“(catching speeders) is more important than fighting crime”

Wow, this is such a dumb statement I don’t even know how to respond.

I think greed is the key behind that statement, brings more money in and less going out catching speeders. Does this mean violent and drug crimes are not going to be pursued any more :rollseyes:

^^ what he said
that is the most rediculous statement ive ever heard.
He think pulling someone over thats driving a little faster than the law says is safe (i wont get into that right now) is more important than tracking down muderers/rapists/theives. Maybe he forgot about that little “protect and serve” thing they’re supposed to be doing. He’d rather make money for his county than help anyone.

“A leading Californian traffic cop”….

This probably means he doubles his quota every month ticketing folks FLYING down the interstate at an unruly 5 miles an hour over.

If ever I’m in L.A. and I get robbed on the street in broad daylight, I’m finding Chris Knox and I’m punching him in the neck.

I agree with the previous comments – what a dumbass.

Whoops, a store just got robbed, but then you were writing a ticket for 5 over the speed limit, so I guess it was OK. Wrong.

Unbelievable, speaks volumes about what’s wrong with fighting urban crime. Laziness wins again!

I have no idea why LLN would quote the article in the LA Times, but not link to it. LLN has a ways to go, just picking out a few quotes without linking the complete story is inflamatory trash blogging.

You can read the whole article here:

http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-wheels5apr05,0,229197.story?coll=la-home-highway1

Howabout a few quotes to provide a little balance to the story:

“an estimated 13,700 Americans are killed each year in accidents that involve excessive speed.”

“Like most lawmen, Knox usually writes tickets only for drivers going well above the speed limit, although he doesn’t like to talk about those margins. In general, police don’t write tickets unless drivers are going at least 10 or 15 mph over the limit”

“”I know I can’t save the world, but I just want to do my part and get people to slow down,” Knox said, as he watched the radar returns from vehicles moving along Palos Verdes Drive South, where the speed limit is 35 mph. “People go 80 miles an hour around here. That’s why speed patrol is so important.”

Now I’m not going to sit here and say I never exceed the speed limit becuase I do. Unfortunately I have a couple of tickets to prove it. However, any reasonable person understands that the line has to be drawn somewhere. We just get pissed when the line gets drawn across us. The Enzo that crashed a few weeks back was going over 100MPH. How would you like it if that idiot hit you head on instead of that telephone pole?

“When people ask me why aren’t you out arresting bad guys, I tell them this is more important than fighting crime,â€? he told the newspaper.”

They should take his badge for that stupid comment. I don’t understand why we have idiots like this in patrol cars. He needs to be put on cross guard duty for a couple months so he can think about his “priorities” a little better.

This must say something about the demographic that become traffic cops. Is this some kind of joke? It’s really a shame there are so many careless drivers out there, much of the time going over the speed limit (in a car that can do it without shuddering) is just as safe as going the speed limit. IMHO speed limits on high- and especially freeways need to be raised, especially since the standard for seeing if you’re breaking the law enough to get pulled over is “how many over.” This guy probably gets money from companies like Geiko, which are crooked by the way, they even give cops money for more radar guns!

Everyone thinks their job is more important than everyone else’s job.

This guy is no different.
His job is to write tickets.

Of course generating revenue is more important than getting off your arrogant lazy ass and putting yourself at risk to catch that drug dealer or bank robber.

It’s not just another job. The job attracts a certain type of person. Someone who actually likes to wear a mustache. Someone who enjoys ticketing people. Cuz you know what? We are ALL potential law breakers in the eyes of the police, and he’s just tryin to do his part.

Sorry, but when you look at how many people are murdered, 300 a year by gun shot just here in Baltimore alone, how many people OD on drugs, how many lives are ruined by drug dealers… and speeders are worse than them. Just in Baltimore, a known crack house fire bombs a neighbors house because they snitched on the dealers. Family of 5 dead. Oops, but there goes someone doin 50 in a 30! Niner niner! After him!

