Things cops want you to know...

I was a National Park Ranger for 12 years (Isle Royale, Rocky Mountain, Whiskeytown, Yosemite). Many parks are areas of exclusive federal jurisdiction. Rangers work on foot, skis, bicycles, horses, in boats and on rocks, ice and snow. Rangers are parkmedics as well as resource managers and federal cops.

A training officer once did a detailed analysis of all traffic accidents in a county for the three previous years. He grouped incidents by hour, day of the week, week of the month, month and year. He then got all jurisdictions (sheriff, ranger, police, etc.) to patrol those areas with a goal of presence and making as many proactive safety stops as possible. This was at no additional cost to any agency. Officers approached each stop with a smile and a positive preventative message. Officers wrote the same number or more tickets. The public left with a strong safety message (and often with a ticket). Result: 69% reduction in traffic accidents in one year.

National Park Rangers are aware and cultivate a positive image and reputation to protect the resource and visitors. Many times we went to extraordinary efforts to save lives in extreme environments (1,000 meter vertical rock walls, winter snow and ice, high volume rivers and extremes of temperature), then later issued a ticket for a violation. Message: we are here to serve you, but also educate and enforce reasonable and statutory limits.

The comments thus far are an excellent collection of people's comments, excuses and curiosities.

 

If you never had a traffic ticket conviction before(at least on Long Island) many times they will offer a plea bargain to a lesser charge(such as if you were speeding change to failing to use a turn signal)


How exactly does that work? Comments from anyone that knows?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Dec 15 2006, 12:02 PM) [snapback]362833[/snapback]</div>

WOW! Scarry footage!

Had a deal like that last winter near my home town. We had a freezing rain event and there were several ditched cars in one spot outside of town. The chief of police was there controlling traffic while the tow truck was at work. Some moron in an SUV (full size Jeep) comes flying up on the scene going sideways and pasted the squad car. Her excuse (SUV driver), "I don't understand why I skided, I had it in four wheel drive"

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pogo @ Dec 14 2006, 02:37 PM) [snapback]362480[/snapback]</div>

Now do you think if this wasn't a cop you'd be reading about it in the paper? It would be a normal (legitimate) bust. And it should have worked the same if it were the chief of police in his Mercedes or a scruffy Black guy in a dented Ford. You learn, the easy way or the hard, not to provoke a cop or sass him when stopped.

One of my co-pilots, years ago, showed up for work a little late one day. He said he had stopped for a sign and a cop just blew right through it. He chased the cop who stopped for him. The idiot pilot told the officer that, unless he had his light on and were responding to an emergency, he had to obey stop signs too. He said the officer just rolled up his window and drove away. This was in rural Kansas where the major requirement to become a cop was to own a gun. I told him how lucky he was and never let him fly my airplane when I was Captain.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Dec 15 2006, 12:30 PM) [snapback]362879[/snapback]</div>

Actually, I grew up in rural Kansas. Sometimes they also had to have their own car and red light. Actually rural is kind of redundant when you're talking about Kansas.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Dec 11 2006, 02:20 AM) [snapback]360278[/snapback]</div>

Oh no!, you didn't just say that. The last thing we need is more BIG BROTHER watching our every move.
*Shivers*

 

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hjon71 @ Dec 15 2006, 11:33 PM) [snapback]363060[/snapback]</div>

I'm totally against government invasions of privacy, abuse of citizens' rights, and especially the Shrub's new "guilty until proven innocent" paradigm for anyone accused of "terrorism.

However, there is no "privacy" issue protecting unsafe driving. I'd be all for automated tickets for speeders and people who drive through red lights, etc. I don't have the figures, but I suspect that traffic accidents cause more deaths than terrorists, even in the tragic but exceptional year of 2001, so why are people willing to accept the loss of Constitutional rights in the so-called "war" against terrorism, but unwilling to accept cameras on public streets in a much cheaper and more productive "war" against careless and reckless driving?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Dec 15 2006, 04:30 PM) [snapback]362879[/snapback]</div>

Just shows again, just because you think it, might not be true. In Ohio, I DO NOT have to have my lights and siren on to bust a light or stop sign...just that I am on a legitimate call. BTW, the Ohio Supreme Court has defined a "legitimate" call to be ANY time I am doing something a cop has the authority to do. I don't condone wanton abuse of this...but it exists. May in Kansas as well!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Schmika @ Dec 16 2006, 10:01 AM) [snapback]363131[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, I figured there was something like this afoot and that the cop was in no danger of time off. My point was that I thought it pretty stupid to run him down and challenge his action. Let sleeping (Smokey) bears lie.

