While running an errand for work I was pulled over out of nowhere by this cop. It was weird I am usually pretty damn aware of what's going on and first thing I notice is he is on my butt. I glance down at my speedo and I'm doing 48 in a 40. So I'm wondering what the hell?

I pull over and this is the dialogue:

Cop: driver's license and registration
Me: Can I ask why you pulled me over?
Cop: You were speeding, doing 58 in a 40 here.
Me: Really? 58? I didn't feel I was going that fast, I just exited the freeway and stopped at the light before you pulled me over.
Cop: Yes I have you on radar at 58.
Me: Ummm ok.
Cop: Just make sure to keep it under 40 here, this isn't an area you want to be speeding with all the pedestrians.
Me: Sure.

He walks back to his car and I pull off. I was like WTF? If I was doing 18 over the limit on radar why didn't he give me a ticket? Weird...but I'm not complaining.

The weirdest part of all was afterwards. I was waiting to get back on the main street and he has another car pulled over! This truck next to me is laughing and I tell him I just got pulled by that same cop. The guy in the truck said he did too but didnt get a ticket. Then on the way back from my errand in less than 5 minutes I'm on the same road and he has another car pulled over.

Why is he pulling all these people over and only giving them warnings? So strange especially since it's the beginning of the month, usually cops are more apt to give tickets out then because they get all gung ho on their quotas.

 

odd, maybe he was just randomly pulling people over looking for drunk dirvers or what not.

 

or maybe he was using a "scare" tactic because he knew you were speeding but didnt catch you on radar.

 

True.

 

Doubtful.

He may have been looking for a suspect that was spotted in the area. Many, many crimes are solved beginning with a simple traffic stop.

 

HOw are you surprized? Cops always give more warnings than tickets, and you're probably lucky that you ran into a nice cop (and if it had been me, I would have ticketed your ***).

 

Seen that before. Officers in the next township over always seemed to be on this one road through a subdivision/school zone. I was pulled over a few weeks into this, about a half-mile away, just outside of the subdivision. The road went from no houses/trees to suddenly being a school zone and I thought it went from 35 to 25 there, but apparently it was 25 for the last half-mile (where there are no houses/sidewalks etc!)

Officer gave me a written warning for 36 in a 25. He wrote it up as 34; "Because I'll get into trouble if I warn you at more than ten over". He also said; "We've got a lot of kids around here, but none to spare." Sounds like a clampdown initiative to me.

 

Gee thanks,

I know I wasn't going 58 though. Most likely he was looking for a suspect because I had never seen a cop in that area do that before.

 

hES probably trying to "confiscate" some weed for his personal use.

It happens all the time. "Im not going to give you a ticket or arrest you, but I am going to have to take this bag of marijuana".


before you flame I have met more than one cop who has admitted to smoking weed. Ive heard several cops tell me they usually dont bother busting people for small amounts of pot.

 

hmmm, ok...


yeah, anyways, that is strange, ive gotten one break, and it was a BIG one. I was coming home from school in my Probe GT. It handled pretty good so of course i was weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, speeding. The works. Weeeell, i kinda noticed a baby blue 2000 Ford Taurus following me, yeah, it was a cop. He pulled me over and asked to see my license/reg. I asked him why he pulled me over. He said for RECKLESS, not careless, RECKLESS driving, NOT good. But then he sees my last name, asks me if i had an older brother. i told him yeah, he says, "you know, ill do for you what i did for your brothers back then, im letting you off, you have a nice car, dont ruin it!" sooo lucky. He told me to thank my bro cuz thats the only reaosn he let me off..



Eric

 

I'm gonna flame. I've been a cop for 9 years, and I have NEVER EVEN HEARD of anyone in my Department or any of the Agencies around me to do some stupid **** like that. I'm not saying that it never happens anywhere, but it hasn't happened here. Sounds like you're one of those guys who has an excuse every time he does something wrong.

"Yeah, I got pulled over for speeding, but really, the cop was just trying to get some weed from me. It happens all the time."

What a dumba$$ thing to say. Take some responsibility for your own actions. Because, I guarantee you, when a cop gets busted for doing something that stupid, he's going to have to take responsibility for his.

If I decide NOT to take a guy to jail because he has two joints in his car, do you really think that I'm also gonna let him keep the weed?!? How f'ing stupid is that??? I've dumped more weed in the toilet than you've ever smoked. I've never even had the notion to "confiscate it for personal use", as you said. Grow up and forget about the conspiracy theories.


Now, in response to the original poster... sounds to me like his agency is running a "zero-tolerance" program in that area. Usually that is done to raise the awareness of drivers in that area. Probably got a bunch of complaints about speeding in the area, so they are out there trying to be more visible for a while. Tickets = court time, so he's not gonna ticket everyone.

