Things you should know about cops

[alleykt123]

Originally Posted by Mindz

…Anyways, does TX have races with local drivers at a strip where you can race against the police Camaro/Mustang for prizes? Of course none of the illegally modded cars show up, but it's kinda fun and a way to run the quarter without tickets since it's sanctioned by the police. CA used to have that, but I haven't heard of it for a while.

No police Camaro/Mustangs to race, but the local police department has worked out a speeding ticket program with the Irwindale Speedway:
www.irwindalespeedway.com/dragstrip/site/ticket.html

…and before ya ask, no I don't know about this from personal experience!

[stevenm357]

Leaving a bar the other night the cops who sit there, watch people leave the bar then follow them until they screw up followed me for about 2 miles. Lucky they picked me instead of my buddy's ( who was with me) girl friend she was drunk. Funny thing is I sell police equipment to the local departments, so I thanked the Chief the next morning.

[TAG UR IT]

mindz, naw...we don't have races like that. I wish we did.

Steven, that is just plain wrong. If I was a buisness (bar) owner, I would complain on every officer sitting in the area. That would kill business. In fact, I wonder if you can file a suit for that. Seriously, it's been a while, but I've heard about supervisors not wanting officers "fishing" in a barrel like that.

[unkbd]

Don't they call that entrapment Tag?

[TAG UR IT]

Nope.

"entrapment n. in criminal law, the act of law enforcement officers or government agents to induce or encourage a person to commit a crime when the potential criminal expresses a desire not to go ahead. The key to entrapment is whether the idea for the commission or encouragement of the criminal act originated with the police or government agents instead of with the "criminal." Entrapment, if proved, is a defense to a criminal prosecution. The accused often claims entrapment in so-called "stings" in which undercover agents buy or sell narcotics, prostitutes' services, or arrange to purchase goods believed to be stolen. The factual question is: Would Johnny Begood have purchased the drugs if not pressed by the narc?"

No one forced them to go into the bar. No one forced them to drink in excess making them intoxicated. No one forced them not to call a taxi or have a designated driver. No one forced them to get behind the wheel and drive off putting our lives in danger. They could have stopped, but went ahead anyway. If you saw a police officer watching you as you walked out of a bar, you knew you were drunk, and you got into your car, would you drive off? Can't claim entrapment on that one.

[unkbd]

So theoretically you could watch someone walk out of a bar, get in their car start it up and as soon as they drove away stop them for dui. I'm not trying to push any buttons or any thing but it seems to me that probable cause is/would be missing, at the very least you might have possible cause...... .......by the way...does it make cops mad when civilians pop off about laws that they know nothing about and insist that they're right?

[Zyreal]

Yes it does, and it's Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion ..and you know what, we get training to become "Trained Observers" so something that seems odd to us, is a lot of the times, enough reason.

Besides, if you see someone stumbling out to their car after leaving a bar, thats definitely enough reason. Even if they weren't stumbling, they just came from a bar, nothing wrong with pulling someone over to check.

[TAG UR IT]

Originally Posted by unkbd

So theoretically you could watch someone walk out of a bar, get in their car start it up and as soon as they drove away stop them for dui. I'm not trying to push any buttons or any thing but it seems to me that probable cause is/would be missing, at the very least you might have possible cause...... .......by the way...does it make cops mad when civilians pop off about laws that they know nothing about and insist that they're right?

No. I wouldn't stop them for DUI according to the standards you just set forth. For me, it would take at minimum reasonable suspicion, or I could be wasting my time. I need some sort of indicator to initiate anything....stumbling out to the car, slurred speech when yelling at their friends or others in the parking lot, fumbling or droping of keys in the parking lot when trying to get into their car, seeing others try to stop them from driving off as they get into their car, and the list could go on for a while. But, the simple fact that they were in a bar, walked out, and got into their car would not be enough for me to make a stop. Now, if they broke a law as they left, I could check it out....or I could wait for that stumbling guy. I'd rather focus my attention on the person making more mistakes.

Not all the time does it make me mad when people think they know the law and insist they are right. It's when they start making up laws or new names for laws that I find pretty sad. I'd like to ... well ... correct them...

Originally Posted by Zyreal

Yes it does, and it's Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion ..and you know what, we get training to become "Trained Observers" so something that seems odd to us, is a lot of the times, enough reason.
Besides, if you see someone stumbling out to their car after leaving a bar, thats definitely enough reason. Even if they weren't stumbling, they just came from a bar, nothing wrong with pulling someone over to check.

This is very much how it is. We'll see something and it's a blatant clue to us that something is wrong or something is about to happen and for others, they wouldn't have a clue. We are trained for months and after training see it EVERY DAY. So, for someone to claim we don't know what were talking about or don't understand "the situation", think again. This is ALL police officers do day in, day out.

