Why do the police?

Question

~Why do the police hit motorists for minor driving offenses and yet do nothing about car vandalism and house break ins? They are just not interested in solving crime.

Hmmm \Looked a the answers. No it was not speeding. No it was not me. It was at an intersection and one car was stationary and the other doing 5 to ten miles.Our was the stationary one.Witness reported accident and not those involved and got it all wrong. The car vandalism was in a private driveway and not heard by neighbours. Caught the guy but NOT for vandalising car up to £10,000 damage but FOR GOIING IN A NEIGHBOURS GARAGE AND TAKING A CAN OF BEER FROM A FRIDGE. 3. Breaking and entry of same neighbours house taking 42 inch LCD tv with stolen van (no taken by another neighbour) but police have not been round to see the person whom the tv was taken from.

Answer 1

Most people think that all cops are supposed to handle all that stuff. A regular patrol cop really doesn't have a lot to do with things like the vandalism and all that unless they see it happening. If someone calls in to report someone vanalized a car or house, the patrol cop will show up to make sure the person is not there, and conduct a small investigation and get contact information from the owners or persons reporting.

Then it is moved along to an investigator. Those are the guys that handle those kinds of cases, not the regular patrol cops. Unless they see the person doing it, there is not really very much they can do about solving the crime and arresting someone. Yea, if there is a witness and the witness can show the officer where the suspect is and there is some evidence putting the suspect at the scene at the time, he can arrest. But that is not the way it goes normally.

The police are interested in solving crime. Just because the don't handle cases the way you want them to or as quickly as you want them to, does not mean that they don't want to solve crime. They have to do things a legal way, and doing that takes time. In some cases, because they have to do things a legal way, they can't even solve a case.

Answer 2

Being interested in solving these crimes and having the capability is two different things. I've never met an officer not interested in doing their job. As for "minor" driving offenses, 5 mph can be the difference between an accident with no injuries and a fatal accident. If you are concerned with car vandalism and break in, start a community watch group and do your part.

Answer 3

Some of those minor violations are actually quite major. Also, policing these things also can sometimes find major things.

Traffic stops are the most dangerous thing for the police to do because they have no idea who is behind the wheel. It could be a grandmother who has never been in trouble in her entire life, or it could be a serial killer.

It is annoying to deal with, but if there were no risk of being pulled over and ticketed then there would probaby be more people speeding, at high rates of speed, and more people running lights.

I know this because I personally adore driving really fast and if I didn't have to worry about tickets I would drive as fast as I safely could.

Answer 4

Because more people die in car accidents (cause by minor speeding offences such as going 5km/h over the speed limit or not wearing a seat belt) every single year then ever die from vandalism or house break ins.

There are also many, many, many more people committing minor diving offences then vandalism and house break ins.

Stop committing minor driving offences and maybe the police could focus more on what you think of as 'solving crime'.

Answer 5

Minor driving offenses are easy to spot and easy to collect from. Car vandalism is tough to prove as to who did it but I'm sure any respectable officer would address this action immediately if they witness it in progress. This also goes for house break-ins. Also with the last two cases, they collect notes and any possible evidence that may be in connection with other similar incidents so that if someone is finally caught in these acts working with the same M.O. they may be able to connect and convict them of those crimes as well. I don't think most police officers take the job to not solve crimes or help the public.

Answer 6

It amazes me how sometimes people don't see the full picture...

As a law enforcement Officer I can't even begin to tell you how traffic stops for minor violations turn into capturing hardcore criminals. Here is another point. In my town we have an intersection that rates as one of the highest for traffic accidents in the state. The number 1 reason causing these accidents from statistics is excessive speed. Seeing that a Police agency’s responsibility is to provide safety for its residents as well as visitors don't you think we have an obligation to stop people speeding at this intersection to lower the amount of accidents? Of course we do. This doesn't mean we always have to write tickets but even a warning will educate the driver as to the dangers.

Think outside the box.....

Answer 7

driving violators are caught in the act, making it easy to solve the case. break ins and vandalism are committed usually before the police get there, so it becomes harder to find the person responsible since they have already left the scene. Unless the person who committed the crime was an amateur and left behind too many clues.

Answer 8

Driving offences can lead to traffic accident and cause life. Furthermore both driving offences and crime are Police duties. But driving offences are more common and mostly caught in the act. Unlike vandalism and house breaking. These crimes need many effort to apprehend the offender such as ambush, and gather of evidents. I believe most joined the Police have the desire to fight crime, but they still need to perform their duties on driving offences.

Answer 9

Because they witness driving offenses. Most of the time, no one sees someone vandalize a car or break into a home.

Answer 10

In Massachusetts State Police now get 1/2 hour extra pay for each ticket that they write.