 

Then I guess the retired narcotics officer I work with is a big liar
And I guess my dad(deceased) who was DEA for 23 years is a liar.

I merely offerd up a possibility for why he was pulling over random cars and letting them go.

Just because YOU dont smoke pot dosent mean other police officers dont.
Where do you suppose they get there weed from, the local dealer, umm no they confiscate it.

So all cops arent perfect.


Well explain why a cop wouldnt pour out the weed in the gutter but INSTEAD puts it in the trunk or pocket and leaves.

If you guys dont want to face the reality that there are cops who smoke confiscated pot then O-WELL

 

I was also pulled over not too long ago.. i didn't go that fast though... he pulled me over for going like 7 over.. it was 35 i was going maybe 42-44... weird cops... dind't give me a ticket...

 

 

In your original post, you said...

... and THAT is bullsh!t. So, yeah, no disrespect intended, but if your friend and your dad both told you that, then they are liars. Sorry. If YOU don't want to face the reality that the VAST majority of cops out there DO NOT smoke confiscated pot, then O-WELL. How many Police Officers are going to trust the quality and content of weed they found on someone on the street? Not many. If cops want to smoke on their own time, then they find a reliable source (a friend who smokes, etc...), and that's where they get it from.

Again, I didn't say that it doesn't happen, just that you are obviously overstating it. You and every other "conspiracy theorist" out there would love to believe every bad thing that they hear, but it just isn't true.

If a guy was so strung out that he needed to make random traffic stops just to find some weed, then I'm pretty sure that his problem would manifest itself in some other ways that would make it obvious to his coworkers that he had a problem. Do you think that other cops DON'T know what is going on with their coworkers? Do you think people, who investigate things for a living, would not notice that one of their own was pulling over cars randomly and for no reason?

To answer your other question... I have NEVER dumped weed in the gutter. I put it in my pocket and flush it down the toilet. You remove the stuff from the area, and then you dispose of it. It's not like making someone pour out a beer.

When you have a clue about the facts of police work, then you can discuss it. Until then, if something is your opinion, please state it that way.

 

I would have called the cops non-emergency number and asked what was going on. He got your speed wrong.

Was he a REAL cop?

 

Don't know if what would hold up. Because you would have to submit evidence that the stop was legit.(ie.. radar reading etc..)

But to Foodmary: Just be glad you didn't get a ticket and count your blessings. He's probably just being nice to everyone in the area because even YOU were going close to 10mph over the limit(as was everyone else apparently). He was just probably trying to get people to slow down.

 

For starters the USA is a big place so if 1 cop out of every police force is doing this on average of 2 times a week ITs HAPPENIG ALL THE TIME.

Did I ever say the whole force was doing this? of course not.

You said "If a guy is so strung out he has to make stops....."
strung out on pot??? Are you sure you are a cop? How do you get strung out on pot? You must be thinking of crack or heroine. either a person can hold a job or cant.

By the way, if something is a conspiracy theory it means just that, it is a only a theory. But you admitted it happens.

So by your own words it is NOT just a theory.

I have already made it clear that my first post was just

a "possibility".

Also alcoholcs can go to thier jobs year after year hiding the alcohol abuse. It is even easier to hide your pot habit, so why would "the whole force know"?

You seem a little nieve to be an officer of 9 years.

 

And you seem to THINK you know a lot about police work.

To clear up your confusion...
#1 Conspiracy theories are accusations that there is some kind of widespread abuse of power going on. There isn't. It's that simple. If I admit that there are a few corrupt police officers out there, then that is not admitting that your point isn't a theory. The theory is that it happens "all the time"... but, the fact is that it happens very rarely.
#2 The term "strung out" means, to me anyway, that you do not have control over your habit. Your habit has control over you. If I'm wrong, and "strung out" has a medical meaning, then I apologize for confusing you. Anyway... if an officer was randomly stopping car after car after car after car, without reason, don't you think that his supervisor would hear it on the radio and take an interest in it? As a supervisor, I can tell you that he would. Don't you think that if he was pulling over all of those people for no reason, that there would be a rash of complaints about his actions? Again, as a supervisor, I can tell you that there would be.

My beef with you is this: someone posts a simple question about a traffic stop, and your first reaction is to say that the cop was looking to do something wrong. Why not assume that the cop was trying to get speeders to slow down? Because you, and people like you, look for any excuse in the world to justify why you shouldn't have to be "harrassed" by the police.

If something is just a "possibility", and is not a "probability", then why would you offer it up as advice to someone?

