[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by The Champ

I didn't read the article and don't know exactly what was said.

But to many people (even here in the USA) - Janesville and Beloit are "small" towns. And I live outside of a town that has a population of 1100...

Some people would even consider Milwaukee, the largest community in Wisconsin, a small town - and Janesville and Beloit have just a small fraction of the population of Milwaukee.

REALLY....if memory serves me, Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the U.S. When one thinks of a SMALL town, it isn't one with nearly 600,000 residents.....

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

REALLY....if memory serves me, Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the U.S. When one thinks of a SMALL town, it isn't one with nearly 600,000 residents.....

Milwaukee is actually #30 - if you trying to be technical, according to the 2012 census.

But at under 600,000 it is considerally smaller than it's nearby neighbor Chicago that has a population of over 2,714,000 and Chicago is a small town compared to NYC or LA with populations of over 8,336,000 and 3,857,000 respectively.

And seeing as how the author of the article that is being lambasted is from England (if I understand correctly), NYC is smaller than London.

And putting that in to global perspective, London has 21 cities larger than it. Karachi, Pakistan is the largest city with a population of over 27,506,000[.

So let's stop being so provincial and trying to make comparatively small towns and cities seem larger than they really are.

[Andre]

Never let facts get in the way of a good story....

[67drake]

If the cop walked up to the car with a beer and brat in his hand,instead of a cigar, it would be more believable...just sayin'

[johnta1]

Donut?

[dataway]

There are two types of countries on this planet ... those that use the metric system, and those that have put a man on the moon.

Just thought I'd throw that in the mix for no apparent reason.

[6TEE8GTO]

Originally Posted by 67drake

If the cop walked up to the car with a beer and brat in his hand,instead of a cigar, it would be more believable...just sayin'

Milwaukee at one time was the 11th-largest US city. We were an industrial powerhouse. All those jobs went bye-bye.

[66sprint6]

Originally Posted by dataway

There are two types of countries on this planet ... those that use the metric system, and those that have put a man on the moon.

Just thought I'd throw that in the mix for no apparent reason.

One thing I can say: being a construction executive and working around the world, it's good to be fluent in both. I've always been curious, though. Which system does the US military use?

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by 6TEE8GTO

Milwaukee at one time was the 11th-largest US city. We were an industrial powerhouse. All those jobs went bye-bye.

Yeah, that was 1960 when it had a population of 741,000.

In 1960, the Milwaukee metropolitan area had a population of nearly 1,279,000.

Today the Milwaukee metropolitan area has a population of 1,575,000. I think that the loss of Milwaukee residents was many of them simply moving to the suburbs.

There are plenty of jobs in the Milwaukee area. It has never been hit as hard as some other parts of the country when it comes to job losses.

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by 67drake

If the cop walked up to the car with a beer and brat in his hand,instead of a cigar, it would be more believable...just sayin'

X 2!

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Milwaukee is actually #30 - if you trying to be technical, according to the 2012 census.

But at under 600,000 it is considerally smaller than it's nearby neighbor Chicago that has a population of over 2,714,000 and Chicago is a small town compared to NYC or LA with populations of over 8,336,000 and 3,857,000 respectively.

And seeing as how the author of the article that is being lambasted is from England (if I understand correctly), NYC is smaller than London.

And putting that in to global perspective, London has 21 cities larger than it. Karachi, Pakistan is the largest city with a population of over 27,506,000[.

So let's stop being so provincial and trying to make comparatively small towns and cities seem larger than they really are.

Since WHEN is London a country? Last time I checked, it was the capital of Great Britain....

[61-63]

"The Legend" and GTOAA should not have printed that article. IMO it was complete BS. Being an ex-cop from the 60s I can tell you that would not have happened in my police department and surely would not have happened in the Texas Department of Public Safety (what the highway patrol is called down here). My PD and the DPS really vetted folks even back then and if any officer had pulled anything like that he would probably have done time. Yes there were bad apples but they got on to them pretty quick and got rid of them even quicker.

I've never been to Wisconsin but I bet their state patrol is a high class outfit just like the Texas DPS.

