I would be a lot more impressed if moral probity didn’t require the media spotlight for a catalyst.

I’m more concerned about punishing officers who misuse force…not parking. It’s easy to call an officer out for parking illegally, but Masterson needs to man up and punish the officers involved in the infamous taser incident.

I have called BPD dispatch before for officers driving illegally without emergency lights…and of course greeted with hostility.

That’s the first story about the BPD where behaviours or qualities such as arrogance, hubris, over-reaction, abuse of authority or brutality were corrected and not ignored, rewarded or swept under the rug.

You know what, if the coppers need to park there, so be it, let them do there job and quit worrying about this petty BS. Walk a few feet in there shoes before you judge them.

EDITOR NOTE–BG didn’t write a word until we learned it WAS those who wear the same shoes that did the judging.

Get a grip on reality? This story worth the time? This is real and absolutely worth the time. It shows that abuse of power or authority will not be tolerated. Good thing somebody took notice and the department acted on it. It’s only $40.00 in cash to the city but BPD re-actions like this are worth more than any amount of money can buy. Kudos to Chief Masterson and the BPD. Maybe the next guy will think twice before abusing his power whether it be for parking or something more!

As I understand the sequence of events the cop was 10-7 (that means out of service) at the time of the parking deal.

Out of service means radio off and not reachable. Mr. Cool, the cop took three motorcycle parking spots while he was 10-7.

I always love the people who take handicaped parking because granny is handicapped and they are not. They will use the handicapped parking tag when granny is not with them and preempt someone with a genuine handicap from using the space. These crudballs really have a lot of nerve. The cop in this instance was no better.

You hypocrites. Some of us would love to apply the same standards of absolute pettiness to those of you in a work environment that can be scrutnized so closely. So a cop parked in the wrong parking spot. Horrible! I’m sure the irate individual who went so far out of his way to voice his disdain has never sped through a school zone, texted or dialed while driving,taken a pen or office supplies from work, ever lied in any form for any issue, left work early or simply sat at his desk doing nothing…while getting paid for it. I wonder if he was actually supposed to be at work as he spent the morning “hunting” down this vile criminal. I could care less if a cop parked on the sidewalk. Not being a native of this farm town, I am constantly amazed at the things that seem to upset the citizens here. Is this some California hatred for authority or just a bunch of hayseeds with a holier than thou attitude. As for the Chief…get a life! If this is all you have to do? Sounds like a little witch hunt paid off to the tune of 40 bucks. I’d have paid it for the cop just to shut this fool up. And I hope the citizen never gets upset if a cop is late to his robbery because he couldn’t find a parking space. Good job Boise. Grow up.

Thank goodness for this web site. An outstanding service to our community. Thank you, Guardian.

What the heck is wrong with some of you people? Call a spade, a spade. Cops enforce our laws. They dog-gone better abide by them. No excuses. Chief Masterson understands this implicitly. And rightly so.

The point is he wasn’t responding to a call.

If he was on a call there would be no point to this conversation. When not on a emergency call, you should not be parking like that. Take the time to park legally and set a good example.

I can’t believe we are having this discussion. Ethics, sense of entitlement, ring any bells? I thought a 5 hour class on this at POST was a bit long. I guess not.

You have a serious us against them thing going on my friend.
Step back, re-evaluate and ask yourself why you are condoning this kind of behavior.

Slippery slope dude.

Well, the rumor is it was Boise Police sgt. Guess that ends the debate right there.

Whatever happened to “discretion”. I’m sure there HAS to be a local cop here who has given a warning for an infraction involving a traffic complaint or violation. One would have to assume that at the very least this would have been handled in some manner involving personnel discipline or a warning of some sort within the department. So an on duty cop is issued a citation in a marked police car while in uniform. Hey “who cares’…THIS is the slippery slope that needs to be addressed not your attitude of moral superiority suggesting that this guy is an ethics nightmare.

I am actually surprised here. All this time I have been telling The Boise Guardian here how he has been overly critical of law enforcement and how we do not think we are above the citizens we serve. Well thanks guys, you just proved me wrong. I stand corrected Dave.

