UNBELIEVABLE COP (YOU MUST READ THIS)

[justice57]

"One bad apple spoils the whole sack"

If others couldnt tell by my screen name, yes Im a cop too. In my opinion this would be worth fighting for. I cant advise you the best situation because I live in Texas, and enforce Texas laws and Im not savvy on how the laws are in Georgia. However, I can tell you this. In Texas traffic, laws are not enforceable unless they are on view of an officer. Hence when you try to reort someone that is speeding or driving recklessly nothing is usually done, because by the time we show up the person in question is driving right. The way I would have handled that situation is let you go and say hey your okay, glad it wasnt worse.
I cannot see that in this same situation with the officer in Georgia if he did not see what happened how can he give you a citation?? Taking your helmet to court I think would be a mute point seeing how you didnt get a citation for that. That is your choice in the matter. To shed a little light on the situation on his actions, everyone knows there are alot of officers out there that are "different". The officer on your situation is probably assigned to Traffic Enforcement and that is all he deals with. All traffic officers are concerned with are "violations", they see it they write a citation.
Me, Im a traffic hound as well but Im not lookin to write tickets. Traffic is my avenue to investigate possible drug trafficking. 80% of the time unless your doing something completely stupid, your getting a warning from me.

Hope this helps, and I hope your doing well after the accident.

 

[Purple Dog]

I just checked, there are 41 posts out of 478 views. That is a 10% post rate. Looks like one of the highest hit rates on the site. Boy there are a lot of people upset with law enforcement. It is too bad that more cops are not like JUSTICE57. Thanks for your post JUSTICE57 Post #41

 

[Fibersnake]

PurpleDog,

Actually IMHO most cops are more like Justice than the officer you had. That said most of the time when we do deal with Johnny Law, there is emotions there and allot of times we do not like the outcome.

Very few on here or anywhere, every says "Hey I got Ticket today and even though I did, the cop was excellent and just doing his job and I was totally wrong" Even when we know we are wrong, the vast majority of the time, the first thing we typically do is look to get out of the ticket or have it changed or down graded. The American Way per say!

I mean when was the last time you heard some one go to court for a speeding ticket and stood up and said, Your honor, I was indeed going 25 MPH over the speed limit and know it was wrong. My only defense is that I was having a good day and let the throttle get a little more open than it sure. Instead we question the testing and calibration of the radar gun, the conditions when taken, officer qualifications, equipment error, etc. We are very grateful if we get a officer that writes a ticket for less than 15 MPH to avoid excessive speed even if we are doing 30 MPH over.

Only have known one person personaly that got a ticket for doing 90 on a 65MPH road and stood in front of the judge and admited the speed but fought the reckless part and won that part (based on no traffic on road, full control, safe vehicle, etc so fast yes, reckless no).

In the case of what you have wrote, the officer seems to be off base to write for Improper Control since he did not witness the accident and thus can not honestly say why you went down.

Granted, no matter what the driver did in front of you, you are required to keep safe following distance. That said, you may have had such but due to road conditions, debris, oil etc, there may have been other factors. That is the unknown part in IMHO since the only one hurt was you and there was no other damage to Government Property or someone else, should have just said no fault accident and been glad you were safe and no one was hurt and let you go and deal with the cost of repairs and any insurance increase and sore bones and road rash to remind you to be more careful.

 

[BigSpenda864]

I just checked, there are 41 posts out of 478 views. That is a 10% post rate. Looks like one of the highest hit rates on the site. Boy there are a lot of people upset with law enforcement. It is too bad that more cops are not like JUSTICE57. Thanks for your post JUSTICE57 Post #41

Most cops are like Justice. There are just a lot of people on here who have a problem with LE. At least that's how almost every post goes on here when police are mentioned. I am not saying the officer was correct, but he sure won't get the benefit of the doubt on here. Just saying.

 

[BubbleHead]

I'm with BDSarge on this. One, since he is a police officer and knows better than anyone how a lot of these things happen I'm sure he's proably right as to why this Dick did what he did. I have a lot of respect for BD and so if that's his take I'd have to agree. I've known and know a lot of police officers and some are exactly like he has described unfortunately.
Defintiely fight it, do like Luphole suggests ( he knows the law for sure) and try your best to make an example out of this guy.

First off...Glad you are OK and didn't get injured worse...Second..FIGHT IT, this so called cop was gunning for you as soon as he got the call, probably disturbed his doing nothing ....This is why I am so glad that I am getting out of that career. Guys like him make/made it bad for us who actually gave a damn on the job:bang: ....He is one of those who use the power the wrong way..being a DICK.:angry:

 

[Big Dog Rod]

I agree get all you facts together and go to court....I have fought many tickets for the trucking company I work for and have so many times made the officer look like a dick in front of a judge because I had the facts and presented it very clearly for the juge.

Glad to hear you weren't hurt too bad.

 

[Purple Dog]

I do know that cops have a tough job. The shit they deal with must be unbelievable at times. That being said, I have always been respectful and enter any LE discussion with respect. This cop might have had a bad day or something, but he came to the scene with 1 intention, that was to right a ticket for something. In this case, even the paramedic said "what is with him?"