Shame on GTOAA.

[61-63]

Originally Posted by Simple Man

Why not mention it to the GTOAA? If someone is dissatisfied with the content of a publication, how are they going to know, unless told?

I just sent GoatGuyTom@aol.com an email.

[cuz68]

Originally Posted by 6TEE8GTO

Milwaukee at one time was the 11th-largest US city. We were an industrial powerhouse. All those jobs went bye-bye.

hAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN JAIL. tHE LAW CAN DO ANY CHARGE THAT THAY WANT TO..

[NEW64OWNER]

Has to be the cheese..

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Since WHEN is London a country? Last time I checked, it was the capital of Great Britain....

Do you have a problem with reading comprehension?

[quote]And seeing as how the author of the article that is being lambasted is from England (if I understand correctly), NYC is smaller than London.[/quote)

England it the country, London is the city in England that is larger than NYC.

[61-63]

Well I emailed GoatGuyTom and he forwarded my email to Tony Bastien, who then sent ME an email about the incident in the article. As we suspected the story was embellished. Tony's email to me follows. I removed his phone numbers which I
didn't want to put on the web for the world to see.

Hi John,



Tom sent me your e-mail, the one about John Rawlins’ Wisconsin experience.



Let’s say that Rawlins took some liberties with the facts, a classic example of artistic license.



Please call if you’d like to hear my recollection of the Wisconsin incident which, by the way, differs from Rawlins’ version.


I dealt with a Sheriff or Sheriff’s deputy, who was polite and professional (we were cruising along in a Buick station wagon at 85 when he stopped me).



My land line is xxx, and my cell is xxx.



Talk to you later,



Tony Bastien

[70oldgoat]

Originally Posted by 61-63

"The Legend" and GTOAA should not have printed that article. IMO it was complete BS. Being an ex-cop from the 60s I can tell you that would not have happened in my police department and surely would not have happened in the Texas Department of Public Safety (what the highway patrol is called down here). My PD and the DPS really vetted folks even back then and if any officer had pulled anything like that he would probably have done time. Yes there were bad apples but they got on to them pretty quick and got rid of them even quicker.

I've never been to Wisconsin but I bet their state patrol is a high class outfit just like the Texas DPS.

Shame on GTOAA.

X2


40 years LE in the south, local and federal. These are the types of stories that hurt. Sometimes it might get a little exciting, but I can honestly say the times I witnessed that it was almost always brought on by the guy being arrested.

[6TEE8GTO]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Yeah, that was 1960 when it had a population of 741,000.

In 1960, the Milwaukee metropolitan area had a population of nearly 1,279,000.

Today the Milwaukee metropolitan area has a population of 1,575,000. I think that the loss of Milwaukee residents was many of them simply moving to the suburbs.

There are plenty of jobs in the Milwaukee area. It has never been hit as hard as some other parts of the country when it comes to job losses.

We're kind of going in a different direction here, I was just ranting about the article. But with regard to your comments, you've perhaps not visited Milwaukee much, or if you have, you have not ventured into the actual inner city, which as been devastated by the loss of industrial jobs. While the state unemployment rate and even the "metro Milwaukee" area (which includes prosperous Ozaukee and Waukesha counties) is actually very good, in the core the rate is astronomical and can be traced to changes that have taken place in Milwaukee over the past several decades. Back in the middle of the last century, you could get a very good paying, family-sustaining job with nothing but a high-school education. Generations of Milwaukee families worked at places like AO Smith, which for years made most of the auto and truck frames for much of the USA market. Anyone who has grown up here can surely recall the acres and acres of stacked frames along Capitol drive. The breweries also were a great source of jobs. (I was a security guard at the old Schlitz terminal back in the 70's) The central city was hit VERY hard and it's showing no signs of recovery. The blight has spread dramatically, areas that used to be very middle class, with well-kept homes, has become very run down and crime is rampant... People such as myself have indeed fled to the outer suburbs. The house I was born in is in the middle of one of the worst areas of the city, seems like every other day someone is shot in that area and it's just a blurb in the newspaper, if they even mention it at all. The departure of the blue-collar manufacturing and industrial jobs has had a dramatic effect on the city.

