so i got pulled over yesterday on my way to the outlet mall in michigan city

[Cemetery-man]

Good old detectors. I think I've had one in all my cars since they first became available. Don't ask me why. I'm the person that NEVER drives over the speed limit, never been stopped for anything. Guess I have to have one just because it's a gadget and my friends do call me the gadget-man.

Funny, I was filling up at a gas station and a cop was filling his squad car at the next pump. After so long he couldn't resist any longer and yelled over at me that my "cop buster" was making lot of noise. I simply told him that if he turned off his radar, it wouldn't make a peep.

 

[PatriotPride]

Also, you do realize the utter hypocrisy of your argument, right?

If you're going to call me out, at least TRY to do it correctly. I didn't ask for special treatment---it was handed to me before I could say a word. I was merely pointing out that it does exist.

Did you file a complaint that the officer didn't write you the ticket?

Is that a serious question? Good grief, I hope it's not.

 

[public servant]

If you're going to call me out, at least TRY to do it correctly. I didn't ask for special treatment---it was handed to me before I could say a word. I was merely pointing out that it does exist.



Is that a serious question? Good grief, I hope it's not.

Yep. It's a serious question.

You're complaining about special treatment. Do something about it.

Or because you didn't ask for it...that's different?

 

[dross]

Yep. It's a serious question.

You're complaining about special treatment. Do something about it.

Or because you didn't ask for it...that's different?

Would you PM us with your badge number? I'll turn YOU in for it and we'll be all even. After all, I'm sure you've done something you should have gotten in trouble for in the past. It'll all equal out.

Like one of your buddies on another thread explained when the dogs didn't find any dope at a high school, they must have been tipped off.

I figure you've done something naughty. We'll clear that karma right up for ya'.

 

[awatarius]

Would you PM us with your badge number? I'll turn YOU in for it and we'll be all even. After all, I'm sure you've done something you should have gotten in trouble for in the past. It'll all equal out.

Like one of your buddies on another thread explained when the dogs didn't find any dope at a high school, they must have been tipped off.

I figure you've done something naughty. We'll clear that karma right up for ya'.

HAHAHAHA! Dross stop being a bully! We are all human, and sadly police officers are as well. If only they made people perfect police officers would be a perfect place for them. I guess we have to make due with the public servants we have now!

P.S. Keep up the good word, and stay the course servant.

Thanks
Matthew

 

[public servant]

Would you PM us with your badge number? I'll turn YOU in for it and we'll be all even. After all, I'm sure you've done something you should have gotten in trouble for in the past. It'll all equal out.

I figure you've done something naughty. We'll clear that karma right up for ya'.

PM sent.

But see...I wasn't the one complaining about anyone receiving special treatment.

I fail to understand complaining about it...but failing to do anything about it.

*If* I was going to complain about it...I'd have stopped the officer before they walked away and told them to write the damn ticket. And told them I don't need their preferential treatment.

But to take advantage of the "perk"...then complain about it...seems at least slightly hypocritical.

Don't you think?

 

[jsharmon7]

It's good to know you've never let a fellow officer off because he was a cop, nor have you ever gotten out of a ticket because you are an officer.

It's always nice to meet someone who is morally and logically consistent.

Actually, I have never had the need to get out of a ticket, because I've never been pulled over in my life. I've been in cars that have been stopped in the past, but never as the driver. I've also not pulled over an off duty officer yet. I don't make a whole lot of traffic stops and I don't have as many years of experience as some of the other officers here, but nobody yet has told me they are an off duty cop. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it just like any other traffic stop. Sometimes the conditions warrant a warning, sometimes a ticket.

If you're going to call me out, at least TRY to do it correctly. I didn't ask for special treatment---it was handed to me before I could say a word. I was merely pointing out that it does exist.

I wasn't referring to you getting out of a ticket. I was referring to the fact that you seem to look down on an officer who would write someone a ticket for having a radar detector. You state that someone may have a detector simply "because they can." Well the officer can write a ticket for speeding "because they can" provided the driver was actually speeding. So it's okay for you to do something within the law, but not okay for an officer; THAT is what I was referring to.

