Why don't the police spend more time trying to solve serious crimes?

pops

Its all about money.There is a lot more money in speeding tickets than murder.They are just after the working man trying to get that money.They could ride around in the projects and find all the crime they want.Aint no money in there plus they scared to go in the projects where the crime is.

Grumpy

I found your question, sophomoric:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sophomoric

It has defined my opinion of you:
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/idiot.

Yours: Grumpy

tweak

You're right, it's all about money for starters. The small time crime brings mega bucks to the penal system. It takes a lot of brains and serious work to crack a real crime. Why solve one when you can solve 500? Unless of course that ONE case involves notoriety.
I live in a bad area and there are soooooooo many murders, and sooooooooo many of them are unsolved, nobody cares unless it's been in the media. I think the cops enjoy harrassing the people who commit petty crimes, gives them a big woody to humiliate a nice old lady shoplifting a bottle of Excedrin.
This is not going to change. After all, 'we the people' are NEVER heard.

It's a nice thought to think that neighborhood involvement will make a difference. We might get thrown a crumb and when it's forgotten in a few weeks, even the crumbs are gone.

And detectives ARE on the street as well as uniformed pigs. They all have to work together. When there's a drug bust there are always detectives involved in the arresting procedure. Then they get their picture in the paper and get an award... Makes ya wanna puke chunks!

ahhhhhhinine

Because it takes more work to solve serious crimes, and if it isn't personal, it isn't worth it to them.

DocoMyster

I've never known any person to successfully make a living by being intoxicated publicly, or privately.

sniper

Becaus solving cases is the FBI's job

DAVID B

Not true.

hajgora7

You have to learn more about how your police departments are staffed, funded, and operated. Take some criminology courses. If there's a case that is of particular importance to you, write to the Mayor, visit the Police Chief or head of the department working on the case. Politics influences which cases will get the most attention. So does the difficulty of the case. Join your Neighbourhood Watch. Unless you get involved in some appropriate way, you're part of the problem, not the solution.

BoRiQuA_MaMi

they be arresting people for stupid reasons.

me1c01ciz

they can't, because they have pig brain.

personnosrep

just give them sum donuts n they will be workin hard on the case !!

Its the american way! : )

I Know Nuttin

There are too many pot-smokers to worry about. There's no time to investigate serious crimes.

NimbleNimrod

More work for them I guess...Why Should they think and make the world a better place when they can just bust the first guy they see, pat themselves on the back and bring home the bacon...I agree, even the the job description of a cop is to be fair, uphold the law and protect the innocent, in the end, everyone looks after their own interest, they're just trying to make a living too.

albo888888

The reason is that police are divided by function in the department. A regular officer on the street can't just decide to investigate an unsolved murder. That job belongs to a detective in homicide.

fr_chuck

I am glad to see you will lobby for and vote for a large tax increase or sales tax increase so the police can hire alot more officers, and get needed investigation equipment for thier departments.

First patrol is not investigation, thier department does patrol and sometimes also traffic, they are the visable police who we see in marked cars. They do the first line of police work and are involved in trying to prevent crime or some merley work traffic.

Detectives do the investigation work, and a department of 20 detectives for example my have 3 new cases every day. So they work on what they can as good as they can.

joshuaspohn2003

right

sparky_the_perv

It's all about revenue. Murderers and rapists don't pay parking/speeding tickets.. and those fines paythe bills around our police department.. As with most things its all about the money. Don't be fooled Most Cops have a quota system even if they deny it . Why do you think there is always 2 cops parked at almose every school zone on the last 3 days of the month? Filling thier quota. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

monsterofthemidway5454

they try there best why dont you shut the hell up

truthteller

cops are worse than any criminal you can find. they do not want to go after real criminals, it's to dangerous. it's a lot easier for them to just hassle every day citizens ,than to risk getting their hands dirty. after all, they can't eat that jelly donut, while chasing a bad guy , now can they?

wooleybooley

I disagree. Here in Michigan as well as many other states they have detectives assigned to only cold cases. They have solved quite a few.
How do you figure they pick on poor people? You mean drug dealers?

carl

coz some of the the polices itself are making serious crimes

oklatom

Which cases do you feel are worthy of their time, and what would you have them give up to spend more time on the cases you deem worthy? What is your source that the police 'spend all their time picking on the poor man trying to make a living'? Who and where is this poor man you talk about?

