Saw a cop run a red light today...

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
I was sitting at an intersection that has two left turn lanes, two straight lanes, and a right turn lane. I was in a straight lane, second in line behind a cop. The lights for the left turn lanes turned green, and the cop starts driving forward into the intersection. He made it half way through before apparently noticing the cars turning left from the opposite direction. He stops, and rather than backing up (I didn't pull up at all), he turns on his light bar and guns it through the intersection. After making it through the intersection and going down the road a little, he cut his lights off again. Anyone else would have got a ticket for that...I guess a badge has its perks.


And then??????? So, he made a human mistake???????? You have proven what?????

We can't all be perfect like you and the rest of society...

I never said I, or anyone else was perfect. But I don't have the authority to write someone a ticket either. Someone who does should do their best to obey the law at all times.

The guy jumped a light, then tried to save face by making it look like there was some emergency. I left the space in front of me open. He could have put the car in reverse and waited for his turn like the rest of us.

 

[04SE]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
I was sitting at an intersection that has two left turn lanes, two straight lanes, and a right turn lane. I was in a straight lane, second in line behind a cop. The lights for the left turn lanes turned green, and the cop starts driving forward into the intersection. He made it half way through before apparently noticing the cars turning left from the opposite direction. He stops, and rather than backing up (I didn't pull up at all), he turns on his light bar and guns it through the intersection. After making it through the intersection and going down the road a little, he cut his lights off again. Anyone else would have got a ticket for that...I guess a badge has its perks.


And then??????? So, he made a human mistake???????? You have proven what?????

We can't all be perfect like you and the rest of society...

I never said I, or anyone else was perfect. But I don't have the authority to write someone a ticket either. Someone who does should do their best to obey the law at all times.

The guy jumped a light, then tried to save face by making it look like there was some emergency. I left the space in front of me open. He could have put the car in reverse and waited for his turn like the rest of us.


How do you know he was not anticipating being able to jump the light to be 10-60 somewhere? Maybe he was planning on going through the light and then noticed the traffic as he was pre-occupied with his radio or MDT? (In Illinois section 2-202 provides, A public employee is not liable for his act or omission in the execution or enforcement of any law unless such act or omission constitutes willful and wanton conduct. In other words, if he was responding to a call, and ACCIDENTLY caused a wreck, he/the city are NOT liable. Your state probably has similar legislation.)

There are a million and 1 reasons/explanations for what happened. You would not have cared about this if it was not a cop. Instead, you found a reason to bash a HUMAN for making a mistake. I hope you never need the assistance of a cop...

Instead of bashing the guy/gal, put yourself in his/her shoes. They have a job where they are scrutinized 24/7/365 by the media and citizens like yourself. They put on that uniform everyday/night to do the job that NOBODY else will do and EVERYBODY is the first to judge them and call them out. Name ONE SINGLE job where it is scrutinized like this and has the potential for risk like this. YOU CAN'T DO IT. There are other dangerous/risky jobs out there, we all know that. But NONE of them are scrutinized and talked about like Law Enforcement.

/rant

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
I was sitting at an intersection that has two left turn lanes, two straight lanes, and a right turn lane. I was in a straight lane, second in line behind a cop. The lights for the left turn lanes turned green, and the cop starts driving forward into the intersection. He made it half way through before apparently noticing the cars turning left from the opposite direction. He stops, and rather than backing up (I didn't pull up at all), he turns on his light bar and guns it through the intersection. After making it through the intersection and going down the road a little, he cut his lights off again. Anyone else would have got a ticket for that...I guess a badge has its perks.


And then??????? So, he made a human mistake???????? You have proven what?????

We can't all be perfect like you and the rest of society...

I never said I, or anyone else was perfect. But I don't have the authority to write someone a ticket either. Someone who does should do their best to obey the law at all times.

The guy jumped a light, then tried to save face by making it look like there was some emergency. I left the space in front of me open. He could have put the car in reverse and waited for his turn like the rest of us.


How do you know he was not anticipating being able to jump the light to be 10-60 somewhere? Maybe he was planning on going through the light and then noticed the traffic as he was pre-occupied with his radio or MDT? (In Illinois section 2-202 provides, A public employee is not liable for his act or omission in the execution or enforcement of any law unless such act or omission constitutes willful and wanton conduct. In other words, if he was responding to a call, and ACCIDENTLY caused a wreck, he/the city are NOT liable. Your state probably has similar legislation.)

There are a million and 1 reasons/explanations for what happened. You would not have cared about this if it was not a cop. Instead, you found a reason to bash a HUMAN for making a mistake. I hope you never need the assistance of a cop...