You think an alcoholic police officer could go to work year after year, and nobody would know??? I bet you also think that **** like the movie "Training Day" happens all the time too, huh? With respect, this ain't your father's police force. 20 years ago, maybe. Now, officers have to interact with each other and with the public so much that, even if his abilities were slightly impaired, he would be discovered. I'm sure there are some who still exist, but most likely, they exist in places where they either have no interaction with the public, or they exist in places where their actions are overlooked by "sympathetic" supervisors. Police communities are tight-knit. Officers are closer than people of almost any other occupation. We know what is going on in each others lives, and because of that, we become aware of problems that most people would not be aware of. And I'm telling you, as a fact, that this crap you are spouting is untrue. We haven't even touched on random alcohol and drug screenings. But, then, that wouldn't fit with your theories would it???

I'm through wasting my time arguing with you. Believe what you want, but I don't think a "skatepark asst. manager" knows enough about police work to make the accusations you make.

Oh, and the word is spelled "naive"... you should be VERY familiar with it.

 

Jeez, it was a possibility however, unlikely. Give it up. You have to admit it does happen, but it may be unlikely that it was that cop's intent.

I'd go with the "raising awareness" stance due to complaints of speeding in the area. That is by far the most logical.

Dayum, give it a rest.

 

Yeah probably to raise awareness...there are a lot of speeders in that area. I'm glad he didn't give me a ticket, I already have one on my insurance. Another one would kill it being that I live in Southern Cali. I’ve been pulled over 12 times for speeding and have gotten 6 tickets in my lifetime. I would say that is pretty good averages…well except that I’ve been pulled over 12 times,

 

I would be happy not to get the ticket.... NO questions asked!

 

i wouldnt say that a cop would have to take complete responsibility. cops get off all the time, im not saying your not a responsible one, but when i got into my accident, the cop sat there for 15min just thinking of things to ticket me for(no i was under no influence of anything)i ended up with 5 tickets, i can honestly say i deserved 1(expired insurance card). and then 2 weeks later a cop was speeding, rearends my friend on his way to school, completly the cops fault and i can garantee you that she was not ticketed or anything. my friend called the department to check and she had no tickets on her record for it. that crap happens everyday, and its not fair, but then again what is?

i agree with the "zero tolerance" that has happened around here a couple times. cops get complaints about excessive speeding in the area, and they cant pull them all over and ticket them, so they give warnings, i dont know about you guys, but when i get a ticket, i drive 2-3under the next week or so.

 

OK, not to flame but if you actually got 5 additional tickets that were not justified, how was he able to write them? Since I dont know the whole story its hard to really undestand that specific situation you were in. You know?

But in my opinion (nothing more and probably a lot less) if you got the ticket, you were more than likely in violation of the law somehow. Its really that simple.

I have things on my car that are illegal. If I get busted for them, then its my fault. Its not the police officer having a bad day, not the crappy system, I broke the law. Step up, play like a man and admit it. If its not on the car, you cant be cited for it.

I know the law and I am VOLUNTARILY/KNOWINGLY violating it (clears, with proper colored bulbs and 35% tint) so if I get picked up, stopped or it gets noticed during another infraction the ONLY person that can be blamed is myself.

This is a serious accusation. I am not sure that that kind of info is available to the public over the phone....? I could be wrong...never been in that situation.

Me too. I would rather be stopped, warned and go on my merry way. But like you when ANY encounter with the police usually has me slowed down for a while.

As said before, this is not a flame.

 

i understand, its cool, no flame taken
my friend was inquiring about the overall accident and the station had to report any tickets given to person at fault, which was the officer. i also take responsibility for my actions, i have had 2 speeding tickets in 2 years, each one i didnt agrue with, i knew it was my fault so i took the ticket and went to driving defense classes. as for my accident, like said the only one i deserved was expired insurance. the others were, 1) failure to reduce speed before hitting an oject(i showed the cop the break marks from my car, and took pictures of it) 2) speeding (he wasnt even there, and he did not to a test to check my speed) 3)wreckless driving (he wasnt even there, and the only witnesses were my friends and they stated i was driving just fine and it was an accident) 4) to wide of a right turn (dont know where he got that bull **** from, but like i said he wasnt even there
i went into the court, the judge said said "do u have an upto date insurance card" i showed it to him, he said "were there any witnesses to the rest of these tickets, i said just my friends, he said these are rediclous, and i got off.
the cop was looking for excuses to give me a ticket, but i talked to him after court and he said he was instructed to give all possible tickets by his captain. so i said fine, it wasnt your fault shook hands with him and left. so i guess he had no choice