Clay County Sheriff Says No To Enforcing Traffic Laws

[StlouisX50]

Clay County Sheriff Says No To Enforcing Traffic Laws

[StlouisX50]

Im all for lighter traffic enforcement, but some enforcement should be done. Isn't it against the law, not to enforce laws?

[w8tng4nepiphany]

when you are the law and you say you will not follow the law how does that work? who will step in and arrest the police?

[NETWizz]

It is illegal to break laws... not illegal to enforce them or not. Specifically, there is no law to compel someone to turn another person in or anything like that. This does not preclude department policy or anything of that nature. It may be policy that an officer can be written-up for not performing his job duties and those duties could be defined as enforcing the law even when he/she doesn't want too. They can take away an officers choice if they really want to by creating quotas, propaganda, etc. Heck DHS is still running the "See Something Say Something" PR stunt, and TSA is still at "Level Orange" at the airports, which hasn't changed for like 11 years!

Regardless of department politics, when actually away from the bosses and management every officer have a lot of discretionary power. Some view themselves as detectives, some don't want to interact with the public for something minor, others view themselves as meter-maids on wheels with a licence to collect their retirement pension.

Suffice it to say, an officer can do just about anything he or she wants to with most petty laws. Now, I don't know what happens if an officer lets a drunk person go who gets in an accident and kills someone. An attorney may sue the PD for not doing their job, but it would probably be a civil matter just like the officer who might loose his or her job... The officer who did nothing isn't going to jail or anything... though he or she might be looking for work washing school busses.

Let me know when you determine who will step in and arrest the police. ;-)

[StlouisX50]

I thought there was a law that made it illegal to not report a crime. So is that the loop-hole just not to enforce a crime that you see being committed?