Got Pulled Over Today

[ShowSStopper]

Originally Posted by 1BADLS3

Respect is always the best policy. Nobody says you have to agree with them, but respect should be upheld, even if the officer isn't giving you the same courtesy...

I'm always torn...I respect the work that officers do, but on an intellectual level, some of them are difficult to reason with. Similar to the fire service, you get a lot of rocket scientists in the police force, and then you also get a lot of officers that learn how to tie their shoes for the first time in Academy.

First time I was pulled over, I just got my license like 3 months prior and I was being a jackass. I wasn't going to lie. He wrote the ticket for a lesser infraction. I thanked him, we had a genuine discussion about being careful, and he sent me on my way. That was my one and only ticket in over 15 years of driving.

I've also met some officers who were less than respectful, but in those situations you've got to be the bigger, calmer person.

There are those with a huge chip on their shoulder. But I like to think they are FAR outnumbered by the good, honest officers. At least that's what i like to think.

[strych9]

I'm frankly amazed that he didn't ticket you simply because of the laser detector.

[SILVERHAWK]

Originally Posted by Coyotekiller

Theres the problem. I see this a lot. No one is willing to disagree with an officer on anything. Now I agree that you acted correctly in what you did, and I would have done pretty much the same, but there is no reason to believe that the cop is always right. In my dealings with cops, especially regarding local laws, I've found that the officers are often very much wrong. I've never had much issue with this regarding vehicular law but in other matters usually. Anyway, I'm just trying to say, don't submit to them just because they have a badge and some authority. They can make mistakes too.

I will agree that no one is perfect and mistakes are made (guess we could argue about "often very much wrong" )....afterall we don't have long beards, wear white flowing robes, and no one worships us on Sunday.... BUT
just understand that there is a time and a place to argue and state your case....and thats in court.....always have believed that everyone deserves their day to present their case. "Field arguments" never end well...and especially in a traffic situation they are dangerous for the officer....the longer next to your car on the side of the road the more chance there is for something bad to happen.

[SimpleGreen]

Three years ago I was riding in my buddies 1999 Camaro SS. Mostly stock aside from SLP exhaust. We are behind this Dodge Durango. It's doing atleast 55 in a 55 zone. My buddy drops a few gears and squirts around the Dodge. Both of the windows in the car are down. As soon as my door got to the front of the Durango I hear this wailing sound and blue lights out the corner of my eye.


It's a freakin' undercover unit


We pull into a gravel lot. I peek out the rear view mirror...the guy getting out is in black slacks, white button up shirt. Ugh. It's the CHIEF of police in that town (one over from where we live).

This just got better

The chief tells my buddy to get out of the car. Rips him wide open up one side, back down the other, and through the middle. After some serious verbal abuse my friend gets back in the car, white as a ghost. We were free to go.

Funny thing. At the time that car was registered in his dads name, probably had no insurance, my buddy didn't have his seat belt on, no shoes, and his license was revoked. The cop never asked for info.

That car was later stolen and never recovered. It was really nice.

Not long after that my friend was pulled over for no seat belt and arrested for his extensive history of speeding and reckless driving violations that were unpaid. He spent a night in jail and it ended up costing him a few thousand dollars to fix. He now has a license, all his cars are legal, and he slowed down a lot.

__________________________________________

[ShowSStopper]

Originally Posted by SILVERHAWK

I will agree that no one is perfect and mistakes are made (guess we could argue about "often very much wrong" )....afterall we don't have long beards, wear white flowing robes, and no one worships us on Sunday.... BUT
just understand that there is a time and a place to argue and state your case....and thats in court.....always have believed that everyone deserves their day to present their case. "Field arguments" never end well...and especially in a traffic situation they are dangerous for the officer....the longer next to your car on the side of the road the more chance there is for something bad to happen.

I will say that in court, its really not fair. Judges here will straight up tell you, "If he says you did it, thats good enough for me." And that sucks bc our local city PD is shady...county and state are cool.

Ah well. I did try to do him a favor by pulling into a parking lot instead of stopping on the shoulder since he was on a motorcycle...maybe that scored points.

[SC2150]

Excellent LEO!!!! applause from me.

[SILVERHAWK]

Originally Posted by Wicked 6

I will say that in court, its really not fair. Judges here will straight up tell you, "If he says you did it, thats good enough for me." And that sucks bc our local city PD is shady...county and state are cool.

Ah well. I did try to do him a favor by pulling into a parking lot instead of stopping on the shoulder since he was on a motorcycle...maybe that scored points.

Well, you wouldn't have a problem from me anyway, cause I am all about handing out some "Camaro Love" as a few on here have found out.

