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Re: Photographer vs. train in Eugene, OR
Author: smitty195
Date: 12-15-2010 - 23:57
Kryten Wrote:
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> Yes, we want police officers multi-tasking so we
> can have more settlements like the one with
> Portland OR paying out 338,000 dollars for it's
> officer running down an elderly citizen while
> checking his computer terminal.
It's not the first fatality, and it won't be the last fatality. Each case is different, but certain facts do not change. It may eventually come to the point of departments having a policy where you are not allowed to type or view the computer screen while the vehicle is in motion (if you are the driver). Personally, I hated the computers. I would never log-on with my computer, and just waited until the watch commander finally caught it and had to tell me to turn it on. He knew I didn't like those things. A pad of paper and a pen is so much easier. But with the vehicle stopped, the MCT (Mobile Computer Terminal) is awesome and can bring up an incredible amount of information.
But just keep in mind a couple of things. Officers have been multi-tasking for years and years---way before computers came along. Talking on the radio, listening to who is responding and from where, directing officers where to go as you imagine the location in your head to try to set up the units properly, dodging traffic with lights/siren on (which is not a fun task!)....these are all diversions that have been around forever. To blame the computer is not really fair. I'm sure in specific cases, yes, the MCT is to blame (as in the example that OPRRMS provided). Officers also have to be responsible, and most of them are. The case of the officer driving 102 MPH to a call where he wasn't even needed and was using the computer and crashed head-on into an innocent victim (killing 2 people, I think) is obvious negligence. That officer had more problems than just using a computer.
Until you've worn the badge and done the work, some things probably don't make a whole lot of sense. I know that when I was a 911 dispatcher, I would go out on ride-alongs all the time after work. I thought the job was pretty easy. But when the day came for ME to do the job, everything changed. You can not imagine, and I can not adequately explain, what goes through your mind as you are enroute to certain details. Computer or no computer, your brain is "full". This is part of the job, and it has been since before I was born.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, we want police officers multi-tasking so we
> can have more settlements like the one with
> Portland OR paying out 338,000 dollars for it's
> officer running down an elderly citizen while
> checking his computer terminal.
It's not the first fatality, and it won't be the last fatality. Each case is different, but certain facts do not change. It may eventually come to the point of departments having a policy where you are not allowed to type or view the computer screen while the vehicle is in motion (if you are the driver). Personally, I hated the computers. I would never log-on with my computer, and just waited until the watch commander finally caught it and had to tell me to turn it on. He knew I didn't like those things. A pad of paper and a pen is so much easier. But with the vehicle stopped, the MCT (Mobile Computer Terminal) is awesome and can bring up an incredible amount of information.
But just keep in mind a couple of things. Officers have been multi-tasking for years and years---way before computers came along. Talking on the radio, listening to who is responding and from where, directing officers where to go as you imagine the location in your head to try to set up the units properly, dodging traffic with lights/siren on (which is not a fun task!)....these are all diversions that have been around forever. To blame the computer is not really fair. I'm sure in specific cases, yes, the MCT is to blame (as in the example that OPRRMS provided). Officers also have to be responsible, and most of them are. The case of the officer driving 102 MPH to a call where he wasn't even needed and was using the computer and crashed head-on into an innocent victim (killing 2 people, I think) is obvious negligence. That officer had more problems than just using a computer.
Until you've worn the badge and done the work, some things probably don't make a whole lot of sense. I know that when I was a 911 dispatcher, I would go out on ride-alongs all the time after work. I thought the job was pretty easy. But when the day came for ME to do the job, everything changed. You can not imagine, and I can not adequately explain, what goes through your mind as you are enroute to certain details. Computer or no computer, your brain is "full". This is part of the job, and it has been since before I was born.
