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I was standing in a long line at the ATM on the parking lot side of the Sunset & Vine WaMu when I noticed an LAPD car circle around the parking lot and then pull up to the red zone just to the right of the access ramp. The driver left the car running, got out and came and stood in the painfully-slow-and-not-moving-very-fast line.
We had time to chat. Lots of time to chat.
I broke the silence and suggested gently that there are some that might suggest that leaving a vehicle idling is a waste of fuel in addition to having a significant negative impact on our environment. He smiled as if I had just said something mildly amusing.
I rephrased my comment, this time asking him if he would consider the negative impact of his behavior and simply turn the idling vehicle off while he waited in line with the rest of us. Again, he smiled and looked at me as if I was trying to entertain him.
I clarified, "No really, that fuel is paid for with our money, you're simply wasting our resources and it's our neighborhood and you're treating it with contempt. Please, turn off you engine if you're going to take the vehicle out of service while you run personal errands with your partner sitting shotgun."
He explained that it isn't his money, it doesn't matter because everyone does it, look around, cars everywhere!
Who can argue with logic like that? Not I!
I asked his partner if it was necessary to leave their vehicle running while sitting idle in a parking lot.
He explained that if they got a call and they had to go "lights and siren" and the car didn't start, what would they do? Besides, they were very busy and they needed to keep the car running so they could stay up on the calls.
I asked why, if they were so busy, his partner had just picked the longest line at the worst possible time of the day to take care of personal business while on duty.
All I heard were crickets. Crickets and the exhaust. Crickets coughing.
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Nothing annoys me more than when police cars park in fire lanes or other no parking zones to go in and eat lunch. When they are not on official duties they should have to find parking just like everybody else. And furthermore they are just as much in the way of emergency vehicles and causing just as much traffic as if one of us had parked in that area.
Another thing that annoys me to no end is when I see a cop turn on his lights just to go through a red light and then turn them off again once he is through.
Just when I thought you were capable of writing about other things. Stories that don't revolve around idling cars.
*sigh*
You go.
I'm telling you, you're asking for an alley ride....
If you want law enforcement and city agencies to understand where you're coming from, you have to understand where they're coming from. If you come to them as ignorant of their needs as to what you demand, don't expect them to treat you any different than the exact way you're treating them.
In general these posts show a total lack of understanding of how emergency response vehicles operate and how their ability to quickly respond or even be able to start their car again while operating all their informational technology off battery power.
If you would really like to address the issue, you should probably be talking about something more productive, like proposing adoption of better vehicle fuel cell technology so that these cars can be off while not in movement, or increasing off-duty maintenance personnel so the people that use the vehicles are confident of their ability to operate under any condition.
And to the first commenter, sometimes police vehicles are heading to the scene of a crime that is not so urgent that they need to do a full on siren and lights routine, but urgent enough that a 1-2 stop at a light would make a difference.
Smitty,
With using the lights to go through a red light and then turning them off is the effect of the unofficial policy of rolling "Code 2 High." They are not supposed to do it per department policy, but many officers use it when they are sent on a Code 2 call to a location (no sirens allowed, follow street law), but they intimately know the location and situation and know it could be worse. Well, that's what the good cops do.
But to parking in a red zone, I would say they do need to have the car near and visible and it is reasonable for them to have time for lunch. However, there is no need to leave the vehicle on and there is no reason why the car shouldn't start up if they turn it off. That's super ghetto.
The first couple of posts like this were amusing, but it's gotten ridiculous. First, people who harp on leaving cars idling are focusing on symbolic rather than effective changes to protect the environment. Second, as a total non-police fan, even I can understand the importance of staying up on calls.
Point made. Idling cars are bad. Move on.
No, that's not that point. The point is that the cop didn't care because A) it wasn't his money and B) everyone else does it.
This would have been just like the other stories, but man. Those answers are horrific.
It's not just the environment, it's your tax dollars greatgatsby2.
Would you leave your personal car idling considering today's prices?
No better way to get a Monday started than with a banal post and thread of superflous commentary from the peanut gallery.
Would you leave your personal car idling considering today's prices?
At these prices, I don't leave my car idling when I'm driving. When I'm on the 101 in either direction, as soon as I hit the top of the pass gravity is my fuel. Same thing going into my underground garage. There's enough downgrade that I can shut my engine off and wait at the top of the driveway while the gate opens, then coast to my space. Turning is a little harder without the power boost, but it's doable.
My last tank was 33MPG combined (60/40 highway/city break) in a car that's rated 26/32. Hypermiling FTW!
I can't believe some of the hostility being displayed by some of you cop loving exxon-philes.
