Jack Muller was mid-century Chicago cop who got famous for enforcing parking laws against the rich and privileged. His memoir "I Pig: Or How The World's Most Famous Cop, Me, Is Fighting City" had numerous parking anecdotes. If I had the book on Kindle (if the out-of-print book were even on Kindle) I could word-search "parking" and find the best one. As it is, here is the first one (from 1946):
I remember the first ticket I ever gave. I was working the Argyle Street district on the north side, which was mostly a tough section then. I was sticking the ticket under the windshield wiper of the illegally parked car when a guy about forty ran out of a building and grabbed me.Muller goes on:
'Don't you know who the hell's car that is, you dumb sonfabitch!' he greeted me.
The car was his, it turned out, and he was a petty local politician who acted like he was Harry Truman (I'll tell you about him later). I left the ticket anyway. The following week he tried to get it thrown out, but I wouldn't go along. So we came to court together the next month.
And the judge threw it out.
It was only a parking ticket, but it depressed the hell out of me. It was one thing to be insulted and manhandled if you were going to get your day in court. But if the judge was going to humiliate you and treat you like scum--that was something else.
I remember walking out of the courtroom that day, my head down because I didn't dare look at that nauseating judge or the sonofabitch who fixed my ticket, didn't dare utter a word to him, for fear what I might say and do once I got started. No human being on this earth, not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or the Pope or anyone else, has complete control of himself at all times. And it was in that courtroom that I first began to feel that no matter how important police work was to me, I'd never put it above being a man. Human being first, cop second--that's the way it had to be. But I also realized that if I wanted to be a cop the next day, let alone for the rest of my life, I'd better get the hell out of there, and fast.
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A nation of laws, not men.
What an outdated concept.
It was only a parking ticket, but it depressed the hell out of me. It was one thing to be insulted and manhandled if you were going to get your day in court. But if the judge was going to humiliate you treat you like scum--that was something else.
The more things change....
It has now been seven days and 90 minutes since Orange County Animal Services told me I had a priority ticket after almost being mauled by my neighbors pit bulls. Still no sign of the county government, despite numerous return calls from me and my wife. If I hadn't had a baseball bat with me, I'd have been mauled by some of those loving pit bulls I keep hearing about.
Remember, when seconds matter, the authorities are only weeks away.
"A nation of laws, not men.
What an outdated concept."
No shit - try defending a client who does not have cultural presumptions operating in his favor ... and is insured!
The laws apply to thee not me.
Let me be clear, it's for your own good. [Period.]
Icepick - Do you carry? If not a handgun, at least an anti-bear sized pressure canister of pepper spray.
Obama denies nuns a contraception exception... meanwhile he exempted hundreds of businesses.
Why? did he exempted them in exchange for their political support?
We may never know because the press doesn't cover what this president does.
Haz, we don't own forest.s. that's something we are reconsidering, though I don't know where the money would come from. Getting pepper spray this weekend. Would the size used on people really not work on pit bulls?
Nuns and other uncooperative ingrates and expendables (ie., nonbureaucratic personnel) have been thrown to the dogs.
Well, not literally.
We're not quite there yet.
Fire arms, not forests. If I owned forests I would chop down the trees and sell them. Just for spite. And profit. But mostly in go or of an old friend.
Icepick, you need something like this because it has a greater range and capacity that the regular thingie that goes on a key chain.
I'm presuming more than one dog, plus the need for a bit leftover in the event the dog owners get confrontational.
Both presumptions are correct. Three grown dogs and one braindead owner.
Incidentally, if I had been carrying, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Confrontations with dogs and their owners are best avoided. I face there here, but do my darnedest to make sure no one and no dog gets injured.
It really pisses me off that people are so flaming stupid, but me getting angry about it does not make them any more intelligent or respectful.
It's a difficult situation, no doubt.
Sixty, I don't care for pit bulls, but if they're properly restrained and cared for I'm not going to have a fit about it. But letting them run loose? After leaving them mostly alone for a month while the family lived somewhere else? Unacceptable. Those dogs have broken down doors on that house to get out before. That's just a horrible way to treat a dog of that (or any) size. Dogs need their pack.
And it was in that courtroom that I first began to feel that no matter how important police work was to me, I'd never put it above being a man. Human being first, cop second--that's the way it had to be.
Thanks for this one, El Pollo.
IP - I hear you. The loose dogs around here have not been pit bulls, so I really can't say I know what you are going through.
Also, when I call animal control we are on a first name basis. They are prompt and courteous. Having them as a backup has allowed me to continue to go on walks without fearing for my safety or the safety of my dogs.
All I carry is a shillelagh - and so far I have not had to use it.
It's a shame when citizens cannot protect themselves and the authorities are criminally negligent. That is a very difficult situation.
I moved away from a corrupt democrat controlled city just to get away from predators, 2 legged and 4, like you describe. That was an expensive last resort, but that's what it came down to.
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