Police

I don't know, but I think maybe we are working ourselves into a corner, police persons wise. Portland had a shortage of Policemen because they couldn't find enough qualified individuals. They had to go on a campaign to recruit people to the force. This strikes me as a little odd, especially with the economy the way it is. Policemen get decent wages, good benefits, and a heck of a retirement plan. So what's the problem? Well, it might be the qualifications. The city wants college graduates. Or maybe there is something about the job. You know, doing the scut work for those who can't be bothered to get their hands dirty, risking your life to enforce laws that are unenforceable, getting picked on by whatever group wants to make a headline this week. That could make the job unattractive. Or maybe it's the bureaucracy and the paperwork. I know that part alone would kill me. Right now we've got a fuss going on about a couple things one copper did. Some people are questioning his judgement. The cops are all lining up behind this guy. I don't blame them, I sure as heck don't want somebody second guessing me every move on the job. On the other hand, we have these standards that the cops are supposed to live up to. Maybe we just expect too much from cops.

Maybe what we need is two levels of police, something like civil police and criminal police. Expect a higher level of "professionalism" from the civil police, but leave the dirty work to the criminal police. If you misbehave enough with the civil cops that they call the criminal cops, well then, you asked for it bub.