The cop shouldn't have been taking care of personal shit on duty. End of story. And last time I checked, a radio can run on battery power for quite some time. And cop cars have beefed up electrical and battery power to burn. So there is no excuse for idling the car like that. Yes, they do it all the time but that's a bullshit excuse. It is OUR money.
I like these posts.
ben bang: Cops are allowed to run personal "shit" while on duty. Second, drop the "with us or against attitude" and develop a dialogue, or you'll be more like a "cop loving exxon-phile" then those you accuse of it.
You guys are missing the real evil on the roads... UPS and FedEx trucks!!! Why do they double-park wherever they want with impugnity?!?!? Hopefully, someone can educate me (without snark) about if special parking privileges exist or there's a special fund to pay for parking tickets.
what a douchebag
Zach, tax dollars being wasted? The car is idling for maybe 5 minutes. It's probably idling because his partner is in the car and it's fucking hot outside. Personally, I prefer police to be comfortable and not cranky.
If we really want to talk about tax dollars being wasted, I'd like to see some actual figures supporting this nonsense. NOT just figures that Stephen pulls out of his ass to support his claims.
Continuing along that note, if this is really the biggest waste of tax dollars in the city, then I don't think we have all that much to worry about. Strangely enough, last I saw our budget is in the red, and has been in the red and the effect of idling cars and fuel consumption is miniscule at best.
How about reporting on actual waste and corruption within the government instead of focusing on idling cars?
Or do you just get lazy in the summer and read chick lit instead of the newspaper?
Honestly, do you think that is the only time the car is idling just happened to happen when Stephen Box was standing there? It's a waste of money and bad for the environment.
Assuming the story happened as Stephen related it, and I have no reason not to believe it did, then the arrogance shown by the officer is really something to behold. The police departments in the country that have the best reputation with both its local citizens and around the country are the ones where the police show respect for the law and the community. Not coincidentally, those are also the ones with the best crime rates.
I haven't checked in awhile, how's the LAPD's reputation these days?
Or perhaps he was just mocking the crazy hippie that was bothering him with inane questions while he was on a break.
im so happy that most of you thought this post was as asinine as i did. hooray LAist readers...
Where to start, kristineor...
SO what if it was hot? Who the fuck told the cop to run his personal bullshit errands on taxpayer time? And as far as cranky vs. comfy cops go, since when does something like that EVER win you any slack? Please.
Actual figures? Just step out of your house and take a look around. City vehicles are left running all the fucking time. Open up those eyes and write down those figures your damned self. Because last time I checked, the city wasn't doing studies that highlight their own wastefulness. Nice try, tho.
As far as this being a "miniscule" problem, well that's a bullshit copout. Shit adds up. Or can you count?
You're almost as vapid and complacent as paul, who wants to tell me to drop my attitude after spouting untruths upthread. Wah fucking wah. Hey shitheel, show me where it says cops can use taxpayer time to run their errands?
Yeah, cause cops don't get breaks or anything. It's totally not permissible for them to take a 5 minutes break to go to the ATM.
I bet they aren't allowed to eat either. If they weren't in the middle of a call, I really don't understand the outrage.
How much time do any of you spend working at work? Do you work every single minute of every single hour? Or do you take a lunch break? Or maybe read LAist on a break.
Why is it that they are not allowed a break to do something for themselves? Is it because "we're" paying them?
benny boy, you're just a sad little hippie with an anger problem... have you tried yoga? I hear it's great for your chi.
What did you expect to happen while you were schooling him on idling the car? Did you think he was going to run on over like a little bitch and turn it off?
The cop obviously kept his cool and kept his responses to a minimum so he could get his cash and be on his way....BUT NO!
He had to listen to some knucklehead passing his time in line. How much oxygen did you waste of MINE while "questioning" this copper?
He should have thrown two pennies at your feet and said "Here is the salary YOU paid for me to idle the car."
Next time you see a firetruck at the grocery store on Sunset you should approach the crew with the same line of questioning and post your responses here with a nice cell phone pic.
Get a life you hippie
Actually, I have to go with kristinester on this one.
Police cars have radios, computers, etc. If they completely turn off the car, those will not work. I think it's better that the police be up to speed on what's going on than saving gasoline.
That said, this is something that the city should be considering when purchasing police cars. Having the radios work when the car is turned off would be a good thing, especially considering that police cars tend to have big gas guzzling engines for performance.
Police are also on duty for the entire time of their shift. Most California workers, by law, are given two fifteen minute breaks and a half-hour for lunch. So I have no problem with police officers taking a five or ten minute break to get cash from the ATM, since they don't get these breaks during their work shift.
