Civilian pulls over K-9 Police Officer for speeding

[fortbo]

Was the civilian right to call out the cop for speeding? Should the officer have acted the way he did? Discuss...

The thing that stood out to me was the way he was dressed, shouldn't he be in uniform?

 

[Dan]

Well, the civilian shouldn't have been using his phone while driving, but the cop shouldn't have been breaking the law either. And it is strange that the cop wasn't in uniform.

Here in NJ, I believe cops are only allowed to go 20% over the speed limit in an emergency. This guy wasn't in an emergency.

 

[Joey D]

That guy seems like a rather annoying d-bag who has nothing better to do and I'm sooo glad he wasted the tax dollars of the people of Minneapolis by trying to "stick it to the man". Also I like how he was not only speeding, but using a mobile phone to record the police officer while trying to operate his vehicle, seems like a distracted driver to me. A better way to handle this would have been to write down the number of the cruiser, call the non-emergency line for the police department and make a compliant. I'm sure if any officer gets enough complaints, appropriate action will be taken.

I know and have talked to several police officers and there are hundreds of reasons why they might be going over the speed limit without their emergency lights on. As long as they aren't being reckless I don't really see any issue, speed limits are often set too low anyways.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I know and have talked to several police officers and there are hundreds of reasons why they might be going over the speed limit without their emergency lights on. As long as they aren't being reckless I don't really see any issue, speed limits are often set too low anyways.

I'm of the opposite opinion. If you are a police officer and need to be somewhere quickly, your lights and siren should be on. I watched a Sheriff in a Chevy truck one night almost hit some people crossing an intersection because he didn't have his lights and siren going. This was shortly after I saw another one in a newer Caprice almost side swipe someone because of the same issue. They are installed in the car for a reason, all you have to do is flip a switch, it's really not that hard.

 

[Joey D]

I'm of the opposite opinion. If you are a police officer and need to be somewhere quickly, your lights and siren should be on. I watched a Sheriff in a Chevy truck one night almost hit some people crossing an intersection because he didn't have his lights and siren going. This was shortly after I saw another one in a newer Caprice almost side swipe someone because of the same issue. They are installed in the car for a reason, all you have to do is flip a switch, it's really not that hard.

There are many reasons why their lights might not be on, there's no way to tell what the officer in question was doing or why he was speeding so it's hard to comment whether or not it was justified. Based on conversations I've had with police officers, they travel over the limit for reasons that range from "that's what my supervisor has instructed us to do" to "we need to get somewhere quickly without drawing attention to us". Also I don't think using the lights and sirens is really needed if the traffic is light and the officer can just get around other motorist without issue.

 

[Imari]

..."we need to get somewhere quickly without drawing attention to us"...

Not using the siren, fine. Not using the lights, not so much. They're there so that other motorists don't get blindsided by a car doing well over the speed limit. There may be situations in which they'd want to go with neither, but the cop wouldn't be pulling over for a civilian in such a situation.

Honestly, the smarter thing would have been to take down his license plate/car number and report him to the local station instead of trying to go head to head with a cop on the side of the road. The policeman was doing it wrong, no question, but there's no point harassing the guy. He's hardly going to take constructive criticism like that.

 

[Epic B]

I don't know what to say. I just think it sounds funny. I guess the cop should have obeyed the speed limit. Unless he really needed to urgently get to his destination (Which doesn't seem to be the case here), he should have obeyed the speed limit. If he had to get to a crime scene or something urgently, he should have turned on the sirens. Just because you're a cop, it doesn't mean you're above the law (You're just enforcing it), nor does it give you permission to act rude when innocent people call you out on your actions. Cop or not, I think it's good to abide by the rules you're supposed to enforce.

 

[ildd]

If he was following his wife, who was also doing 16mph over the limit, he should have been in front of her with his lights on. That should be a police escort and would, in most cases, make it more safe. I don't see the problem with him wearing a jacket with the correct department letters on it, although there was no clear designation until he showed his badge number.
I see police speeding with their lights off all the time and don't see too much of a problem with it. What really pisses me off is when they run red lights and stop signs after doing so while flipping the lights/siren on for three seconds and promptly turning them off.

 

[CodeRedR51]

"we need to get somewhere quickly without drawing attention to us"..

