Michigan Votes Forum

that's funny I see fish on bikes every day........

You are certainly entitled to your opinion on this, I can respect that. But lets be aware that both divisions, Uniform and Traffic Safety, are already both patroling the highways. So in fact, you are all ready paying for both. The only thing is that you are paying the Traffic Safety Division (MCO's) to patrol with one hand tied behind their back. Now, how much sense does that make? Take care, Jim

I am a truck driver and travel all over Michigan. I have read numerous comments about the Motor Carrier bill. I can tell you this, all I see everyday on the roads in Michigan is Motor Carrier officers. Where are all the troopers? You never see one. I know this by looking at the shield on the door of the patrol vehicle. Replace the troops.

You know what really bothers me? It's the fact that if a partner calls in sick the other Trooper stays at the post all night and watches TV. MCO's work one man patrol on midnights and are alwauys on the road. I have even seen two man patrols sitting at the post all night playing on the computers or watching TV or Movies.They only leave the post if a call comes in. Is this any way to spend the taxer payers money.

If you have nothing to hide why don't you want us to search your house? If you have nothing to hide why do you care if we search you? Therefore you must be hiding something since you don't want us to search your house. "If you are not breaking the law then you have no fear of being stopped by an officer weather he is hiding or not"

what he's drinkin' Hehehe

Can everyone stop trading the stories back and forth. Look at the bill for what it will do for the state and the general public. Do not let your opinion of a department whether mco/trooper/deputy/local pd get in the way of logical thinking. This bill will help everyone in one way or another. Having to read all of the whining instead of thoughtful opinion and insight is rediculous. I support this bill simply because it makes sense.

"10 million dollars to put 100 new troopers through a school and we have to wait almost a year before we see any benefit" It costs 100 grand to get a cop through cop school? Then let's lay off 500 and save a bunch of money.

Here Here

"We are trained more then most" Then why is your grammer so terrible? "only ones to investigate trucks involved in accident" How often are trucks in accident? "check the breaks." Where do they put the "breaks"? I don't want someone like you to have power over citizens.

Just common sense. Don't try to stick lables where there are none to place.

I like the idea of more cops on the road. I travel I-94 regualary and I will admit that I travel 5 over. But I'm tired of be run over by others that are doing 90 or better. If these MCO's can slow them down and make my travel safer then I for it and will support the bill.

Like the other guy said weak argument

you have been watching to much TV.

I could not agree more. Take care, Jim

you won't believe it till it happens to you or yours.

Very Cute. You can't think of anything to add to the conversation so you attack the person on his spelling. A lot of people who hold high position have trouble with spelling. It doesn't make them any less of a person. Stick to the subject matter. There is no need to attack someone. I knew what he meant.

Between paying wages, benefits, and the cost of training, yes it cost about $100,000 to train a trooper from the hire date until the officer can work on his own.

Another MCO wanna be troop. Report this if its such a waste of money. You scared too?

do we have any troopers left in this state?? All I see are DOT's out on the freeway. I drive by the state police station and see 4 or 5 trooper cars in the parking lot running but no one around, who pays for the gas?? At least the DOT officer is doing something, why not let him do it all and send the others home. At least it would save on gas!!

The only problem with that is you would not be driving a marked patrol car. If the vehicle is blocking a lane of trafic the option to move on is not one I could do. Many times have I had to wait for another officer to arrive to fill out a simple accident report form. In that time I could have completed the form, got the vehicle off the road and got traffic moving again. As it stands now I wait for another officer. On days with bad weather that could be a long time. Yes I am a MCO, Yes I will still focus on commercial vehicles. Someone posted that the scales are always closed. Do you think that a person driving a overweight or unsafe vehicle would go through the scales? If they are closed we are on moble patrol just like the sign says. The scalehouse does not move.

