Why Patrol 25 yards of Highway?

Question

In our little town we have on our most northern tip, we have 25 yards of express-way, we don't even have an exit, it's 4 miles down in a neighboring community.
Yet on any given day you can find 2 of the 3 on duty officers with their radar guns patroling our little patch of highway. The officers must travel through another town and then travel back to get to the 25 yards they protect dailey. Our local newpaper just ran an article asking why..we all want to know why. We had a robbery here last Month and it took them 15 minutes to respond because they had all that back tracking to do. We all know why they do this, to catch a soccer mom doing 69mph in a 55 and get some $$...now City officials & Police are pointing fingers at each other on who's fault this latest blunder is!

Shouldn't we allow Police to DO Police work and
not focus on 25 yards on highway that NObody cares about?

Answer 1

It is most likely for money, not for the officers since it does not make them any money, but the officers would have recieved orders from thier supervisors to do this.

And of course it is legal for them to do this.

but remember this is police work also, it just depends on what duties they want the officers to be doing.
In the end this isup to the police chief,

If the police chief tells them not to, they can't.
The city council can only replace the chief if they don't beleive he is doing proper job

Answer 2

They do this because the Highway Patrol patrols the highway. The City Police Department patrols the city. The local County Sheriff covers everything in the county but outside the cities.

The Highway Patrol was doing their job and probably responded to assist the City PD because they did not have an officer available. The Highway Patrol was not deployed to respond to a robbery in the city because that is not their primary role. Most of the time the HP is where they are is because of citizen complaints or a high number of accidents in that area.

All the officers of these different agency are certified state-wide and can come to the assistance of each other. This is just the division of labor (jurisdiction).

Answer 3

That is doing police work. Breaking the speed limit is breaking the law, and police are there to enforcement. Because its a small stretch of highway doesnt make a difference. Perhaps there is a lot of room to sit and wait for traffic violators safely? Or there may have been many reports of problems with fast cars or traffic in that area? Or maybe there are plenty of blind spots so that the police have a good tactical advantage? Whatever the reason, the police are employed to serve and protect and thats what they're doing by enforcing the laws of your state.