http://cbs13.com/thescoop/the.scoop.graswich.2.675075.html



And what level of crime is it for a "civillian" to give a false name to a police officer? Misdemeanor? Felony?

This should really make any freedom loving citizen queasy. The potentials for abuse are troubling.

I'd go with "Laser" or "Turbo".

Ah, here we go:

2007 Minnesota Statutes
Section 609.506 Prohibiting Giving Peace Officer False Name

To add to Pat's information about the Misdemeanor, if someone gives a cop a fake name and date of birth that belongs to someone else (you try to give your brother's or cousin's name for example), the crime gets bumped to a Gross Misdemeanor.



While Mr. Cooper is rather poetic, I don't believe the Sheriff is suggesting the men and women of his department are ashamed of the work they perform. I believe his point is that he is concerned that an online database of his officer's names will somehow significantly increase the chance of a bad guy tracking his deputies down off-duty and harming them.

Actually, I would have no problem with this as long as his badge or duty number is VERY CLEARlY displayed, and if they just went by first name.


Calling an officer Officer Bob or officer Dan, would be fine with me, and I fully understand NOT wanting my last name out in public with the work that they do.

OR I would not care if they used discrete false names which were registered or listed with the court and that Officer Black or Officer Green was required to display that at all times and was a controlled access sort of thing. Something where a trusted independent body made sure that such names were consistent and could be used in a court of law to ID the individual. Otherwise, the guy gets sworn in and he's perjured himself for stating underoath that he's Officer Black, when in fact he's David Jones.

I know two officers who have their names no where in public records as far as bills, deeds, titles, etc everything is listed in their wifes name, even the kids carry mom's name, because they have had threats against them and their kids.

I remember some MPLS lawyer nearly getting some UC guy killed by forcing them to disclose his true ID> This was back when the Jerry Haaf Killing was in the news. I understand the statements about hiding faces and that, but keeping a cops kids or wife from being targets of revenge is not a problem with me.

As long as the Cop is fully able to be ID'd in public and that an alias is not allowed to be a shield from accountability, I have no issue with it.

Why am I Mr. Pink?

The biggest problem I see here, though, is that it's just a little more of the slippery slope that leads away from accountability in the public eye. Similar to the officers whose dash-cams "inexplicably" malfunction during the beating of a <s>victim</s> suspect, as far as I'm concerned.

But, then, WTH do I know? I'm just a nobody that actually has to follow the rules. Not make them up as I go.

I fully agree Binky that it could be misused, but when you hear about what some cops go thru especially when dealing with OC or gangs, I can understand it.

I'm not trying to sound ungrateful when I say this:

If they're so afraid of the dangers of the profession they choose, maybe they've chosen the wrong line of work.

I could work on a crab-fishing boat. I choose not to because the dangers are too great.

I could work as a logger. But I don't.

I could work as a Electrical line installer. I don't. I could be a pilot, a truck driver or a steel worker. None of these is what I do.

Why mention these jobs? Because they're listed as the top 10 most dangerous jobs in America.

Does any one of these people get special privlage to lie about who they are?

Any one of them?

"If ya can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," as a wise man once said.

What are you going to do once the kitchen is empty?

I think most officers who would be in favor of this are not afraid for them selves, but for their kids,

If you catch crabs in the bering sea, you do not have to fear their fellow BS13's following your wife or kids home.

If you log the big woods, its rare to have that rogue oak follow your wife and crush her as she gets out of her car.

Out where I live, if the kitchen is on fire it's going to take at least half an hour for the fire department to show up and put out the flames. That's why I'm equipped to try to put out the flames myself.

If I can't handle my own problems, tragedy may follow.

All the collection and "customer service" people in call centers use fake names. Of course, they need to be interchangable because of the turnover.

But professionals usually have their own name on their licenses. A cop is supposed to be a licensed professional.

But maybe that could be changed. We could possibly modernize police departments, following the examples of businesses, and how they operate as soon as they get to be effective monopolies.

After all, the world is supposed to be flat now.

Cops could all be indepenent contractors; and there would be no physical police station in your city. Instead, a very modern call center, operated in a third world county, could run a virtual police station, generate any paperwork and dispatch the independant contractors/policemen as needed.

Then if you had a complaint, you could call the number in say, India, and an "internal affairs specialist" (Mr. Green) could adjudicate your probem. If you were not satisfied, you could go to Arbitration in New York, or some more centralized place.

It would not be necessary to even identify the guy who beat you up, because the computer would be responsible, and could eventually deny your claim, and thank you for you inquiry.

This would rid us of the huge police office staff where we presently need to house policemen who have been promoted, or have become too unstable to be trusted on the street anymore. We would not need staff to generate all the paperwork police complain about, or staff to complain about all the paperwork they believe they have to do.

This concept should be popular with all the people who want to "run it like a business", and cut taxes.

I'd vote for you.
Great Idea

In that vein, if cops don't want to use their whole names when acting as public servants. . . they should take jobs in the private sector. . . If we make beign a cop less desireable . .. eventually it can be a job dominated by illegal aliens, kind of like mushroom harvesting nowdays.