[Finnegan]

On my way home from the gym this afternoon and I'm driving 45 in a 45 MPH zone. I see the car coming at a very high rate of speed in the left hand lane--closing fast. Bam! Zoom! Right by me goes a CHP at 70+ MPH! I figure he's got some kind of emergency, but lights are off. When I finally catch up with him at the stoplight (about 6 blocks later) he's sitting there in the left hand turn lane at a light that's on very long cycle (4 minute wait usually, sometimes more) and has to wait a long time for a green light.

What has me pissed is this same cop (I recognize him) has been giving out tickets like candy on this stretch of road for folks going 5 MPH over the limit for weeks. But here he is driving 25+ over--and for no apparent reason--right through an area heavy with cross and pedestrian traffic. Talk about unsafe for conditions!

Similar thing happened last weekend--CHP driving at excessive speeds on city streets to give my buddy (who was several blocks ahead of me--cop once again just flew by me) a ticket for the high-crime of not having a front plate. (At least in this case there was a violation, so I'm not really that bent about it.)

I drive sensibly, and I expect law enforcement to do the same and not abuse authority. Now, maybe I'm in the wrong here and today's episode has an explanation and I'm being a jerk for being upset. Maybe there was a call he was responding too? But in that case wouldn't there be at least lights--and wouldn't he have used them to navigate the intersection rather than hanging at the light for several minutes?

What do you guys think? Am I overreacting, or do I have reason to be a bit pissed off about this?

[montreal red]

nothing much you can do... dont even bother complaining to the police department, they wont even take your complaint seriously... i know because i've tried. i live very close to a police stations and at night, i see the police cars running the red light all the time just to get back to the station and end their shift. they dont even turn on their lights or sirens. they just go through the intersection.

i have accepted that this is one of the 'perks' of being a cop... considering that they dont get paid that much.

[KANdaddy]

cops do whatever they want. deal with it.

[Finnegan]

Meh, I wouldn't bother complaining or reporting it, as I know the outcome would be just as you said.

It's more the principle of the thing that bugs me. It falls in the elected officials saying one thing and doing another kind of frustration/annoyance bucket if you know what I mean....

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

cops do whatever they want. deal with it.

Not true. Several have tried "doing what they want" here lately without much success. One was caught driving drunk on the job and another dealing drugs. Both are being prosecuted. So there are limits, granted this isn't going to be one of them.

But thanks for the helpful suggestion!

[spyderco10]

yeah the only laws they really can get away with breaking are traffic laws.

[MysticBlue]

You have no clue. Maybe he saw a traffic violation and he was going to nail someone, but by the time he got up there, he lost sight of where they went. Or he could have had a call that was high priority, then just that quick, it got cancelled. It happens. Could have been lots of things. Or maybe he's a penis with legs. You don't know. But obsessing about somehting like that says a lot about your mindset. Ask yourself why you automatically assume the worst, then spend your time obsessing about it. Your time would be better spent discovering why this bothers you so much.

[M3Fool]

Originally Posted by MysticBlue

You have no clue. Maybe he saw a traffic violation and he was going to nail someone, but by the time he got up there, he lost sight of where they went. Or he could have had a call that was high priority, then just that quick, it got cancelled. It happens. Could have been lots of things. Or maybe he's a penis with legs. You don't know. But obsessing about somehting like that says a lot about your mindset. Ask yourself why you automatically assume the worst, then spend your time obsessing about it. Your time would be better spent discovering why this bothers you so much.

Call or no call......... the Police have sirens and lights to warn other traffic in the event of having to drive fast to get somewhere. Driving fast in high traffic areas with no lights or siren is plain stupid.

