Omaha Police Department

Worst service ever … Just flew home landed at Eppley Airfield and the place had a mile or two line of cars waiting to pick people up while it was drizzling rain Office «425» was so busy with his stick up his ass wasn’t controlling traffic so I told my wife to pull through the lane where there was 0 vehicles and he grabbed his ticket book and told me he would have to write her a ticket what an Asshole what a way to protect and serve how about you do that first then go be an asshole

Just wanted to give a shout out to the men and women in blue I interact with OPD every day as part of my work. The Officer’s I deal with are always professional, and pleasant. Perhaps I am of this opinion because I have never been on the wrong side of the law and my contact with OPD has always been positive.

First off, this is my opinion. It is based off of living in Omaha and living a few years in Lincoln and traveling around to other «large» cities in the Midwest. many folks like the Mayor would like you to think that there are as many as 850k residents. I saw in 2008 there were something like 835k. I just looked it up and lo and behold, I was wrong. 410k. really?
With this new-​found knowledge I concede that if we add up everything around the city we may be closer to what I thought, but as it stands, It is a joke. We recently saw that there are plans to build the Police force even more over the nest two years. Why? Is it so 4 squad cars instead of 2 can sit in the Old Market to provide an unwarranted sense of security? Do we really need to conrinue to squeeze patrons for the ‘restaurant tax’ of 2.5% to fund this.
Let’s talk about when you need a police officer to assist you. I will start with the time my bike was stolen form in my apartment and all signs pointed to my D-​bag neighbor. did they question him? nope. they just told me to file a report, but it was likely they would not recover my bike. In contrast, I had over $ 1000 dollars worth of equipment in my tool bag returned to me in Lincoln during an on call theft from my car. How about when I got ran over on my bike crossing 72^nd and Center? Apparently it was my fault I was in the crosswalk and if I filed charges I would have gotten a ticket. I guess it would have been too much paperwork.
We don’t need more cops, we need BETTER cops. Understand your populace and provide service and protection. we don’t need APC’s and über expensive helicopters. We need foot patrols that know the residents and can tell when the community is getting riled up like it usually does in North O.
They need to focus on interaction, not reaction.

I’ve lived all over the country, and Omaha cops are some of the worst I’ve ever encountered. Judging by the latest Omaha news (the cop that recently bodyslammed and punched a guy several times, caught on camera), the cops aren’t getting any better.
Off and on, I spent about nearly 10 years in Omaha, and I’ve been pulled over over 50 times. I’ve only gotten 3 tickets out of all of those stops — 1 was never filed so I didn’t have to pay it, and the other 2 were thrown out by the judge.
Apparently, the cops in Omaha believe that they can legally pull you over anytime they get bored. I’ll tell you a few of the more interesting stories:
I dumped over 500 lbs of clothing, books, dinnerware, records, etc., into a donation box for charity, and get pulled over a mile down the road because they thought it was suspicious. After my refusal to answer the cop’s jackass-​y questions, and her not letting me go, I had to request a supervisor. Surprisingly, he was polite and apologized profusely, even after I told him I wasn’t answering a single question.
I try to walk if my destination is less than a mile, because it’s healthy. Do this anytime after dark in west Omaha, and chances are you’ll get stopped. I walked to a gas station, got a bunch of soda and chips (ok, not so healthy, but it was a gaming marathon), and was walking home with 2 big grocery bags full of food. I get stopped, asked for my ID, and grilled about where I’m going, what I’m up to, etc. I asked the cop why he stopped me. To my astonishment, «Because I haven’t seen you around here before.» I’m sure that cop happened to know everyone around 144^th and Blondo — sure…
I was dropping off my little sister to a sleepover, and I get pulled over.
«Why did you stop me?»
«Why are you going down this road?»
«Because that’s the direction I’m heading in.»
«Where are you going?»
«Down this road.»
We did this little volley about a dozen more times, before he asked if the 14 year old next to me was my girlfriend. I asked if he was f’ing serious and to please step aside so I could leave, which he actually did.
I got stopped pulling into a gas station and asked by a ditzy female cop, «Why is your car so loud??»
«Uh… it’s old and has a huge engine. It sounded like this when it was brand new.»
«Oh… ok.» Then she left.
I could go on and on, at least a few dozen times with this crap. Most of the time, they ask the same crap: Where are the drugs at? Where are you going? Why are you out this late? Can we search your car?
I never answer any of that, and I always tell them that I won’t answer their questions and I never consent to searches.
That’s what any decent lawyer would suggest. Of course, this always gets the cops in a tizzy, because nobody liked them in school, so they had to get a gun and a badge to feel important, and now they’re not used to being denied, or their authority challenged. So, I get the typical threats: We can take you in for questioning. We can search you anyway. You have to show ID. …The Patriot Act… all of which is B.S.
The thing is — I look fairly normal. I very rarely speed. My vehicles look like everyday vehicles. I drive around a lot at night, but that’s still legal, right? There’s absolutely no reason that I should have been pulled over as much as I have been.
If you figure that the average cop’s salary is about $ 40,000 — break that down to an hourly wage, then figure on adding 2.5 times that figure as usually backup arrives, half of those times 2 squad cars arrive as backup. Then do the math and figure that my average stop is about 20 minutes, and multiply that by 50, and you’ll figure out how much of your and my tax money has been spent on li’l ol’ me, with absolutely no return or profit from tickets.
Oh, and if you really want to get them going, film a cop anytime you get pulled over, or anytime you see them pulling anyone else over. It’s completely legal to film a cop in the line of duty, but they’ll complain, threaten, and occasionally even arrest someone (which always gets thrown out).
I deny cops personal information because it’s just that — personal information. Where I’m going and what I’m up to, and what’s in my vehicle are nobody’s business but mine. Having a badge does not mean you can violate my constitutional rights. You can’t restrict my movement in a non-​emergency situation, and I’m afforded protection against unreasonable search and seizure. If people keep letting cops treat them this way, even if those people do have nothing to hide, our rights and privacy will still be stripped away, more and more, year by year.
So, when you deal with a cop, especially an Omaha cop, film them if possible. Don’t answer their questions. Refuse searches. Get a name and badge number. If your rights are violated, or the cop is unprofessional, file a complaint at the police HQ.

Generally speaking the service I’ve received from the Omaha Police Department has been acceptable. When my girlfriends house was broken into they arrived quickly, took statements, and have performed as expected.
On the other hand I’ve run into some less than professional officers as well, but since any organization is just a microcosm of the general population I’m sure that can’t be helped.