Hwy Patrol lie?

I agree with Ross and 034Runner. Yes, there are d-bag cops. Just like there are d-bag lawyers, engineers, factory workers, etc. It has nothing to do with their profession, it is just a simple fact there are d-bags in this world....period. I get really sick and tired of people slamming cops due to the fact they think they should get a break. Well, EVERYONE thinks they should get a break.

I am a cop, and I have been pulled over. I do not even tell the Officer I am LEO. I have also gotten a ticket before in my personal car. I take my lumps and get on with life. I am no more special than anyone else and don't expect to get any special treatment. The fact is, you were in the wrong (by your own admission), so pay the fine and get on with it.

And for those who claim traffic enforcement is not "real crime"....well, if you could hear the stories I have about innocent drivers injured, maimed for life, or killed by those who speed, text, eat, have their dog jumping on their lap, drunk, etc. you may have a different take. The fact is, there are more people injured and killed in traffic related incidents than those killed or injured by assault and murder each year, so yes, it is a problem and I see no issues with dedicating a certain number of Officers to that detail. It really sucks to have to go tell some poor guy that his wife was just killed in a car crash because some a-hole was speeding and distracted and went left of center. And yes, I have done that....more times than I would like to. And it especially sucks when it happens around the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday.

Ok, now I am done. That feels better.
 
Ross said:
Here is what I see happening court:

Judge: was the driver speeding:

Driver: yes
Officer: yes
Diver: but only 5 mile an hour, I doubled checked with my GPS and it was a good GPS, consumer reports gave it great marks.
Officer: by 12 miles an hours. I clocked him on my radar gun that this state purchased. This radar gun is designed especially for this purpose and has been proven effective. It has been calibrated in the correct manner and has been use by somebody who has been trained to operate it.

Who do you think the judge will side with?
Click to expand...

there is a way around that. the OP can request that the most recent calibration record for that specific gun be present at the time of his hearing b/c its critical to his case if he wants to take the route that the gun was off. id say 98% of the time they wont be able to produce it or if they do it will be outdated. (they need to be calibrated X amount of times a year i think).
ive done that once when i truely believed the gun was off.. (they said i was doin 84 in a 65 when in fact i had my cruise set at 72 so i knew there was no way i could be going that fast)...they could not produce the calibration record and the judge threw it out.
 
ant-ny said:
Yes, there are d-bag cops. Just like there are d-bag lawyers, engineers, factory workers, etc. It has nothing to do with their profession, it is just a simple fact there are d-bags in this world....period. I get really sick and tired of people slamming cops due to the fact they think they should get a break. Well, EVERYONE thinks they should get a break.
Click to expand...


AMEN!

people claim ALL cops are horrible people.

no matter what line of work you are in, you will have an ahole or two.

the majorioty of officers i have had a run in with (good, or bad) were actually rather pleasant to deal with.
 
As I stated before don't argue with the cop. If you were on the phone while drivin or speeding just accept your ticket. If you were actually going 65 and he is really lying then fight it.

Sorry but it seems unlikely he was lying. Why would a cop bother when there are so many actual speeders?
 
TNTramair said:
there is a way around that. the OP can request that the most recent calibration record for that specific gun be present at the time of his hearing b/c its critical to his case if he wants to take the route that the gun was off. id say 98% of the time they wont be able to produce it or if they do it will be outdated. (they need to be calibrated X amount of times a year i think).
ive done that once when i truely believed the gun was off.. (they said i was doin 84 in a 65 when in fact i had my cruise set at 72 so i knew there was no way i could be going that fast)...they could not produce the calibration record and the judge threw it out.
Click to expand...

They say that is the way around it. Not sure about all departments I have a friend that did traffic in SoCal. For them keeping up with calibration was required and they officer would be in deep **** if ever was out of calibration.

While in the Military I used equipment that required calibration and it was tracked religiously. Now I work for the DoD with new equipment. I know on our end if equipment needs calibration makes sure that it can happen. I am sure LE looks at it the same.

Although it is possible what you say I really doubt it. I think most people who deal with equipment requiring calibration take it serious.
The OPer can always take it to court and find out.
 
I doubt it was really the OPs tires.

Perhaps his speedometer is off by 2-3 mph but 10?

I am running a 31.5" tire on my 97 and my speedometer is off by 1mph when going 70.

Is the OP running 33s? Even if he was it shouldn't be more than 3mph difference.

:bat:
 
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At this point you are not guilty, he gave you the citation I think..The ticket comes in the mail.

I also got a speeding ticket last Oct, and is waiting for it to be decided by "Trial by Written Declaration" later this Jan., hopefully the CHP will not pass his declaration so the case will be closed in my favor.

Same thing here, he(CHP) wrote 80mph while my garmin gps and speedo reflected only 72.

Sh!t happens..the only thing I/We can do is to get away not paying the fine and possible infractions to our driver license.

Other than denying the speed the CHP officer accused me of, I did not show extra motions/behavior, or agressive reasoning to the officer...I don't want him to remember me. So when I'll request to be tried by written declaration..IMO,he would probably will have a hard time recalling the events when he pulled me over..I assumed he issued plenty of citations that day. Whereas the declarations I wrote are detailed(2 pages LOL!). Also,a greater chance that..he won't pass his side at all.