[John V.]

I also read this last night. I kept thinking there was gonna be a punch line, it was so goofy sounding that I believed the whole thing was a set-up, a prank that Tony Bastien (who I don't know) was playing on his friend from England. I was sure the story would end up with "April Fool!". The guy definitely made the cops sound like caricatures that I figured could have only happened if they were putting on a show.

Hearing that it involved a Sheriff's Deputy or maybe a local cop makes the story a bit more plausible than had it been a State Trooper.

Now I'm thinking the guy at the desk maybe said "son" instead of "boy" which just wasn't an expression used in that context in the north that I ever heard. I do recall saying "boy" to guys on the schoolyard, as in a b-ball game, "boy, get that weak stuff outta here!" and the reply always was "who you calling boy doofus?". But nobody ever said, "can I help you, boy?" anywhere in the north where I grew up. But "son" was sometimes used in that semi-condescending way by some older folks when dealing with younger folks.

Anyway, the story was a bit reminiscent of one that happened in '68 when my dad was stopped for speeding on the highway in Virginia returning to NJ from Fla (I don't think we were on the interstate when stopped as most of the route was not yet built).

We were pulled over by a local cop in what was obviously a "speed trap". You were expected to pay a fine right on the spot. My dad had no cash. So we were told to follow the cop to the courthouse where my dad went before a judge. Now, I was not there, but I believe he was threatened with jail but what happened next, we were escorted to a Gulf gas station where my dad used his Gulf credit card to buy a set of tires. Except we didn't get tires, he was given cash. He used that to pay the fine and we were on our way.

My dad WAS speeding. I remember him telling the cop that he was just keeping up with traffic but that got him nowhere. It was pretty obvious that this town was filling its coffers (and the pockets of the participants) by setting up their speed trap. I believe he was treated courteously, although I know he felt it was a bogus arrangement.

Until a couple years ago, Waldo, Fla near me was infamous for doing the same. The State got after them for corruption and the police dept. was dissolved, it is no longer the speed trap along US 301 that it once was.

In 1977 I was threatened with jail by an Illinois State Trooper. Pulled over for driving in the breakdown lane eastbound on the west end of the Eisenhower in the west burbs of Chicago. I had just started my new job. Traffic would back up just before my exit heading home to Hillside. One day, a line of cars went streaming by me on the shoulder. After a while creeping along, I felt I was close enough and I joined the stream. Hey, that worked great! Saved 5 minutes I bet.

Next day, same thing as I approached my exit. This time, I noticed not as many cars streaming by. I waited but as I got closer, I went to the shoulder. After coming around a bend, I see a line of troopers and cars stopped in the shoulder.

I didn't think what I was doing was illegal and I merged back into the traffic line creeping along. But a trooper waved me over to join the line of cars being ticketed.

I was still driving on my NJ license. In Illinois at the time, if you were ticketed, you either had to post a "bond card", something I never heard of, or else they would take your license and you would "drive on a ticket", your confiscated license the ransom that insured you would be paying the fine. But with an out of state license, the alternative was to pay cash.

When I told the young trooper (he seemed no older than me) I had no bond card and no money, he began to rip into me, "You're dressed in a suit and you have no money??!!". "No sir". He then wanted me to call family or friends. Family was out of state I explained. Only lie I told was when I claimed I had no friends I could call. His final shot was to say, "Then I guess you'll have to go to jail!". He was getting very mad at this point. My reply was, "I guess so because I have no money". And I kinda thought I WAS gonna go to jail. But he was only bluffing, hoping I would break I guess. I couldn't break if I wanted to, I really didn't have a dime to my name at that moment.

At that point he went into a rant about how the shoulder was for emergencies, he was red in the face as he went on loudly scolding me for my transgression. Finally, he told me to go on my way and don't ever drive on the shoulder again!

I felt pretty good about escaping a ticket.

But I never drove on the shoulder again. To this day, I don't drive around stopped traffic in the shoulder to get to a turn lane.

So if law enforcement is all about correcting bad behavior, that time worked on me.