Real question time, during a traffic stop, what determines whether you issue a warning or a citation? There are times where I’ve been caught doing stupid stuff and got a warning and doing just barely over the limit and got a citation. I’ve never given much credence to the “quota” idea.
If I was the officer I would lock the guy and his friends up. Only reason the other cop didn’t arrested them was the fact he didn’t want to deal with the paper work.
I give discretion to issue a warning rather than a citation on a case to case basis. For example if I stop someone for speeding, and they have numerous citations in the past for other infractions, more often than not they’ll get a ticket rather than a warning.
if i encounter someone who is respectful, honest and just made a mistake, then usually I’ll use my discretion and let them off with a warning.
But at the same time you can’t let every nice person off with just a warning because if you do, people will take advantage and drive recklessly.
On the issue of so called “quotas”, like in any other job you’re expected to work. If you work in a high crime area and all of your coworkers are bringing in summonses and arrests because the area is crime infested, and you’re bringing in nothing, then your supervisors are not wrong in having a talk with you because it looks like you’re not doing your job.
You were stupid and should of keep your mouth shut instead of joking with a Cop like that.
They have to take such statements at face value and have to assume you are really hiding shit.
Most people can’t come to traffic court because they can’t take time off work. If the officer shows up, it will almost certainly be lost wages + fee because they were more than likely speeding, even if it’s with the flow of traffic. Also quite possible their manager won’t even give them time off.
Even if the alleged shows up, the officer’s words are taken at face value, because they are trained to take good notes. It’s difficult to argue with that unless there’s some kind of video evidence.
Speaking of that particular case, BBQ said the officer was following him for a long time. Wouldn’t the police car’s video equipment show that he was or wasn’t doing anything in particular different from the rest of traffic? Is it easy for an alleged person to gain access to the video ahead of a trial (in your area)? Would that not matter though, because the simple answer is, “you were speeding”?
If what BBQ alleges is true, then perhaps the officer was rude as well and may have indicated something by the way the officer said about a person who drives a motorcycle?
That could be resolved with a body cam. So on that note. Do you wear a body cam? Do you keep it on virtually the entire time you are on duty, exceptions for bathroom breaks and when shoving a dozen donuts down the gullet (sorry again for the awful cop joke)?
In a particular case of “going the flow of traffic” while everyone is speeding, why is it OK, legally speaking, for a police officer to pull over one person? What’s the burden of proof to show that a person has been singled out? Is it just shit luck when a person is pulled over when everyone is speeding?