Recently I was browsing back issues of Maclean’s magazine when an article caught my eye from the September 5th issue.  It’s title “Too Many Cops?” makes the author’s position clear.  They aren’t asking a question, they’re delivering a verdict.  It just looks nicer if they frame it as a question.

The gist of the article is that crime is down, law enforcement is bigger than ever and minor charges are skyrocketing.  According to them, we have too many police with too little to do.  That’s why they’re handing out speeding tickets, manning record numbers of RIDE checkpoints and arresting far more people for marijuana possession.

It is pointed out that the RIDE program during the 2010 holiday season enjoyed only a .029 capture rate.  They feel that this is too low and there may be other, more beneficial ways to spend the same money.  Maybe, but I doubt that they’d find a lot of support among people who have lost family, friends or loved ones to an impaired driver.  They made “only” 294 arrests, but that’s 294 less potentially devastated families.  They lament that it required one million vehicle stops to achieve those arrests.  If they saved even one life, then it’s a bargain.

The article also insists that speeding ticket and moving violation increases are just a cash grab on the part of municipalities.  These would be the same municipalities that it states are allocating ever increasing portions of their budgets to law enforcement.  For example, if I’m the mayor of Toronto, I’m going to spend nearly one billion dollars on police services so that I can collect a few hundred million in ticket revenue.  Wow!  I’m a financial wizard with no interest in getting re-elected.

Montreal has long been recognized as having the worst drivers in Canada.  The article describes it as a “city long known for it’s spirited drivers”.  They aren’t spirited, they’re reckless with a blatant and potentially homicidal disregard for traffic laws.  According to the authors though, this has almost nothing to do with the 93% increase in citations for moving violations and the 140% increase for speeders.  Apparently, it has nothing to do with speeding and moving violations.  Nope.  It’s all about hordes of bored cops and greedy civc managers.

The other group of horribly abused victims they talk about are the pot users.  Yep.  Those poor people who get arrested and end up with a criminal record for committing a crime.  That’s just terrible.  The police are at fault again for charging people who commit crimes.  I agree that pot possession probably isn’t the greatest crime a person can commit, but it’s still a crime.  The amazing part for me is that they want to blame the police or the government.  How could they saddle this poor person with a criminal record that could interfere with their chances of crossing into the U.S. or getting the job they want?

Wait…. what?

This isn’t about over-zealous policing or government hard-liners.  This is all about the person who gets caught with a controlled substance in their pocket.  If someone is in possession of a controlled substance, after they get arrested is probably the wrong time to start thinking about the long term ramifications.  I agree that this isn’t the most serious crime in our society, but it’s not about the severity, it’s about the attitude.

Most people treat traffic tickets and minor pot busts like the Oscars.  “Who me?  Oh no.  I don’t deserve this.  Really.  I can’t possibly accept that.  This is only possible because of my parents/manager/co-workers.  Honestly, I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for God!”  Instead of implausible deniability, why not just opt for the truth.  “Yes, I screwed up.  Let’s just do this and hope I learn something from it.”

But that’s not where we live is it?  We live in a society where it’s always someone else’s fault.  Busted for speeding?  It’s not about my lead foot.  The cops must a ticket quota to meet.  Moving violation?  It’s not because I changed lanes without signalling and then hit my brakes almost causing a massive accident.  The cops must have a ticket quota.  Charged with marijuana possession?  It’s not because I broke some stupid law, it’s because some dickhead cop is trying to get promoted by making as many arrests as they can.

Wrong, Wrong, WRONG!

If I get a speeding ticket, odds are I was speeding.  If I get a moving violation, I probably did something stupid to deserve it.  Busted for possession?  I made the choice to break that law.  It’s not about too many police or generating extra revenue or appearing tough on crime.  If it wasn’t for the people who think the law shouldn’t apply to them, we wouldn’t have anyone for the police to be ticketing or charging.

It’s not about too many police.  It’s about too many idiots.

Cheers, Winston