Why do I always get the bad cops?

luvmykids wrote: I have no problem being pulled over for/paying a ticket for speeding, which I was, 7 over the speed limit. BUT this cop was such a jerk, he totally tore into me which I could also suck up, except the kids were in the car and in tears saying "Please don't shoot my mommy" "Please don't take my mommy to jail" and he kept at it... telling me that my lack of respect for their lives is appalling, that my utter disregard for the law is disgusting, that if I want to endanger my life then it's my business but to put my kids in danger is in his book abuse, that he can't imagine this is the only way I negatively impact them,on and on and on.

Yes, I was speeding but I was on a main drag where I was probably the slowest driver. Give me the darn ticket but do NOT tell me what a horrible parent I am in front of my children

redchief replied: Report his behavior. NOW. Cops are not allowed to rip down a member of the public in that way.

ETA: Now this is just me, but I would go to court instead of paying the ticket and publicly state how he treated you in front of your children. Further, when I spoke to his supervisor I would tell him that is what I intend to do.

mckayleesmom replied: Ya...I would be reporting him.

luvmykids replied:
I didn't think so, I would have liked to tell him (respectfully, of course ) to save it for my court date. Do you just call the police department and ask for a supervisor or what?

eta: I do have a court date so I have 2 weeks to get my nerves calmed and get my words together.

BAC'sMom replied: Make an appt with the Chief of Police.

redchief replied:
Good idea on the cool down period.

Yes, you would call the police station and ask for his supervisor. They really aren't allowed to tear down an adult in front of her children. It undermines parental authority, and is not conducive to the establishment of good family values. Do you have a bad driving record? Just curious, and you don't have to answer that if you don't want to.

TheOaf66 replied:
definitely that is abuse of authority. Report him to the supervisor and also the mayor if need be, that is completely uncalled for.

luvmykids replied:
I hadn't had a ticket for about 8 years, got pulled over in Feb but that got dismissed because when I went to court for that one the judge couldn't believe the cop sent me to court with such a clean record and apologized to me for wasting my time. I guess twice in one year does make me a repeat offender but my record is clean.

eta: The cop in Feb was a jerk too, he didn't tear me to pieces but he told me it wasn't an option to pay the fine by mail and when I got to court the judge said if I'd wanted to plead guilty (which I had told the cop I wanted to do) I could have just mailed in the fine.

luvbug00 replied: oh that is soo wrong!! I'm sorry he did that to you. Man is that dude lucky i wasn't in the car I would have given him the what for and gotten arrested!LOL!

MoonMama replied:
I'm sorry he did that to you and scared your sweeties.

redchief replied:
Sorry, I had a motive for asking that. If your record was deplorable (and I really didn't think it would be or I wouldn't have recommended you complain) then I could see, but not accept, that the cop was genuinely worried about your kids' safety. Like I said, I didn't suspect this, just had to ask. He had absolutely no business saying what he did to you. I would have said "chief" when I said supervisor, but in bigger cities, it's harder to see the chief of police than it is to see a ghost. If you have access to the chief, by all means, complain directly to him. Chiefs tend to be much more politically savvy than street officers and Sgts. If you get no satisfaction in the police station, the mayor's office would be my next step, including a complaint that the supervisors of PD were unresponsive to your concerns as well.

hawkshoe replied: I agree with the others in that you should report him to his supervisor. I would go as far as to go in and file a written complaint and not just do it verbally over the phone. Once it is in writing, they have to address it with him.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Oh Monica! ITA with everyone above! C O M P L A I N!!! He had absolutely no right to give you any kind of personal opinion on your parenting skills,You are after all still Innocent until proven guilty by a court of law-he is not the judge or the jury...I would make sure I get my complaint on record before your court date,ASAP as a matter of fact. You never know who someone with that much imagined authority may place a phone call to The last thing you need is to have your 'bad parenting' (that just makes me laugh) reported by this officer and then try to file your complaint! I am sorry he treated you so badly! I will Pm you with the name I wish I could call him!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: WOW! This guy is on a power trip.

I hope you get it handled from the higher ups. KUP!

luvmykids replied:
Yeah, I'm feeling a little paranoid now that he's gonna be lurking trying to nab me giving them crack or something

Kaitlin'smom replied: man I woudl be livid. Deffinalty report him, there is NO excuse for talking to you like that.