Police using their lights to get through intersections: Sometimes police are called to situations where they should not come up with lights and sirens blaring. For example, using lights and sirens when approaching a bank robbery could either cause the robbers to flee or take hostages. However, in order to get to the bank robbery as quickly as possible, the police have to get through the red light and it is better that they use their lights and sirens to get through it than to not turn on their lights and sirens.
I didn't really read the other comments besides the first three, but don't you waste more gas starting an idle car rather than just leave it in "idle mode". If that were true and hopefully someone can direct me to the correct answer, then it's just a matter of personal finance and economics prioritized over the environment. Car makers need to figure something out then if too many people choose not to turn off their engines in situations such as these. BTW you know it's a good post when it gets so many people hot and bothered so why not have a section about an actual LAist debate or something on the matter?
kzap, it's not that this is a particularly good post. If you haven't noticed there have been a slew of posts about idling car engines within the past week or so.
There are a few of us that are just sick of it. It's not news, it's a pet peeve. Personally, I think he should save the idling stories for his Hello Kitty Diary, (Stephen, if you don't have one, I'm willing to purchase one for you so that you'll write there instead.) rather than this blog.
You're a dumb hippie. Leave the cop alone, and anybody else that choose to leave their car idle. If you want to save the environment, good for you. You don't have a right to tell others what to do you asshole.
"...don't you waste more gas starting an idle car rather than just leave it in "idle mode""
Five seconds is what I've read. A car idling for more than five seconds is wasting more gas than than it takes to start it up.
Wow. Some of the commenters here are just assholes. If Stephen Box wants to write about idling cars then he should do just that. If you don't want to read about it move on to the next post. There are plenty of posts throughout the day. If I were Mr. Box would ramp up my idling cars posts just to piss all these jerks off. Post like 3 or 4 a day!
@Smidty, yeah cause that's not an asshole move as well.
Dear LAPD,
#1 If it's hot inside your car while you're on a break, get out of the car and go inside where it's air conditioned. Don't pollute my neighborhood because you are hot. I'm hot too, and you are making the air even hotter by idling.
#2 Don't waste my tax money! If I pay for your break, then give me some f@#4ing respect! Don't ask the city for more money because you just wasted it all away by polluting my air!
#3 If you need to be ready for an emergency, keep your radio and your cellphones on! And if you park your car, don't park it into the pole and rail where people would be in your way when you have an emergency call unless you are planning to drive over the rail and people who might be using that exit (which is the only exit.)
#4 If you don't give a shit about my neighborhood, about my neighbors and my air, then go and work in Apple Valley where you live anyways. I don't need attitudes from those who are supposed to protect and serve. I pay for your house, your food, your pension, your family, so give me some respect because I'll be the one voting for or against you and your department.
Enci, you're a little drunk on power here. I'd love to hear this tirade against a librarian who throws away paper instead of recycling it. "I pay for your house, your food, your pension, your family, you information science whore! You better show me some respect at the check-out desk!"
It's kind of irresistable when you get the chance to scream at imaginary cops on a comments page, I guess.
greatgatsby2,
I'm not only "screaming at imaginary cops on a comments page." I actually speak up when I see cars idle in the sunbaked parking lot to stay air conditioned. I invite them to come inside to enjoy the nice airconditioned room.
I ask people to recycle and I carry my Sigg bottle, my coffee mug, my canvas bag and my utensils with me wherever I go, so I don't have to use plastic.
I'm active not just on-line but also in my every day activities.
Did you know that in Sweden, it is illegal to let your car idle for more than one minute? And everyone follows this rule! They are way ahead of us.
Jennifer / Firenze
Hippies? I haven't heard such well-articulated arguments since the last time I flipped past Eric Cartman on comedy central. Bravo, fatass.
Stephen (and anyone else who agrees with you), I really think you should head down to your local LAPD Division with a list of questions and ask to talk to the Watch Commander. You truly have no understanding of what the job entails. Either you are ignorant (we all are to some degree) or you have an agenda which you are putting in front of common sense.
Also, asking someone the same question three different times, three different ways, presents you in a petulant light. I do not know what your credentials are, but when I earned my degree in Journalism, I learned how to treat people with respect when I was looking for information.
And by the way, who do you think you are to ask anyone about how they manage their time while at their job? I have a feeling that if a stranger questioned your use of professional time, you would be put off. You may even ignore them. You may even present them with *cricket* sounds.
Compassion and understanding both go a long way... and sometimes, just sometimes, it's not all about you and your agenda. There's a balance.