Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
I assume your roommate is underage. If so, you can still get in trouble, but probably only if he/she does something stupid such as gets alcohol poisoning, gets hurt while intoxicated, is DUI, etc. There could be some pretty heavy reprecusions for that.
Thanks for the compliments. I am not an ethical expert, but I have always tried to do the right thing. Teaching me that is one of the many things I thank my father for, and hope to impart to my own children.
If the situation is a casual encounter, and the officer is not involved in some type of enforcement activity (traffic stop, investigating your involvement in a domestic dispute, etc.) I don't see it as a problem. I see it similar to a UPS driver who is grabbing a soda at a store and talks to someone in the parking lot. As with all social encounters, discretion and tact are important.
Of course, some departments might have more restrictive policies. But, I don't see it as being an ethical problem.
Why would you think that it would be even remotely ok to shoot children with a BB gun?
1. None of this is legal advice. Consult an attorney. Wrongful use force against another, especially a child, can land you in prison for a long time.
2. The use of force is generally resricted to "reasonable" self defense. Re-read #1.
3. BB guns are not toys. They can and have killed people. Use Google and you will see multiple stories about BB guns killing people. For example: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/21/florida-boy-10-dies-after-brother-accidentally-shoots-him-with-bb-gun/
4. BB guns can also take out an eye or do other serious injury even if they were incapable of killing. Re-read #1.
5. You're not Alvin York and your aim on a moving target isn't that good. I don't care how good a shot you think you are, you can't guarantee where you would hit someone anyway. Re-read #1.
6. None of this excuses whatever trespass these children may have done, but shooting them with a BB gun sounds way beyond the realm of reasonableness. What would you do if your child had been shot by an adult with a BB gun? Re-read #1.
7. Use of force is generally restricted to the defense of persons, not property. Re-read #1.
8. If someone is coming into your home and you feel threatened, things are different. Re-read #1.
9. Re-read #1.
No exact routes are ever taken/repeated. It would be a good way to be ambushed and that's never a good day.
"The Onion" Contributors
Border Patrol Agent
Call Center Employee (Retail)
It is impossible for me to tell you where you might like to work. If you've never lived in a large city, you might love - or hate- it. Same thing about working in a smaller area.
From my personal experience, I would prefer a smaller department of 50-75 officers if I was starting all over. Ideally, it would be suburban to rural. I've worked for a very urban area and for a smaller department in a suburban bordering on rural area. You get a lot more of the exciting calls in a short amount of time in the urban areas, but you can also burn out much quicker.
The upside to a large agency is you get a lot of opportunity to work in specialized units that you don't have in smaller areas/departments. For example, a marine unit, aviation unit, SWAT unit, etc. But smaller areas will sometimes pool resources for multi-jurisdictional units (like SWAT teams formed with officers from several regional departments.)
I'd suggest doing a few ride-alongs with different departments in different areas and get a feel for what things are like.
Call your local police department and ask for their assistance. They will know what to do.
Its possible, but how valuable is that information to the officers? Not terribly valuable probably. The cops either know the names already, or have no way of knowing if the subject being arrested is giving them good info.
A more likely scenario would be the subject provides the officers with very detailed information on the dealers and is given a court date for some time in the future in exchange. Then the officers can determine if the information is good. If so, the officers can appear in court an explain to the judge that the subject was cooperative in an investigation and request favorable treatment of the informant.
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