Thought for the day

[Azar Kel]

D'ya ever wonder if cops get sick of having to drive 5 miles below the speed limit following some goober that is terrified of getting a ticket??

[Robbert Raets]

I really hope so.... I'm one of those goobers, and I enjoy having a mile of freedom ahead of me and a potential traffic jam behind......

[Dan Stack]

Being aware that they sometimes do pull people over for any speed over the speed limit, I'm one of those goobers too.

[StyroFoam Man]

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[Azar Kel]

I got pulled over once right in front of the local state police barracks, like five miles from my house. The cop pulled me over for running the red light, which I admitedly did. He walked up and asked to see my registration and stuff and said, "Did you know you ran that red light?" I said, "I am sorry sir, I thought it was yellow when I entered the intersection." Then I looked in my rear view mirror and said, "Sir, did you know that you have a headlight out?" He said, "Thank you, try not to play the lights that close."

[calguard66]

Originally posted by StyroFoam Man
How about over-zealous Goober Cops?

We've got cops here in Palmyra who will pull you over for NO reason... I've met all ten cops, been subjected to dozens of breathalizer tests, had to wait while they run my ID through the computer over and over again and had to wait while one went through my car on the grounds that "The only reason someone your age would be driving at 1045PM is to buy crack and I intend to find it." Of course he didn't because Liz called in the COUNTY police to assist us. (This guy fully inteded on provoking an incident, and he was later fired for planting drugs in peoples cars just to pad his arrest record... Big local scandel.)

One night I got pulled over 5 times before I made it out of the town. Liz had the same problem a week later. Just keep in mind that we live 5 miles from the edge of town. No sooner than we'd pull out into traffic another cop car would pull us over.

We've since written to both the town and county to complain about this. If it continues, we'll be filing in court. The amount of time these idiots spend harassing us could be spent patroling and stoping people from vandlizing my car and the buildings on Main Street.

Keep this in mind if any of you ever travel through Palmyra in New York.

If that's true you'll have a case. An officer has to be able to articulate a reason for pulling you over... "he was weaving", "he was speeding", "a headlight was out", etc. They can't just pull you over for the heck of it... and they can only search your car if they are arresting you for something, and then only the area in your immediate reach.

In other words, if they pull you over for speeding and only give you a ticket they can't search. If they pull you over for speeding and arrest you (yes, you can be arrested for infractions) then they can.

[StyroFoam Man]

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[qerlin]

Originally posted by StyroFoam Man
How about over-zealous Goober Cops?

We've got cops here in Palmyra who will pull you over for NO reason... I've met all ten cops, been subjected to dozens of breathalizer tests, had to wait while they run my ID through the computer over and over again and had to wait while one went through my car on the grounds that "The only reason someone your age would be driving at 1045PM is to buy crack and I intend to find it." Of course he didn't because Liz called in the COUNTY police to assist us. (This guy fully inteded on provoking an incident, and he was later fired for planting drugs in peoples cars just to pad his arrest record... Big local scandel.)

One night I got pulled over 5 times before I made it out of the town. Liz had the same problem a week later. Just keep in mind that we live 5 miles from the edge of town. No sooner than we'd pull out into traffic another cop car would pull us over.

We've since written to both the town and county to complain about this. If it continues, we'll be filing in court. The amount of time these idiots spend harassing us could be spent patroling and stoping people from vandlizing my car and the buildings on Main Street.

Keep this in mind if any of you ever travel through Palmyra in New York.

4 words: illegal search and seizure. Press charges.

[Aedh Rua]

Huh, and I thought Wisconsin cops were tough!

Seriously, that sounds like very dirty pool to me. As a city employee, I have already met most of the local cops. They are a bit cynical, some of them, and a little harsh, one or two, but basically decent guys just trying to make a living. I doubt most of the New Richmond cops would behave like that even if they were ordered to.

The New Richmond Police are definitely a law abiding bunch, who are not terribly interested in harassing the citizens.

If your local police are acting that way, then you have a serious local government problem. That sort of harassment in the interest of revenues used to be more common, back in the '50s and '60s, but in most states, including New York, I am sure, it is now quite illegal. Because it IS illegal, you may want to contact your state or county attorney, before filing yourself. If nothing else, the support of the State Attorney General or County Attorney will make for a much stronger case, and some sort of sanctions against the City of Palmyra, which would make it change its policies, are very likely.