Start with your definition of 'serious crime' so we can better answer your question.

Baby Jack born 4/5/09

i agree

Ya-sai

Stop kidding yourself, if the victim was an African American cop, the case would be closed quicker than lighting.

sqishieears

Because, it's easier for them to go get a coffee, at Mr. Donuts & talk about it, rather then, take care of serious crimes!!!

macdoodle

separate people to do separate jobs. traffic cops and beat cops don't do detective work. and there is a budget. and honest- high profile cases get high profile attention first. that's an unfortunate fact. if the Governor gave you a call -you too would drop everything and attend to that. especially IF YOUR FUNDING came from there. so reality is a part. don't forget no one wants to pay the taxes to get the work funded.
and there are many cases just not enough clues and the budget is never big enough. and sometimes it takes the public's input to solve. if you notice many witnesses refuse to come forward makes it a little hard. and yes when its a cop killing it is priority its a scarier more dangerous person who'll kill a cop.. and just like if something happened to your family vs a stranger. cops are their own family. they risk their lives daily. and lots of times their lives depend on their partner or backup. and they become best of friends . there are some cops who are not good at what they do like every job but most are dedicated. now that there are psyche tests required for entry rare true wackos get in. if you have wild looking car or something that alerts them.. there is a study about colors of cars etc. so what car you drive affects how much you get hassled..if are new in a small town or in a high crime area do expect more surveillance that's how they prevent/stop the crime. also cruising or other suspicious behavior can get you hassled. so what you look like and what your car looks like and you do has a big impact on how you are perceived and treated. nuns rarely get hassled someone hanging out and covered in jail tattoos does.

McDreamy

It's a no brainer, there is more money in speeding tickets. You need brains to solve crimes.

Yukaza

Its because the petty crimes are much more numerous and the perpetrator much easier to locate and arrest.Petty crimes and offenses take up almost 99% of an officers time while on duty,and the detectives that are assigned the murder cases are in far less number than the patrolmen. I don't feel that "picking on the poor man " is a valid argument for lack of solved murders.People rich and poor commit crime,and that is the problem.
I see nothing wrong with putting extra detectives on the murder of a police officer killed in the line of duty.Of course you need to protect those that protect us . They are like a family and if one of my family members were killed I too would want extra attention given to finding the killer . If we paid our cops better and the field attracted more people that actually give a damn about what they are doing then we would all be much better protected.I'm sorry they are the first person Id call if I was in trouble and needed help in a crime situation. Who do you call?

Shane S

This is a perception vs. reality thing.

Perception: all cases that are unsolved are unsolved because the police don't care enough, or the case is not important enough

Reality: while there are some cases where I'm sure the details have been glossed over and things have been ignored, the investigators follow incredibly strict guidelines as to the cataloging and even photography of crime scenes, as to best facilitate a speedy conclusion. There are hundreds of thousands of cases that come across the desks of police every year, and they wouldn't very well be able to do their jobs of protecting people and enforcing the law if every single cop (which is what it would take, every single cop) was assigned a case and couldn't do anything else until it was solved. Regular cops do not investigate murders, for instance. Highly trained detectives do. Lots of people die because a surgery wasn't performed in time. Do you think that a nurse should have to perform the surgery when there isn't a surgeon available? Of course not, but there are far fewer surgeons than nurses, so why aren't they taking care of these "serious problems" rather than changing bedpans? Doesn't make too much sense that way, does it?

I find it humorous how many people that have answered this question (and the person asking it) seem to detest cops. They are just doing their job, just like everyone else, and if you got robbed you'd certainly want their help... wouldn't hate them so much then, would you? I've been stopped and detained for a day because of the neighborhood was in (they assumed I was there to buy drugs because I was white and what time of night it was... ah, the city where I grew up), but am I bitter about it? No. I fit a profile, so they used their judgement. Was their judgement wrong? Yea, but I'm certainly not perfect, and I doubt anyone else here is.

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