I agree that public safety (there are many more than just municipal police and fire) can be inconsistent in applying appropriate consequences for those who fail to measure up. As a whole, the public safety community does a pretty good job of weeding out those who are likely to offend. But, as one of my supervisors once said, the psych test doesn’t get them all.

That said, you constantly hark against public safety but you rarely, if ever, offer a substantial solution. To say the system needs to be fixed, is simplistic and unserving. POST offers standards for public safety officers. As far as I know, most law enforcement agencies follow them.

Now, if you are talking about the so-called Peace Officer Bill of Rights, let’s remember where these came from. Years ago, law enforcement officers were being unfairly punished for political concerns. If a politician needed a scapegoat he only needed to look at the police department. Police officers did not give up there rights when (neither should any public servant) they pinned on their badge. But, it seemed that they were being unfairly singled out.

Would you have us go back to that? Should any employee be subject to that kind of treatment based on the whim of their employer? Your editorials seem to say yes. I say no.

Back to the two articles you have presented: The article concerning Wagner seems to say that he actually went to prison in April. But, both of these can be blamed on the courts, not on their respective departments. It is the lawyers and the judges that are allowing these kind of shenanigans to go on. So, blast the ones who are doing this, not the departments who have no interest in condoning such behavior.

Lewd photographs and public nudity, do not, in and of themselves, constitute a danger or threat to public safety, despite what you might think. Absent any overt predatgory behavior against another human being….they are misdemeanors.

The guy has lost his job and will undoubtably do some probation. Which is about as much as any other first time offender would, would receive in this state.

I test this theory on a daily basis with a bumper sticker on my 94 Toyota. The bumper sticker has that little fire helmet you that see on late model mint condition SUV’s and trucks, only this bumper sticker also says U OWE Us We Own U.

It is not uncommon to have one of our wise overlord public servants drive beside me and scream a long stream of four letter words. I have learned to smile in return.

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/03/how_has_the_dirty_anaheim_cop.php