[MysticBlue]

The people crying "hypocrites" the most should look in the mirror. A call comes up, a situation comes up, a guy gets on it, he's going to hit the lights and siren as soon as he gets off the radio, all anyone sees is a cop going faster than surrounding traffic, maybe for only a few seconds, but that's what they see. It happens all the time. If it was your job, would you be perfect, every mile you drive, every day? Nope. I guarantee you would sometimes do the same thing. Dangerous? It's relative and not that black and white, much like your own driving. Life is full of risks. Do you ever go over the speed limit? Do you ever roll through a stop sign? Do you ever speed up on yellow when you could have stopped? Getting your panties in a wad every time you see what appears to be a cop doing something you might get a ticket for is just pointless obsession. Many times, there is more to the situation than you know. Sometimes not. Either way, why get so angry? Anger is your choice. I got a speeding ticket for 79 in a 65 a few weeks ago. Am I obsessing about the illegal u-turn the cop did to come get me. No. If I was him, I would have done the same thing. I posted the ticket on the billboard at work with "High Speed Driving Award" captioned below it. Life is too short to be angry about things you don't have any control over. If your Mama informed you that life was supposed to be fair, your Mama misinformed you.

[Coach]

I've been thinking about these issues for a while. It's very rare to see a stop on a right on red or blinkers being used at all in my area. They should be an example in my opinion.

About two years ago I was turing to turn left onto a fairly busy road and a bike cop was hauling ass down the road so I waited. At the last second he turned right at my intersection with no blinker. It was obvious I was waiting for him to pass so I threw my hand up and gave him the WTF look. He didn't like that so he pulled me over to see if I had a problem. I explained to him that it was rude of him to not used his blinker. He said he was tired from a long shift and walked away.

Cliffs- Laws of the road don't apply if you've had a long shift.

[mkoesel]

Something similar happened to me a few days ago, Finnegan. I just blew it off.

Another one: A few months ago, I got chewed out by a cop (actually stopped me and bitched and swore at me) for not properly yielding when he flipped his lights on. The thing is, I was literally right in the middle of a left hand turn and could not see him in my mirrors at all due to the angle of the car - only heard the sirens. So of course I completed the turn and slowed down and was quickly looking around for him and that's when he suddenly pops up right on my driver's door. His words were "Oh yeah - like you didn't fucking know what I was trying to do!". And then he floored it, and pulled the guy who was right in front of me over. I thought to myself "Wow, what an absolute colassal dick!". After all, I genuinely did not see him. But then I thought, "Hey, at least he didn't get me a minute earlier when I was doing 85 on the expressway." As I drove off, I got on it a bit (remaining within the speed limit of course), and I noticed in the rear-view that he stared me down the whole way to my next turn. Heh heh. After that I just laughed it off. The guy clearly had issues. I contemplated reporting the incident to his superiors, but I figure that's not going to go anywhere. Plus, I did not want to give the guy a reason to specifically watch for me on that stretch of freeway.

[oasis3582]

Reporting such a thing will just paint a bullseye on your car for the entire PD.

[BigHat]

I tend not to dwell on things I have zero ability to change.

[Radiation Joe]

The only reason I lived past my 19th birthday (30 years ago) was the fact that I have always tried to be aware of my surroundings.

I was sitting at a light to cross Almaden Expressway in south San Jose. I was the first car in line. There was a van stopped to my left, also waiting to cross. I was driving a 1500 pound Fiat 850 spider with the top down.

The light changed to green and we both started into the intersection. The van suddenly stopped. I couldn't see what was coming, but knew it wasn't safe to blindly continue since I couldn't see past the van.

Next thing I know, a Sheriff's car flies through the intersection at 65 to 70 mph. No lights, no siren. I'd have been nothing but colorful decoration all over the front of that patrol car if I had not have had the presence of mind to stop. Now think about your driving age kids, distracted mothers and others who just GO when the light changes.

I'm not sure the readers of this forum are aware of how many people are injured/killed each year by speeding law enforcement officers. Anyone in the brotherhood feel like chiming in on that one?

[smaxon1]

According to AAA, police are "sometimes the worst drivers".

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/Po...-89386427.html

[Finnegan]

Joe, good point, and worth the reminder. Even when stopped it's a good idea to keep an eye on the rear-view for distracted drivers that may not stop (or for cops needing to get by).

Bkm. Obviously I agree, and that's the point here.

MysticBlue--Perhaps "Angry" was too strong a term. Annoyed/irritated is more like it. And yes, we all have a choice to be annoyed/irritated or let things go.