Just one quick question...How long had you been following these street sweepers prior to the officer pulling you over? Just thinking with the range of the laser...could he have clocked you closing in on these trucks....it happens. Always get someone who will tell me that when they saw me, they looked down and were doing alot less than what I clocked them at..... most of the time especially with the longer shots I have been just sitting there waiting for them to get to me...by that time they catch up with the people who have slowed down in front of them (because those people have now realized I'm there) and when they see me they are going much slower than when I hit them. Just sayin' it does happen. I have had shots up to nearly a half mile away

[Coyotekiller]

Originally Posted by SILVERHAWK

I will agree that no one is perfect and mistakes are made (guess we could argue about "often very much wrong" )....afterall we don't have long beards, wear white flowing robes, and no one worships us on Sunday.... BUT
just understand that there is a time and a place to argue and state your case....and thats in court.....always have believed that everyone deserves their day to present their case. "Field arguments" never end well...and especially in a traffic situation they are dangerous for the officer....the longer next to your car on the side of the road the more chance there is for something bad to happen.

I agree that you still need to remain respectful, but there is no reason to wrongly ticket someone for something they did not do. That's just a waste of time.

Case in point, in Illinois, there was a guy that was having an argument with his old lady. She calls the cops saying he was angry and that she felt threatened that he would harm her. The guy involved was in fact packing his belongings to leave when the officer arrived. The guy was heading back into the house to get the last of his belongings when the cop approached him and started questioning him about what was going on. And yes, the guy got a little short with the officer. It's not illegal to do so and given the situation I doubt many of the rest of us would have done it different. Well the cop, having already seen that the guy's girlfriend had not been harmed and was actually in no danger, decides to continue questioning the guy. The guy has gone inside the house by now and the cop comes in WITHOUT a warrant or permission of any kind. The guy tells the cop he needs to get out of his house. Again not politely, but he has every legal right to tell the cop he has no right to be in his house, especially when the guy told him to get lost. The cop told the man he had every right to question him and that no, he was not leaving. The guy proceeded to jack the cop up against the wall and get in his face so that he could understand the guy a little better. Well this landed the guy a taser ride and a trip to counter county hospital because of an "adverse reaction" to being tassed. And then he spent some time in jail. He got his day in court and despite it being blatantly illegal for the cop to enter the guy's house, the jury still ruled that the cop was in the right, even though there was no reason for the cop to even be in the situation to begin with. This case actually sparked a lot of controversy in Illinois and the state legislature actually went against the supreme court decision and passed a law to modify the states existing castle doctrine law stating that if an officer of the law is to enter your home, you have every right to defend yourself and your dwelling from unlawful arrest or bodily harm, even to the point of using lethal force on the unlawful officer. This idea goes all the way back to the Magna Carta; a man's home is his castle. No one has a right to unlawfully infringe his rights, especially not in his own home.

Give it a read if you want to know more. Barnes vs. state of Indiana
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions...5121101shd.pdf

Now that had little to do with your traffic ticket but it's an excellent story that I just read about the other day and a perfect example of why you should question a cop and know your rights. Don't just expect the cops to be looking out for your best interest, you are the only one with your best interest in mind.

[ShowSStopper]

Originally Posted by SILVERHAWK

Well, you wouldn't have a problem from me anyway, cause I am all about handing out some "Camaro Love" as a few on here have found out.

Just one quick question...How long had you been following these street sweepers prior to the officer pulling you over? Just thinking with the range of the laser...could he have clocked you closing in on these trucks....it happens. Always get someone who will tell me that when they saw me, they looked down and were doing alot less than what I clocked them at..... most of the time especially with the longer shots I have been just sitting there waiting for them to get to me...by that time they catch up with the people who have slowed down in front of them (because those people have now realized I'm there) and when they see me they are going much slower than when I hit them. Just sayin' it does happen. I have had shots up to nearly a half mile away

Well, when I saw the street sweepers I was about a quarter mile back...but that zone is 55. I started slowing down and I was going 45 just before the 45 zone started. They were going around 40 so that's when I slowed down further. To be clear, they werent street sweeping at the time...lol. But they had their lights on amd everything.

I admit I could have been tagged from a long ways away. However, he was just inside the 45 zone so my 58 speed would have been just 3 over.

[cjon9657]

i've been driving for 13 years and got pulled over for speeding for the first time. it happened on thanksgiving. long story short a car was going 10 under the normal speed limit of 65 on this highway, i had room to get around the vehicle but sometimes you can't help yourself and you want to get on it sometimes and got pulled over for going 84 in a 65 but luckily with a clean record and the grace of God i was left off with a warning.

