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Tickets get handed out when a law is broken. Criminals are people who break the law. The police officers in your town who are handing out tickets are, in fact, going after criminals.
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I don't think anyone is disputing this, what I and others are disputing is the justification for those laws. Certainly you admit there are unjust laws, yes? In some states, having oral sex is illegal, and such people are criminals. But that doesn't mean there's something morally wrong with breaking that law. Most laws, like traffic laws, are not crimes of morality, they are laws of order and control. It's all a question of how much you want to be controlled by the man.
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Personally I'd rather live in a town with lots of police officers and low crime rates than high crime rates and not enough police officers.
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If it meant cops busting in doors and violating civil rights under the pretense of enforcing the law, then I would rather live in the high crime area.
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Besides...if you're not doing anything wrong, there really should not be any reason for concern.
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Wow, that sounds exactly like the justification every authoritarian asshole uses for his behaviour. The problem is that in such a state, you are always doing something wrong. Driving to work there is almost certainly something you did wrong that would justify a ticket from a cop. Did you drive a few mph over the speed limit at any time? Did you fail to use a blinker when you changed lanes? Is there something wrong with your car like a broken taillight, license plate light, etc? Did you cross the fog line or ever stray out of your lane during your trip? If you did any of these things, you are a criminal. Personally, I don't think it's important to police such activities. We spend far too much on such ineffectual law enforcement anyway and miss the bigger pictures. Put those monies and resources to better use.
Of course, I'm not advocating anarchy on the streets. If someone drives like an obnoxious goon, knocking people off the road, and causing a big mess, then yes, he should be stopped and cited. But simple speeding should not be sufficient justification.
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I'd take an overzealous police force over the lazy one we've got here.
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Yeah, overzealous police forces, that's just what we need. Do you know how many rapes, assaults and the like aren't reported because of overzealous cops? Many people are afraid to come forward if they've got something to hide from the police.
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Recently an underage girl drove through the window at a convenience store my brother was working at. She had open beer cans and pot in her truck. The police arrived, looked over the scene and told my brother and his manager that since the store and parking lot were private property they couldn't do anything about it and left. The girl got off with a "Drive more carefully"
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I don't know what the cops deal was here. Most likely the girl was the daughter of somebody important (i.e. mayor or fellow cop), which only goes to prove how biased and ridiculous cops really are.