Bailey23

Hey I always say people can believe what they want to believe. I just remind those people who complain that had they not broken the law in the first place, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I will say this though, I tend to have less problems than other deputies who I work with and I think it is because I approach situations from a different mindset than some other people do. I usually allow 14 over the speed limit before I stop a vehicle for speeding (excluding school or construction zones), and most times I write written warnings or other non-moving violations instead, and that's only if we don't have calls stacked for me to respond to anyways. So I think that is a good example of being more than fair to the taxpayers. But at the end of the day, 99.9% of the time if you don't break the law you will never have a negative encounter with a law enforcement officer. Having a look at my stats for the last pay period (two weeks, about 85 hours of work): - 3 moving violations (2 speed, 1 failure to yield to school bus) - 15 written warnings for traffic violations - 1 arrest for driving while license suspended - 4 DUI arrests - 2 felony arrests (First arrest was aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest with violence. The second was a simple domestic battery charge) - Between all of that I responded to 73 calls for service I'm sure we could all agree that had I based my decisions purely off of my mood, those 15 warnings would be citations and there would have been MANY more traffic stops. People drive like maniacs in the Tampa area, I just shake my head and keep driving to my call. :confused:

You really believe that? Your post has the mark of someone who has never been in law enforcement aside from what you see on TV. You'll find that an officer's job has a multitude of factors that the monday morning quarterbacks don't understand. Nice try though. If my daily decisions as a sheriff's deputy were ONLY the result of my mood, I think you would find that nobody would ever get arrested including murderers (by your logic). I love my job and tend to be in a good mood most of the time. However, when I'm in a poor mood (again, by your logic), I'd be writing way more tickets than I write. As for our job going way deeper, you would be happy to know that I tend NOT to write traffic citations anymore except in special cases because I find it hard to justify a $300 fine to a man or woman who will now have to decide whether to feed their children or pay the citation. In many cases, that IS real life and it is something that many officers understand. But the second I do need to write the citation or arrest someone, there will always be a spectator who wants to characterize that decision as being based off my mood at the moment. How mistaken and truly jaded that person must be to believe that. The best thing about my job: even those who criticize the hell out of our work day in and day out have the ability to call for our service and receive a response within minutes. THAT is customer service at its finest. :thumbsup:

Coming from real world experience here... the old saying "Don't take a knife to a gun fight" applies. Being a real world sheriff's deputy in an urban area, I encounter scenes involving firearms on a pretty frequent basis. I can tell you this, if someone is holding a gun at that point my gun is also drawn and I will shoot if there is any sign (verbal, non-verbal, body language, etc...) that indicates they intend to use that firearm. This is not a situation to pull out a taser (only fires about 20 feet accurately) when someone has a firearm. Luckily, I've never had to use my firearm and I hope to keep it that way. You're also correct regarding the muscular reaction to being shot with a taser. Any time a suspect is holding any type of weapon, it is best not to use the taser if you don't need to. I had a situation where a suicidal man was holding a knife and my concern was that if I tased him he could land on the knife. I chose to slowly approach him and then go hands on with him to minimize the risk of him flopping onto the knife if I used my taser. For the LCPDFR suicidal call, based on real world protocol, you either talk him into dropping the gun or shoot him.

What do you want to see in particular? Due to the constraints of GTA there doesn't appear to be much difference in when I play GTA realistically based on how I handle my job real world, compared to videos from others. I'd say the primary difference when I'm playing is how I respond to the various calls. Most times at work when I respond "code" I don't always use my lights or sirens because they tend to make people act funny, so I run fast and just use my lights/sirens to clear intersections or move one or two vehicles.

I can probably upload something tomorrow after I get off work. Fraps and 0.95 are not a good combination on my laptop, but I can probably put together a decent video.

