Moosexing

If you know a police officer go for a ride along. I did this a week ago and really opened up my eyes to the "other side of the fence" that you speak about. This officer I rode with is also a very good friend, I have also been in his personal vehicle, he is a father of 2 and always drives 0-20km over the limit and appears to me to obey the laws, he has 10 years on the job

We drove like anyone else does, 0-20km over the speed limit on regular patrol.
Here is what else happened

- sitting at lights, dispatched to an alarm, he turned on all lights, siren, waited for traffic to stop and we proceeded down the road....well the alarm got cancelled 2 blocks later, turned off equipment and resumed normal patrol
(would any citizen know why he used the lights and went through, only to turn them off?? probably NOT)

- dispatched to B&E in progress on edge of town, NO LIGHTS OR SIRENS after last traffic light.....why? (so that the criminals at the B&E would not hear or see us coming) 2 males caught leaving scene in vehicle as they got caught on another cruiser radar 54km over the limit
(would any citizen know why no lights or siren were used if they got passed, not likely)

- assisted with a traffic collision by blocking a road, how many morons came up (we had cruiser sideways across both lanes of northbound traffic, with lights on) asking if the road is closed......DUH, no we are bored and just want to park here, one person went around the cruiser....and got charged for drive on closed road by an officer at the scene of the collision

- 6 vehicle stops during the shift, 4 for failing to signal, 1 for unnecessary noise and 1 for a headlight out

- 3 tickets given out
Unnecessary noise (muffler on, but could hear vehicle for 3 starts from stop signs that we could not even see and residential area at 2AM), fail to signal (driver attitude towards police) and an insurance card (multiple infractions) the rest were all warnings.
Seemed very reasonable to me.

I asked about how police drive, he said there are always some bad ones that make the rest of them look bad.
His best recommendation if someone was to feel a cruiser was driving inappropriately is to write down the plate or unit number and call in and speak to a sergeant. The officer will be called in and questioned and will have to justify the driving action. But DO NOT paint all police with the same brush..............this is the same as what we hear on here all the time of "profiling"

**********************
Bottom line is we on the road, do not know why a cruiser is doing what it is doing or where it is going (cruisers just stand out being typical BIG white cars with roof lights and attract attention just with the presence), citizens don't have the knowledge of the dispatch at the exact moment, or knowledge of experience as to know when lights, siren are needed for safety or not for the element of surprise on criminals................ BUT we still know the police DO have bad drivers as well

My $0.02 on some insight to the other side, I learned a lot that I never thought of during my ride along.

ivperformance

i have a quick question, how do you explain the tailgating police keep on doing to people, i see this 24/7, and i have experianced this many times, you can see the plate 2 car lengths away, why are you up my ***, next time this happens im going to slam the breaks, will the cop get a ticket for following too closley? no. police dont get tickets, and they abuse their position, furthermore im going to get a ticket for excessive tire noise.

pornosaur

Yeha about the police tailgating, this is a story that happened to someone in my school apparently.... Well he was stopped in a slight uphill and the cop hit his car from behind. ANd he was like wtf? But then the cop told him that. I have witnesses that say your car rolled back and u forogt the ebrake... so in the end, he had to pay for his own damage to his rear bumper caused by the cop.

GinoLicious

So lets say if i got a ticket from the cop, who reduced it on site, and the ticket has 80km/h instead of 105km/h but it has an R on it... Would the judge still be allowed to reduce it furthermore? Even though my original speed isnt posted on the ticket, it did have an R saying it was already reduced. That is the part im not too clear on.

gldwngr

Some JPs will put it back up to the original speed. The cop will have that original speed in his notes.