I got pulled over once by a snot of a cop for missing a front license plate, well I get snippy with him since I was told by another police dept not to bother getting it replaced till the tags were due, he did not believe me I said call them, he did and handed my stuff back to me and said have a nice day

A&A'smommy replied: OMG what a jerk, you need to report him!!!!!

CantWait replied: Omgosh what an arse!!!! That's just wrong, and shows a complete and utter lack of respect for yourself and your children. There are the few that take their authority and use it in the wrong way. He's one of those poor few. I hope you plan to take further action, and I'm sorry you had to go through that worse off your kiddies.

TANNER'S MOM replied: well I promise me and Abbie have had our share of crazy cops..lol

But Iam sorry he did that to you ! JERK

kimberley replied: total abuse of authority! definitely report it. sorry that happened to you.

i got my first speeding ticket last week too and the guy was a total jerk and berating me. thankfully i was alone but i am fighting it because there is NO WAY i was going the speed he said i was. i am an OC speedometer watcher . i suspect he clocked a car in front of me but couldn't stop him so i got nailed i have been an active licensed driver for nearly 18yrs with no tickets.. til now

C&K*s Mommie replied: WOW!!

to everyone else- hope you get some results with the speaking your mind and reporting this jerk

mom2my2cuties replied: Gosh I am so sorry you were treated like and that your kids had to witness it. Guess he didn't bother to think about how terrified those babies are going to be the next time they see a police officer. And once kids are spooked, it is clear they will be a while before you can regain that trust.

I think you should complain...And do they have in dash cameras?? Don't those usually record everything that is said? I know they have that in Texas.

luvmykids replied:
I got to thinking about it later today, don't they have to be stationary to use radar? On the citation he wrote that he was behind me and paced me and then got me on the radar, but I thought they had to be still for the radar to work?

AND he told me he had me going at seven over the limit but on the citation he wrote 10!!!! So I want to find out about the radar detector and if he truly clocked me or not.

mom2my2cuties replied: If he claimed he paced you, then you DEFINATELY have a case...that is the least reliable method of clocking a person.

Although - I think I have been tagged with radar (or maybe it was laser) from an officer traveling the opposite direction.

luvmykids replied:
He was behind me, could he radar me while moving behind me? And it says right on the citation under "Essential Facts" that he "while driving 35 observed vehicle and paced at 42... then paced with radar acceleration to 45. Three young children in vehicle."

Such hogwash because where he was I did NOT accelerate, I was slowing down to turn onto the street where the kids school is. And I told him we were on our way to school and he noted "Driver stated children were 'late for school'" which I never said, I only said we were on our way to school, we weren't late until he pulled me over!!!

mom2my2cuties replied: Make sure they know that then. Radar can detect changes in speed moving to or away from an object, but no other direction. I found some information for that online that I will PM you after I get home from church tonight and have time to pull it out of my history.

Anyone with 1/2 a brain knows that when people see a cop, they don't speed up, they slow down usually.

Nice comment about the 3 children...will help you make your case about the degrading comments he made in front of them.

cameragirl21 replied: He ripped into you for going 7 over the speed limit?!
You've got to be kidding, I don't remember the last time I went any less than 15 over the speed limit!
Next time, Monica, calmly ask for the cop's badge number and report him to the lieutenant in charge, he has NO right to verbally abuse you and scare the crap out of your kids.
And definitely take this to court, tell the judge exactly how the cop treated you and that he scared your kids to tears, there is just no reason for that.
Keep us posted....

siblingtooolivia replied: Having worked in the legal field for 15 years (not a ton of criminal work though) and being married to a cop, I would suggest getting an attorney. I don't know about where you are but up here an attorney for a traffic infraction like that isn't overly expensive........now mind you, my cop is wonderful but the stories he tells me about some of the others makes me wonder how they got to be in the position of authority they are in and how they stay there!!

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Monica it depends on which kind of radar they are using as to whether they have to be stationary-the problem with most small town courts is they side with the officer-take my "We just changed the speed limit" fiasco as a prime example. Call around to a few local attny. I know in this area there are a few who fight tickets for a nominal fee just for the joy of it

punkeemunkee'smom replied:
Yea we have! Do not ever look them straight in the eye

redchief replied:
Why not? Heheh... That's not fair. All the cops here are friends of mine.

