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Rant

Police Need To Follow Traffic Laws Too

Posted 32 months ago|10 comments|1,925 views
VIDEOS
Written by
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
 Philadelphia, PA
This rant was sparked by an idiot cop in my neighborhood. I was behind a dark gray Dodge Charger (and unmarked police cruiser) pulling out of my local Wawa convenience store. Then it happened, the officer had the audacity to just turn, no turn signal, no hand movement, nothing. I will ignore the illegal front window tinting, but it had that too. So I pulled up next to him at the next light and gave him a piece of my mind. If I had been in front of him I guarantee you I would have gotten a ticket for turning into traffic with no turn signal.

Police officers are not above the law. They need to understand that. The police are part of the executive branch of government, which means they ENFORCE the laws. No where in their job description does it say "To protect and serve (oh, and by the way, we are above the law)."

I am sick and tired of seeing a cop turn his lights on to get through a red light and then turning them off again, I am sick and tired of cops abusing their powers. Luckily, with the power of youtube and a handy video camera I intend to purchase, I will catch them in the act like in the youtube video provided.

The first link is for the Haverford Police Department, just in case you want to send a nasty email on my behalf. The second is my rant on idiot drivers which I felt was relevant.

Cheers
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COMMENTS
32 months ago: As more and more of these "Certified" and "Licensed" Police Officers take to the roads and get away with more and more of the protection of the "THIN BLUE LINE."

Many of them fail to understand that they too have to follow the laws. I have seen them turn on their lights and sirens to avoid waiting at stop lights. Until the people who oversee them stop this and other infractions they will continue to happen while they stand upon a soap box telling us what we can and cannot get away with.
Rudi Stettner
Rudi Stettner
 Moderator
32 months ago: I remember two cops in opposing lanes stopping their cars and having a leisurely chat as traffic piled up for blocks in both directions. I was right behind them. No one dared honk at them. I am philosophically pro police, but some of them are real zipperheads
Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson
Australia
32 months ago: Random breath tests and drug tests of "law officials" including Police Officers, administration staff, Department staff, politicians and public servants would soon thin the ranks of those unfit to hold such positions.
32 months ago: The "Man" in the video needs to take 2 pumpkin tests.

One for the suitcase he has around the midsection and another for his oversized head.

I'm sure one will come back positive.

He is just pissed that he has to roll his watch in a sub-sub-compact.
32 months ago: I agree that cops are required to obey all traffic laws, EVEN IF THEY ARE IN ROUTE TO A CRIME SCENE. That siren and lights are there to warn others to make way as they need the road, it does not give them the right to abuse traffic signals or other laws, and we let them because when we need them, we also want them there as fast as they can get there.

It still does not excuse the officers driving errors and he should be cited just like any other citizen would be and YOU have the right to make a citizens arrest and charge him with the same violations that he would have charged you. Just make sure you note the time and tag number or car number, go to the local police station and lodge a complaint and insist the traffic summons be written at that time.

Here is another abuse that some are guilty of: Many police departments have equipped their vehicles with Internet linked laptops. I know for a fact that one Arkansas Sate Police officer was watching U-tube while driving down the highway looking for an easy stop so he could make another DUI arrest. An easy stop is having a light out, be it head or tail, gives the cop an easy stop and the possibility that he can catch someone with alcohol on their or their PASSENGERS breath, then he can test the driver.

Wasn't me, but I know the facts are accurate.
TheLegendTomWing
TheLegendTomWing
 Administrator
 Philadelphia, PA
32 months ago: Well said sixholdens, can I actually lodge the complaint and take them to traffic court?

if so I will most certainly do so.
32 months ago: I don't see why not. We, as citizens, have the right to make citizens arrests and since the traffic laws apply to everyone, all you should have to do is give the same testimony as a cop would, his word against yours, unless he has video or radar printout with your tags showing (which as far as I know they don't). If you have photo or video of them breaking a traffic law, it should be proof to the judge that a proper arrest has been made and the officer should pay the fine and suffer the points on his license or have it taken from him, just like a normal citizen.

There has been a breakdown in citizen’s rights in this country. The police are part of the problem, the government is backing them and passing laws that citizens don't understand and wouldn't approve if they knew in advance what was being taken from them. Once a law gets on the books it is hard to get it removed and it takes a lot of really loud and headstrong citizens to keep after the politicians to make the changes needed because it was a bunch of loud idiots who were hollering for the law to be passed in the first place, usually some religious group or anti- something group.
32 months ago: What ever you do, don't back down from a cop when you are in the right, and I don't mean in your drunken minds opinion of right, I mean you have to be sober, obeying the law and not doing anything to infringe on someone else's rights. You don't have to do everything they say just because they are a cop. That cigarette you're smoking, that drink you are drinking are your property and a cop does not have the authority to tell you to put it out or stop drinking it until after you have been convicted of a crime in a court of law and a cop is not a court of law. He can wait until you finish if it bothers him for you to smoke or drink while he is questioning you.

I’m not anti-police, I’m anti-police power abuse and anti-anything that takes away my rights as a free citizen of the US, which means I’m anti-religious based laws and anti-race based laws, both of which we have too many in this country.
aelisabeth
aelisabeth
Middle River, MD
32 months ago: I was in the right one time and all I got from standing up for myself was that I was handcuffed and put into the back of a police car. I would have been taken to jail but I pulled the "my father is a police officer," card and eventually I was let go but cited. It was two rookie police officers and they were on power trip overload.
maschwar77
maschwar77
Tempe, AZ
32 months ago: We need to change policing in America. I once heard a great suggestion. Policing should no longer be a profession per se but a civic duty, much like needing to appear for Jury Duty or serving in the National Guard. If we took a hybrid Jury Duty/National Guard model, anyone registered to vote in the county and found to be criminal record free and mentally competent could be required to serve for a period of one weekend a month and two weeks a year for a period of one year. In return for this duty, a small stipend would be paid. This would stop favoritism, cronyism, and corruption. Police Officers abusing their power would not be in place for years at a time. Plus, there would be a significant savings to the tax payer. Academies could be designed to produce intelligent citizen-police officers that know the law and are not muscle-bound, power-hungry, idiots. This is the ultimate solution to the problems with policing in America.

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