Caught speeding on camera, police officers refuse to pay tickets - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hatterasguy · #16 03-11-2008, 01:56 PM

Just because they are on duty doesn't give them the right to break the laws. I can't break laws while I am working, so why should they?

I hate the idea of all camra's on public roads and I want the cops to get pissed at them, and fight them as well.

Thanks, I got the spam.

Matt L · #17 03-11-2008, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kuan

Believe it or not, officer discretion is a huge reason why everyone on the highway who does 5mph above the speed limit does not get a ticket.

When the 55MPH limit was in effect in MO, I got a ticket for 80. I subsequently learned (by talking to the prosecuting attorney's office) that if you show up to court, the speed on the ticket is automatically reduced by 5mph, and if you are then going slower than the OLD speed limit of 70, it is tossed.

Officer discretion had absolutely nothing to do with the actual tolerated speed of 75MPH.

yal · #18 03-11-2008, 04:24 PM

"The police union says officers shouldn't pay because the citations are issued to the owner of a vehicle, in this case the county, and not to the driver."

LOL

you got to love Police unions.

Kuan · #19 03-11-2008, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt L

When the 55MPH limit was in effect in MO, I got a ticket for 80. I subsequently learned (by talking to the prosecuting attorney's office) that if you show up to court, the speed on the ticket is automatically reduced by 5mph, and if you are then going slower than the OLD speed limit of 70, it is tossed.

Officer discretion had absolutely nothing to do with the actual tolerated speed of 75MPH.

That has nothing to do with police and everything to do with the DA. Speeding tickets are dealt with differently here in MN. To each state their own.

So I guess we're at an impasse. I believe police officers can, at their discretion, break certain laws provided they put the public's safety above all else first, ie., just don't do this:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/police_california_deaths08

Matt L · #20 03-11-2008, 05:30 PM

I also believe that police can, at their discretion, TURN ON THEIR OVERHEAD LIGHTS and break certain traffic laws.

mpolli · #21 03-12-2008, 12:56 AM

I believe as long as those tickets go un-enforced, anyone who got a ticket in that county could get it thrown out on the basis that the law is not fairly applied. I think the word is capricious.

Matt L · #22 03-12-2008, 01:04 AM

Only if the judge agrees. His salary comes from the district which collects the fines.

pawoSD · #23 03-12-2008, 01:12 AM

If not in pursuit or actively trying to get to a crime scene etc...a cop has NO reason to be above the speed limit. In fact, they should be below it, and observing their surroundings and looking for suspicious activity etc...

They go at least 15-20mph over in residential/metro area roads around here most of the time, and troopers on the highway regularly speed like crazy. In fact, I was tailgated probably 1-2 feet from my rear bumper a number of times last summer while passing trucks at night going about 73-75mph (already technically 3-5 over) Who was the person 1-2 feet off my bumper? A STATE POLICE OFFICER. Who promptly opened the flood gates and went past me at great speed when I moved over. Lights on? No. Siren? No. Just speeding because they can! I should have slammed on my brakes.

Then there's the other kind of cop, the predator. They tailgate you through rich residential areas and creep you out. Or pull you over and say "your exhaust is too loud, you might wake our sleeping millionaires"

Meanwhile someone is being murdered in a bad area where there's not a cop to be found.

Wodnek · #24 03-12-2008, 06:47 PM

15 kph over is what, 8 mph?

pawoSD · #25 03-13-2008, 12:36 AM

ONCE again, I was tailgated tonight by a cop from the Rich area where they pulled me over for "exhuast too loud" a few months ago. I have taken to driving a different route avoiding that area...yet I get tailgated again. I swear, I was going down the empty road by myself, and all the sudden there they are, right behind me about 2-3 feet back.

Its getting old.

Why do they think they can drive above the law they're supposedly enforcing?? What happens if I had to hit my brakes hard for something when they are doing that....there's no way their trashy cop car could stop in time.

luvlaw · #26 03-13-2008, 01:52 AM

So what other laws do you think officers should be able to break at their discretion?

Or, maybe they should be able to arrest you for thinking that you may be breaking the law, at their discretion, without probable cause.

Too much discretion = arbitrary and capricious, like the previous post mentioned?

I guess you just feel that officers are always moral, upstanding super-citizens to which our laws do not apply.

Scary, very scary.

The fact that some may in fact perform heroic deeds does not insulate them from the law.

We are a nation of LAWS NOT MEN!

yal · #27 03-13-2008, 10:45 AM

^Very well said.

Hatterasguy · #28 03-13-2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

ONCE again, I was tailgated tonight by a cop from the Rich area where they pulled me over for "exhuast too loud" a few months ago. I have taken to driving a different route avoiding that area...yet I get tailgated again. I swear, I was going down the empty road by myself, and all the sudden there they are, right behind me about 2-3 feet back.

Its getting old.

Why do they think they can drive above the law they're supposedly enforcing?? What happens if I had to hit my brakes hard for something when they are doing that....there's no way their trashy cop car could stop in time.

Break check!

Say you saw a cat, how can they prove you didn't?

AdvisorGuy · #29 03-13-2008, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blkntancj

Well, i can't speak for their dept, but I can for mine. We have to pay our fines. And ours are ALOT steeper. $150 for 12 MPH over. Plus we get a letter of reprimand in our file on top of paying the fine (for the first one, the discipline increases after that). So we are double penalized.

As it should be. Not a personal attack on you as I don't know you personally but everyone should be held accountable for their actions. Being empowered to enforce and uphold the law does not give license to abuse and break the law as you (meaning officers in general, not you personally) see fit. Just as a senator that condemns homosexuality and gay marriage should not be caught in the mens room offering BJ's...

raymr · #30 03-13-2008, 04:16 PM

This has been a beef of mine for quite a while, and I'm glad its getting attention. I'd often see them 'cleaning the carbon out' of their Chargers on the highway, going noplace in particular at great speeds. The thing is, many people around here not only think the police are above the law, but that they ARE the law.