RE: Motoring News- no Audi content(USA listers)

[Anton Gaidos III <anton_gaidos_iii@firepower.com>]

Being the one who started this thread I appreciate you input from the
other side of this issue. Personally, it is not this issue but a
continuous string, one after another which I see as definite erosion of
our constitution and our civil liberties.
 I have a buddy who is a police officer. One day at a our daughters ball
game he started telling me about tickets. He says "I remember when
pulling a person over was to give them a reminder to slow down. The fine
was small and the proceeds went straight to the town. Today, I pull a
guy over for speeding, its not a reminder, its $100- $300 and a higher
insurance rate plus the town only sees a fraction of the revenue. This
makes me look bad and creates a rift between me and the public I
protect."
 Steven, the biggest mistake our government has made is to let traffic
control become a form of revenue. It is no longer about getting good
drivers on the road or about helping people learn better driving manners
- its about money. Today coming to work where are the highway patrol?
Lining up to catch carpool violators which carries a $300 fine. Last
week on local tv there is this story about police educating people about
child safety seats. It was a lie. It really was a form of revenue
generation. These officers weren't instructing these people how to use
these seats properly they were giving them $200 - $300 tickets. To me if
you want to be a "good guy", you don't give some poor, uneducated farm
worker a $200 ticket because their kid is improperly strapped in. You
take a few moments to instruct them on how to use the seat, you explain
to them the dangers of driving an automobile and you make yourself look
good at the same time. You can also inform them that the next officer
may not be so understanding.
 As for the Supreme Court my frustration goes beyond being asked out of
my car. For one this isn't even likely to happen to me. It is erosion of
liberty in the name of fear, in the name of isolated situations
governing the majority, the freedom of government to sue my house to
avoid double jeopardy, the right of a 22 year old officer to have
judgment over my life when I've seen twice as much life as he. It is
about being force to pay taxes while the government that collects our
taxes sells out to lobbyist - prison guard association, military
contractors, pesticide producers, international interest and on and on.
Frankly Steve, I'm a little pissed. 
 Here we  have a law called "Three Strikes". Guess who poured millions
of dollars into Pete Wilson's re-election campaign to buy his vote on
this. Not concerned citizens but the prison guard association. Why but
to make them bigger and stronger not to make us a better place.
 Consider these things when you are pulling over your next traffic stop.
Yeah, he may have a gun but he is far more likely to fear yours then
carry his own.
 Be safe and watch your back out there!
regards
Anton J. Gaidos, III
PC Design
Motorola Computer Group
"The fortunate man knows how much he can safely leave to chance"

>----------
>From: 	STEVEN P. ADAMS[SMTP:adams1@webspan.net]
>Sent: 	Thursday, February 20, 1997 6:15 PM
>To: 	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
>Cc: 	quattro-digest@coimbra.ans.net
>Subject: 	Re:Motoring News- no Audi content(USA listers)
>
>Hello everyone in list land from a new lister.  This is my first time
>writing so I must first say that I am happy to find an enthusiastic, and
>extremely helpful (with very few exceptions) worldwide group of Audi
>lovers!  With the group of letters related to this subject that are
>coming in, I feel compelled to respond.  I am writing from a police
>officer's point of view because I have been one for the last eight
>years(5 in patrol and the last 3 as a detective).  I also have to say
>that Dan Masi had good ideas but a small percent of cops will remain
>dicks no matter how they are treated, as will people in other
>professions.  The U.S. Supreme court may have gone a little too far by
>saying "no reason", but I think something like that puts the general
>public in fear of being violated in some way by the police rather than a
>group of cops across the nation getting together and harassing good
>citizens for "no reason".  And before going totally negative on this,
>please look to the latest news broadcasts of the Ohio incident where the
>two officers began to be shot at from........the passenger.  If the guys
>shooting at the cops had better aim, we would have two less cops in this
>world, they were certainly taken by surprise.  It makes me sick to think
>about the officers involved and the repercussions felt if they did get
>hurt.  If you are not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't mind a minor
>inconvenience of being asked out of your car to disspell any fear an
>officer may have of being shot.  The police shouldn't be making crap up
>as they go to find an innocent person guilty.  EVERY person I've
>arrested certainly was not innocent!  Here is a little hint for those of
>you who are still worried, individual states have the power to further
>restrict the laws the federal government passes.  In the case of New
>Jersey, where I work, the N.J. Supreme court allows me to take any
>operator out of a vehicle for their or my safety.  It, however, calls
>for me to have a legitimate reason to ask any passengers out of that
>vehicle.  Chew on that.  When I said "restrict", I'm talking about
>restricting government intrusions on it's citizens.  I'll continue
>reading because if I don't get responses, I'll be surprised.  I never
>thought anyone involved with narcotics drove German cars.  	
>
>Steve Adams	
>'88 90Q with at least 171,000 miles and still like new
>'94 Mitsubishi 3000GTSL We all can't be perfect
>Long Beach Township Police Department
>Brant Beach, N.J.
>adams1@webspan.net
>