Instead of bashing the guy/gal, put yourself in his/her shoes. They have a job where they are scrutinized 24/7/365 by the media and citizens like yourself. They put on that uniform everyday/night to do the job that NOBODY else will do and EVERYBODY is the first to judge them and call them out. Name ONE SINGLE job where it is scrutinized like this and has the potential for risk like this. YOU CAN'T DO IT. There are other dangerous/risky jobs out there, we all know that. But NONE of them are scrutinized and talked about like Law Enforcement.

/rant


I'd like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but what happened was pretty clear. When the light for the turn lanes went green he accelerated (no lights on), stopped halfway through the intersection, cut his lights on, then cut the lights off after clearing the intersection and going down the road a little. If he was planning on running the light for some legitimate reason, I'd expect his lights to be on BEFORE entering the intersection.

The reason law enforcement is scrutinized more than anyone else is because of the authority given to them. Anyone with that much power MUST be scrutinized. I don't know of many other professions where you can legally detain someone.

Many people have a negative attitude towards LEOs in general because they are human and there are bad ones. It bothers a lot of people when someone with questionable ethics or behavior is in a position of authority...that's understandable.

I have had both positive and negative experiences with cops. Some are genuinely good, upstanding people who really are doing the job for the right reasons. Some others are the scum of the earth.

 

[Anduril]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
But NONE of them are scrutinized and talked about like Law Enforcement.

/rant

Politician?

 

[ViragoBry]

I ended up behind a cop on my way to work the other morning. Turned left behind him onto a semi-residential street with a 30 MPH speed limit. I kept pace with him and achieved 42mph before the next intersection. No lights, no sirens, just cruisin'.

What gets me is that they have the nerve to sit on the side streets and radar this road nearly every morning when they can't even manage to obey the limit themselves.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: ViragoBry
I ended up behind a cop on my way to work the other morning. Turned left behind him onto a semi-residential street with a 30 MPH speed limit. I kept pace with him and achieved 42mph before the next intersection. No lights, no sirens, just cruisin'.

What gets me is that they have the nerve to sit on the side streets and radar this road nearly every morning when they can't even manage to obey the limit themselves.


Along those lines...
Do they disconnect the turn signals on police cars at the factory, or do cops just choose to not use them?

 

[wavinwayne]

The po-po around here routinely drive 75-80mph in 65mph zones, but then again, so do I...

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: XS650

Along those lines...
Do they disconnect the turn signals on police cars at the factory, or do cops just choose to not use them?


I think police cars ought to be fully equipped with all of the "big brother" features needed to keep them in line. GPS location and speed tracking, and all of that.

Of course it probably won't happen when the "Police Officer's Bill of Rights" contains stuff like this:

Quote:
3309. No public safety officer shall have his locker, or other space for storage that may be assigned to him searched
except in his presence, or with his consent, or unless a valid search warrant has been obtained or where he has been
notified that a search will be conducted. This section shall apply only to lockers or other space for storage that are owned
or leased by the employing agency.


Is that to give them time to dispose of the weed that they have stuck in their work locker?

 

[brianl703]

Or how about this one?

Quote:
(a) In all investigations which arise from complaints from sources other than law enforcement personnel, the complainant must first be given and pass a polygraph examination before the investigation can continue.


Polygraph for thee, but not for me:

Quote:
(d) An employee shall not be required to submit to a polygraph examination, except voluntarily and unless the employee has been given a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours written notification of the investigative authority’s intent to take the employee’s polygraph examination, and the employee receives the results of any complainant’s polygraph examination, as the case may be . Should the employee voluntarily submit to the polygraph examination, then the results of said employee’s polygraph examine shall provided to the employee immediately following conclusion of the exam. At all times, the employee shall be entitled to legal representation prior to, during, and after the polygraph examination.

 

[exranger06]

A clip totally relevant to this topic.

 

[greenaccord02]

Originally Posted By: brianl703

Is that to give them time to dispose of the weed that they have stuck in their work locker?


For some of the cops I've known that's exactly what that time has been used for. You haven't really smoked dope until you've smoked it with an on-duty cop.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: ViragoBry


What gets me is that they have the nerve to sit on the side streets and radar this road nearly every morning when they can't even manage to obey the limit themselves.


Many cops aren't too punitive on the traffic end of things. Most of them realize that they can't get through a shift without breaking some law. It depends on how mature they are. It's really hard to maintain 100% adherence to anything over a career.

 

[TSHACK]

I do the same thing.