As for the other reasons noted, I don't disagree with you. Look at my OP where I say pretty much some of the same things. I'm not sure where the idea of "obsession" comes in here. To be honest, I'd totally forgotten about until I bounced over here to the forum.

As for assuming the worst...well...at the time, the "worst" I was thinking about was the risk to pedestrians who frequent that particular section/intersection without bothering to wait for the cross-walk. And how flying through there at that rate of speed w/o lights/siren wasn't a smart move. (I've had to lock up my brakes at that spot twice due to some idiot ped not looking and jumping into the road w/o waiting for the ped crossing signal.)

Sure, I've done stupid things driving. All of us have. The annoyance here is that I hold those in positions to a higher standard than the rest of us (e.g. bozos like me) on the road. Nothing more than that.

But am I going to lose any sleep over it or give it a second of my waking thoughts today when I'm off the forum? No. Can I control this situation (or others like it I might encounter)? Nope. But that doesn't mean I'm going to just sigh and say "whatever". (And no, I'm not saying that's what you're advocating...I'm picking up on what would be an extreme version of the "can't control it, ignore it" line of thinking.)

IMO the minute we stop caring what officers (or elected officials) do with their positions/authority we have a bigger problem on our hands than some cop who was making some unwise decisions by driving 25+ the posted limit through city streets without lights/sirens on. Of course, with elected officials, we have a much better chance of impact (November, here I come).

[Buegie]

I remember when I did ride-alongs with the local PD. We were responding to a shoplifting incident at the mall and security guys there had told us that the suspect was making his escape. Apparently the guys had ripped off a bunch of stores so they really wanted to get him. We were flying through traffic but as we got closer to the mall the officer turned the lights/sirens off so that the suspect didn't know where we were coming from. Three or four cruisers arrived at the same time and managed to grab the guy just before he got to his car.

The point being, officers aren't going to use the sirens on every urgent call for various reasons. Not saying that officers can't abuse their power, but you never know their intentions so you should be careful criticizing them.

[Couch]

It happens all the time.

A cop in Houston was killed about a month ago in "hot pursuit". Died because he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. The same law they ticket you for.

[Feyd]

Rolling through stop signs/lights... No signaling, crazy illegal u-turns, turning right on red (even though it isn't allowed), speeding with no lights/sirens for no reason, etc.

*shrug* Often times I've thought about buying a camera + mount and just drive around video taping cops who break the law.

If I thought it would do any good I could have justified the expense, but it won't... so I didn't.

FWIW, of all the places I've lived... Westchester County NY was head-and-shoulders above the rest insofar as occurrences.

[san~man]

Some high priority calls require speeding with no lights/siren. As another member said, you don't know the exact circumstances at that particular time.

[ersin]

Don't forget they have computers in their cars now. I've actually seen a cop drive off the side of the road because he was looking at the screen rather than the road. It used to be that all the cops did the speed limit and there were a pile of cars behind them because nobody wanted to pass and get a speeding ticket. Now, the cops are the fastest cars on the road.

But anyways I have a theory. I can't prove it but here it is. Take, say, 1000 people at random. From the general population there are, let's say, 100 of them, 10%, (maybe it's more like 40%, IDK) that are total dicks and the rest are generally nice people. Now take 1000 random cops. I'd bet that there are about 100 of them, 10%, that are total dicks, and the rest are generally nice. Of course, give a generally nice person a hard time, like giving a cop shit when pulled over or try to BS them, and I'll bet those nice people turn into total dicks real quick.

Except for certain cultural influences in particular police groups (like the "us against them" mentality that some groups cultivate) I'd say most cops are generally nice people. But the ones who are total dicks probably have a greater propensity to pull people over than generally nice cops. Then this means that getting pulled over you probably have a greater chance than, say, 10% (say more like a 50-50 chance) of getting the cop that's a total dick. So total dicks make all cops look bad.

Just a theory.


Cheers.

[ersin]

Originally Posted by san~man

Some high priority calls require speeding with no lights/siren. As another member said, you don't know the exact circumstances at that particular time.

There's lots of these high priority calls around here as nearly all cops exceed the speed limit here. They must be keeping them pretty busy.


Cheers.