Waste

Ok, so I know that this post will probably not be a popular one. But I can't help but publicize this observation that I have had about our court system and the amount of wasted tax dollars that seem to so freely flow out those judicial doors (and often into my very own bank account).

CA Cop gets a minimum of 4 hours of time and a half pay if he drives his well toned butt to those courthouse steps. Period. End of story. Cha Ching. Sometimes he is there for 4 hours sometimes he is there for 5 minutes.  More often than not he is there for 30 minutes or less. We appreciate the court overtime. As I am sure all LEO families do.

So here are my concerns, as a public citizen, separate from being a Cop Wife who likes the extra padding in the bank account.

CA Cop ALWAYS calls the court house the day before to confirm that the trial (or whatever court proceeding it may be) is confirmed to happen the next day. Occasionally they will let him know that it has been continued but often times they give him the thumbs up and so he sets his alarm clock for the next day accordingly.  Then he and 4 other officers (or however many worked the case/scene) show up all clocking in their 4 hours of time and a half at their respective pay rates only to discover that the suspect called in ill 3 days ago and the trial has been continued for another day.  Or the suspect is in jail in a different county and won't be in.  Or the prosecutor left on an emergency out of town 5 days ago and so the case has been delayed.  And on and on it goes.  5 officers collect their overtime from the public coffers and continue on their merry way. 5 officers that should have been informed the day before when they ALL called in the day before to check on the trial.

Shouldn't someone, somewhere have known that Suspect B for trial 38G was jailed up in some other county within 24-48 hours of their court date?

I am certain that I know very little about the complexities of a courthouse and of our judicial system, so perhaps I am just revealing my ignorance with this post. But I am shocked at how time and again he does an about face upon arriving at the courthouse because of some preexisting problem with the suspect/attorneys/judges/other officers/etc.  I understand the unforeseen issues of evidence and attorney delays, etc.  And I am not at all saying that once he's there he should not be paid. Our plans were postponed, family time was delayed, and precious sleep was lost so he better darned well be paid, but seriously?  If the suspect has a sinus infection on Monday can't we let the officer's know by Thursday that the 5 of them need not show up and cost the tax payers $1100 for nothing?

Okay, let me have it.  Please tell me I am wrong, or misunderstanding, or should shut up and be grateful for the incompetence of the government agencies because heck I'm personally profiting.......

Even in the Bay Area

He had just sat down to eat. Finally. It was busy. The calls seemed endless and tedious on this particular day shift. Dispatch rang out in his ear.  The sounds of the radio echoing around his ear drums. His beat.

CA Cop swallowed some water as he responded. The dispatcher sounded annoyed, he could hear it in her voice.

"Caller claims there are three suspicious juveniles in her neighborhood, yet she cannot articulate anything about them or their actions that is suspicious."

He hopped in the patrol car and headed up the hill to the ritzy neighborhood.  It didn't take him long to spot the three black males. They were young, laughing as they took their skateboards up and down the hill in the sunshine of the early afternoon.

CA Cop rolled his eyes as he exited the yuppie neighborhood, lined with suburbans and newer model sedans.  He headed back to his lunch.  There was no way he was going to bother those kids. They were good kids. 

Just apparently the wrong color for the neighborhood........