Harassed by the cops

[Mr. Rager!]

Ticket was $135 for tint and $135 for the light.

I am going to the dealership on Monday. I am also going to a place that does tint to see if they have any ideas.

I still haven't found the light that was out. I am going to fight this. I will plead not guilty on the 30th.

[Ben_Who]

Around here, police officers were hauling up so many people and doling out so many crappy tickets that they couldn't make all their court dates. So people who really had broken the law were getting away with it because they'd show up in court and the cop wouldn't be there. Cops often had to give up a "good" ticket to make the time to defend a "bad" ticket and got both tickets thrown out.

I think they've straightened things up since then.

Love, Who?

[Jester]

I once got a speeding ticket when I wasn't speeding.

When the cop was writing me the ticket, he claimed I was going 60 in a 50. I told him I never topped 50. He told me that was a load of hooey, because I was so far ahead of the rest of the traffic. And that's when I saw the issue.

See, at the time I had a Dodge Shadow Turbo. And that turbo was really nice. So a lot of the time when I was at a light and it turned green, I flew out of there, accelerating faster than everyone else, but still staying under the speed limit.

I explained this to the cop and told him, "You are ticketing me for accelerating faster than everyone else, not actually speeding."

Cop didn't buy it, and I was too young and dumb to make a go of it at court. Still irritates me that I had to pay that ticket.

[calulu]

You cannot tell me they don't profile either. I never get pulled over any longer at all. My teenage daughter has laughed at me getting waved through sobriety checkpoints and other checkpoints. I guess the cops figure a gray haired granny in a luxury sedan wouldn't be drinking and driving or letting her insurance/registration lapse. I could be smuggling drugs and all kinds of evil shit, ha ha.

[ditchdj]

I think they've straightened things up since then.

A former cop I know told me that judges get good and pissed when their court docket gets filled up with nonsence like that.

[lordlundar]

I am going to the dealership on Monday. I am also going to a place that does tint to see if they have any ideas.

Ask them to do a luminescence test as well, at both places. If both show as under the legal limit, then you have copies that the cop was lying. Also, if you can, get a video of all the lights working. Get that evidence in court, and the tickets should be thrown out and you should be able to file a complaint against the cop with their IA department.

[Jester]

You cannot tell me they don't profile either.

Of course they do. Not just by person, but by vehicle as well. Which is why my blue SUV flies under their radar, but they'll notice the red sports car, even if it's doing the legal limit or less.

There's a reason I won't own a red vehicle.

A former cop I know told me that judges get good and pissed when their court docket gets filled up with nonsence like that.

An important Rule of Life, whether you are a cop or a civilian, is Do Not Piss Off The Judge.

[Gerrinson]

Also, one thing that I really didn't like about your post was that the cop asked for 'proof' of where you work. While complying with him was the fastest way of getting rid of the douchebag, I'd recommend bringing a complaint against him for that question as well. Legally, you don't have to provide documentation of where you work.

I know they like to take advantage of the 'must have ID' on you at all times thing, which I still haven't been able to verify is legal or not in my state. But 'proof' of your employer is definitely not a law. If he needed proof, he could contact your employer himself for verification.

That kind of questioning is simply designed to put on the defensive. And what if you didn't have a name badge or, if you were like me, your name tag was stored at your workplace?

Anyway, rant over. I'm just sick of BS like that.

I had a local bullying douchebag cop ask me, in the line at the convenience store, if I had been drinking when I was buying some Mike's hard lemonade for a friend. I truthfully said no, but he didn't believe me.

He checked my ID in the store and said that I needed to call a cab or he'd arrest me for DUI when I left the parking lot. I told him he could certainly try to do that and that I'd see him laughed out of court if he tried.

The cop was pissed going on about 'think you're funny?' and 'won't be laughing when you're in a cell' and 'I'm not joking' blah blah blah. He followed me out the door all set to arrest me for drunk driving. Incidentally, my last drink was over a year before, so my BAC of 0.00 was going to shoot his case down, anyway.

Unfortunately for him, he was forced to watch me walk across the street to my apartment, where my car was safely parked next to the building. I gave him a before going inside. Guess he should have paid more attention to the address on my ID, eh?

I was half expecting the jackass to come knocking on my door and try to arrest me for 'drunk in public' but it seems common sense got the better of him.

[Jester]

Also, one thing that I really didn't like about your post was that the cop asked for 'proof' of where you work.

Legally, you don't have to provide documentation of where you work.

Legally, no, he didn't have to provide proof. However, for this part alone, I do not think the cop was out of line, as he was merely trying to verify the OP's story that he was on his way to work.

