Seattle Ride Along

[Fugitive Hunter]

I was up in the Seattle area a few weeks ago and decided to check out their agency. I was curious and thought about lateraling up there. Wow what a shocker. The officer I rode with was disciplined for escorting a jaywalker to the street he going to cite. The woman was saw distraught they thought it should be put in his jacket, are kidding me? They have to keep a microphone on for any citizen contacts and subject to discipline if its not on. They are not allowed to conduct pre text stops and the guy I rode with made alot of crack arrests. He received a letter from the County Attorney telling him that they were downgrading all of them to misdemeanors, when their is no misdemenaor for crack possession. It was a polite way of telling him not to make any more crack arrests. To top the night off a Hoover Park Crips gang member gave us the middle finger. We ended up contacting him, but I couldnt believe the gall of the punk. I have been a cop for sixteen years, seven of it here in Arizona and if that was in AZ, the gang member would have been face down with his teeth in the dirt and my foot up his ***. I was repeatedly told by everyone on the shift that the city does not support their officers and has a civillian review board with a member of the NAACP on it the loves to hammer cops. They told me this board just got more power a few years ago. The cop I rode with told me Pierce County and Tacoma are better and have alot of ex Seattle laterals there. Most of the cops I met were great and very professional, but just demoralized.

Good bless you guys up there, dont know how you can deal with that enviorment. Think I will stay in the desert.

[Perpsmasher]

Ride along

So the message you got was to stay away? I'm looking to lateral from NYC. They wear recorders?!?

[Nate_07]

Washington Policing is 110% diffrent then AZ for sure. Pre-Text stops will get you in more trouble than you can beileve. Washington is one of the hardest states to perform law enforcement. I know and work with officers from other states and it took them some ajusting. But, it is worth the changing. Washington is a amazing state.

Things are changing everday. No more searchs of vehicles after DWLS arrest's. I expect more of those type of changes in the near future. Just read the LED's. Crazy stuff. Take care.

[sir]

There's a saying in washington. "criminals have more rights than victims" maybe that's what you saw a bit of

[DAL]

I don't think I could tolerate winters in the Seattle area. Too gloomy.

[CountyGuy]

I don't think I could tolerate winters in the Seattle area. Too gloomy.

haha, I don't think so. Winter here is amazing.

[concon02]

I don't understand why overcast/rain equates with gloom. I love that weather!

[sir]

Hey we have a few sunny days during the winter.....

[Jenners]

And when the clouds break, it's so worth it.

My dept wears recorders too, and yanno what?? It's not that bad. If YOU the cop have nothing to hide, then why the concern? I appreciate the heck out of mine. I've stopped people who flat tell me they don't have their IID or their license is suspended, and ta daaa, there it is on the recorder. It cuts down on the verbal abuse too; it's odd how people behave more when you tell them the contact is being recorded.

[The Intel Guy]

Jenners is correct, the recording device has alleviated far more issues than have been created, and even those officers that were once skeptical have come around to appreciated them. And yes, they are great at defusing most hostile drivers, documenting false reporting arrests, and proving that the Miranda Warnings were provided.

[Fugitive Hunter]

Well I still like the fact that most agencies and citizens here in AZ still trust our integrity and it doesnt have to be relied on by some recorder or device to challenge it.

[concon02]

Recorders? Wtf....

[SirLancelot]

You'll get random crap from admin in any department. Escorting a jaywalker to the sidewalk? Huh? Maybe there's more to the story than that.

Pre-text stops? It's not just Seattle dude. ANYWHERE in WA will get you hammered for that. It's not Seattle-specific.

Downgrading felony VUCSA to misdemeanor? Yeah I'd be a bit disappointed over that too. It happens everywhere though. EVERYWHERE. I work in a very pro-LEO city and county. I had one of the most solid Assault 2 cases I've ever run with downgraded to a misdemeanor Assault 4. ****ed me off like you wouldn't believe. If ever there was a solid felony Assault 2 it was my case. It's not personal that it got downgraded. I've been told numerous times not to track my cases. My work with them ends once the criminal is booked at jail. It happens in AZ too.

And no, it's not some personal message to stop busting crack users. That's absolutely ridiculous.

So a Hoover Crip gave you guys the finger? That offended you? It's Seattle. He's a dirt-bag gang member. What do you expect? He's not going to smile politely while waving a small American flag while holding his hand over his heart. He's a gang member. That's what he does. Slamming someone into the tarmac while grinding dirt into his teeth just because he was not polite to you will get you one of the quickest IA's for excessive force around. Yes, even in AZ.

Microphones? Seattle ain't the first place to do it brother. Not by far. Like someone above mentioned, if you've got nothin' to hide, you ain't got nothin' to worry about.

I will agree with you 110% though that the citizen review board thing is one of the most retarded inventions ever known to man. Who better to critique trained LEO's use of force than 110% ignorant citizens in a liberal city where they think we should throw teddy bears at bad guys instead of Tasing their butts.

[concon02]

Microphones? Seattle ain't the first place to do it brother. Not by far. Like someone above mentioned, if you've got nothin' to hide, you ain't got nothin' to worry about.

How tangled would a department get if they listen to tape where the officer is using expletives?

I believe there's a time and a place for harsh language, and especially depending on the types of people you're dealing with. However, I'm curious as to how politically correct Seattle would be on the issue.

[The Intel Guy]

There is absolutely nothing in Seattle PD policy that prevents the use of foul language. Many officer use it to effect compliance, consider it a escalation of verbal force, if you will. However, if you get a complaint you may have to articulate why you used the expletives that you did, depending on the situation. It is recognized that some of these guys on the street will not respond to the flowery pleasant approach. However, use of foul language is a calculated tactic/method of dealing with people for a desired result. If you are a hot head that uses foul language whenever Joe citizen does something to annoy you, your are going to be in a world of hurt.