Tag: DUI

Is “LivePD” really live?

I managed to get my hands on a copy of the LivePD production contract. I didn’t like LivePD before. I still don’t.

Is it Live?

If by “live” you mean it’s shot as it’s happening and beamed directly to your television where, Funyons and beverage in hand, you watch things unfold in real time the answer is “no.” At a minimum the “live” segments are delayed 10 minutes and they may even be delayed up to a half hour.

But is it live?

If by “live” you mean that it’s shot in real time, straight to final product, without any editorial input and beamed in raw form to your television where, kitten on lap and stew-on-the-stove, you quietly take in your favorite show the answer is still “no.” LivePD allows police departments to have a representative in the control room. That representative has the opportunity to weigh in on what is and is not shown for a host of reasons (including, my favorite, “privacy”) and possibly kill segments entirely.

To make matters worse the “earlier” or “previously filmed” segments are sent to the police department for approval days before they air.

Ok. But is it live?

If by “live” you mean unscripted, off-the-cuff, police work in its daily form from the mean streets of Lake County to you in you, feet-on-the-coffee-table and Twizzlers in had, the answer is still no. LivePD focuses on “key characters” who, not-so-conveniently, are often pulled off of mundane matters to drive the camera crew miles away to other calls in order to give the appearance of “constant action.”

LivePD isn’t live. At best it’s “almost live.” LivePD isn’t unedited. It’s edited to give “the appearance of” being unedited and give you “the feeling” that it’s contemporaneous police work coming to you in real time.

If you’re wondering why I put some of the above in quotes, it’s because that language is straight out of the LivePD contract. I didn’t make up the lies, they did.

LivePD is little more than a one-sided public relations tool for the people the Bill of Rights was designed to protect us from. And here’s another video of Defense Lawyers watching that nonsense and responding in real time.

PS- If you’re wondering what departments get paid to be on LivePD, Lake County, Illinois received $2,500 per week.

Actually preventing DUI is the goal, right?

I’ll be intently following the political future of Randall Scannell in Green Bay. I know zero about his political beliefs or party affiliation. What I do know about the man, though, I like.

He’s all for eliminating parking tickets for drunks.  “What?????? He’s going to REWARD people for getting drunk?” You heard it right- no tickets for drunks. He’s not “rewarding” anybody, though.

Actual Effects Are More Important Than Theoretical Debates

Law and politics are, sadly, too much like Philosophy- lots of people with strong opinions sitting around in a room talking about what should (or will) happen in the “out there” world if everybody in the world acted (or was forced to act by passage of law) in the way they wanted. “Cut taxes and nobody will starve.” Or, “raise minimum wage and nobody will s Continue reading “Actually preventing DUI is the goal, right?”

Here’s Your Zero Tolerance on DUI: The Zamboni Guy Is In Jail. Happy now?

The Good Old Hockey Game. Its the Best Game You Can Play.

I’m going to let a little secret out here: I play hockey. It’s not a very exciting secret, I know. It probably shouldn’t even be a secret.  It is, though. You know why?  Because I play hockey poorly. Like, really bad.  I’m at the bottom of the talent ladder on a hockey team that’s at the bottom tier of a bottom league at the rink.  We’ve got some good skaters, too.  We still don’t win.  It’s not their fault. Know what I’m saying? Continue reading “Here’s Your Zero Tolerance on DUI: The Zamboni Guy Is In Jail. Happy now?”

Why Do Cops Let People Drive Drunk?

You know how drunk drivers are a danger?  They cause accidents?  You know how they kill people?  You know how we can’t tolerate having impaired drivers on the road?  You know how we are so gung-ho on punishing DUI that we won’t even tolerate a drunk driver pulling off the road to “sleep it off”?

Maybe none of that is true. Maybe it’s ok to let a drunk drive for a little bit. Or maybe keeping drunks off the road isn’t really as important as letting drunks on the road so we can then take them off the road and look like we’re doing some sort of good work.  I don’t know.

I do know that last week I was watching a hearing on a DUI case up in good, old Woodstock, Illinois, McHenry County, U.S.A.  From what I gathered (I missed a part), a cop was outside a bar late one night watching patrons as they leave. Nothing illegal about that- it seems that that’s the sort of place drunk drivers might be coming from.  Good policing there.

Our hero watched a man leave the bar and cross the street. Apparently the man stumbled or fell… his movement was so obviously impaired by what was likely alcohol that the officer moved his car around to get a better view of where the guy was going.  From the second spot, the officer watched the man get in the car and start it all up.

Then the officer did exactly what you’d expect him to do… Nothing.  Once the man started the car and drove away, the officer followed.  Of course, the man who couldn’t walk couldn’t drive either and, after watching him swerve all over the road the officer pulled him over and ended up arresting him for DUI.

Good police work you say?  I don’t know.

Can’t a drunk driver kill somebody in a blink of an eye? Isn’t no distance the acceptable distance for an impaired driver to drive?  Or, is there some magic rule that a drunk driver can’t plow into an innocent family as long as a cop is watching?  Shouldn’t DUI prevention actually mean prevention regardless of who is watching?  Safety is safety, right?

I know what you’re saying- this is America and a cop can’t tell the dude he’s not allowed to drive.  I agree with that. But, this is also America and a cop can walk up to a drunk man, tell him that if he drives he’s going to get pulled over before he gets out of the parking lot, and strongly suggest the man call a friend or a cab.  If cops can talk people into confessing to murder (even murders they never commit) can’t they talk people out of driving?  Maybe my way is just silly.

My way doesn’t risk a drunk man on the street possibly killing somebody, though.  My way doesn’t leave open the possibility of a high-speed pursuit with a drunk man at the wheel. My way also doesn’t net anybody an arrest or another smiley face on the record from AAIM.

My way keeps the streets safer, though.  Isn’t that really what’s most important?

DUI and McHenry. Is the extra spending worth it?

It’s getting weird in the DUI world.  If you haven’t been paying attention, DUI arrests are on a sharp decline.  They were way down a few years ago, and they are currently down from even those numbers.  You’d think that would be a good thing, right?  You’d think police departments would beating their chests and issuing press releases touting how their cutting edge enforcement efforts have finally worked. Or talking about how the smoking ban in bars has cut down on DUI. Or telling us how great this brutal winter was at keeping drunks off the road.

Apparently, they’re not.  Some of them are doing quite the opposite… they’re telling us how they need to change the way they do things. They’re telling us how they need to spend more money.  They’re telling us, loud and proud, in this article today: Continue reading “DUI and McHenry. Is the extra spending worth it?”