Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[obelix]

Police organisations were formed to protect honest citizens from criminals. They still try to do that but the majority of every police force seems to be more of a nuisance to the law abiding citizens nowadays than it does to the criminals.

For example, a recent public announcement from the Ontario Provincial Police, in Ontario Canada, said that there had been numerous thefts of property from cottages in the area and that the only way to stop this happening was not to leave anything of value in the cottages.
The next pragraph said that the Police would be conducting a "Traffic Safety Blitz" checking for people not wearing seat belts, speeding etc..
So there are plenty of cops to bother honest people committing arbitrary "offences" but no policemen to catch real criminals.

In this same province, the police have quotas. They have to write a certain number of traffic and other "tickets" each month. These tickets bring into the government bank account over 1 billion dollars a year.

The police now also bother boaters on the great lakes and snowmobilers who ride across the snowy wastes in winter.

Police resources are being misused by the politicians to acquire extra- budgetary funds but meanwhile real crime continues to rise!

What is it like in the country where you live?

[Diana]

I think the problem on my island with the police is that you hardly see them around. As a result, more people go through red lights and stop signs. They drag race and drive recklessly. If there were more police visible on the road, most motorists would slow down and drive cautiously. I think we have more accidents on our roads than in California. Also, something has to be done with our vehicle laws. There are people driving very high-risers and low riders. There are no tint laws and people can put very dark tints on their windows, which can be dangerous to both police officers and motorists. Sometimes, it can be helpful to see the driver of the other car. The only time I ever saw the police come out in full force and visible everywhere is when the USS Kitty Hawk was here.