 

I had a friend, a long time ago, who had some serious problems, though he was a really nice guy. One of his things was to stop cops by flashing his lights at them, and hassle them over some violation or other (whether real or perceived, I don't know, since I never heard the cop's side of the story.)

When he himself was stopped by a cop, he would pull over and stop, but he would refuse to open his window or speak or provide any documentation. His own private interpretation of the law convinced him he was within his rights. I wish I could remember what he said the outcome of such encounters was. But he was apparently no stranger to the inside of a jail, and considered a short time in jail to be quite a joke. Jails are pretty humane in that part of the country.

Of course, he might have been making it all up, since I never witnessed any of it, and like I said, he was a bit of a weirdo.

Oh, yes, the other one was he once owned a junker on which he painted in large letters, "PIGS ARE UNCLEAN." He claimed this was merely a statement of his religious beliefs, though in fact he had no religious beliefs.

What I can definitely say about him was that he made a meager living by buying junk cars, getting them to run, and selling them. And knowing him, I consider it very possible he actually did drive the junker with the pigs slogan.

Cops probably thought he was a jerk, but otherwise he was universally liked. He never got angry or upset about anything, and though he generally believed that everything the government does is illegal or unconstitutional, from income taxes to paper money to you-name-it, he was never angry about it: he just thought it was all a big joke.

Wherever he is now, I hope he's well and still cheerful.

 

Chris Rock - How Not To Get Your A$$ Kicked BY The Police.

R- rated for language

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4961165717378550511

R- rated for language

Well it is Chris Rock what did you expect?


Wildkow

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Dec 17 2006, 10:36 PM) [snapback]363562[/snapback]</div>

Tho' tongue in cheek...this is VERY accurate.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Dec 11 2006, 10:52 PM) [snapback]360774[/snapback]</div>

Well, you're certainly not improving your reputation here. If you're not concerned about going 80 in a 55 and passing illegally, you deserve to have your license (and car) taken away until you show you're responsible enough to drive a deadly weapon (which all cars are) in a safe manner. It's no longer just about giving somebody a bad day. Even if you don't have an accident, you can be causing accidents and not even knowing about it. Killing yourself through reckless driving is an acceptable use of Darwin's law, killing someone else is not.

I didn't get a ticket the first 10 years I drove, but then I got 4 of them (over the last 12 years). No warnings even though I'm polite and behaved, and it's for something like rolling thru a stop sign at about 6 mph when nobody was approaching. But still, I did it, so I'll accept the consequences. It's time for me to be more careful about my driving...ticket 3 was for an accident, so it does show my care in driving had slipped. And now my son is old enough to know how people should be driving, and he'll be practicing before I know it, so now's the time to provide a good example.

 

This was posted on another chat board. Since I don't believe that poster wrote it, I figure it's annonymous. I imagine it's making the rounds.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zapranoth @ Dec 12 2006, 04:17 AM) [snapback]360812[/snapback]</div>

Are you implying that police are blind? B)

Tom

 

Here's more that I just found out: a friend of mine's husband is a peace officer, and SHE has a card that makes it so SHE doesn't get a ticket, either...?

--Does this apply only to heterosexual couples? If not, your're discriminating.
--Do police departments recognize domestic partnerships? If not, you're discriminating.
--How about the children of peace officers? Can 16-year olds with a fresh drivers license do what they want and still not get a ticket?
--Does this also work for adopted children? How about children from a former marriage?
--Can "close friends" of peace officers get these benefits, too...say, a high school buddy or like that?
--Can you get one of these cards for a new girlfriend so she'll have sex with you?

This is so smarmy and repugnant that it sickens me.

So, basically, the law is totally arbitrary and if you know someone who works for it, you're not culpable in the way that civilians are? Disgusting. I can't believe for the life of me that Police actually admit to this sort of thing, let alone brag about it.

If cops are allowed to view our laws as arbitrary, why can't I just carry a gun and enforce things myself? It would save so many tax dollars!