| Author |
Message |
    
TomR
Citizen
Username: Tomr
Post Number: 452
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 5:18 pm: |     |
I had some words with one of our officers earlier this afternoon, which ended with the officer thanking me for being nice.
It struck me as an unusual thing for an officer to say and got me wondering how officers usually are treated by the citizenry.
Be kind to LEO, he is our friend.
And to the P.O., thanks again.
TomR. |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 399
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 5:48 pm: | |
My husband just returned from Aspen where he had been pulled over for speeding..ooops.
The officer noted the rental car, gave him a warning and then handed him an embossed City of Aspen business card with his name, title and a phone number to his cell phone. Then, in a gesture that was so "over the top" for my husband, he said call me anytime you might need an officer's assistance!
As any warm-blooded boy from back east might do - my husband began to wonder what had just conspired. Was this some strange "pick-up" attempt, was this an aknowledgment of a bribe not taken....
After to speaking to a former Colorado cop he found that this is indeed the absolute typical type of transaction promoted by many police departments. I think it's great.....they give you their name (if you have complaints) and they give you a sense of knowing some one will listen to you when you might call for help.
Not to lessen anything - but I had a less than lovely experience with our Police Dept. about an hour ago.
I called to say my car was on the street near my house because we can not get it up the hill - we don't have 4 wheel drive and it just slid back down the hill in the snow. I was informed that I will be receiving a ticket shortly because all the streets had to be cleared for plowing. When I asked "where" I should put it he told me he had no idea - I should figure it out! |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4783
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 6:44 pm: | |
TomR:
I agree. Showing our police officers the respect they deserve should be automatic. Unfortunately, not everyone has learned to do this. |
Dego Diva
Citizen
Username: Fmingione
Post Number: 205
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 7:05 pm: | |
"Be kind to LEO, he is our friend."
Yes, I STRONGLY agree, we should all be very kind to LEO. He loves us, and all he wants is to make us happy....
Oh wait...
I take it you weren't referring to my dog LEO!  |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 989
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 10:07 pm: | |
kmk,
While I appreciate that you probably had a horrible ride home and not getting up the hill was perhaps the worst part of it, there has been a blizzard warning in effect since Friday afternoon. Cars left abandoned on the roads (and in the town lots) create problems for the guys that stay up all night plowing for us.
So far, they've been doing an A++ job, and I for one thank them. |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 3820
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 8:34 am: | |
There is very little logic between there being a state of emergency on Friday and the way the kmk was treated. You do not know what caused kmk to go out on saturday, so you are coming at his problem without all the information. And in a state of emergency LEO should be all be made aware whet the State of Emergency is announced where the acceptable lots are for cars that cannot get home. The "figure it out yourself" remark was neither helpful or polite. The officer could easily have asked why kmk was out and, then had he been so informed, told kmk what lots were approved for parking until the SOE was lifted.
Thankfully I have AWD on my car and when I had to go out to get a prescription filled for my son Saturday late morning I was able to get back, but other people were already having trouble with skidding and fender benders. forget the DPW.. they had the sense to wait til nightfall.
In most of Maine (where this is a dusting) each town, like Portland) designate specific lots for people who either park on the street of live hard to reach places, supermarket parking lots, school lots, library lots. I know of no such plan for either SO or Maplewood so for the cop to say "figure it out yourself" (which is really the point kmk is making) is not very helpful.
I will chime in on the THANK them thread which this is supposed to be about. When the idiot set fire to our back yard and the neighbors back yard the officer they sent was great at calming down my son after seeing the flames so high in the back yard and his dad and neighbor trying to put it out with buckets. And when I have spoken to them about the resolution of the incident they have always been great. They are a good bunch. Just like the M/SO firefighters.
|
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 991
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 9:56 am: | |
This ain't Maine, Duncan. And leaving a car in a parking lot is far better than leaving it on the side of the road.
But thanks for your "opinion." |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4796
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 10:15 am: | |
Yesterday was a terrible day to be on the road. Coming back from the Village around noon, as the first flakes were coming down really hard, we found ourselves following a fire truck and a police car up the hill. At the crest of the hill we spotted an occupied police car with significant front end damage parked on our neighbor's lawn! The police knew first hand how dangerous the roads were when they stopped kmk later in the day.
Should the police have been more considerate in the tone they used? Sure. Should they have offered a better solution than a ticket and a tow? Probably, had one been available but if the car was having that much trouble making it through the snow and no safe areas were available, I'm not sure what else they could have done under the circumstances. Having your car towed isn't great but it sure beats having it totaled and its occupants severely injured.
kmk:
Can you tell us what finally happened to you and your vehicle? Did all end well?
