Yesterday I saw a cyclist breeze through a red light, turn right from the left lane to go the wrong way down a high-traffic one-way street, all at an intersection with two police cadets on each corner.
Police cadets wait until the last second before clearing pedestrian traffic for a speeding ambulance
And when an ambulance needed to get through, it was telling that eight police cadets weren’t enough to clear an intersection for it in advance.
Cadets stop pedestrians from crossing on a flashing hand (in one direction only)
But thanks for making sure people didn’t accidentally cross the street on a green light. That might have been dangerous.
À moins que je ne trompes, les cadets policiers ont très peu de pouvoir…un peu comme des agents de sécurité : ils représentent une certaine autorité mais n’ont aucun pouvoir “légitime” pour la faire appliquer. Personnellement, quand je vois des cadets policiers responsables d’un site lors d’événements, je me sens beaucoup moins en sécurité…et j’ai surtout déjà vu des situations de cadets policiers qui abusaient un peu de leur soi-disant pouvoir…pathétique…
Which cyclist to you encounter most?
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/06/kenny_bes_guide_to_summers_ter_1.php
That’s why they’re called cadets.
Hey i’m #3 ! :P
Srsly though, cadets are a joke. They just stand there and look pretty. They’re just there to make people think twice before walking on a red light, but they really can’t do anything about it, except call for backup, i guess.
These are the only fellows that are forced to walk the beat. Others have the luxury of being in the metro, or better yet, sit in their Crown Victoria Police Interceptors, or Impalas, or a REAL horse, or a BMW bike, and so on… ;)
Was this post originally intended to be a commentary on the behavior of the cyclist, who clearly disregarded several rules of the road and the presence of quasi-law enforcement?
Or was it supposed to be a commentary on the powerlessness and/or blasé attitude of the cadets?
Or a combination of the two?
There’s a number of things that could be said to either topic. The apparent death-wish of cyclists in Montreal who, while enthusiastically exercising their legitimate right to share the road, seem to forget that there are associated responsibilities? Or, to put it another way, would cyclists be upset if vehicles started to behave in the same way that many cyclists behave now?
As for the cadets…well, to the best of my knowledge, they don’t have any ability to either detain someone or to write up a contravention, so no one should be surprised in this circumstance. Or, to put it another way, would people be surprised if one of the cadets took off sprinting after the cyclist, forced him/her to stop, and gave them a stern lecturing on the importance of obeying the rules of the road?
Being a cadet isn’t an easy job……. Trust me!
The “contrôle de foule” at street corners is the worse part of the job I thought! When I did it I smiled a lot/was courteous, was also very assertive and most people did listen to me when I asked them to stop/wait… Of course there’s always one/two that will just go, but yea… Can’t do much nope.
The hand thing… Well they should have been one each side of the street, not together, and indeed stopping pedestrians on the flashing hand… Because apparently once it flashes you’re not supposed to start crossing anymore, you could get the same fine as if you crossed when it’s fully lit hand…!
Re Karakorom:
Les cadets ont les mêmes pouvoirs que tous les gens… Ils peuvent arrêter quelqu’un en flangrant déli (si l’acte est commis en face d’eux) en autant que les policiers sont appellés tout de suite…
Et ce qui est bien avec les cadets versus les agents de sécurité c’est qu’ils sont directement reliés aux policiers… Et ça marche! Dans une situation lorsque j’étais cadet j’ai eu besoin d’un back-up policier et après mon appel, en 1 minute ou moins (je me souviens plus, avec l’adrénaline) 2 autos = 4 polices étaient sur place!!
C’est pas un pouvoir en tant que tel, c’est plus les “yeux” des policiers.
Poster, I would like to see you doing the cadet police job. You talk about a moment that probably did not last more than a few minutes. Now, imagine that you have to deal with traffic and people for eight hours while taking rude comments from pedestrians/drivers. It is not as easy as it seems.
By the way, cadet police do not have the same rights as police officers. Do you expect that they should act as such ? Yes, there are those who show off and are not professional in what they do, but it’s like that all around the world.
Cheers
Here’s hoping that the newest generation of police kiddies don’t buy into the current Montreal police culture of intolerance, violence, and playing fast and loose with the rules… but it’s a slim hope. I’ve met some of these cadets, and you can tell from the gleam in their eyes… they get off on the power.
