slap on the hand

[SloSVO]

so if you have a badge and you can get away with just a slapon the hand, while anyone else would be screwed to the wall.

[Blackmagic1]

Yep! I had a friend who knew 2 DPS officers who patrolled from AJ to Florence. One had a Crown Vic, the other the 5.0 Mustang. They would race each other to see who could get to Florence first !

[05mustangman]

Yea it is complete bull that they can get away with that. But you know what, I give that lady cop props for actually stopping another police car for violating traffic laws.

[IMSHAKN]

While he shouldn't have been doing that, she should not have disobeyed her superior's orders by continuing. It's simple, get the car number, then back off. You put more people at risk doing the crap they did. That being said, I'm surprised he stopped for her without being ordered to by his superior officer... I don't think it's wise to stop for someone if you're in a marked patrol car...

[05mustangman]

That is true she should have found out if that car number was on the way to an emergency and just didnt have his lights on at the moment. Also that cop shouldnt have stop in the median, he should pulled over to the right or even off the freeway whenever he could. But there is no reason a cop can't try to stop another cop for doing something illegal.

[IMSHAKN]

Her sergeant told her to strictly get the vehicle number and they will take care of it. That's where it should have ended. I would not be comfortable stopping for anyone in a marked patrol car unless my sergeant told me to do so. It's not that being an officer places you above the law, it simply raises a serious officer safety issue. There are legitimately people out there who have cars equipped that would lead a reasonable person to believe that they are a LEO.

The officer caught speeding was is likely way out of policy and is deserving of punishment, yes. She is as well for insubordination, nor is it her first instance of doing so in similar situations.

[SloSVO]

If she would have just reported the car number, he wouldn't have gotten any punishment at all... it would really be just a slap on the hand at that point...

[IMSHAKN]

All they need is the car number and the time to place him in that car, then they could criminally charge him later if they choose to do so, which she would have discretion in doing so. Instead she violated multiple department policies and opened up her agency to be civilly liable for anything that could have happened during this incident. It was absolutely uncalled. Would I chase a motorcycle for speeding? No. Would I chase a car in and out of traffic for speeding? No. The benefits do NOT outweigh the risks in that situation. Get the plate and as much info as possible and back off or trying to locate them at a later time.

It's not that I don't agree with something needing to be done with this guy, it's simply that this was not the appropriate response to the problem.

[SloSVO]

All they need is the car number and the time to place him in that car, then they could criminally charge him later if they choose to do so, which she would have discretion in doing so. Instead she violated multiple department policies and opened up her agency to be civilly liable for anything that could have happened during this incident. It was absolutely uncalled. Would I chase a motorcycle for speeding? No. Would I chase a car in and out of traffic for speeding? No. The benefits do NOT outweigh the risks in that situation. Get the plate and as much info as possible and back off or trying to locate them at a later time.

It's not that I don't agree with something needing to be done with this guy, it's simply that this was not the appropriate response to the problem.

What your saying has its truth, but my point is that if this wasn't on video or if she would have followed orders. More than likely,this would have been swept under the carpet and this guy would even have less of a slap on the hand..

[IMSHAKN]

If the video portion is of concern you can simply do enough to get what you need on video and anonymously seed the video on youtube or to the media. It's not hard these days as many of us carry digital video recorders on us. Send a copy of the video to their superiors and ask them if it'll pass the headline test...

It really amazes me though how careless / reckless some of these people can be these days. Especially with how common video cameras are now days. Granted too often do the videos only show a small part of the entire incident so that it is taken out of context. But hey, that's a whole separate issue.