When you receive the ticket, request a form for trial by declaration, it extends a month to the original hearing date/fine deadline. Should you lose the TBD, request a "trial de Novo" - court appearance, which will again extend another 30 days i think..lol! maybe just in time for you(also me) to receive our tax refund and pay the fine.
 
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Mikekds...
It sure sounded like you were calling me a liar, or at least disputing
What i wrote. If not, i apologize. Point is, I take my
Position seriously and when I am in the wrong, I accept it.
Just the way I was brought up, I guess.
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice... Wasn't really planning on fighting it but wanted to vent about this particular officer.

I know all don't lie and if he was honest and just gave me the ticket without so much BS, I would have respected that. Be a man, say I was going 5mph over and strictly enforcing that speed violation. Don't beat around the bush, lie to me, sell me on the idea of accepting a fine and break the law yourself by having all lights off before and after speed trapping me. I have no respect for this particular officer but that's not to say there aren't good honest officers out there. Sorry if I came across whining a bit, but wish there weren't guys like that out there giving hwy patrol a bad name.
 
Will733 said:
Went from stock 265/70/17 to 285/70/17...
Also it was December 28th and you know how they get around that time of the month.
Click to expand...
There is a difference of 3.5% in speed between those tires sizes. If your speedo indicates 60mph, you are really going 62.1mph.
 

I am a former LEO - but never worked in CA. I hear so many people ask about the "lights off" issue - so often that it has nearly become an urban legend. Here in VA, cops can hide 'blacked out' in the woods, behind bridge abutments, along the on-ramp or on the shoulder of the road.

Heck; some folks believe that a cop can't write you a ticket unless he has his hat on when exiting the patrol car. Where that one ever got started I have no clue.
:bluejump:

Five mph over in VA will barely be noticed, unless you might be in a 25 mph school zone with little kids present. Most agencies will spot you ten mph and some even a good fifteen; but don't bet your license on it!
:roadkill:

Regarding calibration, it is a requirement that radar units (as well as lidar/laser, VASCAR and other speed measurement devices) be checked thoroughly either once a year or once every six months - depending upon the agency. For using radar in the MOVING mode, the patrol car's speedometer calibration must also be certified to be accurate at particular time periods.

This is because the officer/deputy must check the "PATROL" speed shown on the radar unit against the patrol vehicle's speedometer and ensure that they match before giving any consideration to the "TARGET" speed shown in the display. Otherwise, the radar unit will show the appproaching vehicle traveling much faster than it actually is, possibly leading to an erroneous ticket!

Radar is very accurate when used properly by a trained officer and the unit is calibrated regularly. However, certain things can indeed affect its operation.
 
Jeff Kleb said:

I am a former LEO - but never worked in CA. I hear so many people ask about the "lights off" issue - so often that it has nearly become an urban legend. Here in VA, cops can hide 'blacked out' in the woods, behind bridge abutments, along the on-ramp or on the shoulder of the road.

Heck; some folks believe that a cop can't write you a ticket unless he has his hat on when exiting the patrol car. Where that one ever got started I have no clue.
:bluejump:

Five mph over in VA will barely be noticed, unless you might be in a 25 mph school zone with little kids present. Most agencies will spot you ten mph and some even a good fifteen; but don't bet your license on it!
:roadkill:

Regarding calibration, it is a requirement that radar units (as well as lidar/laser, VASCAR and other speed measurement devices) be checked thoroughly either once a year or once every six months - depending upon the agency. For using radar in the MOVING mode, the patrol car's speedometer calibration must also be certified to be accurate at particular time periods.

This is because the officer/deputy must check the "PATROL" speed shown on the radar unit against the patrol vehicle's speedometer and ensure that they match before giving any consideration to the "TARGET" speed shown in the display. Otherwise, the radar unit will show the appproaching vehicle traveling much faster than it actually is, possibly leading to an erroneous ticket!

Radar is very accurate when used properly by a trained officer and the unit is calibrated regularly. However, certain things can indeed affect its operation.
Click to expand...


I got a ticket for going 5 mph over on 17 N . in Va. the trooper told me " HERE IN VA. WE TAKE SPEEDING SERIOUSLY , AND 1 MPH OVER IS SPEEDING AND YOU'LL GET A TICKET EVERY TIME." . now my 4runner barely goes 65 mph, so i'd be happy to get a speeding ticket on the hwy
 
Cut the cop a break. CA is broke and they intend to cure it one driver at a time. When I lived in CT every time a state budget shortfall was announced they immediately had the CSP (Connecticut State Pirates) out patrolling the byways in their mobile toll booths with the fancy red & blue flashing lights. Who cares about real crime when it is so much more profitably to tax motorists at gunpoint!
At least Black Bart had the decency to wear a mask when he stuck up the stage!
 
My advice to you is to go for the police video/audio. It should not lie. I am not sure how the laws are in Cali, but you should be able to file a discovery and obtain the footage. I know the police in NJ have to keep it on file for 1 year. I am not sure how much you want to invest in this but it is a path you could take. Unfortunately it is not always perfect as I know by example:

One of my family members had an incident where a driver who had ties to the PD hit his car and it was a mess. I won't go into details, but let's just say we went as far as filing a discovery and obtaining police video because the accident report was inaccurate. Unfortunately, the audio on all of the police vehicles that responded were malfunctioning that day as well as one of the video cameras that had a perfect view of my family members car. We still can't obtain that footage because "it is lost."
 
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