Look Pusher, we aren't going to see eye to eye on this. I'm certain of it.
Why is everyone so afraid of death? You want to know what stops a drunk from getting behind the wheel? It sure as hell isn't a cop. All they do is try to "catch" them after they are
already doing it. If the fear of getting caught is so goddamn effective at stopping drunk driving... why does it still happen with ridiculous frequency? I saw a guy in the paper a few months back, he was in jail on his 6th DUI. SIXTH! What the fuck does he still have a license for? Clearly the system you work for is broken to its core. So it's all noble what you are doing. It is... and I believe you legitimately want to help, but there's a big disconnect between what you do, and what actually changes people's behavior as a society. Your job is going to continue to get worse, and more dangerous, as the system continues to be more broken and criminals continue to be more brazen. Mark my words.
A friend of mine wanted to hop behind the wheel drunk a few years ago. He already had 2 DUI's. I tried to stop him. Calmly first, using all kinds of well-thought-out words and reasons. That didn't work. Then I tried to get his keys. That didn't work. Me knocking him unconscious and taking his keys, seemed to work really well. When he came to, I held him by the throat and screamed in his face for a few minutes, and punched him a few more times as he tried to retaliate, and then said if I ever caught wind of him trying to drive drunk again, I'd show up and kill him where he stood whenever I caught up with him. To my knowledge, he's never done it again... or even attempted it. Doesn't even drink much anymore. It ended our friendship, but his life changed for the better that very next day. Care to share the statistics on how many DUI offenders are REPEAT offenders? Hell, maybe we should assign a cop to every citizen 24hrs a day. Cops don't equal safety. I know that's the illusion that PD's and government likes to push... but let me repeat:
Cops do not equal safety.
The point is, you catch people
while they are doing bad shit. Good for you, go get em. Sounds like you are pretty good at it. The rest of us out here are more concerned with the fact that they are doing bad shit in the first place. Society is sick, and the more the cops keep pushing us into a corner by trampling our rights
"for our safety" the deeper the wedge will be driven, and the worse it will get. Take that to its finality, and you know as well as I do that "you guys" don't win that fight. So why can't you do your job while upholding the constitution and all the sacred principles that made this country great, while we do ours, and you'll find you will have more support from us than you know what to do with? Stop viewing the fact that we have GOD-given and constitutionally-recognized rights as a hindrance to you in the performance of your duties, and USE that fact to your advantage.
Don't spend a lot of time on what I've said, as I'm just some dumb redneck from podunk-nowhere South Dakota. So don't take anything I'm saying too seriously
... but I remember what true freedom felt like, and I haven't felt it for a long time. Everywhere I turn, the government and its control agents (you) are in the way of me living as a free man should be able to. So stop the criminals, or don't.... I don't really give a shit. If it lands on my doorstep, threats get handled. Damn sure isn't going to be a cop there to save me, as I'm about 20 minutes from the nearest response. I live an honest life, try not to hurt people or get in their way, and the only thing I ask in return is for them to stay the hell out of mine. Getting pulled over because some rookie asswipe freshly imported from some california asshole-accademy thinks my ar15 laying on the dash is "probable cause" to stop me from going about my day is hardly what I have in mind.
There's no possible way to intelligently debate an emotionally charged issue as this on the internet. No matter what I say you'll think I'm just a big ol' cop-hater, and no matter what you say... I'm going to think you are just another over-reaching cop that is out of touch with the constitutional intention. The only thing that's clear is the balance has been upset... and more laws and more people to enforce those laws are for goddamn sure not the answer.
This country needs to get a moral center again. That should help fix things.