Worth fighting?
#161
Funny, I felt the same way about the thousands of people I dealt with over the years. I dealt with people from every walk of life during the 3 1/2 decades I was a police officer, but I always tried to be open-minded. I've had countless negative experiences with just about every profession imaginable, but I would never "lump' all of those folks into one group. I'd wager an educated guess that many of those same professions are represented here, but personally I'd never categorize an entire profession because of my experiences with a few.
Police officers are a product of our society. Just like teachers, doctors, nurses, bankers, plumbers, carpenters, firemen, etc., they're no different than anyone else. I'm not foolish enough to deny that there are bad apples in law enforcement. There are a number of people on this forum who are critical of police officers. Since they seem to be quite knowledgeable about the workings of law enforcement and have a work ethic that is beyond reproach, perhaps some of them should consider a career change. I'd come out of retirement to supervise a group of police officers who'd give 110% every minute of every day, never make a mistake, and who never issue a traffic ticket that didn't leave the recipient smiling and feeling good about it.
I, like Ferg03 Z06, am out of here.
Police officers are a product of our society. Just like teachers, doctors, nurses, bankers, plumbers, carpenters, firemen, etc., they're no different than anyone else. I'm not foolish enough to deny that there are bad apples in law enforcement. There are a number of people on this forum who are critical of police officers. Since they seem to be quite knowledgeable about the workings of law enforcement and have a work ethic that is beyond reproach, perhaps some of them should consider a career change. I'd come out of retirement to supervise a group of police officers who'd give 110% every minute of every day, never make a mistake, and who never issue a traffic ticket that didn't leave the recipient smiling and feeling good about it.
I, like Ferg03 Z06, am out of here.
#162
Instructor
Member Since: May 2011
Location: Buffalo New York
Posts: 186
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worth fighting
I've received several speeding tickets over the years, none of which I have tried to contest, but I think I draw the line at this one from yesterday. Do I have a chance at making a legitimate defense?
My grounds are: The stater's original speed, and possibly entrapment. This is quite simple:
The State Trooper was traveling north on the I5. So naturally, he is setting the pace while everyone tags along behind. He is going well over the speed limit passing people up. (Not on call, no lights on). Everyone does this, not daring to pass a police, people always follow behind.
So when he decides to speed up to 80, I go ahead and speed up too, to keep my original following distance. Then he slams his brakes, gets behind me and pulls me over pissed off at how fast I was going.
Its ridiculous in the first place to give a ticket for that. Like I said, people follow all the time and not just in California. But by definition, entrapment involves a law enforcement officer coercing behavior that otherwise would not have happened. I was happy to follow a nice flow of traffic. Upon speeding up, he tricked me into doing so as well.
Can I call this entrapment?
Other details: Supposedly this section was a 65mph zone. (He was not inclined to slow down for). He wrote me up for 80. I stayed calm and respectful, never making a comment. Simply listened and took the ticket with a smile.
My grounds are: The stater's original speed, and possibly entrapment. This is quite simple:
The State Trooper was traveling north on the I5. So naturally, he is setting the pace while everyone tags along behind. He is going well over the speed limit passing people up. (Not on call, no lights on). Everyone does this, not daring to pass a police, people always follow behind.
So when he decides to speed up to 80, I go ahead and speed up too, to keep my original following distance. Then he slams his brakes, gets behind me and pulls me over pissed off at how fast I was going.
Its ridiculous in the first place to give a ticket for that. Like I said, people follow all the time and not just in California. But by definition, entrapment involves a law enforcement officer coercing behavior that otherwise would not have happened. I was happy to follow a nice flow of traffic. Upon speeding up, he tricked me into doing so as well.
Can I call this entrapment?
Other details: Supposedly this section was a 65mph zone. (He was not inclined to slow down for). He wrote me up for 80. I stayed calm and respectful, never making a comment. Simply listened and took the ticket with a smile.
#163
Burning Brakes
That's not entrapment...even in your wildest dreams. You were speeding, you KNEW you were speeding. Be a man and take your lumps. Stop looking for a scheme to weasel out of it.
