I saw something the other day that I haven’t seen for quite a while.
The El Paso Police Department had a motorcycle officer parked on I-10 in one of the few wide sections. Unfortunately he was not paying attention to traffic. He was busy fiddling with whatever communication device he had.
His presence did have the effect of slowing down traffic.
Since the construction on I-10 began, we have seen more and more instances of aggressive drivers tailgating at high speed and attempting to intimidate slower drivers to move over. These idiots are going to get someone killed.
The police department needs to come up with a strategy to handle this without getting an officer killed.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
A Motor Officer on I-10 is a deadly risk to them. Apparently there are NO Police Patrol vehicles AVAILABLE any more. The Mayor, Silly Council refuse to provide the funds to repair them, buy new vehicles. And yet everyday THEY are planning another business venture, Arena, soccer field, something for Mountain Star Sports, at a cost of MILLIONS$$$ to the TAXPAYERS. Highway 54 is another speed race track. Bikers, cars, 90-100 MPH and no Police any where. Seems there are no Police on the streets any more. Where are they? Because El Taxo is the “Safest city in the world”, the politicians have ordered a “Stand down”?? Seems that the ONLY enforcement is DPS Troopers now, doing the El Paso Police job. Maybe all the Police have been assigned to the baseball field, Bar areas, downtown??
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Keep in mind, police protection for the ballpark wasn’t in the budget. That has been a drain on the police department in terms of resources. Police have to work more overtime because there aren’t enough officers for a city our size and that contributes to a desire to work elsewhere. The 50mph zone with no enforcement on the freeway just encourages tailgating of anyone who does try to drive the limit which is more dangerous than keeping it at 60. On top of that a lot of the construction mess is exacerbated by lack of police officers to direct traffic when lanes are closed unexpectedly. I actually had one situation where I saw a construction crew decide to block off a surface street with their pickup trucks and guys standing in front of traffic so their hauling vehicles could go through the intersection without having to wait for traffic lights. That is the type of arrangement that should have officers directing traffic (and be announced–it was during a freeway closure period and supposedly that was one of the alternative surface street routes). As a taxpayer, I’m interested in my taxes going for police and fire protection, and street and infrastructure maintenance. I don’t care about entertainment venues and downtown revitalization. In most of the communities I’ve lived in, those things happened when larger corporations decided they needed those amenities to attract employees and they either mounted fundraising campaigns or networked with other private companies to get them to invest in the area. The problem with low interest rates is that all of a sudden government (and their large donors) feel they have an empty credit card that will let them spend on the stuff that was previously unaffordable. Donors’ companies are making money building stuff and the REIT investors are finally realizing their property flipping strategies. Now the chickens are coming home to roost because the operating costs of all this new stuff exceeds available tax revenue. So the solution is to cut back on infrastructure and maintenance. Less police protection, long holds on 911, cracked streets….
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I would have to agree, if there are police officers working Mesa or other major traffic arteries I’d be surprised, cannot recall the last time I saw a vehicle stopped in front of a police car. Mesa is a race-track. Sometimes I wonder if drivers think the posted limit is the MINIMUM speed allowed.
But the EPPD does have some new vehicles, photo in the Times just a few days ago!
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Blue lives matter and I wish we had more support for the EPD by our city leaders
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Exactly right. They don’t pay them enough so they leave. They can’t afford to keep up, pay the Retirement Funds for Fire Department or PD. They can’t afford to repair, replace vehicles. And yet the Mayor, Silly Council, Commissioners can ALWAYS force US to pay for whatever PERSONAL business ventures the local MILLIONAIRES, BILLIONAIRES little hearts want. Because those people are where the campaign “Donations” are. “Safest City” really?? If CRIME don’t get reported in the Stats, then it didn’t happen. If there are NO Police on the streets, then it didn’t happen. Heaven help El Taxo if there is EVER a major disaster event, criminal activity, terrorist event here. Hope that everybody can DEFEND, SUPPORT themselves.
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Or maybe that particular officer just made a bad decision on where to stop to do whatever it was he was doing. Some officers do ocasionally make bad decisions that can’t be blamed on others.
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“Bad Decision”.?? Really. Why not say he was just sitting there, doing nothing, finishing up his donut and coffee?? Don’t suppose it would occur to you that he actually was WORKING? I would think that he had just let a vehicle go after a traffic stop and that he was finishing up the citation. If the person goes to court, then the Officer is a WITNESS and his paper work, citation, refreshed MEMORY have to be ready to TESTIFY. Everything in El Taxo is a “Priority”, except for the PAY, BENEFITS of Police, Firemen. They Do a BILLION$$$ Bond so the high-dollar EPISD Superintendent can have more than a HALF-MILLION$$$ salary and a slush fund.. Somebody tell me that he is more important than any ONE cop on the street. If I were a cop in El Taxo, I would be like the City, County employees. Do minimum amount of work then park my truck under a shade tree and take a nap.
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Talk to some police officers and they will candidly tell you that citywide service and response are still affected by commitments to the ballpark the way staffing levels have been modified to support the ballpark.
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Interesting. I have not heard that from the officers in my family. And the baseball season is over. Obviously, you’re still rankled by the ballpark decisions. Or maybe you just hate baseball.
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So, why do you, yet another person who chooses to hide behind a pseudonym, question the motives of someone who suggested a possible contributing factor to our short staffed Police Department. Why do you think this has anything to do with baseball at all? Were you here when promises were made to the taxpayers? Did you vote for the very expensive (to the taxpayers) ball park? The fact is – as you can read below – this city’s elected leaders have for far too long been channeling money into pet projects at the expense of necessities, which includes Police, Fire, Streets, and other services!
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