He’s just scared of minorities committing crimes….ok i joke…but seriously its just too easy to pull people for speeding then doing actual police work and solve mysteries

Its really stupid. They should raise the speed limits in many places. I can go 50-60 in many 30-40 zones easily without stuff sliding all over the place in my car. Cops are just out to get money from everyone. Im sure everyone has sped before even those who complain that cops are just doing their job. Think about those times being late for work or in my case to class. Besides drivng fast is fun as long as you know what you are doing.

you guys even know about LA? there are more cops in West LA (brentwood, bel air, santa monica, etc…) than more ghetto places…why? because yuppy speeders in their S-classes and 911s dont pack heat when they speed. if you were a cop, would you rather pull over a speeder who you know isnt going to give you trouble, or go to south central and patrol the hood where anyone from a 12 yr. old boy to old grannies might be packin a sawed off shotgun or a 22 with an attitude…i thought so.

“an estimated 13,700 Americans are killed each year in accidents that involve excessive speed.�

This is a moronic stat…. How many fatal accidents are there yearly where speed is the ‘only’ factor? Probably none. Speed is always a factor, its difficult to get in an accident when your not moving.

And the cop… what a poser. I guess not everyone can be SWAT.

Mookie gets a F for reading comprehension. The key word in that sentence is EXCESSIVE.

Mookie is right that few accidents are caused by speed alone. But, to deny that exessive speed increases not only the the odds of getting into an accident but also the severity of the accident is just pain stupid.

“Speed is always a factor, its difficult to get in an accident when your not moving.”

Wow, what in depth analysis there Mookie. Thats as novel as my observation that water is always a factor in rain.

Hypothetical situation:

Your driving down the windy hilly roads of the Palos Verdes peninsula that our good friend Officer Knox patrols. Your doing twice the speed limit becuase you just know you can handle it (you read LLN, right?). You have you nice German sports coupe and think that you are uber race diver who obviously knows more about driving then everyone else who has carries the same class C license as you. Uh-oh, as you come around that blind corner some other driver (who probably thinks of their driving skills as highly as you do of your own) has just pulled out in front of you. T-bone action and now someone is dead. Just think, if you were traveling closer to the speed limit you might have had time to react…

The point is that most of the time, no matter how much you think you might be in control of the situation on public roads, your not. The road is a fluid ever changing situation thanks to your fellow drivers. Thats why there is a speed limit, thats why its enforced.

There is speeding, and then there is speeding irresponsibly. Its the irresponsible type (Enzo driver) that make enforment necessary. Too bad office Knox doesn’t get enough information to make the distinction while on patrol.

Finally, Officer Knox has it wrong, speeding is a crime (albeit minor). By ticketing that idiot in the Enzo doing 100+ mph on public roads he IS fighting crime.

BTW: Who has gotten a speeding ticket for less than 10mph over the limit?

Ahk-Med, probably should brush up on your grammar, spelling, and typing skills before you start commenting on other’s reading comprehension.

Piablo,

Why not make a point rather than your “I got nothing but your standard internet troll post”?

Ahk-med you are always combative and critical of other peoples posts. They are entitled to their opinion just like you are, you don’t have to be hostile all the time. Why don’t you stick to commenting on the article on top, instead of commenting on individual opinions and provoking people. Take an anger management course if you can’t work out your anger by yourself.

Well…I can see his point if his beat is Palos Verdes.
Speeding is likely the only crime he EVER encounters in this area.

Ahk-Med: Keep in mind that those of us who speed on a regular basis and who are smart about it, know where “blind” intersections lie, and we slow down accordingly. Personally I’m not a big fan of the speeding on city streets, this is where the real increased dangers lie, due to pedestrians largely. Speeding may be crime if you take it literally, but come on, can you really compare this to people who go around intentionally stealing, killing, menacing? If you think you can, wow, and feel free to state your opinion. If you don’t like someone else’s opinion, politely state that you disagree and say why and it’s done. Being rude like you were in your posts really has no place on a leisure-type website like this one, or anywhere for that matter. Just chill and enjoy the cars…

Most cops suck d###. Not that I’d want to be doing what they’re doing, but still, many of them don’t care about protecting people; they just want the power to kick people while they’re down and to prey on innocent drivers. They just want the opportunity to break the law without being caught, so they choose that profession.

You know what rob a bank…Just don’t speed when you are leaving.
Kill someone…just don’t speed when you are transporting the body.
Sell some drugs…just don’t speed when you are smuggling them around.

You know what I have to agree with Chris Knox. Who cares about all the other crimes out there like; rape, beatings, tagging, driving while drunk, murder, money laundering, ect. Speeding is number one for the worst crime.