The Bishop Police Department would like to take this opportunity to provide our Community with some important safety tips to help everyone have a happy and safe Holiday Season.
Tip#1: Report Drunk Drivers and avoid alcohol consumption if driving. BPD and other Public Safety Agencies will be on the lookout for those driving under the influence and we have a no tolerance policy for Drunk Drivers.
Tip#2: Secure your valuables and don’t leave personal items unattended. Thefts of items from vehicles and thefts of purses from shopping carts increase dramatically this time of year. Take your packages inside or lock them in the trunk and don’t leave your purse or personal items unattended while shopping.
Tip#3: Protect yourself against Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud. If shopping on-line use only secure sites. Beware of unsolicited e-mails asking for your personal information such as social security or account numbers. Pay close attention to your statements and report any suspicious account activity immediately to the bank and local Law Enforcement. If you have a card that is lost or stolen, report it immediately to the issuing institution. Local Merchants are also reminded to always ask for identification when accepting credit or debit cards for purchases. Credit Card Fraud also increases dramatically this time of year.
Tip#4: Be a good neighbor and a good citizen. Promptly report any suspicious activity to Law Enforcement. The Police can’t do it alone. We need the help of our citizens so please don’t hesitate to call the Police if you observe criminal or suspicious activity.
The men and women of the Bishop Police Department would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Ken you ever hear two wrongs don’t make it right?
True Blue- you sound like you know the law and are likely correct. But I still feel as though I am being pulled over for no reason at all every time I drive thru a DUI check point. Is being pulled into a check point not the same as being… Read more »
I guess at this point no rational arguments would change your mind. So I guess you will just have to continue feeling put upon.
Benett & Wayne: Are you two talking of driving RECKLESSLY, or WRECKLESSLY? One is bad, the other desirable, and they are often mutually exclusive. Also, what is the difference between requiring that a driver demonstrate the proper skills in a driving test and requiring demonstration of ability to use those… Read more »
Dear Rex, Good to hear from you. I am unabashedly wrong about the spelling. It should be reckless. I have never administered a sobriety test, so I can’t say how driving skills are tested. I understand from anecdotal tales that officers try to test sobriety (not driving skills) by asking… Read more »
I still don’t think I should be pulled over and questioned for no reason at all. Where do they draw the line?
JJ……The line is drawn when EVERYBODY obeys the laws on the highway…when nobody speeds, nobody drives reckless,when nobody drinks and drives.When everyone uses common sense on the highway……which will be never.
JJ, the police cannot pull you over for no reason at all. They must have some type of reasonable suspicion to stop and detain you. This is a very low legal threshold. If you feel that you have been stopped without probable cause, it is a violation of your fourth… Read more »
True Blue……Are you sure about that?…Anytime I have been pulled over,which,thankfully,has been rare,the first thing the officer had to say to me wasn’t “can I talk to you?”..It’s usually,at least with me,”Can I see your license and registration”…and then followed by why he had pulled me over.If I didn’t agree… Read more »
Wayne – Good question. What I believe True Blue is saying is that if an officer wants to talk to you and doesn’t have probable cause to detain you, you are not required to talk or even remain. If you are pulled over for a traffic violation, the officer has… Read more »
Chief Watson……Thanks for the clarification……Since the topic on this story was more or less geared towards DUI check-points and traffic arrests and stops,I just kind of figured True Blue’s comment was directed to that…..not if Law Enforcement happened to come knocking on your front door asking questions…Thanks for the reply… Read more »
Wayne, I should have clarified that I was speaking about a contact on the street as a pedestrian and an officer asks to speak to you. The courts have ruled that as soon as the red lights come on and they are directed at you, it is a detention and… Read more »
True Blue…Hey,no problem …..When I saw your post,I kind of saw the dark side to what you might have been saying…probably based on what some of the other posters were saying about constitutional rights being violated and what not with DUI check-points and civilian 911 calls with suspected drunk drivers.But… Read more »
Wayne, this is another excellent question by you. It depends on what words the officer uses with you. The courts have ruled that it is not so much what the officer says but what a reasonable person would think when they hear them. Here are three examples: 1. Hi, can… Read more »
People that don’t want to talk to law enforcement have something to hide and are probably on the other side of the law in some aspect of their life.
If you’re on the right side of the law, law enforcement works for you.
JJ, While you believe that the police do not have the right to pull anyone over for no reason at all, I believe that I have the right to get around town (walking, biking, or driving) without having to negotiate around impaired drivers. For me, it is all about safety.… Read more »
A few years back I had occasion to call 911 for an impaired driver in the middle of the afternoon. He ran into the back of the car behind me, which then hit mine. The road was only 2 lanes because of construction, so we moved to the nearest parking… Read more »
“Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.”
