Respect for all police officers

[patrol 105]

Why is it that University Police Officers do not get the same respect as a city or county police officer. University police officer go through the same training as any other police officers. I work in a county where there is a small University police dept and I have to tell you these guys really know there stuff. But why is it that citizens don't think that campus cops can do anything. The guys that I talk to that work at the University say that some of the county cops don't respect them as well. The sad thing is that some of the campus cops know more than the county officers.
I was just wondering what the difference is because to me a cop is a cop and we all should look out for each other.

[webjeep]

Hmm, let me see...

Typical night for a U cop - coffee, building check, run code to an alarm, lock the library, another building check, another building check, stand on the university lawn and watch the city officers fighting some asswipe who just beat up a university student and stole his wallet, lock another library, run code to another alarm, check a few more buldings, go home, on a really busy day direct some traffic for a football/basketball game.

City cop - coffee, get some dope, talk to some people in the neighborhood, hook a suspended driver, DUI, domestic, scarf some nasty chow, domestic, foot pursuit, interview a rape victim, process a B&E, more coffee, write all your reports, tell some student's parents where the university is, head back to the PD to end shift, but get a call for shots fired with a man down and get held over for six hours. On a bad day direct some traffic for a stupid university football/basketball game.

Knowledge is one thing, but if it is not used it decays. I certainly do not want to speak ill of university/college cops, and I give them the same love I do all other cops unless they prove to me they are unworthy.

[webjeep]

oops duplicate

[patrol 105]

So do you think this is the daily things that go on for all University cops or just the ones in the Charlottesville area. I know the ones in our area work side by side with us and do the same things we do. They get the DUI the suspended license etc., but I guess everywhere is different.

[webjeep]

Again, no disresepect, and I'm not saying that this is typical everywhere, but I have worked in or near a couple of college towns... I think politics plays a large role in how U cops do their jobs as well. If a locality is primarily supported by income driven from the college and affiliates, then the U cops probably are not going to be encouraged to be proactive. Simple economics

Someone in the neighborhood I work can get robbed and shot and you may or may not see something on the news, or maybe even read about it in a three line blip on page twelve of the paper. However, if a university student were to get ripped off trying to buy some dope he suddenly becomes the victim of the century, the story (minus the fact that he was trying to buy dope) will run every ten minutes on the local channels and be on page one of the paper. Kinda skewed.

[joe.p]

originally posted by joe on 8-30-05

[That Guy]

Let me ask a campus officer this,
After stopping me for a medical illness, and was willing to help,after the campus police found a city officer card in my wallet and F.O.P sticker in my vehicle window then charge me with several traffic citations including D.U.I.. There is some resentment between these officer's and i paid the price because i was related to a city officer.I was arrested after a supervisor pulled the card from out of my wallet and began to wave the card to the arresting officer to capture his attention. Mr. campus police i just thought i would let you know that i have lost my job, my home is next and i can not support my four children. So the next time a campus officer arrest some one for being related to a city cop just because he feels that he's treated different by other dept police think of what your doing to that person and the family he supports.

Your post is just one big long rant/run-on sentance. Are you saying that because the Univ. cop hooked you for DUI it was HIS FAULT YOU lost YOUR job???
If you were indeed DUI that is YOUR FAULT, don't come on the boards with your first post blaming them for YOUR mistake.

TGY

[DETSGT]

Hey Joe.p
Get real and get a life. Cops are guilty for your problems, I don't think so. Take a look in the mirror and see who created the problem.

[patrol 105]

Lets blame the cops for your mistake

Why would you blame any police officer if you get arrested for DUI. You know it would be nice if people had the BALLS to own up to their own mistakes.
I am sure that when you were out drinking that night the police officer that arrested you was not there pouring the beer down your throat. Be a man and own up to your own mistakes. Face it, if you had not commited any traffic violations that night you would have never been stopped, and you would not have that DUI. People need to remember that part of a cops job is to get drunks off of the road and it sounds like that CAMPUS POLICE OFFICER did his job.
SO WHO FAULT IS IT THAT YOU HAVE THESE PROBLEMS?

[joe.p]

No where in my post doe's it state i was out for a night of drinking.The officer stop was for community care taking, not a dui. I have a medical cond that just happens to mimic intoxication, and i don't expect the officer to know the difference between a medical cond or impairment.i would hope once the officer is made aware that you have a medical cond that he would help you to receive medical treatment before going through with a dui, A Dr. would surely know the diffference between impairment or intoxication.

My post wasn't meant to disrespect anyone, but in some dui stops there are other legtimate reasons one might seem impaired. There was so many inappropiate comments in regards to the sticker in my window, the card in my wallet, comments made from university police while in court, that where directed at another city officer.

I know that the campus police have the same authority to arrest as do the county and city officers. you can see from the above post,the campus officer's doesn't feel equal, those are his words not mine.

[surfnski911]

Hmmmm

I don't usually chime in on other peoples conversations, but, I am a rather new entity to the Law Enforcement world, outside the four years of criminal justice and lengthy experience investigating fires and explosions. I am learning alot right now in the kick off of my career, and want to ask a few questions, share a few opinions, and maybe learn something to add to my tool box.

There is a thing called "an extension of professional courtesy" in my book,and most other law enforcement that i have seen, it applies to all other law enforcement officials, and sometimes extends beyond unto their families. I need not explain why there is such a thing. With that being said, DUI is a major offense in which the amount of professional courtesy is very limited because you have an obligation to uphold the law. That doesn't even include relatives of cops....

If in deed you did have a medical condition, it would have been as simple as getting a note from your doctor to clear the charges, unless they took blood and it shows that there was ETOH in ur system, which it sounds like was the case. If you have a medical condition and that is why u got arrested, you should have done about five minutes research and checked into case law and your local state law that clearly defines proceedures for this exact instance. You would not have lost your home, etc.