[OldJedi]

Originally Posted by Wicked 6

Well, when I saw the street sweepers I was about a quarter mile back...but that zone is 55. I started slowing down and I was going 45 just before the 45 zone started. They were going around 40 so that's when I slowed down further. To be clear, they werent street sweeping at the time...lol. But they had their lights on amd everything.

I admit I could have been tagged from a long ways away. However, he was just inside the 45 zone so my 58 speed would have been just 3 over.

I found that attitude and a level of respect went a long way in traffic stops. When I walked up and the first thing they said was "what the f**k did you stop me for?" I knew things were not going to go well. Cops are people too with good days and bad days. I am glad that things went well for you.

[SILVERHAWK]

Originally Posted by Coyotekiller

I agree that you still need to remain respectful, but there is no reason to wrongly ticket someone for something they did not do. That's just a waste of time.

Case in point, in Illinois, there was a guy that was having an argument with his old lady. She calls the cops saying he was angry and that she felt threatened that he would harm her. The guy involved was in fact packing his belongings to leave when the officer arrived. The guy was heading back into the house to get the last of his belongings when the cop approached him and started questioning him about what was going on. And yes, the guy got a little short with the officer. It's not illegal to do so and given the situation I doubt many of the rest of us would have done it different. Well the cop, having already seen that the guy's girlfriend had not been harmed and was actually in no danger, decides to continue questioning the guy. The guy has gone inside the house by now and the cop comes in WITHOUT a warrant or permission of any kind. The guy tells the cop he needs to get out of his house. Again not politely, but he has every legal right to tell the cop he has no right to be in his house, especially when the guy told him to get lost. The cop told the man he had every right to question him and that no, he was not leaving. The guy proceeded to jack the cop up against the wall and get in his face so that he could understand the guy a little better. Well this landed the guy a taser ride and a trip to counter county hospital because of an "adverse reaction" to being tassed. And then he spent some time in jail. He got his day in court and despite it being blatantly illegal for the cop to enter the guy's house, the jury still ruled that the cop was in the right, even though there was no reason for the cop to even be in the situation to begin with. This case actually sparked a lot of controversy in Illinois and the state legislature actually went against the supreme court decision and passed a law to modify the states existing castle doctrine law stating that if an officer of the law is to enter your home, you have every right to defend yourself and your dwelling from unlawful arrest or bodily harm, even to the point of using lethal force on the unlawful officer. This idea goes all the way back to the Magna Carta; a man's home is his castle. No one has a right to unlawfully infringe his rights, especially not in his own home.

Give it a read if you want to know more. Barnes vs. state of Indiana
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions...5121101shd.pdf

Now that had little to do with your traffic ticket but it's an excellent story that I just read about the other day and a perfect example of why you should question a cop and know your rights. Don't just expect the cops to be looking out for your best interest, you are the only one with your best interest in mind.

Yeah, that's why I don't give anyone a ticket unless I am absolutely sure that I am right....you or your lawyer may be able to find some tiny little technicality but I know I wrote you for exactly what you did and deserve.....and I try to leave all the chicken s--- charges alone and give people warnings for them unless they want to act like a a--.

As far as you story above...I am well aware of it..... Honestly, I think its absolutely going to get somebody needlessly hurt and/or killed especially with all the "Joe Public legal scholars" out there who think they know what can and can't be done. "Sorry I killed your fellow officer, your Dad, your husband because I thought he was violating my rights....ooops!!!! he really didn't?......now what? Yeah, that's called brilliant politicians at work. Its not enough that if an officer makes a mistake that honestly has to be decided upon whether or not its a violation----that the person gets to sue the officer and the entity he works for and get millions.....plus the officer gets fired..... Now you can try to kill him or her and then lets see if the officer did anything wrong. perfect...makes lots of sense.
I am not going to argue the case because honestly we are going to be at totally opposite ends of the issue and neither of us was there during the situation--------- its always sooo easy to take all the time in the world to "Monday Morning Quarterback" each situation for hours on end when the officer has to make split second decisions on his actions.

[Fiveg56]

Originally Posted by Wicked 6

Well, for the first time in 15 years of driving I got pulled over for speeding.

The officer walked up to my window and asked for my license. Then he sees the radar detector and says, "Your laser detector works pretty good." I said sir? He says, "Your laser detector works pretty good. As soon as I put the laser on you you slowed down." I looked at him and said, "I didn't realize I was speeding sir." He says, "Yes you were. That's why I stopped you. 58 in a 45."

