do police follow the law?

[drz]

This is a topic I've been thinking about for some time. It seems that police officers are above the law. I want to mostly focus on traffic law.

 

Now, understandable that a police must be able to exceed the posted speed limit in order to respond to certain calls, and this is not what I take issue with.

 

My problem is what seems to be a growing number of police who seem to misuse there power, and vehicles, for their own entertainment, or just to get from A to B quicker.

 

Example. Just last night my friend and I went to Huddle House around 2 am. When we left, we were heading west on highway 64. We noticed a cop approaching rather quickly behind us, blew through a stop light, and proceeded by us in excess of 65 mph. The posted speed limit was 45. The entire time he never had his emergency lights on, didn't have his sirens on, and didn't so much as blow a horn when busting through the stop light.

 

Now, Jon and I decide to follow him to see what he is in such a rush for. We went on for about 1 mile after he passed us, when we notice 2 other cop cars, parked in a gas station parking lot. They were all standing around, smiling, laughing, and conversating. We pulled into the gas station and started pumping gas. I asked the one guy who passed us why he was in such a hurry, to which he rudely replied "I was obeying all traffic laws, are you stoned or something?"

 

Now, this is just one of many examples I've personally seen of cops abusing the laws. I want to know, who polices the police? Is it right that they should be allowed to drive as fast as they want, not obey safety ordinances, abuse the vehicles that our tax dollars provide, waste the tax money by standing around in parking lots in the middle of the night (in a nice, relatively crime free part of town I might add)?

 

What can be done about this? Because reporting a cops bad behavior to another cop just gets you funny looks. Cops have a mentality that anyone who isn't a cop is a liar. Ask a DA. But we must not let these power abusers get out of hand, because the more they abuse the power, the less rights we have.

 

Another point I'd like to make on this subject. If a cop is blowing through traffic lights, excessively speeding, and all for no good reason, what kind of message is this sending to the rest of society. As police, they are supposed to serve and protect, to uphold the law. If they do not respect the law they are entrusted to uphold, how can they possible enforce it?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

If another cop had seen that, the first one would be fired or something.

They do enforce it, but they say, "Hey, I'm a cop, I'm allowed to speed and go through lights. People will excuse me because I'm the law."

[Phi for All]

That's pretty incredible. I can't hardly believe it. You have gas stations that are open at 2am?!? j/k

 

Seriously, I think there are some cops who figure they don't get paid enough for such hazardous duty so they take any little perk they can get. Cops got the reputation as donut-eaters because so many donut houses gave them free pastry & coffee just to have the protection when the baker is there alone at 4am. Here in Denver, most of the fast food places charge cops half-price just so a steady stream of police are seen going in and out during the day. Cheaper than getting robbed.

 

As with any system, it's going to get abused by a few. Most cops I know work within the system but the jerks are REAL jerks. They kind of police themselves, though. They won't rat each other out, but they do pull pranks on each other to let the jerks know they're being watched. But I don't think you're ever going to get them to admit that it's wrong to speed and run lights at 2am. That is their time and they are not keen on criticism.

[drz]

If another cop had seen that, the first one would be fired or something.

 

The speeding cop had pulled into a gas station with 4 other cops standing around.

 

The gas station wasn't open, 24 hour pay at pump.

 

I think perhaps the county I'm living in is rather corupt as compared to most. I've heard many stories of cops selling drugs, busting the drug bust, taking the money, then reselling the drugs.

 

But who do you call when cops break the law? As I mentioned, other cops accuse you of being on drugs, or something to dirty ones credibility, when you accuse a fellow cop of disobeying the law.

 

dunno if this belongs in politics, thought I'd try to change the flavor a bit.

[blike]

The entire time he never had his emergency lights on, didn't have his sirens on, and didn't so much as blow a horn when busting through the stop light.

 

I've seen it before too. I thought ambulances did it occasionally as well. I've seen them flip on their lights, go through a red light, and turn them off. When I road as an EMT though I saw that they got calls and then got them cancelled minutes later all the time. We did it a few times. I just point that out to suggest that there is at least a possibility for an explanation. However, I see cops speed like madmen all the time, and it irritates me to death. I'm sure they abuse the law often.