This may be long winded, but I'm old and I've earned the right to go on and on. I retired from law enforcement 11 years ago. I won't say which agency at the risk of offending fellow blue diamonds. I remember the days when motor carriers drove light blue cars and worked at scales. Over time, the department started giving them more responsibility - they handled it well and we should all be proud of them. Today, the department has put them in the same cars as the troops. Motor carriers are expected to answer many calls above and beyond what they were hired to do. Yes, I said expected to respond. Yet, their hands are tied. I owe many thanks to motor carriers. They have always been there when I needed help and not just for a truck. Some of the newer officers get more training than most of old timers when we came in. I don't see what the problem is with this bill. I do see in the news papers where motor carrier officers are saving lives, arresting dangerous people, preventing crime, and doing a lot of good. For years, the department has always treated them like a second class citizen. I'm guilty, I used to until I came to my senses. When they do something good, the press releases always mistake them for troopers because it makes the department look good. The credit never goes to them. I would encourage you to read you local paper and see just who is doing what. You may be shocked. There should be no friction between troops and motor carriers. They're on the same team with the same goals. We, and you know who I'm talking to, need to support this. Let the motor carriers go out and take care of the traffic. That's more troops available for drug teams, CID, and many other details. Troops would be able to focus more on the major crimes, let the motor carriers take care of the minor things and traffic. The only thing that will move the department forward is change. I've seen it a time or two. This is a positive change. Either get on board or get left in the dust. SUPPORT THIS BECAUSE THEY'RE OUT THERE SUPPORTING YOU AND MAKING YOU LOOK GOOD AND YOU GET THE CREDIT FOR IT. Credit where credit is do. Just think about if they all got together and decided to stop helping out here and there. Thanks to all motor carriers and hopefully everyone else in the association will think about this and get behind you. I appreciate all you do and I will be sending my own correspondence to the governer supporting you.

No, Thank you for the support.

With your years have come wisdom. Thoughtful insight.

I retired from MSP in 2002. I worked closely with Motor Carrier officers throughout my career. They backed me up on domestic violence calls, traffic accidents, etc. I was also an instructor at the MSP academy and understand the training these officers have already gone through. They went through MUCH of the SAME training, in the same classrooms, at the SAME time as trooper recruits. These officers understand what their job is and that is to enforce commercial vehicles. Motor Carrier can do their job AND be there as fully certifed officers to assist ANY agency, not just MSP. DNR officers are fully certified officers but enforce game laws. However, they assist other agencies with criminal, civil and traffic investigations. Motor Carrier could do the same if fully certified. It seems like a no brainer.

Thank you for your support. Hopefully others will see the wisdom of your words. Darrin Hart

Thank you for your support. Please contact your legislators with your opinions. Darrin Hart

I guess I am still confused. I dont understand why these motor carrier guys are not certified. it sounds like they are cops and do police stuff anyway. like that guy down in jackson a few weeks back who found all that Cocaine. I cant remember how much he found it seemed like a lot. I think he was a motor carrier guy and that seems like police work to me. Wish i could remember how much cocaine it was.

I noticed the same thing. I am bad at spelling myself but you would think they would know how to.

It was 99 kilos, roughly 220 lbs. Uncut value 2million, street value 10 million. Yes, that was an MCO. Darrin Hart

To all you MCO's on here. What is your top pay compared to that of DNR or a Trooper. Lay it out for us because that other guy/gal is right. You will have to be re-classified by civil service so it will cost money. What is the pay per hour of DNR/Trooper/MCO/Fire Marshall.

As a former MCO I have sent letters in support of this for 2 reasons. MCO'S work harder than 80% of any Trooper I ever worked with. With very little training they would be able to handle the same calls a Trooper can. The second reason is it will make the roads safer.