6Msentra

i'd like to point out a little common sense here.

have you ever passed a cop on the hwy? most idiots slow down to the speed limit which causes a huge traffic jam at speed. if anyone is trying to change lanes or get somewhere it is impossible.
the idiot in front usually freezes, scared that they will get pulled over so they sit there matching every other lemmings speed. so obviously the cop is going to try to move people over to get by... hey he could be following someone and doesnt want to use his lights or siren so as not to alert the person he is following.

for the record i usually go through the whole mess ata safe speed and leave them behind and have never been pulled over.

so next time you see a cop in traffic... continue driving with the flow.. you wont get pulled over. if you are driving like an idiot you might.

rabbitman

iTrader: (3)

Bottom line for everything posted about cops. DON'T BE AN IDIOT, AND YOU WON'T GET A TICKET!!

mazdubber

WEll I did come close to getting pulled over the other day in evening rush hour for going with the flow of traffic (about 120 in the centre lan). An unmarked car started to pace me during evening rush hour. So I changed into the left lane which he couldn't directly follow me in. Soon after he pulled behind the car directly behind me, paced him for about a minute and pulled him over.

JUnit24

Ok here consider this, there have been more accidents caused by Cops in past years than street racers. A large percent more. So how about this, instead of wasting money and time by pulling over anyone who you have profiled as a street racer,and put that time and money into better road training for ALL officers that ever get behind the wheel of a cop car. You say they do have training, well then why the hell are they causing more accidents than the apparent "Assassins of the road".

And yes I have seen both the good and bad of cops in their line of duty. The earliest memory I have was when my Dad was pulled over with me in the car, when the officer saw me he just let us go.(I was at most 5 at the time) Turn that around about 10 years later in the car with my Dad yet again pulled over only this time for no reason. We just pulled out of a hockey arena as I just finished practice and on this slippery as road this cop pulls him over for speeding, 29 over in a 50. There was about a foot of snow on the road and it was pretty much physically impossible for anything short of hummer to get up to the speed that quickly witht he traction.

Moosexing

1st paragraph.............. show us the STATS to back up your point.....via a reputable link or links (not just hearsay/rumours) Once you have the stats compare them "X number of crashes per "X" number of cruisers and also do the same "x" number of crashes per "X" number of alledged racer cars to get a pecentage, then repost to prove that valuable point for retraining

2nd paragraph.....no reason???? yet you tell us the vehicle is 29km over the limit???

kazanak

Request disclosure. This will get you a copy of the officer's notes - if the original speed is in the notes, the prosecutor will not be willing to reduce it further.

Again, the judge (JP) cannot reduce the speed on a ticket. Only the prosecutor has this power.

As for raising the ticket back to original speed, the prosecutor can request this, but it is very rare, and the judge must agree to it. If you are meeting with the prosecutor for a first attendance appointment, this will not happen. These meetings do not include a judge. You are there to attempt to resolve the matter out of court.

gldwngr

No. The judge can do so on his or her own based on the evidence presented at trial. The judge isn't changing the underlying charge - the judge is merely rendering a factual decision not only on whether the offence of speeding occurred, but also on the actual degree of speeding.

kazanak

To be found guilty of an offense, you must first be charged with it. It is not possible for you to be found guilty of the original speed without ammending the 'underlying' charge for that speed.

Once again, for all who are watching this thread, this is only applicable at trial.

gldwngr

And what is the exact wording of the charge on your speeding ticket? I'm talking about the HTA section number.

Croesus

Of course it's possible. Whether you're speeding by 10km over or 50 over, the Underlying Charge is still SPEEDING, HTA 128. The Judge cannot, for instance, raise the charge it to Careless Driving (HTA 130, 6 points), or drop it to something small like Unsafe Lane Change (HTA 154, 2 points) at whim.

Hence, without affacting the underlyng charge, that of Speeding, the judge can amend (or agree to have ammended) the extent of the charge, i.e. the amout by which you were speeding.

That being said, if there is another offence under the HTA which fits your offence but carries lesser penalties, the prosecutor can make a recommendation to reduce the charge to that offence. (We call that a 'plea bargain'.) For example, if you're showing off your drifting skills around a bend and wipe out into incoming traffic :hah:, you're pretty sure to be charged with Careless Driving at the minimum. However, on trial day a sympathetic prosecutor can ask to amend the charge to, say, Drive Wrong Way (HTA 154, 3 points..?). The charge still fits your offence, albeit with a lesser fine and demerit point penalty.