A state trooper pulled up alongside me at a traffic light and began looking me over with that sort of casual disdain you often get when you give a dangerously stupid person a gun and a squad car.
Bill Bryson, writer
I have noticed a troubling trend among police officers lately. Every time I see an officer in a patrol car, he or she is yakking on their cell phone. This makes me nervous because they are supposed to be observing things around them. Talking on the phone is a major distraction and police officers should not be allowed to make personal calls unless they are on a break.
One officer who does not use his cell phone is the angry bonehead that sits on his motorcycle in front of our downtown office building lying in wait for notorious jaywalkers. What if the jaywalker kept on walking after the officer signaled for the errant pedestrian to come forth? Would a chase ensue similar to an O. J. Simpson freeway escapade? If this traffic light avoiding scofflaw had a backpack would the police be afraid it was filled with explosives and fire 120 rounds to eventually stop this person, all because the traffic lanes were clear and rather than wait senselessly and needlessly for the light to change simply strolled across the street.
I am too lazy to look up the statistics on homicides, rapes, gang violence and other crime in Los Angeles, but we all know the figures (even thought they are reportedly down) are too high. Why would limited resources be spent writing jaywalking tickets, other than for revenue? If it is money they are after, there are more than enough speeders to go after. And, no, I have not received such a citation, but a colleague did last year and it cost him $120.00.
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