Firstly, let's pause this story and rewind some. There's a small zone were I live that's 45 mph. It's a speed trap because it only lasts literally 15 seconds. So they did away with the 45 and made it 55. Well, now its 45 again. No biggie. But when he says he clocked me, I was driving behind a convoy of street sweepers going 40 mph. Although I was and am confident I wasn't speeding, I respect the badge and what it represents. Which means to me, if he says i was then I was and that's that.

So anyway, he runs my license, comes back and says "So that's not a laser detector?" I said yes it is, but I wasnt even looking at it because I didn't realize I was speeding. So he gave me my license back and told me to watch my speed. I said thank you amd apologized for his time, and that was it. No paperwork at all which I found odd.

Anyway, thought I would share so maybe at least some LEOs on here will realize that there are still those of us out there who appreciate what you do and respect it, even if we don't necessarily agree with some decisions. Overall, I thought he was courteous about the whole thing, and I showed him respect right back.

Originally Posted by Wicked 6

My younger brother is a Sheriff Deputy. He will tell you NOTHING is 100%.

At any rate, I didnt deny it..I said i didn't realize I was speeding. Huge difference between "No i wasn't" and "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was."

True...but in your first post you say you were not speeding. Nothing is 100%...but they are much better then 95%...which is how often I hear from speeders that they were not speeding.

Originally Posted by SILVERHAWK

I will agree that no one is perfect and mistakes are made (guess we could argue about "often very much wrong" )....afterall we don't have long beards, wear white flowing robes, and no one worships us on Sunday.... BUT
just understand that there is a time and a place to argue and state your case....and thats in court.....always have believed that everyone deserves their day to present their case. "Field arguments" never end well...and especially in a traffic situation they are dangerous for the officer....the longer next to your car on the side of the road the more chance there is for something bad to happen.

Agreed.... If you want to get your side of the story told, go to court and tell it.

[Coyotekiller]

Originally Posted by SILVERHAWK

Yeah, that's why I don't give anyone a ticket unless I am absolutely sure that I am right....you or your lawyer may be able to find some tiny little technicality but I know I wrote you for exactly what you did and deserve.....and I try to leave all the chicken s--- charges alone and give people warnings for them unless they want to act like a a--.

As far as you story above...I am well aware of it..... Honestly, I think its absolutely going to get somebody needlessly hurt and/or killed especially with all the "Joe Public legal scholars" out there who think they know what can and can't be done. "Sorry I killed your fellow officer, your Dad, your husband because I thought he was violating my rights....ooops!!!! he really didn't?......now what? Yeah, that's called brilliant politicians at work. Its not enough that if an officer makes a mistake that honestly has to be decided upon whether or not its a violation----that the person gets to sue the officer and the entity he works for and get millions.....plus the officer gets fired..... Now you can try to kill him or her and then lets see if the officer did anything wrong. perfect...makes lots of sense.
I am not going to argue the case because honestly we are going to be at totally opposite ends of the issue and neither of us was there during the situation--------- its always sooo easy to take all the time in the world to "Monday Morning Quarterback" each situation for hours on end when the officer has to make split second decisions on his actions.

Most people look at that case, and this is including the few knowledgeable officers that I know personally, and they see that the officer was dead wrong on pretty much everything he did in the situation. Let's say for a moment that he wasn't an officer and just a concerned neighbor, then it's a lot different. Then he has no reason to even be concerning himself in someone else's affairs to fbegin with much less entering the mans house illegally. That's always a good way to get shot, no matter who you are. The legal reaction after that case was not done to protect the officer. It was done to protect the rights of the civilians that each and every day see their police forces becoming more and more heavily armed and armored, only to roll around in a patrol car as write tickets to people. Most of the old hands on the force around here think things get a bit outta hand after every new school shooting or mass murder/shooting incident. If you cops with your full auto M4s and bullet proof vests are frightened enough to carry a can of pepper spray, a steel baton, and a pistol with three extra mags, then how can you tell me I'm not within my rights to stop you from illegally entering my house? Your carrying all kinds of lethal or potentially lethal weapons and that's reason enough for me to believe you wish to do me harm if you were to force your way in. Not saying I would react lethally but I'm gonna stand my ground. Just like you would do if someone were to illegally barge into your home.

One of my best friends, who is an officer, agrees completely with me on the fact that he would not be able to force his way into my dwelling illegallywithout me legally being able to use equal force to try to prevent him from doing so.

It's very scary what police officers are actually able to get away with. Some people are beginning to take notice. But, unfortunately, others don't pay attention and seem to have the opinion that "the government knows what's best for me". I'm not of that opinion.