#164
Pro
Member Since: Mar 2004
Location: San Diego California
Posts: 607
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My advice is to opt for traffic school if you qualify. You didn't say in which state you received the citation. California doesn't have "state troopers", we have the California Highway Patrol, so I'm not sure if your talking about California or not. Go to the courthouse and check with the clerk of the court. Ask if you qualify for traffic school. They will give you a long list of court approved traffic schools, many of which can be completed on-line with a credit card. It will take you about an hour to complete the on-line course. The school will mail you your completion certificate, because the schools claim that the certificate has to be "signed by the class instructor". Whomever that is? Return the certificate to the court clerk. The citation will not appear on your driving record and your insurance company will not be notified.
Otherwise you can roll the dice and take your chances.
Otherwise you can roll the dice and take your chances.
#165
Pro
Id just say , Judge its like this, The speedometer in my old vette is broke. Sometimes it says 40 when I know im doing 65 by the way other traffic moves and sometimes it says 80 when im at a stop light. So I thought it was safe to drive along with the officer as I didn t want to speed. I had no idea he was going 80 mph with no emergency lights on.
#166
Race Director
There were 21 million hits to the search. As I said, do your own research; I just got you started.
#167
Pro
Id just say , Judge its like this, The speedometer in my old vette is broke. Sometimes it says 40 when I know im doing 65 by the way other traffic moves and sometimes it says 80 when im at a stop light. So I thought it was safe to drive along with the officer as I didn t want to speed. I had no idea he was going 80 mph with no emergency lights on.
#168
Melting Slicks
Id just say , Judge its like this, The speedometer in my old vette is broke. Sometimes it says 40 when I know im doing 65 by the way other traffic moves and sometimes it says 80 when im at a stop light. So I thought it was safe to drive along with the officer as I didn t want to speed. I had no idea he was going 80 mph with no emergency lights on.
#169
"Id just say , Judge its like this, The speedometer in my old vette is broke. Sometimes it says 40 when I know im doing 65 by the way other traffic moves and sometimes it says 80 when im at a stop light. So I thought it was safe to drive along with the officer as I didn't t want to speed. I had no idea he was going 80 mph with no emergency lights on. "
LOl. Like it or not it's hysterical and certainly one way to go just to see the courtrooms reaction. Priceless!
Good one Dixie
LOl. Like it or not it's hysterical and certainly one way to go just to see the courtrooms reaction. Priceless!
Good one Dixie
#170
Safety Car
These threads are so funny...I think the mods should ban all these types of threads...
Cops say "no we don't"
Ordinary "citizens" say yes ya do
This nonsense is almost as old a prostitution (oldest profession?)
We all know the game by now unless ya just landed from another planet.
Speed kills yeah, as does alot of other things, butAnd how w as a contributing factor and I wonder how much of a factor when compared to inexperience, road conditions, state of mind etc....
Just like guns don't kill people, people do - - so speed doesn't kill people, people do
So the limits were reduced to 55 during the oil crisis, now its safety, then the limits get raised to 60, 65, 70, 75 on those same 55 roads - - spare me...drive an interstate, same road, same pavement, same basic path but pass into another county or state and now the speed is reduced (or increased)....
And how many times have we all passed a cop (hidden or otherwise) going a bit too fast but don't get pulled - - its enforcement of convenience otherwise cops could go from one stop immediately to another all day long.
Why don't we all just stop BSing each other...we all know the deal...
Cops say "no we don't"
Ordinary "citizens" say yes ya do
This nonsense is almost as old a prostitution (oldest profession?)
We all know the game by now unless ya just landed from another planet.
Speed kills yeah, as does alot of other things, butAnd how w as a contributing factor and I wonder how much of a factor when compared to inexperience, road conditions, state of mind etc....
Just like guns don't kill people, people do - - so speed doesn't kill people, people do
So the limits were reduced to 55 during the oil crisis, now its safety, then the limits get raised to 60, 65, 70, 75 on those same 55 roads - - spare me...drive an interstate, same road, same pavement, same basic path but pass into another county or state and now the speed is reduced (or increased)....
And how many times have we all passed a cop (hidden or otherwise) going a bit too fast but don't get pulled - - its enforcement of convenience otherwise cops could go from one stop immediately to another all day long.
Why don't we all just stop BSing each other...we all know the deal...
Last edited by oh1vette; 03-23-2014 at 08:19 PM.