Let's say for the sake of argument that the cop thought the OP was up to no good. He would be well within his rights as a police officer to ask such questions, and to ask the OP to verify.

Of course, since it turns out the cop was just a power mad douchebag, it really doesn't matter, does it?

[draftermatt]

Good luck Fashion Lad.

There has only been one time I was pulled over without a good reason. 3 speeding tickets, an illegal U turn and a tag light out.

The tag light may have been an excuse to see why I was out at 4:30 AM and taking back roads (since the cop followed me for several miles from town and onto said back roads into the woods). But I was going to pick up a co-worker and we had to be at work at 6.

But I was once pulled over and ticketed for running a red light. My wife even swore the light was yellow. The cop claimed that the stop line was before the intersection so it was "very red". Well see if the stop bar is before the actual intersection and I saw the light turn red as I passed under it then I was in the intersection when it turned making me in the right.

But because I was pulled over in Pennsylvania and from Maryland EVERYONE I know told me just pay it and leave it. If I went to court they'd probably up the fine, not to mention report it to MD and my insurance.

Still pissed about it though.

[protege]

A lot of cops are the kids who got bullied in highschool, and they figured out how to be in control by being a cop. So they're douchebags. I work with them, so that's not my opinion, that's a fact.

That's *exactly* why many douchebags choose to become cops. They take the job, simply so they can intimidate others or push them around. In other words, they get off on it.

My borough once had a cop like that. Back in 1993, I was coming home from the mall, and had an accident. At one of the million or so traffic lights on Route 51, some kid in an '80s Dodge Charger hit the brakes after leaving a green light. The road was slick, and even at 5mph, I couldn't stop the Tempo in time. Slid right into him, in other words. End result, his car was totaled, and the Tempo (which, oddly enough, had *just* returned from the bodyshop after some idiot broad-sided it) had the entire front end bashed in.

Cops came, and things went downhill from there. The officer in charge asked me what happened, and then disregarded that info. He decided, that since I was a young male (only 16 at the time), that I was speeding. Even though we had witnesses, and the other guy told him pretty much what I did.

At that point, I called home, and let my father know what was happening. He came down, and tried to tell the cop what was had happened. As we're trying to get that taken care of, it quickly got worse. Because my father and I argued with the guy...the bastard cited me for "reckless driving," and "failure to control the vehicle." 6 points on my license, and a huge increase in my insurance, in other words.

Trust me, I was pissed! But, rather than bitch about it...I went to the local magistrate about it. I had witnesses, crash test data on both cars (including the bumper tests...which both cars failed!) , brake stats on the Tempo (which had a well-deserved reputation for brake problems!), witness testimony, plus my own account.

After all of that, plus the cop not even bothering to show up...the charges were dismissed. 17 years on, I'm still pissed about that--he had the balls to push me around, but apparently lacked them when it came to magistrates

Found out later that the cop had a well-deserved reputation for harassing youths or other "undesirables" in the neighborhood. He would actually follow people, and the second their speed went 1 mile over the limit, he'd pull them over, and would usually bust them on technicalities.

He didn't last long after that--seems he tried that with the wrong person. That person was um, politically connected...and leaned on the borough council to deal with the cop. They actually forced him to retire

[RecoveringKinkoid]

The tag light may have been an excuse to see why I was out at 4:30 AM and taking back roads (since the cop followed me for several miles from town and onto said back roads into the woods). But I was going to pick up a co-worker and we had to be at work at 6.
.

Pretty sure driving down a back road at four thirty am is not illegal behavior. And you don't have satisfy his curiosity on that, either.

[Broomjockey]

Pretty sure driving down a back road at four thirty am is not illegal behavior.

No, but it is suspicious behaviour. There may have been a history of illegal activities going on in the area in such a fashion. Thus said history would give the officer probable cause unless a reasonable excuse could be supplied and substantiated.

[Sandman]

No, but it is suspicious behaviour. There may have been a history of illegal activities going on in the area in such a fashion. Thus said history would give the officer probable cause unless a reasonable excuse could be supplied and substantiated.

Although that could be countered with the belief that the OP was being followed by someone who was not an officer.. and wanted to take him down roads to see if they were being followed.

Besides... if that is a way to get to the OP's home.. probable cause would be negated.

[Broomjockey]

Besides... if that is a way to get to the OP's home.. probable cause would be negated.

That would be the "excuse and substantiation" that I mentioned, ya know? Show drivers licence, it'd have address on it. Duh.