[jordan]

I was told when I first started driving to be very carefull every time the emergency vehicle lights were flashing next to the red light because there are often times, for police, when they don't want the criminal to know they are coming. Any time there is something like a bank robbery, they would want to approach without lights and sirens so as to avoid causing the robbers to panic and/or flee.

[drz]

BUT THEY WERE JUST HANGING OUT IN A PARKING LOT!!!!

 

Blike, my mother is a paramedic, and has been for this same county for 15 years. For paramedics, atleast around here, they are not supposed to exceed 75 mph while performing emergency traffic. (emergency traffic means lights and sirens must be on).

 

I have another example. I work 45 miles away from my home. I stopped at a gas station on my way home from work one night where the state troopers take their breaks. As I was pulling away, a state trooper flew out from around the building, cut out in front of me and forced me to screach to a halt. He rolled out of the parking lot, did not come to a complete stop, did not use a blinker, and proceeded in the same direction I would be heading.

 

So I followed him. Keep in mind I'm on a motorcycle that accelerates to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, tops out around 97 mph in about 9 seconds. Anyhow, I decide to follow this guy, once again, to see what the hurry is. I accelerated as fast as I could on the highway on ramp, and by the time I merged onto the highway was running about 80mph. The cop was about 1/2mile ahead of me. I continued accelerating, reached top speed and just barely started closing the gap. As I approached the cop, he accelerated to well over 100 mph, and MAINTAINED THIS SPEED FOR 15 miles.

 

He got slowed down in traffic, and I caught back up. I always maintained about a 1/4 mile gap between us. He exited the highway on an exit before mine. I followed. He didn't come to a complete stop, didn't use a blinker, and simply got back on the highway traveling the opposite direction. This is where I stopped following.

 

At no point did he have any reason to be driving as he was. There was no other officers on the road, hardly any traffic on the road.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

When I road as an EMT though I saw that they got calls and then got them cancelled minutes later all the time. We did it a few times. I just point that out to suggest that there is at least a possibility for an explanation.

there are often times' date=' for police, when they don't want the criminal to know they are coming.[/quote'] Perhaps the cop needed to get to a crime scene, but then he got another call and had to go elsewhere because the crook left or something.

[drz]

perhaps, but just for the purpose of discussion assume that the cop was just out to joy ride up and down the highways. A state troopers main purpose is traffic enforcement. If nothing else, he should have been after me for maintaining the speed I was. I was breaking the law just as bad as he was, yet without a badge to excuse me.

[Phi for All]

If another cop had seen that, the first one would be fired or something.

LOL! Sorry, Cap'n.

 

To answer your original question of who you gonna call, drz, the answer is the Internal Affairs Division of that particular police force. I don't know how much good it'll do, but if the same cops get complaints over and over, believe me, IAD will come down on them hard. No police force wants to look bad and dangerous activity looks bad.

 

You will most likely have to sign a complaint so be prepared. IAD should be able to give you some kind of anonymity with regards to the offending policeman, though.

[Douglas]

You will most likely have to sign a complaint so be prepared. IAD should be able to give you some kind of anonymity with regards to the offending policeman, though.

Hey Phi for All....we agree on something, but I wouldn't bet on his anonymity.

He may need the FBI's citizens protection plan.

[Phi for All]

Hey Phi for All....we agree on something' date=' but I wouldn't bet on his anonymity.

He may need the FBI's citizens protection plan.[/quote']LOL. I can just hear the Internal Affairs sergeant telling drz, "Can you come down to the station and pick the officer out of a line-up? Would you be willing to testify in front of a jury of his fellow officers? What was your name and the tag number on your motorcycle again?"

 

On TV they sometimes refer to IA as "The Rat Squad". Cops hate the cops who snitch on a brother cop, but someone has to police the police.

[Douglas]

LOL. I can just hear the Internal Affairs sergeant telling drz' date=' "Can you come down to the station and pick the officer out of a line-up? Would you be willing to testify in front of a jury of his fellow officers? What was your name and the tag number on your motorcycle again?"

