Post by samisdad on Jun 18, 2019 15:46:24 GMT
A few facts for the conversation:
1) The California Highway Patrol was the elite law enforcement agency in the state for many years. It was the most selective, and was among the first to use psychological testing to screen recruits. It paid better, had better benefits and was considered a coveted job. A typical CHP officer had more education and training than a typical small-town police officer.
Psychological screening was not widely used by small-town police departments and county sheriff agencies until the late 1970s. Some agencies started it much later than that. There are still some places that don't use it. And there are still small departments where elected police chiefs and sheriffs don't have professional training or experience and don't adhere to professional standards. These departments tend to be in rural areas; they are more common in southern states. While some county sheriffs in major jurisdictions, such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff, are elected positions, voters rarely vote today for candidates that don't have extensive law enforcement backgrounds.
2) Long-distance travel by motorcycle is a popular activity. There are magazines and books devoted to it. There's a ton of information about it online. A motorcycle is one of the fastest ways to navigate the numerous roadways that skirt the major highways throughout California. These roads, often narrow and windy, can be driven much faster on a bike than in a car. There are also dirt roads, some of them private, that criss-cross the state and that can be used as shortcuts by motorcycles and off-road bikes. Some of these roadways allow a rider to shave hours off the time the same bdrive would take in a car using public paved roads.