I also know that most law enforcement agencies are trained to a high degree on how to tell medical conditions from inebriation. They are instructed to seek medical attention IF they have reason to believe that the person is exhibiting real and true signs of a medical emerg and not intoxication. As far as the unprofessionalism of the officers, sometimes it is best not to forfront items that expose you to extra attention, i.e. FOP stickers, especially if your not a law enforcement officer. As you have seen, they are sometimes just as much trouble as they are good. Good luck! oh and it may also be beneficial to get a medic alert bracelet or necklace, especially if u are diabetic...

[joe.p]

1) no blood test where given.
2) no urine

The officer in this case was very new, right before i agreed to take the breath test the officer fed me. when the tech noticed i was eating he put me down for a refusal. at my hearing the officer said he fed me because i was hungry.

[joe.p]

Why would you blame any police officer if you get arrested for DUI. You know it would be nice if people had the BALLS to own up to their own mistakes.
I am sure that when you were out drinking that night the police officer that arrested you was not there pouring the beer down your throat. Be a man and own up to your own mistakes. Face it, if you had not commited any traffic violations that night you would have never been stopped, and you would not have that DUI. People need to remember that part of a cops job is to get drunks off of the road and it sounds like that CAMPUS POLICE OFFICER did his job.
SO WHO FAULT IS IT THAT YOU HAVE THESE PROBLEMS?

#1
shyone08
Forum Member


Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2 medical conditions and DUI

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I had been diagnosed as being hypoglycemic about a year ago and was told to always make sure I had either glucose tablets, a juice of some sort or hard candy with me for when my blood sugar would get low. I was ALWAYS so careful about having tablets with me because I hated the symptoms that came with low blood sugar and the minute I noticed a symptom I would pop something in my mouth.

A week ago I had a rare late night out with my friends. I ended up falling asleep on my best friend's couch after we had spent the night watching sappy movies. I woke up and saw the clock and panicked because I needed to get home (it was around 2am) I felt the symptoms of low blood sugar coming on (last I ate was around 6 so they were definately noticeable) but I was five or so miles from my house and figured that it couldn't get that much lower in two miles.

I was wrong. By the time I was a couple miles from my house everything was blurry, I was lightheaded, I was seeing double, I was shaking and sweating, my heart was racing...I knew that if I kept driving I was more than likely to get myself in a wreck and hurt myself or somebody else so I pulled over on the side of the road and laid my head on the steering wheel. After a while I figured I would get out of my car and look for something with sugar. At that point, if I had found a piece of candy on the car floor that someone had spit out, I would've eaten it for the sugar. I got out of my car and the world started to spin...so I just stood there for a little bit trying to make the world stop spinning. With my hands on the car to help me get to the back I dug through everything. Then I heard someone behind me and it was a cop.

She thought I was drunk. She asked me how much I had to drink. I said nothing. She goes "oh yeah?" like she didn't believe me. I asked if she had anything with sugar...she gave me a weird look (understandable). After a while I had to get back into my car because I felt like I was going to pass out. I got back in the car. She kindly asked me to get out. Then she noticed my medical bracelet. I never seen a person move so fast. She radioed for a squad and she was down by my side trying to keep me alert. She explained that she had reason to believe I was drunk and that often medical conditions can cause people to make them act drunk.

To make this longer story shorter...the squad came and gave me oral glucose and within ten minutes I was more alert than what I was. The officer felt terrible and I felt bad for her. I told her it was okay and it was understandable. She told me that it was good I pulled over and to to keep it in check and to be careful. I ALWAYS have tablets with me...but had run out the day before and had forgotten to run to the drug store to pick up some. That was the stupidest move ever on my part (that and deciding to leave my friend's house to go home )

It didn't even dawn on me that medical conditions, when they act up, can have people appear drunk. I completely understood why she pulled me over. I completely understood why she believed I was drunk. (note: even if I wanted to drink I wouldn't be able to because of my blood sugar!). I was stumbling around my car, holding onto it to make the world stop spinning. I was slurring my words (a symptom of low blood sugar also)...so obviously all the signs of being drunk were there.

How often does this occur? Has anyone ever had an experience of pulling someone over you thought was drunk, determined to give a sobriety test, only to find out they had a medical condition? I am just curious, is all.

Sorry it's so long...I tend to write long books I am expecting some kind of letter from somewhere saying I need to go to a doctor and get a letter. This is the first time this has happened. Like I said, at the onset of symptoms I have a tablet in my mouth. I am usually really good about that. This time I was just stupid, I guess

[webjeep]

If a cop gave you something to eat prior to a breath test then they are an idiot and you would not have been convicted in any reasonable court, and even if the judge were an idiot it would have been overturned on appeal.

A DUI conviction without a breath test relies on driving behavior, field sobriety tests, and officer observation. It is not an easy case. A refusal conviction is based on the unreasonableness of the refusal. If the officer provided you with something to eat and the test operator marked it as a refusal then that is not an unreasonable refusal. Again, no conviction.

An officer stops someone who is apparently intoxicated and summons a squad because the person claims a diabetic emergency. The squad responds and per SOP of any squad in the country is obliged to assess the patient, pulse, bp, hr, respiratory rate, and if diabetes is an issue then a dexi stick. The squad is then required to obtain a refusal if they do not transport. If they feel that there is an emergency then they transport, the police don't get a say.

Basically what I'm saying as a cop who happens to have been a paramedic is that if you were in the situation that you describe and you were arrested and convicted of DUI and/or refusal then you need to find your defense attorney and kick his *** because he was an idiot. The U-cop probably was too if it was as you describe, but I still find it hard to believe that you were unlucky enough to get two such morons in one pop.