Talk to a Cop- The good, bad, and ugly!

No need from an apology. You are doing your best to respond a huge thread. Thank's for adding this little piece to my puzzle that you found it as unusual at I did.

I just decided to google for "Police written warning" I found one site for the ipswich, NH PD and it looks like written warnings were quite common there so I guess that aspect might not be unusual for the region. http://www.nipd.net/122902.html

It was the lack of anything official about my written warning that bothered me.

Another thing I found seemed to indicate that three written warnings for the same thing in a year would lead to your licence being suspended (groveland, MA). But in that case I''m not sure how they could prove that I had three written warning unless they were on official forms with a carbon copy.

I also found a site discussing plate law in Texas where someone said "Earlier, if all else failed, and you wanted to make the stop, and didn't really have PC, dirty license plate it was!"

I ended up taking my frame off (just a dealer ad) and then being pissed off everytime I drove through CT and saw that every other car had a frame.

I am accustommed to NYC PD who will give you a ticket for defective equipment but then you have 48 hours to get it corrected and take the proof to the police station. That forces you to correct it right away.

 

I'm surprised I didn't notice this thread before - guess I've been busy elsewhere...

Anyway, I appreciate it - I am pretty opinionated, particularly when it comes to personal liberties, but I really try my damnedest to really be right, instead of just thinking I am - so it interests me to hear the cops side of the street, as it's a side I haven't gotten before.

I've had very few encounters with cops - I've gotten a speeding ticket (my fault - let myself get to 10 over on a long stretch of 45 mile per hour forest roads - glad my Prius has cruise control, I take that route all the time without complaint now =P) and I was once pulled over during Spring Break (I'm a Daytona local, but my plates just say Sunshine State) as a teenager while driving to a friend's house. He said he just wanted to make sure I was OK, as I had looked lost. I was driving pretty slowly looking for a house number, and I guess I looked suspicious - he spotlighted me in the car from behind, which was unnerving, but once he found out I was local and still wearing my Burger King uniform (FSM knows I'd probably given him his 50% discount at some point) he just offered assistance and let me on my way.

My other two experiences are by way of friends and family. They show nearly opposite types of encounters - one as one as a party in a DV complaint, and one with friends as victims of a crime.

During a short but very ugly divorce period, a pair of our friends were fighting one night over his taking their 8 year old son with him one evening. She called the cops and told them that he had a gun and he was 'scaring her.' When the cops arrived, they had him explain that he did have a gun in his car, kept properly stored (I think it's just required to be unloaded and locked up in Florida) with the proper licenses. They were arguing, he was insisting that he was taking the child back home (some distance away) as the court had allowed. Now, the guy must have been very agitated, and likely said something stupid, but I don't know the actual circumstances - only that they took him in, and he called my husband (then boyfriend) to come bail him out. The guys checking him out said it's pretty much standard to just remove one half of any DV call from the situation - regardless of the circumstances, they are of the opinion that if there is even a decent possibility of violence, it's better to just get the parties separated. They dropped all charges quickly, his record remained 'clean' (though I suspect that merely means he has no charges/convictions, I'm certain the notes are still there.) The cops were acting in the interest of preventing the possible violence that could have occurred - with a gun even sort of involved, you can't rule out the possibility that he mentioned it, which would easily warrant a cool off if nothing else.

My aunts were the victims of a home invasion. The intruder was suitably excited when he discovered he was in a home with lesbians. They beat him so badly he was taken out on a stretcher. The cops, and the entire set of crews that came after were lifesavers to those women - provided support, cleanup and restoration crew reccomendations, support counselors... They helped them with appropriate forms, and after sentencing, the cops sent a card, all signed, with the notation "Ladies 1, Bad Guy 0." The following year at the annual gun class registration time, they sent them a short note reccomending they stop in for some information to consider. It was an AWFUL experience, but those men and women who responded and did exactly and everything that was needed made it something they felt they could move past and protect themselves suitably in the future, instead of living in fear.

I'd have to say that for the most part, I feel like these experiences at least show the cops around here act in the interests of protecting society. I don't think anyone underwent any real squashings of their liberties (and I'm pretty protective of mine, in general) and the intrusions were minor and were likely easily justified from a slightly larger view. I can't speak for other places, but I am far more grateful than irritated with the police work done here.

 

I've tried to keep up with this thread, but do any of the folks involved think that screwing around with the MFD while driving might have led to being "profiled" as a DUI/DWI? I believe that if I ever get into trouble with the law, it's going to be because of me fartsing around with the screen while driving.

Schmika, I know you don't have experiences with pulling over prius drivers, but do you have any experience pulling over folks that were screwing around with the technology in the car? Related, how much do cell phones come into play in your pulling folks over?

 

Thank you I have always wondered about that one. It was a dark and stormy night and I never figured out what it was all about. The few times I have been pulled over I always knew why it happened! I hate that. Me wrong?

 

Wow. You really hit the nail on the head. This is the thing that drives me crazy about the current cell phone laws. It is NOT holding the phone in your hand that is distracting; it's the conversation. It just drives me crazy because all of these politicians are claiming to be "making the roads safer," when they are really not doing anything. It'd be interesting to see how much car accidents go down after these laws go into effect. I imagine they'll go down some, but mostly because people won't go out to get the hands free headsets, so won't be on the phone in the car . . .

 

:lol: :lol:

Well said. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to say this exact same thing to MS!

 

Albuquerque has a Police Oversite Committee that oversees complaints against police officers. It has not appeared to be very effective because there are a lot of complaints from the same people over and over.

Complaints also come from concerned citizens who only witness part of what is going on. I am a Captain in the Fire Department and on my 10 year anniversary of hire I received my 1st complaint.

