I really didn't want to touch this thread, Even if it was with a 10 foot pole, But the amount of ignorance in alot of replys, Inclines me to say my piece as a Law Enforcement Officer.
First let me say, Yes, There are ALOT of corrupt LEO's in my Dept as well as many, many others. Innocent individuals then become victims of these Officers who are supposed to uphold the Law, and do what is right.
Do we have numbers, or Quotas that we have to meet? To a point, Yes, We do get reviewed in reference to what we do while on patrol. There is a right way and a wrong way to hit these Quotas which are usually met by doing a routine patrol, But there are Officers who pull over the first muscle car, Young kid, and write them a citation to pass time and get a rise.
When I was younger I really was ignorant in the respect of truly knowing what Police Officers went through. I at one time just thought they were power hungry individuals who wanted to give people a hard time and I didn't really know what they went through on a daily basis.
Being one now, I see what I was ignorant in not seeing. I get scared shitless every day I wake up, Because I don't know what will happen on my shift, But I don't let that stop me, Not at all!. I've been shot, Had to shoot people to save an individuals life while risking my own, Gone into burning buildings, Had to fight and use deadly force to people who wanted to harm me because I wear the black uniform, Deal with drug paraphernalia, You name it, I've been through it. But I don't do it for the paycheck, or because I'm power hungry, I figure my good doing is one step in the right direction to clean this shithole up.
I find it funny when people think all we do is drive around in our squad cars pulling people over and harrassing the public while prancing around with our sidearms on us and call us Pigs, Scum, Trash, Power Hungry Assholes. I doubt ANY of these individuals are ones that would jump in front of a bullet to save an innocent persons life, Let alone do the job for one day.
The officer that gave you a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt, Do I think he was wrong? Yes, For one there were no terms of proof that you didn't take it off when the Officer lit you up for a pull-over.
Would I fight it, That's a call only you can make. In the future, Glance at their badge number and report them. Alot of negative feedback from the public does serve justice.