Damned If We Do

I work in a fairly low-crime city. We don't have tons of murders, rapes and bank robberies. Occasionally, but not every day. But we do have endless property crimes, like burglaries, car break-ins, and thefts. And we have more than our share of bad drivers, who tend to hit things like pedestrians, other cars, buildings, trains, etc. People don't like all the property crimes and problem drivers, and they make a point of calling the police or writing to the local newspaper or calling local talk shows to complain about it. So, as we should, our department occasionally sets out to concentrate on these problems. They're what the people complain about, and our department responds accordingly. But, I swear, no matter what we work on, the media and the vocal public bitch about it. The complaint is always the same: "Don't the police have anything better to do than arrest/ticket people for...?"

You know what? No, we don't. We are paid to enforce laws. The laws that the legislators, who you elected, put into place. If you don't like the laws the way they are, elect somebody that will change them. Moreover, it's because of people like you, complaining about the rise in all these crimes/traffic offenses, that we go after them hard in the first place.

But here's what happens. We arrest your delinquent son because he broke into someone's garage, stole some power tools, and hocked them at the pawn shop. Now law enforcement is at your house, and you don't like it. We're picking on poor Junior, and he's a good boy. He just got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Or, we nailed you for speeding at the same location where we've had several fatal crashes, and you don't like that. You were just on your way to work or the grocery or Aunt Hazel's wedding, and you got a ticket. Now it's total bullshit that we would pick on people like you, who are minding their own business and just "keeping up with traffic". I've heard it all a thousand times.

We can't win. If we leave it alone, we're lazy, doughnut-eating, coffee-swilling pigs. If we address it, we're a bunch of jack-booted Nazis, infringing on your rights. Well, you can't have it both ways. And until we start getting flooded with murders and rapes and bank robberies, we'll enforce the laws you choose to break. Get used to it.