To Serve & Protect OR Law & Order?

[Stainmaster]

A friend of mine is a police officer in West Covina, and we were discussing police policy. We concluded that the idea of to 'Serve & Protect' is really a question. To serve and protect who? The answer could well be the wealthy citizenry.

Your city was involved in a SC case, West Covina v. Perkins was a SC case about SW procedure, just as a FYI.

On topic, the courts have generally ruled that there is "NO duty to protect" unless a "special relationship" is established. This means they can sit all day and not patrol and even if a murder occurs that may have been prevented by patroling, as the primary duty of patrol is "crime prevention", they are immune from Civil suit.

This is encouraging. It is apparent that I have little respect for police operations up in Santa Monica. You should visit their main station where the chief has a palatial office you can see from the street. The lobby has the desk sargent hiding behind security glass! A guy I know went in there after being mugged, and the police would not come out from behind the glass! So, the duty of the Santa Monica police is to serve and protect themselves! Talk about covering your own ass!