Smokeys and the Bandits

From Pinoy Central

"Operatives of the Central Police District rounded up 49 people suspected of engaging in illegal street racing along a stretch of Mindanao Avenue before dawn Saturday... Officers from the CPD headquarters at Camp Karingal swooped down on the racers even before they got to hold an actual race... Authorities accosted motorists who had cars fitting the typical description of "drag" racers: young drivers with a companion and aboard a "souped-up" (modified) vehicle... Each suspect will be fined up to P5,000 in fines before they can be released to retrieve their vehicles, officials said."

Now, I'm all for safer streets and more disciplined drivers, but lately it seems that it's the cops who need disciplining. Law enforcement is not a trial and error procedure, nor is it supposed to be run with prejudice or ignorance.

It's a lot like Smokey and the Bandit. Sure it's inspired by stereotypes. Yet, here it is proven time and time again. Cops are short tempered, pride polishing, retarded fools driving beat up old Crown Vic's struggling hard to catch the scheming Formula Firebird Trans Am and its deviant accomplices. It's hilarious, really.

Perhaps the cops' biggest obstacle is earning back the respect they lost for being corrupt, one-track minded, morons. (Yes, I loathe them. MAPSA especially.) They seem to see offenders as cash cows more than citizens who've temporarily lost sight of ethics. That's putting it mildly; but most motorists really do want to follow the law. It's the erratic and sometimes ill-enforcement, financially motivated often times, that persuades them otherwise.

Mitzu Mahkung
"Officers... swooped down on the racers even before they got to hold an actual race."

Now, ideally, in democratic countries such as the Philippines, there is what we'd like to call innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof therefore falls on Law Enforcement, not otherwise. Stakeouts are done in order to catch perpetrators during the criminal act.

"Authorities accosted motorists who had cars fitting the typical description..."

1. There are sleepers, you know. They could even look like dilapidated cop cars packing T-62 turbos.

2. Not all riceboys are drag racers. Afterall, the philosophy behind 'ricing up' is to cosmetically upgrade the car to give the impression of being a drag racer. Not to race itself. Although a few burnouts (thanks to slippery OEM rubber) and (solo) runs down the straight (speed, or lack thereof, disguised by noise) helps to further the illusion.

For the Inconvenience
"Each suspect will be fined up to P5,000 before they can be released to retrieve their vehicles..."

So for just being 'suspicious,' they are fined, vehicle confiscated?

Makes you wonder why some bother to even cooperate.

Naturally, the press was there to feature Law Enforcement do what it's supposed to even without cameras. No doubt, tipped off by the limelight craving high officials.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell if martial law is still in effect. The media is heavily censored. Arrests are made based on suspicion. And you are fined even if you cooperate with the police.

If there is one thing cops have succeeded in doing in this shameless publicity stunt, it was to lower further the public's trust. "To serve and protect" is a nice nostalgic myth these days. If this is how justice works, then I say, "Keep on racing!"

In Discipline and Punishment, Foucault says that the criminal class is one that is consistently conditioned to break the law, in order to justify the existence of the prison, and in effect, instill a sense of fear in society.

Better to be a fugitve than caught then.

You'll just have to catch me.