IN SOME CASES, SEATBELT LAWS ARE AS UNFAIR TO COPS AS THEY ARE TO CITIZENS
I just REALIZED that SEATBELT LAWS lessen our respect for POLICE...& EMASCULATE THEM To the extent that they become comical at the same time that we begin to RESENT THEM..& I never looked at it this way before but the seatbelt laws may be as UNFAIR to them as they are to us (or seem to be), in the CASE where officers are REQUIRED to STRICTLY ENFORCE the seatbelt laws as opposed to those cases where the officer is arbitrarily enforcing it at his own leisurely discretion.
Its important for society to respect & admire the police for TRULY PROTECTING US & ENFORCING SERIOUS infractions of the law (drunk driving, reckless & careless driving, crimes & violence, serious drug abuse, etc) . I think of cop shows I watched growing up that made me think of cops as heroes (Chips, Adam 12, Starsky & Hutch, etc) , not nit-pcking jerks.
When our LEGISLATORS put new laws on the books that are frivolous such as seatbelt laws & police departments REQUIRE their officers to strictly watch for & enforce such laws, I suppose we cannot completely blame the officer. If they were to come in day after day & say falsely that they saw nobody without their seatbelt on they would probably get reprimanded by their department. Now I don't how it works, or if police departments can require such enforcement, but iif so, then our GRIPE should be with the department or municipality, etc.
The problem in my personal experience with seatbelt citations is that ONLY ONCE have I heard an officer say apologetically that the department told them to start "cracking down' (Pasadena). In all the other cases, the officers seemed ALL TOO EAGER to be jerks. So I don't know, but I allow for the possibility in some cases that its not the cop, but the department or municpality. Shame on them .
