This is so alien to me

I grew up in Idaho and when I wasn’t residing there I lived in next door Washington. As I have reported before my interactions with and knowledge of local law enforcement have been what I considered very fair. And as I have also reported before that isn’t the case in New Jersey. And apparently it isn’t the case in New York City either:

When motorists see traffic-control officers breaking the same rules they are paid to enforce, it can send them over the edge.

Meet “Jimmy Justice,” one of those frustrated motorists.

But instead of railing against fate, he decided to do something about it. Taking camcorder in hand, he’s compiled nearly 30 hours of video — most of it accompanied by his own highly indignant commentary — of traffic enforcement officers parking in front of fire hydrants while going for lunch, making illegal U-turns, and breaking every other traffic rule in the city.

“The traffic cops in New York City are especially mean-spirited and very aggressive,” the 36-year-old video vigilante told TODAY’s David Gregory.

“Although they’re doing their jobs, they go over their bounds a lot. What hurts a lot more than getting a ticket — especially if you didn’t deserve a ticket — is watching the same person who gave you a ticket go and commit the same violation with their official vehicle. That’s just wrong. The whole goal of traffic enforcement is to increase safety in the city for pedestrians and motorists.”

[…]

Keeping his real identity secret is, he said, is a matter of self-defense

“I think there will definitely be reprisal attacks against me by different city agencies that I’m embarrassing by showing the public the truth,” he said.

Gregory asked Jimmy how he can be sure the officials he tapes are not on official police business.

“It’s pretty obvious if they park blocking a fire hydrant and then walk into a restaurant and then stand on line ordering their lunch,” he said. “That’s not doing their job, that’s ordering lunch. We’re not allowed to block a fire hydrant — it’s a matter of safety. What’s the difference if it’s my vehicle blocking a fire pump or the vehicle of a traffic enforcement agent?”

Is this just an “east coast thing”? Or is it because cops are the only ones who can legally possess firearms in public and they feel superior to the people that supply their paycheck?

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2 thoughts on “This is so alien to me

  1. I dunno – I saw a Pullman officer park illegally (at the top of a “T” intersection) in front of Taco del Mar, so that she could waddle inside to order lunch.

  2. Well, down here in Houston, Tx, I have noted similar habits by our local LEOs. Many/most of HPD’s cars have illegal window tint. According to big brother, it’s not safe for us to drive in a car if the front windows transmit less than 70%, and we aren’t allowed any tint on the windshield, except for a strip at the top, but I guess cops are just so much more equal that they can have dark tint on all the windows except the windshield, and at least some tint all over it. And I have seen HPD cars, and Harris county sheriff deputys or deputy constable cars run red lights, make illegal turns, park in fire lanes or even on sidewalks, and drive 20-30 miles above the speed limit (not just on the highway either) almost every day. In my experience with enforcement, some of them are pretty reasonable, others appear to be either inclined or assigned to maximize revenue enhancement and act accordingly, and once an HPD officer flat out lied and wrote me a ticket with multiple BS charges. Also I have seen more than one uniformed LEO in a POV driving extremely recklessly, and/or road rage type behavior. And now they have stoplight cameras at many intersections, for automatic electronic highway robbery. Many times I have wished that I was an internal affairs cop and could bust someone’s ass for pulling a stupid driving move in a cop car, or that I had a camera to record evidence.

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