Ten fire personnel, 4 ambulance personnel, and several police officers responded to a pick up truck that blew through a stop sign and broadsided another vehicle. The PU rolled over and both passengers were ejected. We started treating the ejected passengers and then I went to check on the PU driver (people in the car were fine). 1st I had to get him out of a large puddle of gasoline that he was standing in. When I started asking him questions he placed a cigarette in his mouth and I warned him not to light it. He lit it and I grabbed it out of his mouth and discarded it. He had no complaints and was uncooperative. He again tried to get back in his PU by going through the gasoline puddle and I again removed him from the accident area. I left him with the police and went to check on the other patients. When I got out of the back of one of the ambulances I saw him again standing in the gasoline tring to get into his PU. I yelled across the scene and came up as the police were trying to take him out of the puddle. He started to fight them and was placed under arrest after a short struggle.

In the middle of the struggle a concerned citizen who heard me yell and saw the officers wrestling with the driver came up and started demanding our names. I gave him mine and he did complain of my behavior.

I was actually concerned that the drivers actions may have been due to a head injury and did have him taken into the hospital. No head injury, but BAC more than three times the legal level.

So while I was actually trying to keep this person from killing himself, despite his unconcern for anybody elses safety. I end up with the citizen complaint against me.

Oh well, I will just have to keep my nose clean until my 20 yr anniversary.

 

Your post brings to mind the many times I have seen people mess up, right in front of the officer. And yes, there are also so many times that I wish that an officer were around to see whatever it was that was threatening me.

I have decided that the best place, in my opinion, for a police officer to be, is in a marked partrol car, right behind my rear bumper. Everybody else seems to have suddenly learned their driving lessons.

Anyway, 2 stories.
1. There was the Lincoln that rode my bumper in the left lane, frustrated with me, in such a hurry to pass on the Interstate. I finally found a place to move over, and he roared past, around the curve we went, right into the face of a radar trap. The officer got him, and as I went by, he, the driver of the Lincoln, pulled over, got out of his car (another no, no) and slammed the door in obviouse anger. By then I was by.

2. Young mail teen, ran a stop sign from a cross road form my right. While he might have noticed that I was not going to be in his way, he missed seeing the police officer coming from the other direction. As he ran the stop sign, he turned, and had to use some of the road in front of the police officer. I saw the officer swerve for the ditch, then the teen got back over to the right, and the officer avoided the ditch. I tell you, it did not take that officer long to turn that partrol car around and get those blue lights on!

 

I once saw a MI State Trooper with somebody pulled over, about 1/2 mile into Ohio on I-75 South. I guess that crossing the state line did not bother him. I had to laugh about that one.

 

BRAVO!!! I hope you use an unmarked car take along extra pens and ticket books.

 

Schmika, I was wondering about it too; for I remember some other posts, something about handcuffs.

No, I am not one of those "Special" Priuschat people that were mentioned in that same thread. I was just really wondering, considering who posted the picture in this thread.

 

so, let me get this straight: you're condoning cell phone, even non-hands free, because there isn't a noticeable increase in car accidents? although, I'm not even sure that that's true, but it can be a result of the average car being better in the handling and braking department, among other things.

besides that, though, you are also saying that 2 and 10 is silly and having two hands on the wheel doesn't matter.

had more, but a friend came over and I can't type and listen to her at the same time...

 

Yes, it is tough, but I manage...

 

OK, this is a Prius forum and we have an open session on the nitty gritty traffic officers. Well I don't appreciate getting ticketed for honest mistakes. Most of our traffic cops(Northern Virginia) are dead serious about their work. I have seen many and all types of speed trap set-ups. Some are right at your face, some are from a hidden place or angles. I have seen the unmanned speed traps that work much better than the real cops. Most of us are not stupid drivers joy riding around town, asking for trouble. We go to places of work, to shop, to go to movies, churhes, etc., etc. I am just peeved that most of the cops only see their way, as they are trained to see. No room for honest mistakes by an ordinary, average joe struggling to make a living. A fine of $87.00 for an expired safety inspection on a 2001 Jeep, $176.00 fine for a momentary burst of speed (48 at 35) due to a late appointment, to make a days wage. And $120.00 for keeping up with the flow of the traffic(70 at 55 on a very busy intersate). This happened in less than two years time. When you have to keep going with your work, you have no time to go courts.
You don't want be sitting for hours to be called to plead no contest and pay the fine anyhow. The court system(policeman, proscutor, and the judge) are against me so even with an attorney one your side, it's 50-50 chance. Cops are never around when you need them, anyway.(to catch the cars flying by you at right and left, on interstate when you maintain 10 aobove your limit) I wish there was an insurance policy against receiving stupid tickets like $5.00 per month.
I have stopped donating to any Cop organizations so I can pay for my legal insurnace against such stupid tickets.
Do you get a sense of my frustration?

Getting back to the Prius Forum;

I love my Prius because I can set my destination on my Nav System, check the expected time of travel and set my cruise control at 10 plus the limit posted.
Besides, the Prius is turtle of a car, slow but sure.

Sincerely :blink:

 

If the infraction was committed in Michigan, the trooper has to be able to pull him over where he can and the same goes for the cops in Ohio. As long as both jurisdictions have an understanding like that, you can't commit a moving violation in one state and then make a mad dash for the other side.

 

Wow, I agree... lol

Anyone with serious high-performance vehicles knows this, unless they're really dense. Although even I have to say, leave the truly aggressive stuff for the track...

I even know a few people who simply pay the highest insurance rates (for after a certain point, it no longer matters, you just pay the ticket (at least here in MA)), and the only thing they "worry" about, is not exceeding X number of violations in X time frame so their license doesn't get suspended... h34r: