were up to, just that they were where no one was supposed to be, so they pulled up to talk to them. They arrested them and made them ride in the police car showing where they'd stolen everything from. All before my brother even knew it was stolen. They were convicted, my brother got his stereo back, and restitution checks that totaled more than the damage to his car. Life in suburbia does have benefits.
teddyh 12y ago
The police are motivated by being safe – actually dealing with criminals is dangerous, so the police are motivated to avoid them. http://www.cracked.com/article_21830_cops-wont-help-you-7-things-i-saw-as-real-slasher-victim.html http://www.cracked.com/article_21830_cops-wont-help-you-7-th...
- thesteamboat 12y ago
  Sure, the problem fundamentally boils down to this: what the police think their jobs are seems to be diverging from what the public at large think on many, many issues.
- freditup 12y ago
  That's a great Cracked article, one of my favorites. But one guy's perspective on a couple of cops in one specific incident is hardly conclusive. If being safety is what motivates you, there are more sensible career paths than policing.
  - teddyh 12y ago
    But there are no career paths that offer the same amount of power and authority at the lowest level as being a police officer does. That is a powerful attractor for the power hungry, but once they have the power, they have absolutely no incentive to risk their personal safety.
psychometry 12y ago
What incentive do the police have to actually help anyone? The police chief answers to the mayor, but everyone else in the department is pretty much unaccountable. Have a complaint about your PD's conduct? Great, fill out this complaint form so that they can file it away. Unfortunately, police work isn't really appealing to your typical idealist who wants to better his/her community, so appealing to officers' sense of morality/duty won't work. This line of work is much more attractive to former high school bullies who want to carry a service weapon and wield power. That and lazy civil servants who won't lift a finger unless it's for overtime. And the cream of the crop, those officers who rise in the ranks and guide department policy, are the ass-kissers who figure out how to make police work easier, not more effective. This story comes as no surprise to me.
- cafard 12y ago
  My interactions have generally been limited. Three or four traffic tickets, with a couple of warnings. An interview after I was held up at gunpoint, a conversation with a county cop who evaluated our townhouse for security. All, even the ones giving me tickets, were polite. I get the impression that the HN crowd interacts with those of who end up working as cops or firemen not a whole hell of a lot. Did you go to school with cops' and firemen's kids?

tatterdemalion 12y ago

Most police are motivated by none of these things. Policing is a job. Depending on how career-oriented they are, they want to be promoted or they want not to be fired. And chasing down petty criminals that they probably don't have enough evidence to charge is not helping their stats, which is all that matters in either case.

a3n 12y ago
Although individual discretion probably has some influence, this seems more like a policy issue.

d4mi3n 12y ago

I have a friend who works in the records department of the San Mateo shariff's office. She's on the graveyard shift, which is slow, and they're constantly getting crazy calls about all manner of things. It wouldn't surprise me if there were policies or protocols around when reported information is considered actionable considering all the silly stories I've heard about loonies calling the local PD.

jpatokal 12y ago
I'm sure they do, but is "my iPhone was stolen, and the GPS tracker says it's at X" still a crazy call by a loonie in 2014?
waterlesscloud 12y ago
Long ago, living with my brother in an Atlanta suburb, his car was broken into and the stereo was stolen overnight. Before we even woke up in the morning, the police were knocking at our door. They'd caught the thieves, sitting in some office park parking lot at night with all their loot. The cops didn't know what they were up to, just that they were where no one was supposed to be, so they pulled up to talk to them. They arrested them and made them ride in the police car showing where they'd stolen everything from. All before my brother even knew it was stolen. They were convicted, my brother got his stereo back, and restitution checks that totaled more than the damage to his car. Life in suburbia does have benefits.

teddyh 12y ago

The police are motivated by being safe – actually dealing with criminals is dangerous, so the police are motivated to avoid them. http://www.cracked.com/article_21830_cops-wont-help-you-7-things-i-saw-as-real-slasher-victim.html http://www.cracked.com/article_21830_cops-wont-help-you-7-th...

thesteamboat 12y ago
Sure, the problem fundamentally boils down to this: what the police think their jobs are seems to be diverging from what the public at large think on many, many issues.
freditup 12y ago
That's a great Cracked article, one of my favorites. But one guy's perspective on a couple of cops in one specific incident is hardly conclusive. If being safety is what motivates you, there are more sensible career paths than policing.
- teddyh 12y ago
  But there are no career paths that offer the same amount of power and authority at the lowest level as being a police officer does. That is a powerful attractor for the power hungry, but once they have the power, they have absolutely no incentive to risk their personal safety.

psychometry 12y ago

What incentive do the police have to actually help anyone? The police chief answers to the mayor, but everyone else in the department is pretty much unaccountable. Have a complaint about your PD's conduct? Great, fill out this complaint form so that they can file it away. Unfortunately, police work isn't really appealing to your typical idealist who wants to better his/her community, so appealing to officers' sense of morality/duty won't work. This line of work is much more attractive to former high school bullies who want to carry a service weapon and wield power. That and lazy civil servants who won't lift a finger unless it's for overtime. And the cream of the crop, those officers who rise in the ranks and guide department policy, are the ass-kissers who figure out how to make police work easier, not more effective. This story comes as no surprise to me.

cafard 12y ago
My interactions have generally been limited. Three or four traffic tickets, with a couple of warnings. An interview after I was held up at gunpoint, a conversation with a county cop who evaluated our townhouse for security. All, even the ones giving me tickets, were polite. I get the impression that the HN crowd interacts with those of who end up working as cops or firemen not a whole hell of a lot. Did you go to school with cops' and firemen's kids?