Well almost hitting people certainly draws my attention. As Imari said above, lights at minimum if you don't want the wrong people to know you are coming. Without it, your just putting the general public at risk.

 

[fortbo]

Well almost hitting people certainly draws my attention. As Imari said above, lights at minimum if you don't want the wrong people to know you are coming. Without it, your just putting the general public at risk.

I completely agree with this because it's happened to me, I was driving on a highway with a speed limit of 65. I was going between 65 and 70 roughly when a cop blew past me going atleast 90 and cut me off without his lights on. They should not be able to do that no matter who they are trying to catch.

 

[Epic B]

I completely agree with this because it's happened to me, I was driving on a highway with a speed limit of 65. I was going between 65 and 70 roughly when a cop blew past me going atleast 90 and cut me off without his lights on. They should not be able to do that no matter who they are trying to catch.

Exactly. If they're going to do that, it should be because they're needed somewhere quickly, and they should turn on their lights. Otherwise, they just stay with the flow of traffic.

 

[Minty]

I once almost got T-boned by a cop that was doing somewhere closer to 60mph in a 40 with no lights in a Caprice. His speed was later corroborated by several of the people who were standing in the lot I was leaving(which was a snowball stand with a long line, so no one has anything better to do than to stare at traffic while they wait). This was during heavy traffic, and on a three lane road with lots of side streets(I was making a left across two lanes). The officer was traveling in the center lane and was just in front of a shop I usually use as a reference point when leaving this lot. On a highway is one thing, but without lights it's hard to tell that a cop is doing more than 1.5x the speed limit when you're sitting still, especially when they're masked by heavy traffic. He closed the gap between me and that shop in 3/4 of the time it normally takes. If I hand't seen him at the last second and floored it, I'd probably be dead, I'm only lucky that I pay attention for the occasional warp-speed idiot on that road anyway, especially since I'm small car in a pickup-dominated part of the country. I was just kind of surprised that it was a cop driving like an idiot that almost got me.


There's never a good enough reason to put innocent lives in that position, if it were an inexperienced driver in a slower car the cop would have killed them. I can understand not having audible sirens at all times, but flashing lights go a really long way toward making it known that you're going to be moving at speeds that normal traffic wouldn't.

 

[Grayfox]

If a cop sees someone speeding and doesn't pull them over s/0he is not doing their job.
If he doesn't pull said person over because that person is a family/friend he is a corrupt police officer who should be sacked no questions asked.

If you make a complaint, since their is no real evidence nothing will be done, sure their dashcam can be used since it records speed.
But will they do anything?
No, Cops have exemptions on some things.

Cops in australia can use a phone(not talking about their CB) and drive at the same time.
Most of the time police will use the "we got special training" excuse which means nothing.

If special training means anything does this mean someone like Mark webber or Dan Riccardo can do 100 over the limit and talk on the phone at the same time as F1 drivers have more training at vehicle control and driving at high speed than an entire police force combined.

 

[mustafur]

The biggest abuse of power by police imo is there use of sirens to get through traffic lights even though they are not responding to anything.

The amount of times I have seen police do this only to then to turn into a Mcdonalds or Petrol station is too high.

 

[Omnis]

My grandpa has been side-swiped by a police SUV going 100mph with no lights on. Of course, he was given the ticket. The judge threw it out on sight.

I don't have a problem with police going 200mph. Just put the lights and sirens on blast.

 

[Grayfox]

The biggest abuse of power by police imo is there use of sirens to get through traffic lights even though they are not responding to anything.

The amount of times I have seen police do this only to then to turn into a Mcdonalds or Petrol station is too high.

They had an emergency.

They were dieing of hunger and thirst
Cops need their 7/11 donuts(Krispy Kreme) and burgers.

 

[Robin]

I was wondering, is it legal to make a citizens arrest on a member of law enforcement? Or can you only go and make a complaint?

 

[TenEightyOne]

I was wondering, is it legal to make a citizens arrest on a member of law enforcement? Or can you only go and make a complaint?

I guess it is (with the caveat that in return you might be Obstructing an Officer). Citizens arrests are legal if you think significant harm, loss of property or loss of evidence may occur in a criminal act. Do-able... but you'd better be pretty sure