 

[BigSpenda864]

glad you are ok purple dog---it could have been a hell of a lot worse. i understand your anger, but most respectfully, be smart.
i would get a lawyer who does this kind of work and will take THIS case seriously. help secure the witnesses and other evidence for court (but do what your lawyer tells you to do). when trial is over THEN consider a formal written complaint to the department on the officer in question (you should have more to work with like his testamony under oath in court). after that outcome, then write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
it is hard to not be outraged at this situation. but, you might have some exposure on the ticket in court if you don't get a lawyer. i would not think of going to court without a lawyer to represent ME---yes, i would hire one and i have practiced law in maryland for over thirty years. everybody hates lawyers but you can't beat a man at his trade.
just my humble opinions, chuck

As the old addage goes... a man who represents himself has a fool for a client. Its very difficult to represent yourself effectively since you were involved in the situation.

That being said, I actually received a ticket in an accident where I was found at fault. The ticket was a catch all city charge of Careless Driving. I went to court and waited for the case to be called. Then I plead not guilty and called for the other party in the accident as a well as any witnesswa. None were present. I then asked the judge to dismiss the case. The officer and judge weren't really happy about it but finally the judge found me not guilty. Charges without any witness are tough to prove. Having an attorney will certainly increase your chances of getting the charge dropped or being found not guilty.

 

[backon]

Call the States Attorney and file a formal complaint, when his boss gets a call from them about his antics the ass chewing he gets should be epic. Not to mention adding the amount of pain in the ass factor it should cause him just like he did to you.

 

[Front Runner]

I unfortunately dropped my bike this past Saturday when the car in front of me made a sudden stop and then turned. I hit the brakes hard so not to run into him and I went down. It was my Vrod not the chopper. The vrod had crash bars, so I ended up with 2 broken ribs, 1 broken ankle, road rash and cosmetic damage to the HD. I was going about 20-25 MPH (under limit). My son was behind me in the car as we were taking the bike to HD for service. So get this, I lay in the road, the paramedics get me up and my son moves the bike to a parking lot near by. When the cop arrives, he immediately goes over to my bike and picks up my helmet. Meantime, I am sitting about 30 feet away with the paramedics asking me what day it is and all that stuff they do so well. I see the cop at my bike, so I walk over and ask him if there is anything wrong. He looks at my helmet and says this is not DOT approved. He points to the DOT sticker on the back and says you put this there! I said I did not; it is a $200 carbon fiber helmet that has DOT approval. He then asked me “how long have you been riding?” I told him 47 years since I was 12! In fact, the paramedics could not believe that he was holding me up while they wanted to bandage me up. The cop never said “are you hurt?” or “are you OK”. The paramedics even said what is with this guy? My son was following me and the cop never asked if there were any witnesses. I walked over to the ambulance and got patched up. I returned to the bike, the cop is there and asks me for my license and registration. For the next 40-45 minutes he is doing the various checks. My son asks why we are being detained, he won’t answer, tells us to wait over by the bike. Finally, he calls me over to his SUV to ask me about the VIN number. He then tells me and my son to go and wait back at the bike. He walks out after another 15 minutes and hands me a ticket for “failure to control my vehicle”. Says I need to come to court on August 21st. I was dump founded. I did not hit the car in front of me, I did not end up in the other lane, I did not destroy any property other than mine. In fact, I feel I did control the bike by not hitting the other vehicle. I was so shocked, I asked him, if I were sitting in the road and a bee stung me and I dropped my bike, would I get a ticket? He said I’m not going to get into that. See you in court.

My next step is to call the Sheriff of Loudon County Virginia and tell him about this situation and then do the same with the judge. I am hoping that they are professionals who would like to hear about this.

I am convinced this cop was set on giving me a ticket for something. I should have let him give me a ticket for the helmet since I can prove the DOT stamp. BTW, when we left he was waiting down the road to watch us go by!!!! This has me furious, it help the healing process. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know. Thanks. Poll - SHOULD I FIGHT THIS???? :angry:

Sorry about the wreck.

Glad you were not hurt too bad.

The PO could have shown more compassion concerning your wreck.

After reading some of the facts that you stated about your wreck I also feel the officer could have handled things differently, but I wasnt there so I dont like to monday morning quarterback any situation that I cant speak to both parties about.

About the charges, I noticed that you are in Virginia and I know very little about Virginia law so I cant comment on the validity of the charge. Since you feel railroaded it's best to take it before a judge.

You stated the car was in front of you so I assume that you were riding directly behind it (following) and yall were both going the same direction before the sudden stop and turn. Am I correct? If so here in NC you could have possibly been charged with several things (depending on all the facts of the investigation)(i.e.,following to close, inadequate braking, failure to reduce speed). So the charge may be valid, but possibly not needed in your case. The driver of the car could have been charged also depending on what was said in the interview as to why they did what they did and any physical evidence on scene (skid marks, etc).

It is of upmost important that we as LEO's uphold a high standard of professionalism on and off duty. One situation like this can (and in many cases, has) change(ed) public opinion of our profession. So please dont judge all of us by what some do. (which I'm not saying you are, but I'm making a statement in general)

 

[scubaman15]

Wow somegood stuff and true stuff on this post !! Glad your ok .. My:zz2cents: don't mean a thing ..good luck let us now how you make out!!:bang: