Throttle back on the cop bashing...try walking a mile in their shoes

[MGWLTD]

well said steve,

my father has been in law enforcement since i was born nd was head of the washington dc swat team for a few years also. a VERY tough job and it amazes me what they expect people to risk there lives for today.


oh but to lighten the topic a little my dad told me a saying once he heard that goes...

"BEFORE CRITICIZING SOMEONE WALK A MILE IN THEIR SHOES...THAT WAY WHEN YOU DO CRITICIZE THEM, YOU ARE A MILE AWAY AND HAVE THEIR SHOES!!!!!"

[Gerald]

ROTFLMAO!


Gerald

[Robert Dyck]

Oh **** Steve....... let's just say, that if it's clear, it's OK to nail it a little. Let's not make a big deal of it.

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Some of what you wrote is true, but it doesn't apply to the state boy hiding in the bushes with his radar gun. The fact remains, issueing tickets when no one is in danger is still crap.

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

BTW, I don't like to speak poorly of the dead, and believe it or not I truly feel bad for the good people who were hurt by his passing, but it sounds like Trooper Mitchell Brown had a real chip on his shoulder.

[Double Venom]

Unbelievable! Especially when it comes from the "elite".

A very quick synopsis of 26 years:

Don't read this if you want to "lighten up!"

Shot at 3 times, no hits thank goodness, but two dead cruisers and one very skinny tree. (Iwas behind that very skinny tree )

Uncountable assaults with knifes, hammers, baseball bats, etc.
Stitches? Hmmm, lost track of that one.

Injuries: Double hernia, man that guy was huge! One dislocated knee, two ruptured discs in lower back, (really wild bar fight),
then there was neck incident. Uncountable bumbs, bruises, minor cuts, etc., etc.

Contrary to popular belief a new "Cop" is introduced to his local E.R. room and all of the fabulous people there in, way before he finds the donut shop!

Best guess 365 notifications to family members of fatal "accident victims". "I'm sorry Sir, your wife was hit by a drunk driver, no your child didn't survive either. Or, I'm sorry mam, your husband was speeding and lost control of his car, went left of center and was struck head on. Yes, he had been drinking and the two teenagers in the other car also died." I can tell you 365 +/- story's in this category.

Traffic Citations written: Again, guessing, but probably in the 500 range. (We never had a quota...we could write as many as we wanted! )

I wonder if I had been hiding in the trees and wrote the above driver that ticket for speeding just before his accident, if maybe three more people might be alive today?

Chip on my shoulder? Not before reading this post. Ok, so I take 26 years of my life and what I considered sincere dedication too personal. You are right, lets not make a big deal of it and it is time to lighten up.

Let the flames begin!

Merry H0-H0, to everyone. Be safe out there!
DV

[AviP]

I agree 100% with you Steve. It's those so-called "bad" cops I don't like. Here's my story.

I got a criminal ticket for doing 20mph in a 30mph zone. Reason "Reckless endangerment". No burnouts, no spins, no fast acceleration, nothing crazy at all.

I also got a regular ticket for "Not wearing a seat belt" in my parking lot with the car fully stopped. The garage opener had fallen into the passenger area and I had unbuckled to reach it. The car was stopped right outside my garage door.

And these are just the Viper tickets. I have more crap dished out on my motorcycles.

The cops in my town didn't like me and there is no question about that. I'm not a loudmouth or a braggart or a snob or a show-off. I never did anything to annoy them. I have never shouted at them or abused them. But they always tailed me. They stopped me quite often. They have frisked me for drugs! They just wanted a reason for stopping me. Basically there was always the thought about being stopped by those cops whenever I took the Viper out.

I'm Asian. So if this is not discrimination, then I don't know what is. Suffice it to say that I installed a camcorder in my car and eventually moved out of that town.

My bottomline: I have a great deal of respect for cops. But when you don't know them personally, it's hard to figure out who is good v/s bad unless you find out the hard way. Ticketing someone for doing 92mph is not my idea of a bad cop.

[SoCal Rebell]

Sorry, I try to respect cops but TOO many bad incidents. Most I've encountered have been power crazed Aholes, put on a uniform and your god. Not to mention my upbringing in the Bronx where you'd get whacked in the head with a night stick for no reason or get pulled in an alley and smacked around, I agree with the above post get a REAL job
stop whining!!!!

Ron

[ACR Joe]

Most of us are going to get cited for speeding at some point. If you own and enjoy A Viper, it's just inevitable. Forget about the fine, it's points (read insurance premium ramifications) that hurt. I have found the following rules to be critical to avoiding the imposition of points.

If stopped:

Stay seated with your seat belt on, engine off and keys plainly visible on the dash, flashers and interior lights on, both hands on the steering wheel, all windows down (weather permitting).