 

[PatriotPride]

Yep. It's a serious question.

You're complaining about special treatment. Do something about it.

Or because you didn't ask for it...that's different?

Condescension---yes. THAT will be productive. Here's the thing: you don't have any idea what I do or do not do in regards to stopping special treatment. I was simply pointing out the simple and indisputable fact that there is corruption and special treatment by LEOs. It's nothing to get worked up over.

 

[PatriotPride]

I wasn't referring to you getting out of a ticket. I was referring to the fact that you seem to look down on an officer who would write someone a ticket for having a radar detector. You state that someone may have a detector simply "because they can." Well the officer can write a ticket for speeding "because they can" provided the driver was actually speeding. So it's okay for you to do something within the law, but not okay for an officer; THAT is what I was referring to.

You missed the point. I would ABSOLUTELY look down on an officer writing a ticket over a radar detector. It's petty, childish, and idiotic. It's that sort of crap that gives police a bad name. If you're going to write a ticket for speeding, do it and move on with your day. To write a ticket out of spite because the motorist has a radar detector speaks volumes as to the integrity of that officer, and to admit on a public forum that you (not you specifically---anyone) would treat a person differently due to their possession of a LAWFUL electronic device is baffling and stupid.

 

[public servant]

Condescension---yes. THAT will be productive. Here's the thing: you don't have any idea what I do or do not do in regards to stopping special treatment. I was simply pointing out the simple and indisputable fact that there is corruption and special treatment by LEOs. It's nothing to get worked up over unless you're one of the officers handing out special favors.

Ahhh... My sincerest apologies. You did do something about it.

I really do apologize. And here for a moment I thought you accepted the "special treatment" because it saved you a few bucks...then complained about it on the internet.

I should have known better.

 

[E5RANGER375]

Let me get this straight... It was the po-po's fault this guy was going +100 mph?



Oh...****...I'm sorry. You were serious?

I do agree though. There should be restrictions on high-speed chases. I don't ever want to see an innocent person get harmed.

If the suspect flees.... just blow the ***** up.

when they are at first just maybe speeding down the road at 55in a 40 and then because they are being chased they go to 100mph, yeah they are being pushed. thats why some departments dont chase. im not trying to say the guy isnt a criminal for breaking the law, but when you have one car going 100 MPH its dangerous enough now add 2 and your asking for death.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Just datapointing in this little discussion regarding radar detectors:

In the last 7-8 years I have received 2 speeding tickets. One was in a targeted enforcement zone where I was doing EXACTLY the speed limit while everyone around me was doing 10 over. I had a radar detector and know when I was zapped, and I was also surrounded by large trucks that were going faster than I was: how the officer got a signature on me is a mystery to me, but my suspicion was that good old "quota that doesn't exist" (tell that to my GF who was a state trooper for many years and got written up a couple of times for not writing enough tickets...).

The last time I got a ticket was last year in a trap a few miles from my house where I again know I was going the speed limit and the vehicle behind me was gaining on me as we were coming around the curves. I didn't have a radar detector then. We both got pulled over, but seeing as I refused to play the little game and answer the officer's question that was worded such that any answer I gave would have been admitting guilt, I again got a ticket for 10 over when I wasn't speeding.

Oh, you might ask yourself why I didn't fight those tickets? The answer is, after asking around folks I know who know the courts in those jurisdictions (the one in my home county I have close ties to folks who work for the courts), it turns out that virtually no one who comes into court to plead not guilty without hiring a lawyer, is found not guilty and is fined MORE than the ticket. In both cases too I was eligible for the "diversion" program so I could just pay the fine and my insurance company need never know how much of a scofflaw I am.

Oh, and the time before that when about a decade ago I got a speeding ticket I WAS guilty of, I was also the slowest moving vehicle in traffic (still going 10 over), but I was also the only out of state plate around.

So, radar detector or not, speeding or not, it's pretty clear to me that the whole system is set up to be little more than highway robbery, a form of semi-random taxation. It's justified by the fact that just about everyone DOES speed, at least occasionally.

I get equally tired of the whining from people who are placing other people in danger by speeding when it is not appropriate, and by the folks who loudly proclaim "don't want a ticket, don't speed."

