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Thursday, January 04, 2007

I was going to post this yesterday, and I know that some of my law enforcement buddies might want to shoot me, but I'm really miffed. Here's why.

All we hear in the news down here in Orlando is how our crime rate is so high, how we had over 60 murders in Orange County and almost 50 murders in Orlando alone in 2006, how even NY's Guardian Angels were so concerned about the alarmingly high rising crime rate that even THEY came down here to clean up our streets, etc. etc. etc. And - to kick off 2007, what do we have - 3 murders in one night. What. The. Hell.

What we also hear (but you may not) is how some of Orlando Police Dept.'s ("OPD") finest just got busted for surfing the *ahem* adult sites at work, that often the Orange County sheriffs & OPD can be found loungin' at Dunkin' Donuts both downtown and in Lake Buena Vista and, more often than not, setting up speed traps, or their version of speed traps.

Do they clean up the apartment building where I live in Lake Buena Vista - no. Now, when we had a domestic in our building where our downstairs neighbor threatened his soon to be ex-wife & her son with a gun because he was off his meds, now those two sheriffs needed a badge of commendation. They were the FIRST set of sheriffs that were not condescending, and they were very knowledgeable and courteous. They weren't Roscoe P. Coltrane and the down home good ol' boys like we often see here. You know the type, older guy with a chip on his shoulder and acts like he's bothered you spilled his coffee. But, there is an *alleged* drug dealer 2 buildings down and he deals openly, but do you think Orange County sheriffs deal with that, or the level of crime on property i.e. break ins, car thefts, rapes, etc.?

Now - listen, before the Law Enforcement crew gets on my back, I have a number of friends that are cops and I beyond respect the badge - just not here in Orlando until they shape up their mess. We've got crime galore and my heart breaks for the homicide crews because they are beyond overworked & overtaxed, but Seriously - Buddy Dyer - do we NEED SO MANY DAMN TRAFFIC TICKET COPS!!!

Case in point -yesterday, I am driving to work and traffic is movin' smoothly. All is well and *bam* on the 3rd day of the year, what do I see: Village People Cop is back again, Roscoe P. Coltrane is acting as lookout and they've got a crew of 8 Orlando Police Officers pulling people over on I-4 next to Exit 82 and wandering through traffic. Not to mention, one of them decided to give me the evil eye like he was going to pull me over - g'head officer - BRING IT cuz I would have a complaint lodged against his badge by the end of the day for no jurisdiction, harassment, etc. I noticed a pattern in the cars pulled over - ethnic or female. What. The. *#*@?? They got the guy behind me for merging into traffic and not using his blinker. Plus, the redneck cop in dire need of a P.T. test that tried to step in front of my car to aggressively waive down the driver in back of me needs to watch where he steps in traffic. He might have lost a toe, or five. I was SOOO tempted to take a pic with a camera phone, and might just do that on the next time. I just was already late for work and what are they going to write me up for on that - paparazzi?

Buddy Dyer - Are you THAT low on funds in the first month of 2007 whereby you've got to have OPD pull over seatbelt offenders for that lovely Click It or Ticket initiative? Do you need to endanger officers lives to have them park down on the exit ramp by OBT, hide their bikes and vehicles, walk up the hill and have them wander like children in traffic without a momma? Don't you think that those officers would better serve the community by perhaps *ahem* fighting crime on the streets, not pursuing those that forget to use their blinker while merging into traffic caused by YOUR officers or those that forgot to click their seat belt? Do you think, perhaps, that you might allocate the budget better to pay the officers their overtime and get rid of this quota mess? Do you think, perhaps, that you might even try to ADDRESS what is causing the crime, rather than sit on your weeble wobble behind and letting others do the work, i.e. the Guardian Angels.

OPD's chief, by no means, is out of my angry glare, but like a good soldier, he is subject to his commander and that is our lovely Mayor who, as you all know, I have no love for. Nor do I have any love for Patty Sheehan (hello - Paris Hilton a good role model for Orlando - I think NOT) or Daisy Lynum (we won't even go into her tirade about her son and how the Guardian Angels are cleaning up her area of town).

Buddy Dyer needs to be held accountable so I'm deciding who to invoice the 20 minutes I was late to - OPD or Buddy Dyer because seriously - that was beyond uncalled for. I called the State Troopers last time this happened at BR's suggestion and they said "Well it's traffic control and we don't care what they do". However, OPD is not working on speeding issues, they are pursuing those not wearing seatbelts and minor traffic violations.

And OPD - take note - you might want to learn a thing or two from Seminole County Sheriffs & Altamonte Springs P.D. - both agencies are tough on crime, don't take any mess and you know what, they are pretty darn nice and don't appear to have a chip growing out of their left shoulder. From all appearances, they seem to have their stuff together.

Now if only Orlando would smarten up.

Labels: Altamonte, Orlando, PD

Posted by Lys :: 12:03 PM :: 0 comments

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