Police working to end violence, ease community fears

If you are working the west end or south end and having a difficult time making felony arrests, ask for somebody to teach you how or go out east. Somebody has to guard the gas stations and keep the coffee industry busy.

Look here boys and girls, it comes down to this as far as this no arrest misdemeanors B.S. The law doesn't say you cant arrest, it just means you have to word it right to meet the requirements. The power of the pen. No, Im not saying lie, Im saying word it as such to where it meets the arrest requirements and covers what needs to be done. Sometimes its like the old fishing story, you know the one where the fish was soooooo big!! What may be big to some may not be to others, bottom line is a fish was caught and how big depends on who's telling the story, and the preception of the incident. I mean whats the difference if I tell you to stop one time and you tell me to stop 2 times as far as reasonable instruction? Nobody's lying it's just how its written. I still do it when its needed and we all know that the misdemeanor stuff is what really keeps the thugs in check. I know some are gonna bash me for this but, it works.

And I trust the FOP (state and local) is rattling the cages of the legislators about it, right? They need to hear from law enforcement (and prosecutors) about why this is a problem.

The simple solution, though, is cite them, and then keep track, when they don't show up for court, go track them down on a bench warrant immediately. That you CAN arrest for.

It doesn't take much to be able to do a pat down. The worst ones are carrying illegal weapons much of the time. You have to be able to distinguish between the non-violent hoodlums and the more dangerous ones. This isn't about locking some guy up for a joint, but figuring out who the real bad guys are and building some rapport with those who aren't. The joint smoker you allow to walk away may have information on something more important later on. This isn't something you learn by reading the SOP manual or going to class at SPI. The department is sorely lacking in good practical training on how to be an effective officer in a violent neighborhood because they don't assign people to training or promote them for that reason. Some never go anywhere but the lower crime divisions or else they burn out and run to the nearest desk job before they get much experience. The blind can't lead the blind.