The current plan is not asking for more money. Civil service will set the pay scale where they want and if we're not asking for more, then you can bet they will leave it alone. Also note the current bill as proposed does not allow membership in the state police retirement plan. Basically, MCO's keep what they already have for pay and benefits. We are not asking for an increase because we do not want to be a replacement or a cheaper alternative to troops. That is not the intent of this bill. We are simply asking for the ability to do what needs to be done in the abscense of a certified officer. Everything else will be business as usual just as it has been. Certification is necessary because there are too many "grey areas" in many laws. Certification would eliminate any questions as to where authority begins and ends. We do support any effort to put more troops out there too, and if we can help make that happen, don't hesitate to call upon us. United we stand, divided we fall.

Troopers start at $27.54 hr Conservation Officer start at $25.04 hr Motor Carrier Officer starts at $23.00 hr This is just base wage and does not include benefits or retirement. Source State of Michigan MDCS web site Thanks for asking, Jim

Thank you for your support! Take care, Jim

Thank you for your support! Take care, Jim

Thank you for your support! Take care, Jim

i understand 'divided jurisdictions' and 'separated duties'. what i do not understand in this state is why a trooper is (as we call it, p.o.s.t., peace officer standardized training) certified, and you are not? now, that would allow you to stand up in court and have your training certified and approved beforehand. what i don't understand about this bill is that they want you to either do the state police's job, meaning we don't need the troopers out there,just you, or they want the troopers doing YOUR job, meaning we don't need YOU. if they are to work accidents and you're not, then stop at the accident, assist motorists who are injured, direct traffic and wait for the 'big boys' to get there, but as soon as they do, leave them there to do their job, so you can go off and do yours. i'm all for 'assisting' and 'lending a hand', but if the state can't see fit to certify you, why are you working their 'mixed cases' for them? obviously, certification would mean better pay, and the ability to transfer between departments, and the propensity for officers to 'follow the money'. i say that it doesn't matter what is printed on the side of the car, or the patch on the arm, or the badge, we are all blue, we should all get the same quality of training, and all be able to provide the same quality of public service. what we SHOULDN'T do is walk each other's beats, or patrol each other's streets. THAT'S double dipping into the public trough.

the same opinions. in the end, all peace officers were certified. payrolls were cut, as department chiefs and sheriff's noticed a mixture of cars at accidents. if it's the state police's job to work accidents, let them work accidents, not raise revenue by trying to 'sit and git' another d.u.i. for the day. our state troopers DON'T do very many drug interdictions, they leave them for the deputies in the parishes, but they DO pass on the information, and hold subjects when they catch them. most drugs seem to be carried in big trucks nowadays, so the m.c.o.'s SHOULD be catching alot of contraband, not the troopers. it's a shame to put TWO cops on ONE road. where i come from, even the constables are certified. it's a shame that mco's here are not. certifying mco's WILL mean that they will go where the money is, lessening staff in smaller departments and bloating staff in the big ones. NOT certifying mco's will lead to big civil problems when something 'goes wrong' and an 'improperly trained, uncertified' officer get's run over the grill for trying to do a good job for the people of this state.

what are YOU hiding? let's all see what YOU have in the back of YOUR closet. i don't mind an officer 'hiding', but i thought that 'police presence' enforced more laws than 'pen to paper police work'. what i have 'to hide' is anything and everything that is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. as a law enforcement officer, you are there to ENFORCE THE LAW, not effect social change, OR raise revenues. you may NOT stop someone simply because you THINK they are breaking the law, you may only stop someone when you can articulate why you reasonably believe they are breaking the law. it may seem like a small difference to you, but it's the difference between a conviction that sticks, and another person who has their rights trampled on. every law abiding citizen you piss off because you want to 'see if they have been drinking' or 'see what's in their trunk' soon becomes a strong supporter for YOU losing YOUR job. not just through complaints to internal affairs, but through his complaints at the water cooler. their 'stories' undermine the support the public should feel for their police. pretty soon, you are percieved as the 'bad guy'. if you are THAT bored, go back up a fellow officer, whether he asks for it or not. if you have nothing else to do, go answer another 'routine' radio call, who knows, it MAY turn into something hot. your 'nothing to hide' comments means you didn't read the 4th amendment to our countries constitution, or at least you don't believe in it.