― Aristophanes
I have heard that police must witness you breaking the law and can not pull you over on hearsay. So why do they encourage it? I guess there are special rules for just say no fans.
JJ, once the Police receive a report of a driver that may be intoxicated they are obligated to investigate. If the reporting person gives their name they become a witness which provides probable cause to stop the suspect vehicle. Otherwise, they can follow the vehicle and look for probable cause.… Read more »
Amazed- I do not believe the police should have the right to pull any one over for no reason at all. I think check points are simple wrong for many reasons. I thought we were free in this country. Safety issues should not be a reason I have to give… Read more »
We are free. We are also responsible for our actions. The reality is that people drink to the point of intoxication and then get in their cars and drive it in the same traffic where you are driving. If you have had several drinks, you may think you are fine… Read more »
“Safety issues should not be a reason to give up my freedom”???….The “freedom”to drink and drive…and the “freedom”to drive wrecklessly endangering everyone else thinking Law Enforcement can’t do anything about it unless they themselves witness it.
Wayne, I’m not expressing an opinion on DUI checkpoints, but will comment that I have read arguments from many areas that the checkpoints violate citizens’ rights not to be randomly stopped and examined. I don’t believe anyone is saying we have a right to drink and drive wrecklessly. The great… Read more »
I have been stopped at these check points,and NEVER have I felt my rights were being violated..in fact have thanked the officers for helping to make the streets safer.Now if I happened to be drunk pulling into a check-point,maybe I wouldn’t have been thanking them….I didn’t feel I was being… Read more »
The courts have consistently held that DUI checkpoints are constitutional. They do not violate drivers’ rights so long as they are conducted in a manner approved by the courts. Most people do not mind the momentary delay if it reduces the number of impaired drivers on the road. News coverage… Read more »
Exactly so. There is no strict, uncrossable dividing line between law enforcement and the public. We are all responsible in some small way for the health and safety of those around us. Cooperation with the idea and intent of checkpoints is simply all of us working together to make our… Read more »
One can make such arguments but they are hollow strawman arguments. Going though a checkpoint that is strategically placed specifically to catch drunk drivers is not anywhere near random. And really how intrusive is it to say, “Hello Officer”? How would you consider the same argument valid if applied to… Read more »
Well said. Thats all I’m trying to do Benett. Merry Christmas Ol Friend.
Driving is a priviledge, not a right.
O.K., you walk to work.
YES VIRGINA …
WE LIVE IN A POLICE STATE
upthecreek, I should have you talk to my family members who grew up in east germany before the end of the cold war. You’d probably enjoy the story about my uncle who the police picked up one day and was never seen again. So before you start calling the US… Read more »
Wait a minute, reporting a drunk driver and having “a beer on x-mas” are two very different things. JJ, obviously, you have not lost a friend or family member to a drunk driver. Well I have and I also witnessed a drunk driver hitting a pedestrian in a cross-walk during… Read more »
The difficulty in conscripting the citizenry to inform on each other is that it assumes we have perfect information. Some drunks may be easy to spot, and if so, dial away if you like, although with all the police presence in the eastern Sierra I’d find it hard to believe… Read more »
Do we want a society where people who are endangering others are free to do so without any intervention? If someone was threatening you with great bodily harm on a busy street, would you want everyone around you to simply turn away and do nothing while you were assaulted and… Read more »
Mr. Warner, political discourse is distorted enough in this country without adding to it on this thread. When you call the police to inform on a suspected drunk, you are by definition an informant. When the police erect a checkpoint and remove your freedom to say “I’d rather not”, they… Read more »
So lets imagine a society where your definitions of freedom and “informant” are the norm. No checkpoints to catch drunk drivers and if you see a drunk driver weaving down the road — nobody calls the police because they don’t want to be an “informant”. And about trading liberty for… Read more »
personally, I think it should be ‘report unsafe driving’. The reality is, unless you were in the bar and saw the person drinking, you really don’t know if they are driving under the influence of alcohol. But you do know by observance that they are driving unsafely. Also, I don’t… Read more »
Tip#5: If you see a big guy with a white beard in a red suit and pointy hat looking to get into houses via the roof, call 911 pronto.
And Happy Kwanzaa!
…..and don’t forget, Happy Hanukkah!
I luv the police tips. Call and rat out your friends and neighbors for having a beer on x-mas. Merry x-mas even if we do live in a police state.
MERRY CHRISTMAS….
HERE IS A BIG TICKET …WE NEED TO SUPPORT OUR PUBLIC PENSIONS