Police Chief Robert White being considered for Dallas job

Actually, it was only slightly tongue in cheek. I actually drive the posted speed limit in my cruiser (please note in my cruiser) because I have long recognized the fact that I am driving an exteremely visible "target" which draws the focus of others around it, unlike any other vehicle on the road. I also drive that speed to prove points I have made in the past that is angers just as many people who feel "rushed" and want to speed - it gives me great humor to see the moron behind me hitting his wheel in anger because he wont speed to pass. And I do, and will, speed to either pace speeders or to catch up with them when the radar gives me a good speed - however I give as many warnings as I do citations each week, so the burden to the citizen is minimal. Most of my tickets are given to those whose attititude earns them the ticket for their violation. If they are polite and respectful, I typically give warnings or equipment violations that can be easily fixed by their actions (expired tag etc).

I am serious about the car issue though, since this mayor made it a financial concern of the officers and placed a defined value on it in one of his many interviews, I have to say this, give me the money in salary and take the car away. PLEASE. I could use it to build my retirement, which is what will help my family in the long run.

But the take home cars DO give a visibile "enhancer" of numbers of officers on the street. You argument that cell phones mitigate that actually makes sence, until you look at the fact that MORE perople calling on incidents means more officers per shift are needed to respond. I don't know the exact number, and I will readily admit this, but at any given time the uniformed patrol divisions of LMPD have a total of 80 to 100 people patrolling the metro area. This means that there are 10 to 13 officers per shift, per division. That doesn't take into the fact that this is perfect world. I know for a fact that 3rd, 7th and 8th Divisions often run with 8-10 persons per shift and respond to HUGE geographic areas. One CO told me the 8th was somehting like 81 square miles of non-organized residential area and the 7th has somthing like 84 sguare miles... These divisions have beats that are larger than the old city boundaries of pre-merger Louisville, which has 800 officers patrolling...

Now those are my two cents...

With respect to the court appearances, if we had a REAL night court, that would help a lot. All that happens at night court is that they take pleas. If you want to actually challenge a ticket, it gets rolled to day court - which contributes to the problem. HOLD NIGHT COURT! And even better, if they want the cop there, put them on trial - no plea dealing once they subpoena the officer - which is how many jurisdictions do it. Write good complete citation narratives, as well.