The Boise Police Department apparently does think the law does not apply to them. It’s that lack of morality and arrogance you are exhibiting and your “I can park wherever I want cuz I’m the Po-Po attitude” which turns the public against us. So no, I won’t apologize for having a more highly evolved sense of ethics than you and maybe you should consider getting into a profession more closely aligned with your belief system, like say Politics.

My understanding is their sense of entitlement is just like yours. You have that same attitude I have heard before. You call it “Professional courtesy”. I call it corruption. If I stop you for a violation in my county and you badge me, not only will you definitely get a ticket, your chief will get a call as well! You are not above the law. I will answer your question “ringo startled”. Whatever happened to discretion is right. Whatever happened to that officers sense of discretion to take two seconds to think “hey, how will this make me and my agency look if I park here”?

If you got a beef with your chief and his methods take it up with him. In the meantime, he was wrong, you know he was wrong, all he got was a ticket. Pay it learn from it and move on. Was this newsworthy, hell no. Did they plaster it everywhere to embarrass cops. Hell yes. Are you doing anything to change their attitude about cops. Nope, you keep reinforcing that belief system.

No wonder every officer that leaves my agency to go to Boise for more pay, always comes back within 6 months. They all say the same thing. You guys are out of control and unethical and they don’t want to be associated with you. You’ve got an image problem. I suggest you work on it.

No I don’t heal the sick or forgive sins but I do wash out your types during their probationary period as often as I can, and I have been known to walk on water once in a while.

In answer to your question, no I’m not a Boise cop either because I have more pride in myself than that and actually value my integrity. You guys have a LAPD bad image thing going on.

I actually have friends in Boise PD too that put up with you guys for some dumb reason. It’s a shame really. I have seen many good officers run off to your agency and come back within six months. All of them cite the same reasons for leaving BPD.

1) Lack of ethical behaviors they didn’t want to get caught up in.
2) Trainers were arrogant and treated trainees badly.
3) Many Boise cops have a We vs. They syndrome going on with the public and view their own administration as the enemy.

I have stopped other cops before. Some got warnings some didn’t. One who didn’t, deliberately tried to influence me by flipping out his badge when I stopped him for doing 85 in a 60. As I approached his vehicle he said ‘Sorry man, we good here? I’m kind of in a hurry.’ I asked him for his D.L. etc. and he flipped me more of that professional courtesy crap.

25 over is not warning worthy no matter how you slice it. I gave him a break and stroked him for 19 over, and thats as good as it was going to get.

I got a call one night from another officer who told me he caught my son speeding. He asked me what I wanted him to do about it. I said what would you normally do in a case like this? He said he would normally write a ticket. I told him then he knew what he should do. Write the ticket.

If you think thats holier than thou then you don’t deserve to wear that badge. So, you want my badge hero? Come get it. Your jurisdiction ends at the Boise City limits. Step into mine and break the law if you want to test my tolerance for that kind of behavior. Whether you are a cop or not will not stop me from tossing your crooked butt in jail and ending your career.

Facts are this wasn’t even a newsworthy story till a bunch of “Boise” cops started suggesting the law did not apply to them and started complaining about it.

The sad part of this whole deal is the Sgt. got a ticket. He was publicly humiliated for it. Then a bunch of jackasses banded together and screamed “we are cops and we are above the law! It doesn’t apply to us!” That is what I have an issue with.

As I stated before, if you have an issue with the way your chief disciplined this guy then maybe you should talk to him about it.

The public has every right to expect it’s law enforcement officers to not be arrogant, and to obey the law themselves. He wasn’t on a call, he could have parked legally. There was no reason for what he did other than he thought he could get away with it.

The man paid his fine. Story over. But you want me to feel badly because he made a mistake and was held accountable and the public feels cops should be held accountable? I think not.

None of the cops I have worked with in over 20 years of law enforcement experience have attitudes like yours. It must be a Boise PD thing.

I bet you still haven’t figured out why voters don’t like spending money on cops yet have you? Look in the mirror and you will have your answer. Remember that with each word you spout out of your mouths you prove my points to the citizens of Boise and shape and form their image of what Boise cops are. Go on, keep it up.

Hey “who cares” Why dont you girls take your “my dept is better than your dept” some where else so you dont make cops look any worse.

EDITOR NOTE– Good idea Rodney. I just closed the debate.