Radar, depending on the type and age of the unit, can be used while the police cruiser is working. Ours work that way. They're tied into the vehicle's speedometer to calculate target speed. The only question becomes whether or not the radar unit was within it's calibration period. Most are outside of calibration period and the officer will sit on the stand and state that they ran the unit through calibration. A traffic attorney will question when the last time the unit was back to manufacturer for calibration; required for all units at different intervals depending on the unit. Further, if he was moving, that calls into question the accuracy of the police cruiser's speedo, another fact that isn't missed by a traffic attorney. If the police dept. is well funded, these things will be done on PM schedule and you won't be able to get it thrown out on that. An attorney in your area will know.

You admitted, however, that you were speeding. That wasn't your complaint. Your complaint was with the way he treated you. His own report is damning in this since he mentioned the children (most officers list number of occupants only, unless they're stopping for seatbelt violation). One thing is certain, if you are going to fight in court, you have to be truthful whether you have an attorney or not. My position is that you speak with the chief or his supervisor about his treatment, then go to court and plea it down to a nonpoints (1-5 MPH over limit). At 7 over almost ALL prosecutors will offer this plea agreement. What you do is go to court, plead not guilty. At that point the prosecutor will normally meet with you (and your attorney if you have one) and make a plea offer in order to get the ticket off the docket. This isn't how it is everywhere, but it is how it goes in most municipal courts.

luvmykids replied:
Exactly, and I have no problem paying the fine. The only reason I got irked about the matter of how he clocked me and how he wrote the citation is that he told me I was seven over and on the citation said I went from seven over to ten over in front of him. I think he did that because 10 over is a more expensive ticket and it ticks me off because what idiot speeds up with a cop behind them?

I did file a complaint, got a lot of "Uh huh" and "Mmm hmms" I'm not going to court to fight it, but because I have to, he handed me the citation with the court date already on it and a line drawn through the pay by mail option. I'm not bothering with an attorney and all that because I was speeding, I'm just agitated that I think he tried to make me look so bad not only in front of the kids but on the citation too, makes me wonder if he's going to skip the court date (which they often do here) and wanted it me to look as bad as possible in the absence of his presence.

But after fretting and stressing and being po'd all day, I'm ready to just go to the court date, tell whoever is there about his behavior, and pay the stupid fine.

redchief replied:
I still think you can plea it down to a nonpoints violation, especially given the officer's behavior. I'm not one to tell you what to do, but if you don't hear back from the supervisor regarding their actions, I'd also follow up with a formal, signed complaint. But that's just me. I don't like bully cops.

luvmykids replied:
Ed, do you happen to know, will my complaint be in the file at the court date? Or does it just depend on how seriously they take me? I'd like the judge to see on paper that I did it the same day this all happened.

And I hope to get it down to a non-points, I hope the judge doesn't like bully cops either.

MommyToAshley replied: So sorry that happened, I just kept thinking about your poor kids. I don't like bully cops either.

I am not Ed, but I would make sure I got a copy of hte signed complaint and take it with you to court. Let us know what happens!

redchief replied:
Sorry, Mon, I had a router crash just a while ago. It caused some local machine problems, and thus it took me a diagnostic to get myself back here assured my computer was going to behave.

Your complaint may never make the case folder. If you sign a complaint, it MUST be in the case folder, along with actions taken to resolve the complaint. It's all about whether the telephone complaint is treated as an official complaint or not. I'm thinking by your description that they treat telephone complaints as unofficial. If you sign, they have no choice but to follow up. If it is handled properly, your statement will be taken and you can relate your discrepancies with the officer's report. As you said, no one picks up speed when they see a police cruiser, especially when they are making a turn. That matter will have to be cleared up prior to your going to court. Here, if the complaint is upheld, the ticket is usually written off. Don't forget, too, if you're unhappy with the way the police department handles your complaint, you have the option of following up in the mayor's office.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Monica I don't know if you have it availeable in Az. but ask for deferred ajudication-basically it keeps the ticket (and $$$ for the fine) in the county it was written in-you usually pay more then the ticket BUT it gets torn up at the end of a 'probation' period that says you can't get any more moving violations in this county for 30-60 days....anyway with all the points crap it will at least keep you in the clear on your DL and insurance

hawkshoe replied:
Did you file your compaint by phone or in writing? It is important to do it in writing, otherwise it will most likely just be laughed about. Putting it in writing will make them have to address his behavior.

luvmykids replied: It was on the phone but I guess if I want it to matter at all I have to go down and do it on paper myself What a PITA, after all this it better get taken seriously, whatever that means.

I hope he's not so psycho that he waits for me every MWF at the same spot when he finds out I complained about him