I'll give a real world answer here since I'm a sheriff's deputy in Florida (thus my response will pertain to Florida statutes, FYI). A suspended or revoked license is a bit different than an expired license. Suspended/revoked came from a court order, thus on a traffic stop I will either arrest them or give them a mandatory court date if another licensed citizen is able to drive the vehicle. This usually entails a quick call to the state attorney's office or my supervisor, but generally our agency policy is to make the arrest. To liken this to GTA, the most realistic scenario would be to arrest the driver. Now, an expired license is one that has simply not be renewed following its expiration date. In the state of Florida, there are various statutes I can apply in this situation. If the license has been expired less than 90 days, I can write them a citation (similar to a fix-it ticket), where they have a certain number of days to go renew in order to have their fine reduced to an administrative fee. If over 90 days, it is treated like a suspended/revoked license as mentioned above. So ultimately from a realism perspective, you can role play and decide how to handle it. If you want to follow the idea that the license is actually revoked by the courts, then make the arrest. If you want to assume it expired yesterday and they forgot to get it renewed, write the citation.

To the person who asked about the Florida LEOs: Not Broward, but I'm a deputy in Hillsborough County (Tampa, FL). I will say this, however. The "Police Women" series and most other police shows are not entirely accurate and some situations you see on camera are staged. One situation that irked me was seeing that female deputy escorting a suspect with one arm and talking to her son on the phone with her other arm. Obviously this is a TV moment to show compassion to the viewers, it is an officer safety nightmare and would never happen off camera. What you didn't see (and I am friends with a Broward deputy who was on that particular call), was 6 or so deputies and detectives just off camera ready to tackle the guy if he made any moves. I've had the Cops TV crew ride with me once before here in Hillsborough. (side not: I haven't been aired on an episode yet... but someday I will be famous! lol). I can tell you this, most "police work" is writing reports and when I had the Cops crew with me I was taken out of my zone squad and was allowed to respond to anything in the district or neighboring district that was considered cool enough for the show. After I respond to the call and handle the scene (I automatically become the primary officer with the TV crew), we go and re-film the initial part you see on TV. So the call is real, but after the call we go back and film the "I love my job because I get to help people, and oh we've just been dispatched to a stolen vehicle". Some things you see are entirely accurate, and some portions of the show are staged. To the person who asked if we love our job. I certainly do, but I know many who hate the job. My advice for anyone who wants to pursue this career, go and do ride-alongs with your local department and the department you will apply to and see if it is for you. Many people who ride-along with me realize it isn't what you see on TV, and for every 10 minutes of crazy vehicle chase action you may have hours or even entire shifts of essentially being a secretary with a gun. But to the point, I absolutely LOVE my career and could never see myself doing anything different and I've only been a sheriff's deputy for about 3 years. I think it is a wonderful career if you genuinely want to help society *AND* you can maintain effective control of a scene both verbally and physically if needed. "Command presence" has been tossed around in this thread and everyone is correct. This is the most important aspect of being a law enforcement officer, and really many other careers. You can relate it to your every-day life, when you meet people you make first impressions. As an officer arriving on a chaotic scene, the first impression you portray must be professional, confident, and competent. So the best part of my job is every part, in my opinion. I get to handle a variety of problems and have the responsibility placed upon me to solve them or provide the best remedy possible. The most common call I respond to on a consistent basis (that is law enforcement related) is domestic disputes, and these require me to show compassion and attempt to resolve their problems without destroying the family or their individual lives (contrary to popular belief, we don't want to arrest people if we don't have to). The variety of my work and no call every being the same keeps me on my feet and I try to always be prepared for anything that will be thrown my way. Cons: lots of paperwork and report writing, but at least in my department almost everything is done on the MDT (laptop) now. Obviously we are dealing with the scum of the earth at times, which can be very dangerous. Since I work in unincorporated Tampa, at times the call volume is very high and I find myself just driving call to call to call all night long which is why my secretary with a gun comment comes from, other deputies call themselves secretary on wheels (show up, investigate, write report, drive to next call and repeat). Doesn't always happen like that, and of course you throw in the violent in-progress crimes into the mix and we certainly have our hands full. All things considered, it is a very rewarding career for the right people.

I'm a sheriff's deputy at a large department in Florida. Although I didn't register until today, I've been playing the mod off and on for about a year.