Je comprend pas comment des gens vraiment ignorants peuvent dire des trucs comme ca. Ceux qui insultes les cadets, avez-vous déja essayé de faire régner une loi que personne ne veut écouter, mais qui a quand même sa raison d’être : la sécurité des citoyens, en ayant presqu’aucun pouvoir autre que votre voix, la persuasion vocale…? C’est que si tu laisse quelqu’un traverser la rue lorsqu’il ne doit pas, toutes les autres personnes dans l’intersection vont le faire et si quelqu’un se fait frapper, c’est ta responsabilité. Et oui nous pouvons arrêter quelqu’un, oui certains des cadets savent se battre et peuvent mettre à terre quelqu’un en attendant les policiers, oui nous pouvons donner certaines contraventions et finalement, si un cadet n’a pas une bonne attitude selon toi, t’as juste à faire une plainte au service de police et lui dire au cadet. Pas obliger de te cacher sur des petits blog pour bullshit des gens qui essaie de faire une carrière honnête au service de la population. J’attend vos commentaire ceux qui veulent continuer de chialer sans rien savoir…. :) Bonne journée! Et pour ceux qui nous défendent, merci de voir plus loin que le bout de votre nez et d’essayer de comprendre une profession très mal comprise et attaqué par tous. Continuez à défendre vos opinions!
Remarquable orthographe, je comprends pourquoi tu restes cadet.
Je viens de voir, ce soir, une fille se faire donner une belle beurée de marde pour avoir traversé la rue UNE SECONDE avant le reste du monde, à la sortie de Mont-Royal. Le gars était pas courtois, et il lui a clairement INTERDIT de contester (On remarquera ton appel à défendre l’opinion). J’étais sur le point de sortir mon téléphone pour filmer tant c’était ridicule. (à la fin il lui a limite dit de dégager sur un ton qui te donne envie de tout sauf de payer tes impôts avec le sourire).
Le gars aurait eu un gun, il l’aurait sorti. Dieu merci, il avait l’air trop idiot pour que quelqu’un prenne le risque de lui en mettre un entre les mains.
Quelle job tough, rester toute la journée au bord d’un trottoir ! Pensez aux gens qui sont pressés de rentrer chez eux, après une journée de (vrai) travail avant, de leur gueuler dessus pour rien…
Après les commerçants s’étonnent de voir de moins en moins de monde…
I don’t need some young kid cadet (he looked 15) to tell me to “wait on the sidewalk” I have been taking care of myself for a long time and I don’t need a kid to tell me when to stay and when to cross (I am 26). For those of you who say “oh you should see how tough their job is” well TOO BAD, no one forced them to join the cadet force. When I worked over 40 hours in retail I had to put up with a lot of rude customers, but no one felt for me, so why are these cadets any different? Taking $hit is part of life, they do not deserve anymore sympathy then anyone else.
I did tell off one cadet at some point because I am a responsible person and I don’t need what looks like a prepubescent young man giving me orders. Is he my boss? NO. I jaywalk all the time in front of cops where there are NO cars coming and they don’t care, not all jaywalkers thwart cars all the while gambling with their lives, but if there are no cars, we cross, not too sure why the cadets are so anal about it when real cops don’t care. Lots (but not all) of them are on power trips. Christina with all the corruption and issues with the police department, I am afraid that if I complain they might find me and use a taser – tasers have become popular weapons nowadays it seems. So excuse me for posting on a blog (why exactly are YOU here – for the bullshit?)
I don’t care if I am a less then model citizen or bitter or whatever else you want to call me, if you annoy me I will tell you off – Christina you seem just as arrogant to think that anyone who does not support the cadets cannot “voir plus loin que le bout de leur nez” – je comprend la profession, mais il a aussi beaucoup d’abus par les cadets – alors toi aussi essai de “regarder plus loin que le bout de ton nez” et comprend pourquoi la plus par de nous, n’a pas besoin de vous voire a chaque caulisse de coin en nous disant “rester sur le bord de la rue madame, aller madame, rester sur le bord” Fiche moi la crisse de paix!
Put all the cadets on REAL jobs, to catch real criminals rather than on St Caths acting like big brother, I fully support those cadets that helped catch a sexual predator last year, they have my full support and did an amazing job, bravo to them. This is the way for cadets to learn and become respected, annoying people going about their day is not.