Dash cams tell the truth, cops lie

I'll see if I can find it - but one that turned the corner for me, was the officer camera on a truck driver that had rolled into a receiver in a 'somewhat residential' area, and somebody had called the police on him, as he had torn down a couple of fences and done some property damage along with it.

The LEO was pretty calm and polite - and then the driver launches out of the cab, grabs a screwdriver out of the drivers side pouch, and attacks the officer.

I think the LEO sustained neck injuries, may have been shots fired, like I said, I'll try to find it.

I put myself in the mind of the LEO - woke up in the morning, got his kids off to school and kissed his wife goodbye, went to work, got a call to check out some property damage, then all of a sudden, in seconds - he's in a fight for his life.

F that. I realize there's bad apples out there, there's worse apples in the trucking industry now (as I see it). I still maintain respect for another human doing their job as respectfully as they can tolerate.

 

Do you know what's a more dangerous job than a police officer? A truck driver. The statistics bear this out.

Where's our respect?

 

watch

Not sure if that's any better -

 

Trucker appreciation week. I don't mark it on my calendar.

It's my chosen profession, and pays at least double what LEO work for.

I don't have the constitution to perform the duties they do - I give them the respect they deserve as I perform tasks in a profession that I can responsibly handle. Many of them cannot do what I do, and I cannot do what they do. That's the line for me.

 

You only get what you give.

 

Did you mean 140 hours instead of only 40? That's how many hours our academy was in Texas.

40 hours is probably the amount of of continuing education that he has to complete per training cycle to maintain his license.

 

Same here. When I graduated the academy all the LE jobs I applied for paid a third of what I was making as a driver. And there are certain situations that peace officers have to deal with, involving cruelty to children and/or animals, where I'm not sure that I could maintain the standards of professional conduct that are required of peace officers.

So needless to say I decided to continue my career as a truck driver, and I'm 100% certain that it was the right choice for me.

 

Every state is different but it remains the point that it's not years of training. Lots of people who tell you to respect the police will also not respect doctors. It's just ironic to me. Thanks to dash cams and body cams we're finally seeing the extent of police corruption and it's pretty bad.

 

What you don't seem to understand is that it is indeed years of training. They have to do continuing education every year or two (depending on how each state structures its training units and training cycles) in order to maintain their license. Here in my state an officer has to complete 40 hours of CE per training unit which is 2 years in length. Above and beyond the hours requirement there are certain classes that they are all required to take.

And all of that becomes effective after they graduate from a 140 hour (minimum) academy; mine was a 2 year program.

 

You did the right thing.
Spent thirty-three years as a city officer. We had officers leave because of all the jobs that paid more. We had a local bartender turn down a job offer as they made more than the city would pay them.
Then the state pensions are changing. When I retired the state charged me about 1/3 of my pension for health care. It was free when I started. Three years after I retired the state dropped providing group health insurance. They told us when you are old enough go on Medicare. The problem is they never took out social security or for Medicare. I had to go back to work to finish earning enough quarters to qualify for social security and Medicare. I earned that but I fall under the WEP. WEP reduces my social security to the point it will not even cover the cost of Medicare part B.
As you mentioned the things you handle, see and have to do take their toll.