Sheriffs to write citations?

Oh God, not again... I can feel this turning into another Department vs. Department, knock down, drag out fight again where people make dyer predictions about the future... <mocking> if the Sheriffs write Chapter 90 cites pretty soon the MSP will be out of a job... if the Campus Police start writing Chapter 90 cites, the town cops will be out of a job.... when is it going to end? Maybe its because 90% of my experience is outside of MA but I don't really see how the whole Commonwealth will fall apart over Chapter 90 authority. Local cops, sheriffs and state police in some neighboring states all have motor vehicle athority, they all can issue tickets for traffic violations, and they all get along just fine. The local police don't get thier panties all up in a bunch because a deputy sheriff stopped a guy going 62 in a 40 on DW Highway... but it seems like on this board everyone is complaining about other Law Enforcement Officers doing the best they can. So what if a sheriff's deputy stops someone for a motor vehicle infraction. So what?! I understand departmental pride, but give me a break. We are all here to do a job and go home safe and unharmed to our loved ones or our Sports Center and get back up and do it all over again, not to beat our heads into a wall because *gasp* someone else is stopping cars on the road tonight!

If the Admins want me to move this to another thread, I'm happy to do so. Gil, if you'd like to suspend me for being pessimistic, I'm fine with that. I am just so tired of the bickering back and forth about who's a cop and who's not, who should be stopping cars, and who shouldn't, who should have blue lights, and who shouldn't. Maybe its just me, maybe its the fact that I just got off a miserable 16 hour shift and I'm in a cranky mood, but can't we all just get along like the professionals we all are?

It was really, really, REALLY bad in another New England state... (CT) by the end of the day I'll post some doozies from the Attorney Generals Report... they had some "honorary special civilian sheriffs" actually serving warrants along side regular deputies in a borrowed uniform. :shock:

In New London County, there are examples of unauthorized private individuals
being issued Special Deputy Sheriff badges and identification cards. These
individuals used this unauthorized status to purchase firearms and high-capacity
weapon magazines. At least one of these individuals, who is an oral surgeon, even
assisted in the service of a capias on more than one occasion, including
handcuffing and searching a person who was arrested. :shock: :shock:

Fairfield County Sheriff Charles Valentino appointed people as "Honorary
Deputy Sheriffs" in exchange for paying $150 to the Fairfield County Sheriffs
Association, Inc. Honorary Deputy Sheriffs in Fairfield County received a sheriff
badge, an identification card in the same form as that used for Deputy Sheriffs,
and a commission authorizing them to exercise the office of Deputy Sheriff.

In Litchfield County, individuals joining the sheriff association received a sheriff
badge upon paying initial membership dues of $75 to the Litchfield County
Sheriff Association. For a short period of time Litchfield County Sheriff Richard
Zaharek also appointed a handful of individuals associated with the Torrington
Fish & Game Association, Inc. to the nonexistent position of "Associate Deputy
Sheriff."

In an interview he was asked questions about posessing the badge and what was said to him by the Sheriff...

Q. So he indicated to you that after you had this badge, if he called upon you
to serve papers, you'd be authorized to do so?
A. Yeah.
Q. Is there anything else that he said you'd be authorized to do?
A. Get free train tickets. I remember that, to get free train tickets to New York
or whatnot because I remember saying I was going to New York this weekend.
And we had talked about what we were going to do, and I said, oh, I was going to
New York this weekend and he said this would be the best thing to use, show your
badge and you will get a free ticket. It didn't work.&#8230;

Oh, it gets better...

The New London County Sheriff Department improperly authorized Deputy
Sheriffs and Special Deputy Sheriffs to make personal purchases of firearms and
weapon magazines, including items of a type restricted to law enforcement use.
Documents associated with many firearms transactions show the seller to be the
New London County Sheriff Department. These weapons never appeared in
sheriff property inventories. Firearms transactions? Oh my!!!

Anyone interested can read the entire thing at http://www.cslib.org/attygenl/press/2000/other/sheriffi.pdf

Oh, by-the-way, Conneticut no longer has sheriffs or sheriffs departments... wonder why. :shock: