Tuff Cop??????????

[jwnge]

Maybe I am wrong..Today my wife and I took a little trip. We decided to go to the Casino Near Green Bay, Wi. for lunch and some fun. The day was very nice and we had a nice lunch and lost our play money. We were on our way home and were following a hay truck which was moving slow and everyone was passing him. A pickup in front of me and myself started around the truck.. This is open country roads, 2 lane, and fairly well traveled. We both had plenty of room and so started around him. No yellow lines in either lane. not a no passing lane. Just as I was pulling back into my lane behind the Dakota in front of me, not following too close, On a side road to my left was a police car getting ready to pull out, I was watching him just to make sure we were back in line before he pulled out. We were in our lane before he started to pull out, but he immediately pulled over to the gravel on his side like we were going to hit him and as soon as the hay truck passed him, he did a donut and turned on the siren and red lights. Well I kept going just to see who he was after, the hay truck, me or the Dakota in front of me.. It was me he wanted, so I pulled over as soon as I could safetly. He pulled up behind and so while he was doing whatever they do before getting out, I got my liscense out and had it ready.. He approached my vehicle and asked if I knew why he had stopped me.. I said, not really, I may have been over the speed limit when passing the hay truck.. He said no, but for passing in an intersection. I said to him that there was no yellow no passing line and I was back in my lane before the intersection. No hostility or shouting, I am a pretty easy going guy. I honestly thought I would get a warning . He came back with a court date and a $195 fine. When he told me what It was, I said, you have to be kidding, not in a fit of rage, just like what? you have to be kidding. He immediately told me to shut up and put my hands on the steering wheel. I said, can't we talk, and he said one more word and you will be arrested and taken to jail. As he said this, he was backing down the side of the car and his hand went to his side. I was dumbfounded. My hands were in plain site on the top of the steering wheel. My wife was scared to death. She had ahold of my arm and was shaking. I can't describe how we felt at that moment, it was horrible. He then asked if I understood. I just looked at him and nodded my head, I didn't know what to do.. Believe me, I was not hostile or antaganistic in any way. My wife said after we drove away, she was afraid he was going to shoot me, I don't know, but something was not right here. I do think this young cop had a problem and I was the fix. I am not sure what I will do now, but I think it might require an attorney. I have had one speeding ticket in my 40 years of driving. If he had said you were speeding I would have taken it like a man, But.....so what do you think? I am still befuddled by his actions /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif.... JohnJ

 

[_RaT_]

WoW, I am amazed at his actions as well. He has got to have a record of being a jackass. That sounds completely uncalled for based on your comments. I would like to hear his. I have to say, the CHP here in California have been exceptional to me and others I know. Incredibly professional and willing to cut you slack when it is warranted. Your Tuff Cop needs to quite and go get a job that does not deal with the public.

PS, my wifes a cop.

 

[PineRidge]

Sounds to me like he may have had the jitters himself. No fun being scared by the man.

I don't know the law in your state but I believe the law in Ohio prohibits passing within 150' of any intersection. Don't ask me how I know that......

 

[DUMBDOG]

If it were me, I would have a talk with the man's superiors. There is no reason for an attitude like that. Check out the law regarding passing by an interesection in your state. Then get an attorney and fight.

 

[RobertN]

1. Check the laws in your area. Maybe you were too close to the intersection when you finished passing? Was the intersection visible? Usually there is the double yellow line or a solid line near and intersection, but it may vary by state.

2. I'd write a letter to his superviser explaining your action, his reaction, and how it scared your wife too.

Maybe he was having a bad day, or just finished a difficult call. Still, as a Pro, he could have handled the situation better, based on what you describe...

 

[thcri]

I beleive in most states it is illegal to pass in an intersection. However, there is no reason for the cop to act the way he did. I think if you call his superiors there is a form for you to make a formal complaint. Have your wife sign it also. It won't get you out of the ticket but you will get him in trouble to some extent. Maybe not your complaint but if he acts the same way he did to you as all the others I would think with time he would loose his job. You never know, maybe at this time he is being watched from past complaints. But there may be another side if you do make a complaint you may be marking yourself for future tickets.

murph

 

[Tractors4u]

There are 2 things you need to do.

1. File the complaint with his shift supervisor or the police chief. Explain it as you have explained it here. Keep it reasonable and clear, don't tell them you pay their salary or anything that would hurt your credibility.

2. You have a court date. Prepare for it. Most likely the court date you have is for the plea. You will wait in the court in the courtroom until your name is called and when they call your name you will be asked how you plea. Tell them "not guilty". They will then give you a court date. If I were you I would go tomorrow and take pictures of that stretch of road. Show that there are no lines that prohibit passing. See if there are any "no passing"signs. Are there any signs indicating whether there is an intersection ahead. Do a "request for discovery" from the DA's office. Get a copy of the officer's tickets for that day. Was he on a rampage? You get the idea. Take your wife to court with you, she is your witness.

There is no guarantee that you will win, but there is no sense in forking out $195 when you done nothing wrong. There is a chance that the cop will lie and say that you were still in the passing lane and went through the intersection. You just have to hope for a reasonable judge.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Taylortractornut]

Sounds like one of the Barney Fife types we have here. We have alot of good cops but theres a high percenage of that group that usethat job as a way of being able to tell others what to do. When I come home from the bar on the weekends My desginated driver gets harrassed about what are we doing out so late because the county is dry. I had an officer try to gve me a ticket last week in my work truck the spedometer quit in it and I was going through town behind a cop car. I figured hes doing the limit so ill stay a few lca lengths behid and be ok. Well Barney whooped around in the piggly wiggly parking lot and lit me up. He asked me why I was going that fast in a 25 mph zone. I told him I had just lost my speedometer and had been behind him figring he wouldt break the speed limit. Well he said he was doing 35 in a 25 and that made me illegal. I asked him how exaclty he knew that . I called the police chief and he made it better. The 2 incidents that really got me out of favor with the local law were just plain stupidity or maybe arrogance on the officers. A friend of mine owns a towing service and had a DUI call to get a conversion Van that the driver had left on the white line with the wheel turned to the right. He had a gorgeous white German Shepard and a little fiest dog in the van. The officers when we got there had been tapping on the windows and aggitating the dog to the point he had chewed the headrest off a seat. the next thing we knewthey were wanting to open the door to shoot the dog and then retrieve the vehicle. I spoke my mind about the combined brain poweer and that I would be a witness to a fellony destruction of private property in court. We got the dog calmed down and moved the van to the staion. Come to find out the man hadnt been DUI but was going into insulin shock and was trying to get to the hospital. The next incident happened to me comming home from the bar one night. I was comming home and had not been drinking as I hadnt found a driver that night. Well I spent 45 minutes there with my lady friend talking and we went our seperate ways. This is a 2 lane highway and I met a County car on the MS side of the line parked lights out and such. THere wasnt another car behind or in front of me or meeting me the next 5 miles then there was 2 pickups that were sitting side by side off on a county road wit hthe lights out. They both happend to be 2 of the jailers vehicles. Im about 6 more miles up the road and on the 25 bypass where its 4 laned and about 1/4 of a mile away a car has a spotlight on me from across the highway. He holds the light on my truck till we meet and he crosses the median and pauses then barrels tail up behindme for another 1/2 mile then lights me up. I had my liscens out on the dash already but when the officer gotto the truck he was a fellow I went to school with and thought well of. He told me I had been reported by a motorsit behind me that I was weaving and had crossed over from the stateline. I told him I did weave alittle bit but thats when he put that (*(*(* light on me from that distance away. I let him know that I didnt apreciate being lied to either that I was the only one on that road for 12 mles other than the 3 lawenforcement officers I met parked. He told me that what he was supposed to say. I let him have an all out tail chewing over the spot light and the dangers of it. I dont mean to knock the law here we have several professional officers here that make a great effort to fairly do their jobs. But a few have the Fife syndrome.

 

[bgott]

He probably had been up that side road at one of his fellow officer's house visiting his wife and needed to get a stop on the books to account for his time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

You need to have a conversation with the chief. I've found people aren't jerks one minute and perfect the next. If he was a jerk with you then chances are most likely he's a jerk with others. He needs to be trained to be more considerate of those who pay his salary and appreciate his services.

But if no one complains two bad things happen. He assumes what he's doing is okay and escalates his rudeness and inconsideration. Those he encounters get empirical evidence that their fears about cops are correct.

He was probably distracted and your coming out of nowhere shook him up. Being a rookie shook up is a scarey thing.

Do talk to the chief. And do write a letter about the incident for the officer's file. Everyone needs a wakeup call about how they're doing their job and their attitude towards their customers.

BTW I once got away with a speeding ticket because I over reacted to a CHP's approach. As he came up to the car he had his pistolever hand tucked up behind his back under his coat.

Both of my hands went intantly straight up almost through the roof. He motioned my hands down. "Not until I can see both of your hands" was my reply.

My wife and baby was with me. And it was cold outside. He was hand warming one oh one not approaching dangerous individual two oh two.

We both got a laugh out of it and I got a warning instead of a ticket.

Do write the letter. You might save his career.

 

[dmccarty]

jwnge,

Sounds like he overreacted. I would go to court over the ticket. Take pictures of the "intersection" and take them to court.

After the case is resolved I would complain to his supervisor.

In NC, you can't pass in an intersection or park in one for that matter. I had a problem with my nieghbors parking in front of my driveway/mailbox. They had to many cars at their house and not enough room to park them all so they would park in the street. Their house was in front of a T intersection so they where constantly illegally parked.

I called the POlice numerous times to get them ticketed for parking in front of my driveway or mailbox. We tried to be nice about the situation but after awhile nice don't get it done. So they got lots of tickets until they learned to not block us in or our mailbox.

They NEVER got a ticket to my knowledge for parking in the intersection. The officer used discretion in not giving one and that was fine.

In your situation it sure seems that if there where no yellow lines and the intersection was ill defined you might get out of the ticket. But who knows what a judge will do.

Telling you to shut up after a simple question is out of bounds. Since the ticket was written I doubt there was much he could do at that point so there was nothing he could do. But he should have answered your questions.

Later,
Dan

 

[BB_TX]

I am with the others. I would either write a letter to or visit his supervisor in person. Whether you were guilty of a traffic violation or not is not relevant to his actions. His supervisor needs to know about those kind of actions before something more serious happens.

 

[Currmudgeon]

Reminds me of an incident that happened in a small town that shall not be named. The Public Works department had a party out behind the DPW garage, with babecue and beer. They do this every year. The town cops were invited, came and helped eat the barbecue and drink the beer.

Shortly thereafter, they busted the Public Works Operator leaving the site, for DUI.

The next morning, he dug up the water service to the police station, and removed the pipe. He claimed it was leaking. They had no water to the police station for a month. It takes a long time for the parts to come in, you see. Particularly when they're locked in your bottom desk drawer.

The town police are no longer welcome at the Public Works party, and the cops have had to move their own party out of town to avoid the smell of burning garbage from the DPW lot next door.

Ain't small towns neat? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[jwnge]

First, thanks for all the input.. I had decided not to do anything and just pay the fine because I thought it would be paid in the area where I got the ticket, Onieda Nation, and I didn't want to deal with them. My wife told me it would be in a different town, Appleton. I decided to photocopy and mail in a not guilty, and then they will set up a court date. Last night I basically copied and sent the letter I posted here along with my wifes written take on what happened to the Chief of police, Asst. chief of police ,and Lieutenent of the police dept where the officer came from. As of now, I have not got a response nor do I expect one. I will take a copy of the mail to the judge at my hearing. I also looked into Wi. road laws and found the ticket would be valid inside city limits, not outside town unless clearly marked. I also found where if the officer had pulled out into traffic with vehicles coming from either direction, regular right lane toward him, or car passing another car in his lane as I was, toward him, he would be at fault, not to mention possibly hurt or killed. I went back and took pics of the intersection and absolutly no kind of no passing zone, only Hy. sign of road. Just a half mile closer to town was another intersection, and it was marked clearly with a no passing sign and double yellow painted lines on road and a hy sign. I totally think this is a wrongful ticket and hope to beat it. The real bother is from the officer and the way he acted and treated us, this I would like to see stopped before he meets up with a hothead who won't just shut up to get away from him , but who really confronts him and gets really hurt by this rogue... thanks again for all the input, it helped greatly to quell my fear and anger ...JohnJ

 

[BigDave]

Sounds like a good plan.

When I was a teen I was stopped by a young cop for riding my bike two-abreast on a country road with little of now traffic. The cop came from the other direction and decided that we were breaking the law. The law was on our side but, that's not the point. Because neither of us were old enough to have a driver's lisence, the officer just seemed to get mad when he realized that there wasn't much he could do other than give us a bunch of you'll go to jail type threats. Anyway, about a month later, I read that he was fired for being overzealous.

Good Luck.