It might also be worthwhile to see if anyone else is experiencing the same problems. You may have a chief of police who takes things personally, and can't believe he can be wrong. Guys like that have been known to harass people they thought were criminals, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Like I said earlier, most small town police are pretty decent guys, who don't have many axes to grind. But it can happen that a local police force fills up with bad apples. We had an example like that, here, in the police force of a neighboring town, which will go nameless, so I don't get sued. The chief and most important officers there got caught in a hot tub nude with some underage girls. Turned out they were in the habit of harassing local girls, especially local nude dancers, and then letting them go in exchange for "favors".

To quote Geoffery Beaumont, "It's a strange world, isn't it?"

[Azar Kel]

Don'tcha love the way a little question can start a good conversation?

[calguard66]

Originally posted by StyroFoam Man


All the times except the "search incident" were what they called "routine traffic stops..." Basicly they pull you over and pull up your record to see if they can haul you in for somthing. It's a small town and traffic stops are thier #1 source of income after the Festival Season is over...

There's no such thing as a "routine traffic stop"... there has to be a _specific_ reason they think you were doing something illegal. Police officers can't just pull people over at random... technically, they can't just run the plates of random motorists as they drive down the road either. They have to have probable cause.

If the cop found a dead body in your trunk and 3 billion dollars worth of cocaine in the back seat it would all be worthless if he couldn't give a reason why he pulled you over in the first place. And if the reason why they pulled you over doesn't give them reason to search your car it's still worthless.

Now admittedly they can often "write into evidence" why they pulled you over... but they have to come up with something.

If the cops are as blatant as you say they are, you might want to call your state police or district attorney... or the local Federal Attorney General's office. What you describe are blatant civil rights violations...

[StyroFoam Man]

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[Captain Blake]

Styro,

Do they do this to everyone, or just you? If it's everyone, that'll be easier, since you'll have a lot of witnesses.

I used to work in a town that derived it's entire revenue base from speeding tickets. So, everyone got drilled at 1 over.

In another place, I got a ticket because I was young looking. The guy in the mini-van that drilled me was a stockbroker doing 80 MPH in a 65 zone. I got the ticket. Definate bias case. Of cource, the magistrate we went before had a nice discussion with the cop about their shopping date the weekend before. So, I was pretty much toast.

I've met some very nice police officers, and some very bad ones. I guess my advice is learn the lay of the land. In downtown Nashville, I've been waved at for doing 70 in a 55. Ten over seems to be the limit in most places around here though.

Alex

[Karg]

Originally posted by StyroFoam Man
How about over-zealous Goober Cops?

We've got cops here in Palmyra who will pull you over for NO reason... I've met all ten cops, been subjected to dozens of breathalizer tests, had to wait while they run my ID through the computer over and over again and had to wait while one went through my car on the grounds that "The only reason someone your age would be driving at 1045PM is to buy crack and I intend to find it." Of course he didn't because Liz called in the COUNTY police to assist us. (This guy fully inteded on provoking an incident, and he was later fired for planting drugs in peoples cars just to pad his arrest record... Big local scandel.)

One night I got pulled over 5 times before I made it out of the town. Liz had the same problem a week later. Just keep in mind that we live 5 miles from the edge of town. No sooner than we'd pull out into traffic another cop car would pull us over.
Keep this in mind if any of you ever travel through Palmyra in New York.

Where is Palmyra near again?

Jeez i Though Nassau County cops were bad.

One time, i got pulled over because he said i was driving eraticly (yea right) and gave me a Sobrity Test. Mind you, i did not have any beer or anything that night.

The best part of it though was that he gave me the whole "Walk the straight line, touch the nose with your finger tips, blah, blah, blah" Bit, and durring the part when he shined the flashlight in to my eyes to look at them he complained that i was too tall and wanted me to sit on my bumper. He was like 5'6" or something and I'm 6'3".

It was pretty funny watching him strain to look in my eyes while i was standing

Karg

[StyroFoam Man]

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