Have your license, owners and insurance cards readily available and hand them to the Officer immediately when approached.

In response to "Do you know why I stopped you", be honest but don't quote numbers (i.e. "I may have exceeded the speed limit").

Show respect, refer to the officer as "sir" and don't offer any ridiculous excuses; they've heard it all and more BS will be counter-productive to your ultimate goal.

If cited, forget the sarcasm, in fact express understanding and move along.

Essentially, what you have done is set the stage for negotiation in traffic court. Arrive early for the hearing and ask to speak with the Officer before the hearing starts. Be honest about wanting to find a way to avoid the imposition of points. The officer will indeed remember how you conducted yourself on the scene, listen to your plea and will likely help seek a reasonable solution.

I had a pretty bad streak about two years ago and racked up four speeding tickets in 9 months. Guess how many points I wound up with? None! In every case, the violation was changed to disobeying a speed control device, no points and ~ a 25% refund. Is this a 100% effective technique? Certainly not but it's your best chance of realizing a favorable outcome without working the back door. Also realize, it's not personal, it's business so deal with it as you might any other business situation. With politeness, candor, objectivity, respect, and recognition of a guy that's got one pretty tough job that most of us wouldn't even consider doing ourselves.

I'm sure there are a few Police Officers out there that will want to build on this. Please do!

Happy Holidays .......

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Ok here is my grip! I think Officers have to much decision power. It really ticks me off to know that I get a ticket for doing 42 in a 35 (with all the yes sirs you could ask for) for your basic 2 points and $50 while my friend gets stopped for doing 93 in a 70 with an unregistered firearm in the back and he get the SAME ticket as I do. In SC he should have gotten reckless driving and sent to jail for the weapon. Yep, I'm venting but it should be the same for everyone. If I'm doing 42 in 35 give me a ticket but you DAM* well better give one to that hot chick that you pull over after me!!!

Regards

[Tom and Vipers]

Our legal system is based on The Common Law. And in the Common Law it specifically states: There can be no crime if there is no victim.

We've come a long way, Baby!

Tom

[Tom and Vipers]

In most primitive tribes, a "bad egg" is ostracized.

Since there is "no life" outside the tribe, this is as bad as a death sentence.

Unfortunately, the presence of "bad eggs" compromises the honor and integrity of any subculture or group that tolerates them.

So much for honor and integrity.

Perhaps today, the final remaining bastion of honor may be "among thieves."

[Serious Eric]

Yeah, the cop stereotype is pretty pervasive. I feel it sometimes when I pass them hiding in the weeds with a laser gun, or when I hear some outrageous story of persecution and abuse from someone I know.

Gotta judge them on the basis of YOUR own experience with them though ... and do it honestly. Not based on a "fairness" comparison with other people's experiences e.g., "Joe blow in BFE only got a $40 fine for throwing a burning bag of sh*t onto a cops windshield as he passed him at 140", etc.

I speed pretty habitually much like most normal viper owners and I've gotten a few tickets over the years (not too many) and I've deserved all of them. I've always been polite to the cops when they stopped me, never tried to weasel out of it or give them a hard time and they in turn have always been respectful to me. I've NEVER encountered an Ahole. I'm sure they exist, it's just that I've never experienced that side of it.

Only time a cop's yelled at me and gotten mad was when I blew by him (unmarked tan expedition) at about 90 on the highway. Fortunately he was on his way home from duty and had no radar, so by the time he put his interior lights on I'd slowed way down and he couldn't clock me at anything unreasonable. Pulled me over and read me the riot act which was ok because he also let me go with no ticket/warning or anything. I guess I would've been pissed too if a viper had sucked my windshield out on the way home from the cop-house.

All in all they've been perfectly ok to me ... no gripes.

[Y2K5SRT]

I have the utmost respect for the police in our area. Never had a single bad encounter. None. I was driving the GTS home today and came upon my favorite little two lane with no traffic. Did a little spirited driving and passed a stopped police car that was hidden from view, almost soiling myself in the process. Sure enough, he pulled out - and went the other way.

I am very fortunate (and count my blessings ever single day) and the police around here are great people. Heck, maybe it is because I pushed a cop car out of a ditch near my house a couple years back, getting covered with mud in the process while the officer gassed it. Another cop stopped by more recently while I was cleaning the Viper to tell me how much they liked it and that they saw me driving in it quite often. There has been only one officer killed in the line of duty here (1985), and they built a children's park and named it after her.

Give them the respect that they deserve and you will generally get it right back. Just my two cents.

Chris

[GTS Bruce]

Speeding tickets are a form of local revenue enhancement.The people issuing tickets are acting simply as tax collectors not as officers of the law and should be treated as such. Bruce