Duncan:
We just don't get the snow fall in Maplewood on a regular basis that they get in Maine and we don't have the space available for safe havens for cars that they have there. With the sufficient warning we had for this storm (assuming people really believed it was coming and were willing to act accordinagly) we probably could have arranged for citizens with snow plows attached to the front ends of their 4 wheel drive vehicles to plow out suitable parking areas at the foot of our major hills and arrange ferry service for drivers who couldn't make it home under their own cars' power but this just didn't happen. |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 3823
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 10:26 am: | |
Joan you are right. What I have noticed down here is that the media tend to make the same STORM ALERT for 1-2 inches as they do for 12-18. Its all gotten so sensational as to be hard to take seriously. And storms are notorious for moving a little east of "the computer model" and leaving us with something you can sweep away with a broom.
Though based on my Pathmark experience yesterday at around 11:30 you would have thought Hurricane Sbenois was a-comin |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 992
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 10:42 am: | |
From what I read, kmk was not stopped by police but called to tell them the car had been left on the street since it couldn't make it up the hill.
The snow started about 11:45, so there really should not have been a problem getting home prior to noon. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4797
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 12:43 pm: | |
bets:
You are right. I missread the part where kmk claimed to have called the police station at about 4:30PM on Saturday to report the car still in the street because kmk had no way to get it up the hill safely and you are right that prior to noon the streets were passable, at least for us in our AWD vehicle. However, I see no indication of when kmk found it necessary to park the car in the street and continue the rest of the way on foot. It could have been any where up to just before kmk called the station.
In any event, my comment about a car parked at the base of a steep hill under those conditions still stands. |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 993
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 2:18 pm: | |
Joan,
I'm not faulting kmk for abandoning the vehicle when it became obviously too dangerous to drive. I just don't think the comments about the MPD were warranted. They had enough on their hands at that point in the day.
I'm glad everyone is safe and sound today, and hope the digging out goes quickly. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4799
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 3:38 pm: | |
Bets:
Agreed. Stay warm, dry, and well. |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 401
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 4:08 pm: | |
I am fine... the car is fine.
We had been at my daughter's first fencing tournament at Columbia High School. People from NYC, Philadelphia etc. were there. We stayed until she fought her last bought at 3:00. I quickly said good-bye and good luck to them on their drives home.
My drive towards the hills of Wyoming Ave. was pretty treacherous. I drove for over almost 45 minutes (mind you I was going 5 mph) trying to go around to Glen Avenue, approach from the South etc. After my final attempt I found an out of the way spot on a nice level street and we walked home - not too far if you cut through yards etc.
I called the police because in the past I have received permission to park on the street when the driveway was paved etc. I was VERY concerned about the snow plows! I had no options.
Around 7:00PM we stopped a snow plow and asked why they hadn't done our street - he explained that it was too hard to negotiate the full length of the street and they were only able to clear a portion at the bottom. My sweet, brave, husband marched out to the now buried car, fired it up and began to climb the hill. He was gone quite awhile. He tried all the gears (the car is a standard) and also got stuck.
Finally we got a neighbor to physically help push the car up the hill to our driveway. He was thanked profusely and later gifted with wine!
I am not certain why the Maplewood PD was so "undone" by the snow. I was just disappointed in the lack of courtesy and the absence of any problem-solving train of thought.
And yes....we are in the market for a new car! |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4804
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 4:33 pm: | |
kmk:
So glad everything worked out. How did your daughter do in the tournament? |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 402
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 5:55 pm: | |
Thanks for asking Joan.
Let's just say she was humbled! It was great to get a taste of the "big leagues" and now we have specific goals to work towards. She did win one bout...the kid she beat went on to take first place. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4808
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 6:11 pm: | |
"The kid she beat went on to take first place" -hardly a humbling performance. 
A little work on her stamina and she will be the one in first place. |
Earlster
Supporter
Username: Earlster
Post Number: 892
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 11:31 am: | |
kmk, before buying a new car, it might be cheaper to just get real winter tires. They work amazing. |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 581
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 11:54 am: | |
kmk I agree with Earlster. I had the same problem several years back. My car was sliding all over the place, and I barely made it home. I went and purchased new snow tires for my car a few days later, and it was amazing! I never had problems after that. |
kmk
Supporter
Username: Kmk
Post Number: 405
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 12:28 pm: | |
Thanks folks! I just posted a question on another thread as to whether or not simple snow chains might help....
I had to drive through Donner Pass during a blizzard 15 years ago in February....I almost got stranded and the tow truck that I signaled for help pointed out that every single rental car comes with snow chains in the trunk (required by law). What a difference in stability and traction it made. |
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