[Zaint]

F* the police. I'd report any officer not following the law, or their proper procedures. Just like any "job" there has to be accountability. For them to be in such a high state of power, so should their responsibility.

I've broken several laws with several police and correctional facility officers. The only difference between us is that if they get into trouble, 9 times out of 10, they get off without recourse. Officers of the law have a job like no other and it's getting out of control in many locations.

How many mall security officers do you know that can steal items or smoke in the mall?

How many postal workers can take mail or get free shipping?

How many bankers can put in wrong numbers for accounts and/or amounts?

None, atleast not without recourse.

$0.02

/rant

[coh4777]

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.

That may be so but I think it's pretty obvious from the OP's story that this was not one of those situations given that the cop was sitting at a long left turn lane waiting for the light to change. If it were a truly "high priority call" I'm sure he would have flashed his lights to get through the turn.

[san~man]

Originally Posted by coh4777

That may be so but I think it's pretty obvious from the OP's story that this was not one of those situations given that the cop was sitting at a long left turn lane waiting for the light to change. If it were a truly "high priority call" I'm sure he would have flashed his lights to get through the turn.

As a different member said, he/she may have been cancelled to the call once he past the OP. If you re-read the OP's post, he eventually caught up to the officer 6 blocks later, which is a good amount of distance. Again, the officer's call could have been cancelled in the time frame of that 6 block distance.

We as armchair quarterbacks will never know.

[Zaint]

Originally Posted by san~man

As a different member said, he/she may have been cancelled to the call once he past the OP. If you re-read the OP's post, he eventually caught up to the officer 6 blocks later, which is a good amount of distance. Again, the officer's call could have been cancelled in the time frame of that 6 block distance.

We as armchair quarterbacks will never know.

Look, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a horse...

There is probably a chance that the nay sayers are correct, but most chances are, well atleast in stl, mo, the original thought is correct.

[JCtx]

Abuse of authority/power can be present everywhere, and from minor to major. Be it a priest, supervisor, business owner, father, peace officer, etc. I don't mind a cop abusing traffic laws, but abusing the public would be a different story. Similarly, a manager assigning a job to a subordinate so he can leave early vs verbally abusing a subordinate.
Many folks see the 'lesser' abuses like the 2 described above as 'perks', but they're abuses nonetheless. They usually don't lead to consequences unless there's an accident, or the job doesn't get done and the truth comes out. I personally don't engage on any of that even if I can; just doesn't feel right. But many people justify that behavior for one reason or another. I've also learned it's better to let justice take its course and stay out of being the 'moral enforcer' on minor abuses like that. If somebody is getting hurt, especially kids, it'd be cowardice not to act one way or another.

But yes, I can see your frustration . We're supposed to help make the world a better place indeed. I'm doing my part for sure. Take care.

[Hawkeye]

Just pull out in the intersection in front of him enough for him to clip your bumper and voila! You can say he had no lights on, and was doing well in excess of the speed limit and running a red light. Nothing can save him, even if he WAS on the way to an emergency (doubtful in this case).

You get a fair sized settlement from the city to not file a suit and the cop gets in trouble. Makes others be a little more cautious. I know all the intersections around here have cameras on them now so that would help.

Just don't do it in the Zed, that would be sad.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Zaint

F* the police. I'd report any officer not following the law, or their proper procedures. Just like any "job" there has to be accountability. For them to be in such a high state of power, so should their responsibility.

I've broken several laws with several police and correctional facility officers. The only difference between us is that if they get into trouble, 9 times out of 10, they get off without recourse. Officers of the law have a job like no other and it's getting out of control in many locations.

How many mall security officers do you know that can steal items or smoke in the mall?

How many postal workers can take mail or get free shipping?

How many bankers can put in wrong numbers for accounts and/or amounts?

None, atleast not without recourse.

$0.02

/rant

The difference is Police officers have more education... wait... no they don't.

Police speed here all the time, but at least I don't get pulled over for following them doing 10 over the speed limit

[uberschnell]

Originally Posted by montreal red

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

Police are paid rather well in most places. Tons of overtime, great retirement package and low retirement age. Not unusual for them to be in the 6 figure range around here.

[dth656]

+1

an example:

back in the early 00s, when i worked as a civil engineer, we would often have to be on-site during construction. in the city of san jose, we were required to hire off-duty SJPD (in uniform) for traffic control if we ever impeded the traveled way (this is in addition to a Caltrans-spec traffic control plan and flaggers).

long story short, the cops would often start chatting w/ the construction workers, and on more than one occasion, i overheard them offer drugs for sale to the workers. two examples:
-crystal meth from the evidence locker (this was to some of the workers
-bragging about 3 large lexus/infiniti/GMC SUVs the cop owned, and bought a fourth for his wife, all, "beyond my cop salary"

most likely this was not all cops, but again, seems no different from what one would expect in the third world.

Originally Posted by Zaint

F* the police. I'd report any officer not following the law, or their proper procedures. Just like any "job" there has to be accountability. For them to be in such a high state of power, so should their responsibility.

I've broken several laws with several police and correctional facility officers. The only difference between us is that if they get into trouble, 9 times out of 10, they get off without recourse. Officers of the law have a job like no other and it's getting out of control in many locations.

How many mall security officers do you know that can steal items or smoke in the mall?

How many postal workers can take mail or get free shipping?

How many bankers can put in wrong numbers for accounts and/or amounts?

None, atleast not without recourse.

$0.02

/rant

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Just pull out in the intersection in front of him enough for him to clip your bumper and voila! You can say he had no lights on, and was doing well in excess of the speed limit and running a red light. Nothing can save him, even if he WAS on the way to an emergency (doubtful in this case).

You get a fair sized settlement from the city to not file a suit and the cop gets in trouble. Makes others be a little more cautious. I know all the intersections around here have cameras on them now so that would help.

Just don't do it in the Zed, that would be sad.

I was about to do that on my way to work this morning.... cop was lane splitting for no reason but to get through traffic...

(I live in pennsylvania)

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Just pull out in the intersection in front of him enough for him to clip your bumper and voila! You can say he had no lights on, and was doing well in excess of the speed limit and running a red light. Nothing can save him, even if he WAS on the way to an emergency (doubtful in this case).

You get a fair sized settlement from the city to not file a suit and the cop gets in trouble. Makes others be a little more cautious. I know all the intersections around here have cameras on them now so that would help.

Just don't do it in the Zed, that would be sad.

Nah, would never do that in the Zed. But my 15 year old Acura...hmmm....

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by san~man

As a different member said, he/she may have been cancelled to the call once he past the OP. If you re-read the OP's post, he eventually caught up to the officer 6 blocks later, which is a good amount of distance. Again, the officer's call could have been cancelled in the time frame of that 6 block distance.

We as armchair quarterbacks will never know.

Wow, this thread has really gone a lot further than I thought it would.

Yes, we may never know, the call may have been canceled, but in the OP I noted that the he was going at an unsafe speed through a heavily traveled pedestrian area (and one where peds are known to jaywalk). I still think this was a very unwise move. There's no way he could have stopped if some idiot ped had jumped out (like they've done to me twice at just that spot).

I understand there's a need for "silent mode" in responding to some crimes, but there's also a need for wisdom in ensuring no harm is done to the public with that response. (This is a running argument/debate on high-speed chases as well.) If he had to stay in silent mode he could have just slowed down to the limit for that section of road. That would have lost only a few seconds and would have mitigated the risk to the public.

Yeah, I know, more armchair QB'ing. And since this clearly isn't (no pun intended) a black and white case there's room for opinion on both sides.... Balancing public safety is a tricky question in these situations. On that I think we can probably all agree.