Our loyal reader Reality Checker commented about this the other day. I thought that it deserved more visibility.
Our police chief has been doing a good job in my opinion.
I hope that he steps in and changes the new color scheme that the department plans to use with their new patrol cars.
Changing from a blue and white to a black and white design is not what concerns me.
It is the change of their “tag line” or “motto” that is bothersome.
Our cars now have “To Protect and Serve” painted on them. It seems to me that this might help remind the officers what their job is and what their relationship to the citizens is.
The new cars have dropped the old tag line and now will say “El Paso’s Finest”. Most of our police officers are good, but are they our finest?
Recently we have seen situations around the country where police might have or should have acted differently. I would hope that policemen around the country are considering what has been happening and are evaluating what they might do to help avoid results like we have seen lately.
“To Protect and Serve” seems like a good reminder that can help our police do their jobs well.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Well, either way, these are not exactly original slogans. I’d rather see them make up something unique and original to El Paso than simply copy one of the big cities, where such slogans have just become so much hot air, and PR hype. Actually, El Paso’s Finest is just stupid, because it suggests that there are others, and the only others we could look to would be school cops (how sad to live in a world where school districts need their own cops) or ‘county mounties,’ who have no proper jurisdiction within the City.
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The mission of EPISD school cops around Hillside Elementary School is to hide in the alley behind the school to give out citations. Unfortunately, it is not to protect and serve the community. If these school cops were actually protecting the children attending Hillside Elementary, Radford Street would look like the perimeter surrounding Loretto Academy. Loretto does not need school cops because the speed limit signs and traffic lights are properly place all around their campus.
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The new police cars are very intimidating. Almost to the point of wanting to pull off the road when you see one.
Talk about militarized !
These look like Judge Dredd on steroids. They look like State Troopers and not local cops who can/could “help people”. Somehow. . . you just dont want to be “Helped” by anyone in THESE cars. They really look like they have converted to a shoot first, ask questions, find out the truth LATER type of thing.
If dressing like a cop in the morning and strapping on a gun doesnt give them a BIG HEAD, . . . . THESE cars will only aggravate that.
They give me the image of a complete “Police State”.
“To Protect and Serve”. . . might as well be changed to: “We shoot first.” Or. . . We are ABOVE the Law because WE ARE “THE LAW”.
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Speaking of that, according to DOD figures the EPPD has received $332,246 from the Pentagon’s military transfer program. I wonder what they got. (The Sheriff’s office – $355,753)
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My concern is not what is painted on the doors but what is under the hood. EPPD went with the more fuel efficient V-6 engine to save money but did not take into consideration the way a police car is driven. Police officers need take off power not fuel efficiency. Even though the V-6 engine has 250 horse power it doesn’t produce the torque or take off power a police officer needs. The extra stress put on the V6 engines will affect the departments ability to respond to 911 calls, will affect the ability to go on chases, not that we have OJ Simpson type chases, and last but not least, the driving habits will put more wear and tear ob the V-6 engine causing it to be in the service department more often and requiring more money to repair. I was involved in the sale of the test cars purchased back in 2006. I told former Chief Wiles he was making a mistake and even showed him reports to back my statements. He didn’t appreciate me doing my job so he complained to my supervisors and I eventually lost my job as the assistant Fleet Sales Manager at Dick Poe Dodge. It is sad that the current fleet manager, who was there back in 2006, allowed this to happen. But then again the guy is more of an order taker than a salesman. The guy is getting a nice commission while the taxpayers are getting the drive shaft. This isn’t one EPPD’s finest moments.
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The Dodge is not a durable platform. The V-6 is vastly underpowered and will not endure high engine idle hours. These $50,000 plus cruisers will be junk in two years. A pure waste of money.
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Local police are not supposed to be an occupying army or to look like one. These new cars are intended to intimidate.
EPPD recruits with ads that mimic World of War Craft to appeal to young men with a robo-cop complex. This is entirely the wrong message, IMHO. Even the Marines do better.
If they ever need military backup, that is what the Guard is for, under control of an elected governor.
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“To Protect and Serve” might not be unique, but it is to the point and an accurate statement of mission, which is more important than a egocentric marketing slogan.
A proper understanding of mission and a genuine commitment to service are of paramount importance in the recruiting and development of our law enforcement officers. The recent choking death in New York, in which the police are now blaming the victim’s death on his failure to take better care of his personal health, is sickening. The victim was choked to death, while clearly saying that he couldn’t breathe. All because of unlicensed selling of cigarettes on the street; no officer’s life was in danger.
The fact that “New York’s finest” are now trying to blame the victim is dishonest and shows that the NYPD is circling the wagons to protect its own. That is irresponsible and breeds even greater distrust.
The last thing we need to be doing is feeding the egos of law enforcement offices, giving them a sense that they are above the rest of us, which then leads to at least a few individuals believing that they are above the law and are judge, jury, and executioner.
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They should go back to “Protect and Serve”. I have noticed some of the fattest cops in his city. “Finest” is not a word I would use to describe them.
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At the very least we should express our views, strongly, to the mayor and the council.
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Perhaps the EPPD is envious of the record of the Duke City cops?
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/inside-twisted-police-department-kills-unarmed-citizens-highest-rate-country
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