 

On TV they sometimes refer to IA as "The Rat Squad". Cops hate the cops who snitch on a brother cop, but someone has to police the police.[/quote']

Good one Phi for All, I wholeheartedly agree

[Severian]

I think in the UK it is technically illegal for police to break the speed limit, even with their sirens on - the sirens are just supposed to tell traffic to get out of the way. It is obviously not enforced though.

 

You should have asked for the policeman's name, or taken down his reg number and sent in a complaint.

 

Police abuse their powers all the time. They can pull you over for speeding and fine you even if you are not speeding just because they don't like your bumper sticker. It is your word against theirs and their word wins every time.

[drz]

I just think it is a shame that citizens don't do more about this. I do fear turning the police in. As I said, I have many examples, one in which I was forced off the road. This was a state trooper. I got the tag number of his vehicle, and the next day went to the local state trooper office and reported it.

 

The guy essentially told me that since it was my word versus the cop, I was wasting my time. He said he could not run the tag number to find out who the cop was. He then excused his behavior by stating "Well, cops are human too, we make mistakes" to which I respond "But when this or any other non-cop human makes a mistake, we pay big fines, higher insurance, and are punished for our mistakes. And what the officer did was no mistake, but was careless driving."

 

He told me to leave.

 

 

And when I try to tell this story, people act like I'm some kind of anarchist trying to ruin the world. This is not at all what I want. Think of it this way, as a parent, would you tell your children not to smoke or drink, while smoking and drinking in front of them? Being guilty of what you tell people not to do, in my book, lessens one's credibility, and trusthworthiness. As much power as we rest in police and state troopers, they should certainly be worthy of that power.

 

And we need a better system in place that deals with these abusers of the law.

[Phi for All]

You're not wrong. Positions of power, whether it's in law enforcement, government, teaching or whatever, will always be subject to abusers. People go into diffferent professions for many different reasons. There are cops who legitimately want to protect and serve, and some use it as a way to bully and intimidate.

 

Next time it happens, skip the desk sergeant. Part of his job is to blow you off, since 80% of the complaints are bogus anyway. Go straight to Internal Affairs if you can and tell them you want a case file number to refer to if it ever happens again.

[Pangloss]

Now, understandable that a police must be able to exceed the posted speed limit in order to respond to certain calls, and this is not what I take issue with.

 

My problem is what seems to be a growing number of police who seem to misuse there power, and vehicles, for their own entertainment, or just to get from A to B quicker.

 

Given your stipulations, drz, I think you have a really solid point. It's one that's fairly subtle and is often lost in online discussion, but I noticed that the folks in this thread latched on pretty quick -- another sign of the high level of discussion you guys have here, and you should be proud of that.

 

You should go to your local district attorney's office, complete with badge numbers and dates/times. Then you should talk to local media.

 

For god's sake, if you haven't already, stop following cops. You have what you need, anything more is just courting disaster.

 

But don't give up on the story. Keep it going. Start a web site/blog. Tell everyone in media that you can.

 

By the way, local media is amazingly receptive to this sort of thing. Believe it or not, I don't think local TV news people actually get very much email, so they'll read it if you send something. I get responses from local media every time I send feedback on their news programming.

[john5746]

It is your word against theirs and their word wins every time.

 

Not if you have money, celebrity or political power.

[drz]

yes, but I do not, and neither does the vast majority of citizens. I, and I'm sure others, am afraid to take a stand against cops, because as you mentioned, unless your special your word is nothing.

 

The fact that I'm treated less then human, my opinion is discredit simply because my lack of material possesions, and that I'm accusing an "honorable" cop, is sickening.

[Pangloss]

I'm serious about talking to the media. Remember: Those guys have probably heard similar stories from other people. Adding your piece to the puzzle may be the big break they've been waiting for to do a story.

 

By the way, if that came up here where I live, it would be a HUGE story. We've had a number of accidents over the past five years that involved police officers NOT involved in high-speed chases dying or killing someone because they ran a red light or were just going way too fast on a surface street.

 

Point being, if you lived where I live, a reporter would probably REALLY like to hear from you.