#1 2011-02-16 17:16:23
During last weekend's operation, Wareham police officers were joined by agents from the Massachusetts State Police Community Action Team and its Violent Fugitive Apprehension Team, the Plymouth and Barnstable county sheriffs' offices and the Probation and Parole departments.
David Procopio, spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, said troopers helped arrest 17 individuals and also wrote 245 citations for motor vehicle infractions. State police personnel also issued 16 criminal summonses for people to appear in court. "It was a very active weekend and we were happy to assist," Procopio said.
Are Andrews and Stanley picking our pockets for all that overtime? How many man hours, how many dollars?
Random stops of year round residents, right? My advice, buy a bicycle.
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#2 2011-02-16 21:08:41
Wasn't there just a post about the required quota of tickets to be written by each shift in a certain Town?
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#3 2011-02-16 22:51:03
Gee, Dan - I've talked to several officers over the years (State Police included) and they always said that "a required quota" isn't true. I don't know about this year or this town, now. I think that people are lax about registering and insuring their cars, probably due to no money. Not an excuse, but a good reason to get stopped and ticketed. I wouldn't want to be hit by an uninsured motorist.
Bill, there may have been grant $ or something similiar to pay for all these officers and ot. BUT, this is what aggravates me - just tell us. They did live tv and newspaper releases about last weekend. They should have said something like: "This isn't costing us anything, we got the funding from ........". OR: "This is going to cost the Wareham Taxpayers more $ but we needed to get these warrants cleared up and it was easier to get it done with a sweep." JUST TELL US.
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#4 2011-02-16 23:41:48
I have heard the same thing, justme, for many years about quotas.
Do I believe they existed and still do? Absolutely.
Do I think they exist in Wareham? I don't think so, because I think one of our cops would tell us.
Do they exist in other places? Probably.
Vigilance regarding uninsured or unlicensed drivers is always justified. Arbitrary stops, based on quotas, in my opinion, are never justified.
I also don't like dog and pony shows. There are cops that are out every day and night putting their lives on the line without any recognition of the tremendous work they perform. Unless it is a high profile case, or a "sweep" conducted by several agencies, no one ever hears about their work.
If any people deserve a raise, it is the cops, municipal maintenance workers, all Town employees that are under paid and unappreciated.
If Andrews was a leader, he would have refused the raise because of the personnel that have lost their positions in the Town this year, had their health benefits reduced or eliminated, and their pensions are in trouble.
The Town has suffered millions in shortfalls, and more are on the way.
If all Town employees don't get a raise, NO-ONE should get or take a raise.
Bad management and causes low morale with all Town employees.
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#5 2011-02-17 23:22:51
"Dog and pony show". Good title. I know for a fact that one cop in Wareham only writes three or four tickets a year. If something blatently is done in front of him or an accident or drunk driving, he'll write one. Most of his stops are warnings.
We really do have a great group of police officers in town. A couple I really don't like, but I have good reason not to not like them. They know who they are and they know I don't like them.
Some of these people had multiple warrants. I blame the courts for this. If you issue a warrant send the cops out immediately. Yes, some move out of the area so sometimes it's next to impossible to carry it out. I have my scanner and I listen to the area police. Wareham cops check out the driver and passengers. You would be surprised how many they arrest that are passengers. They know by name and sight and friends, who the trouble makers are. They do their jobs and are professional in their behavior.
If I have to pay for insurance, registration and inspection sticker, everyone should. I'm glad they bagged those people.
I also - very much agree with you, Dan - no raise for Andrews until we get more police and municipal maint. workers. This is just not FAIR!!!
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