 

[Hotdoger]

Just datapointing in this little discussion regarding radar detectors:

In the last 7-8 years I have received 2 speeding tickets. One was in a targeted enforcement zone where I was doing EXACTLY the speed limit while everyone around me was doing 10 over. I had a radar detector and know when I was zapped, and I was also surrounded by large trucks that were going faster than I was: how the officer got a signature on me is a mystery to me, but my suspicion was that good old "quota that doesn't exist" (tell that to my GF who was a state trooper for many years and got written up a couple of times for not writing enough tickets...).

The last time I got a ticket was last year in a trap a few miles from my house where I again know I was going the speed limit and the vehicle behind me was gaining on me as we were coming around the curves. I didn't have a radar detector then. We both got pulled over, but seeing as I refused to play the little game and answer the officer's question that was worded such that any answer I gave would have been admitting guilt, I again got a ticket for 10 over when I wasn't speeding.

Oh, you might ask yourself why I didn't fight those tickets? The answer is, after asking around folks I know who know the courts in those jurisdictions (the one in my home county I have close ties to folks who work for the courts), it turns out that virtually no one who comes into court to plead not guilty without hiring a lawyer, is found guilty and fined MORE than the ticket. In both cases too I was eligible for the "diversion" program so I could just pay the fine and my insurance company need never know how much of a scofflaw I am.

Oh, and the time before that when about a decade ago I got a speeding ticket I WAS guilty of, I was also the slowest moving vehicle in traffic (still going 10 over), but I was also the only out of state plate around.

So, radar detector or not, speeding or not, it's pretty clear to me that the whole system is set up to be little more than highway robbery, a form of semi-random taxation. It's justified by the fact that just about everyone DOES speed, at least occasionally.

I get equally tired of the whining from people who are placing other people in danger by speeding when it is not appropriate, and by the folks who loudly proclaim "don't want a ticket, don't speed."

+1

When I see the Brookston Indiana and many other marked cops doing 90 going from Indy north on 65 the LEO BS "its not safe" , "you are endangering others" and their snide "let us know how much the ticket is"
remarks just show how corrupt they really are.

I have called Lafayette State Police post twice on the Brookston cops. Of course they do nothing because I don't have a plate number. I ask if I have permission to go 120 and catch them.

 

[public servant]

+1

When I see the Brookston Indiana and many other marked cops doing 90 going from Indy north on 65 the LEO BS "its not safe" , "you are endangering others" and their snide "let us know how much the ticket is"
remarks just show how corrupt they really are.

I have called Lafayette State Police post twice on the Brookston cops. Of course they do nothing because I don't have a plate number. I ask if I have permission to go 120 and catch them.

Trained professionals...

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

when they are at first just maybe speeding down the road at 55in a 40 and then because they are being chased they go to 100mph, yeah they are being pushed.

I'm sorry but that reasoning is b.s. By saying that you are implying that the fleeing driver wouldn't normally flee had the LEO not continued to try to get them to stop, and that the officer is forcing them to flee. I'm sorry, but its the fleeing driver that makes that decision for whatever reason and trying to blame the cop for it is assinine.

 

[jsharmon7]

You missed the point. I would ABSOLUTELY look down on an officer writing a ticket over a radar detector. It's petty, childish, and idiotic. It's that sort of crap that gives police a bad name. If you're going to write a ticket for speeding, do it and move on with your day. To write a ticket out of spite because the motorist has a radar detector speaks volumes as to the integrity of that officer, and to admit on a public forum that you (not you specifically---anyone) would treat a person differently due to their possession of a LAWFUL electronic device is baffling and stupid.

And I think you've missed the point the other member was making. It's not out of spite, it's about following logic. If someone feels the need to own a radar detector it MAY be because they know they tend to speed frequently. THAT is why people own them. People can say they own them "because they can" but everyone knows the real reason. So if an officer decides to write the ticket because the detector may indicate the driver is a habitual speeder, I wouldn't fault them. I haven't, but I definitely understand it. It's just insulting that someone thinks people are stupid enough to believe that they just bought the radar detector because they thought it was neat, but never ever speed.