[unkbd]

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

This is very much how it is. We'll see something and it's a blatant clue to us that something is wrong or something is about to happen and for others, they wouldn't have a clue. We are trained for months and after training see it EVERY DAY. So, for someone to claim we don't know what were talking about or don't understand "the situation", think again. This is ALL police officers do day in, day out.

I agree with you on this....A friend of mine is a detective for a local police force near by and he is so observant that it's spooky.

[Mindz]

My friend has received a dui for sitting on the sidewalk. He was waiting to sober up and a cop was waiting outside the bar basically got out of his car after waiting, wrote him a ticket, and then went back to sitting in his car waiting for others. My friend's brother is a lawyer and was right there next to him as he wrote the ticket. He had to stop his brother from beating the cop to death, because I'm sure he would of if he wasn't being restrained. The lawyer brother wrestled him to the ground before he even threw a punch, but from they and another friend who doesn't know them, but witnessed it tell it, This guy's eyes were on fire and he was swearing to the high heaven at the top of his lungs. Most of the cops in the bay area have a bad rep because of the rotten apples. I do know a few good ones and I always ask them if I ever need advice, but man do they tell me some horror stories of things that happen.

[Kyle.Gilmour]

DUI - UP STYLE

Only a person in Northern Michigan could think of this.

From the county where drunk driving is considered a
sport, comes this true story.

Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a bar in
Escanaba, Michigan. After last call, the officer noticed a
man leaving the bar so apparently intoxicated that he could
barely walk.

The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes,
with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity
in which he tried his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed
to find his car and fall into it.

He sat there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons
left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car,
switched the wipers on and off--it was a fine, dry summer
night--, flicked the blinkers on and off a couple of
times, honked the horn and then switched on the lights.

He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a
little and then remained still for a few more minutes as
some more of the other patrons' vehicles left.

At last, when his was the only car left in the parking
lot, he pulled out and drove slowly down the road.

The police officer, having waited patiently all this time,
now started up his patrol car, put on the flashing lights,
promptly pulled the man over and administered a
breathalyzer test.

To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence
that the man had consumed any alcohol at all!
Dumbfounded, the officer said, "I'll have to ask
you to accompany me to the police station. This
breathalyzer equipment must be broken."

"I doubt it," said the truly proud Yooper.

"Tonight I'm the designated decoy."

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by Kyle.Gilmour

DUI - UP STYLE

Only a person in Northern Michigan could think of this.

From the county where drunk driving is considered a
sport, comes this true story.

Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a bar in
Escanaba, Michigan. After last call, the officer noticed a
man leaving the bar so apparently intoxicated that he could
barely walk.

The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes,
with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity
in which he tried his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed
to find his car and fall into it.

He sat there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons
left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car,
switched the wipers on and off--it was a fine, dry summer
night--, flicked the blinkers on and off a couple of
times, honked the horn and then switched on the lights.

He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a
little and then remained still for a few more minutes as
some more of the other patrons' vehicles left.

At last, when his was the only car left in the parking
lot, he pulled out and drove slowly down the road.

The police officer, having waited patiently all this time,
now started up his patrol car, put on the flashing lights,
promptly pulled the man over and administered a
breathalyzer test.

To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence
that the man had consumed any alcohol at all!
Dumbfounded, the officer said, "I'll have to ask
you to accompany me to the police station. This
breathalyzer equipment must be broken."

"I doubt it," said the truly proud Yooper.

"Tonight I'm the designated decoy."

you beat me to it!!! i was trying to find that!

[94z28inok]

HAHA I've heard something like that before. thats friggin funny. Good post.

[TAG UR IT]

Originally Posted by Kyle.Gilmour

DUI - UP STYLE

Only a person in Northern Michigan could think of this.

From the county where drunk driving is considered a
sport, comes this true story.

Recently a routine police patrol parked outside a bar in
Escanaba, Michigan. After last call, the officer noticed a
man leaving the bar so apparently intoxicated that he could
barely walk.

The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes,
with the officer quietly observing. After what seemed an eternity
in which he tried his keys on five different vehicles, the man managed
to find his car and fall into it.

He sat there for a few minutes as a number of other patrons
left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car,
switched the wipers on and off--it was a fine, dry summer
night--, flicked the blinkers on and off a couple of
times, honked the horn and then switched on the lights.

He moved the vehicle forward a few inches, reversed a
little and then remained still for a few more minutes as
some more of the other patrons' vehicles left.

At last, when his was the only car left in the parking
lot, he pulled out and drove slowly down the road.

The police officer, having waited patiently all this time,
now started up his patrol car, put on the flashing lights,
promptly pulled the man over and administered a
breathalyzer test.

To his amazement, the breathalyzer indicated no evidence
that the man had consumed any alcohol at all!
Dumbfounded, the officer said, "I'll have to ask
you to accompany me to the police station. This
breathalyzer equipment must be broken."

"I doubt it," said the truly proud Yooper.

"Tonight I'm the designated decoy."

I haven't heard that one before!!! GREAT!