 

[shibumiseeker]

And I think you've missed the point the other member was making. It's not out of spite, it's about following logic. If someone feels the need to own a radar detector it MAY be because they know they tend to speed frequently. THAT is why people own them. People can say they own them "because they can" but everyone knows the real reason. So if an officer decides to write the ticket because the detector may indicate the driver is a habitual speeder, I wouldn't fault them. I haven't, but I definitely understand it. It's just insulting that someone thinks people are stupid enough to believe that they just bought the radar detector because they thought it was neat, but never ever speed.

Which begs the question:

Is the goal to reduce speeding and dangerous behavior, or is it to raise revenue?

I owned a radar detector for the longest time NOT because I have a desire to speed and get away with it. I owned it as a reminder that I *could* be speeding when a revenue enhancement officer is nearby.

In no way would I try to deny that some people own ECM for the express purpose because they prefer to drastically exceed the flow of traffic and wish to dodge citation for it. Those are the people who are putting the public at risk.

I'd hazard a guess though, that the vast majority of people who own radar detectors do so because they might be speeding at some point, even just keeping up with traffic, and it gives them a reminder to slow it down some. Are they speeding? Yep. Are they a danger to society because of it? Nope.

I know for my own experience as someone who rarely exceeds the speed limit more than 10-15 over and who is most often less than 5mph over, when I had a radar detector the first thing I did when it went off was to check my speed and slow down a little. Which is one reason I knew that the citation I discussed earlier where I WASN'T speeding, was bogus. I probably exceed the speed limit a little more now that I don't own one, simply because it's not occasionally going off to remind me to slow down.

So, it gets back to my question. It's very difficult to make the point that speeding citations due to radar detector possession are really anything more than an added "gotcha" out of spite in the job of revenue enhancement given that relatively few people are going past one standard deviation above traffic flow. There are very, very few people who don't routinely exceed the speed limit. This includes police, politicians, and judges, as well as the rest of us. It's just that some cats are more equal than others and don't need to have a radar detector because they'll get professional courtesy if they are exceeding the speed limit a little and get stopped.

 

[PatriotPride]

Ahhh... My sincerest apologies. You did do something about it.

I really do apologize. And here for a moment I thought you accepted the "special treatment" because it saved you a few bucks...then complained about it on the internet.

I should have known better.

The whole stop lasted around 30 seconds, and that's no exaggeration. The only words I was able to get out were "yes that's where I work" and "yes maam I will slow down" before she handed me my license back and walked away. To be honest I was a bit stunned at the outcome. The last thing I'm going to do on a traffic stop is jump out of my car at night while OC'ing and demand that I recieve a ticket that she may or may not have written me.

As far as complaining about it---that wasn't my intention and that's not how I intended to come across---I was simply trying to share an experience to illustrate a point.

 

[PatriotPride]

And I think you've missed the point the other member was making. It's not out of spite, it's about following logic. If someone feels the need to own a radar detector it MAY be because they know they tend to speed frequently. THAT is why people own them. People can say they own them "because they can" but everyone knows the real reason. So if an officer decides to write the ticket because the detector may indicate the driver is a habitual speeder, I wouldn't fault them. I haven't, but I definitely understand it. It's just insulting that someone thinks people are stupid enough to believe that they just bought the radar detector because they thought it was neat, but never ever speed.

It's a scary progression of thought.

I've seen this same line of reasoning being applied to the ownership and carrying of firearms. I have a firearm that I own and carry legally. Those who OC MAY be disturbing the peace or about to commit a crime, so they are stopped and harassed with alarming frequency. Never mind that their firearm and the carry of it is legal.

Bottom line---it's legal, and IMO to allow it to influence your judgement reflects poorly on you. You may disagree; that's just my personal opinion on the matter.

 

[PatriotPride]

There are very, very few people who don't routinely exceed the speed limit. This includes police, politicians, and judges, as well as the rest of us. It's just that some cats are more equal than others and don't need to have a radar detector because they'll get professional courtesy if they are exceeding the speed limit a little and get stopped.

+1. That's exactly what I tried (and failed) to convey.