pardus
Verified Military
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2006
- Messages
- 10,534
Damn, what does that say about Tampa?
Tampa Police Chief screws up again.
- Thread starter Gunz
- Start date
Licking door knobs...
MIkeH92467
Unverified
I'm going to mind the rule of holes and stop digging. 
policemedic
Verified SWAT
Traffic tickets are discretionary. Many, many people simply get warnings.
Do officers sometimes warn other officers in lieu of a citation? Sure. But they do it twenty times a day for other people as well.
Absolutely. But the Chief has to set an example. And the way she handled it was slimy.
Thank goodness for that!
In the 80's and 90's the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office used to have a metal...shield/ badge thing that families of LEOs could attach to their license plate. I went to high school with kids from two JSO officers, 4 total I think, and my mom worked with several women whose husbands were JSO and had the shield or whatever as well.
If the traffic infraction wasn't egregious, that shield automatically got you out of a ticket in a 4 county radius. I don't know if that attachment still exists. It bolted between the plate and the car and stuck out at a rough 45 degree angle.
If the traffic infraction wasn't egregious, that shield automatically got you out of a ticket in a 4 county radius. I don't know if that attachment still exists. It bolted between the plate and the car and stuck out at a rough 45 degree angle.
They had that little shield here in those days. My girlfriend back in the late 80's was a St Pete cop. She had one on her Toyota Celica. Haven't seen them in years.
Given her past arrest record and firing, it was a dumbass thing to even try. "Is your camera on?" What if his bodycam hadn't been on? I suspect what we saw was restrained behavior on her part. The point is, it was a glaring example of bad judgement, just the kind of bad judgement you don't want in a Chief of Police. And the fact that a very qualified acting Chief was passed over for that position in what reeked of a political move, was equally bad judgement on the part of the mayor.
policemedic
Verified SWAT
I can’t remember the last time I wrote a ticket for anything other than an egregiously hazardous violation or a suspended/revoked/unlicensed driver.
The truth is that traffic enforcement is supposed to be educational and evoke voluntary compliance in the motoring public. Citations are reserved for those instances where the offense is so blatant or the driver so noncompliant that a warning is clearly not going to result in the desired outcome.
Hell, even when we went to electronic tickets our ratio of warnings:tickets didn’t change.
Most people talk themselves into the ticket by being an ass to the cop.
The difference here is one group of people flash their shinny little badge because they almost always will get out of it for the same offense where some other group who doesn’t have one will get a ticket. They let them get out of it for two reasons: The blue line gang and they don’t want to start a war between departments.
policemedic
Verified SWAT
I’ll grant you that the Tampa chief was classless, and an embarrassment to law enforcement. Given her history, she should not have been a police officer at all. Rarely have I encountered an officer who was that direct on a stop (other than TSA, who are typically obnoxious and most definitely aren’t federal LEOs).
In general practice, officers will identify themselves to other officers who have stopped them—particularly when (and because) they are armed. Many departments have policies requiring this. In some states, it’s obvious that the owner of a particular vehicle is a police officer before you ever make contact with them. And yeah, once we know who they are, they probably won’t get a ticket—but that’s not guaranteed. If they’re an asshole, or the guy stopping them is the type to write everyone they stop, they’re going to get a citation. By the way, do you know who else is unlikely to get a ticket? Service members, nurses, doctors, firemen, paramedics are all likely to drive off with a warning.
The thing to remember is that citing someone is a discretionary act. There are no quotas in my state; I could never write another ticket for the rest of my career and no one would care. In many cases, making an arrest is also left to the officer’s discretion, and a traffic ticket falls way below an arrest in terms of seriousness.
At the end of the day, traffic is just that. It’s a traffic ticket; it isn’t the great train robbery.
Now at this point, you’re probably thinking I’m cool with what happened. I’m not. I have a problem with three things.
1- She absolutely should have known you have to register golf carts to operate them on a public road.
2- She wasn’t driving it, so essentially she’s asking for courtesy to be extended to a third party.
3- She gave the deputy her business card after identifying herself as the chief of police, and said “If you ever need anything…”
Frankly, the business card and the appearance of a quid pro quo is what bothers me most.
Of course, we could just remove discretion from the equation and require cops to write tickets to everyone they stop.
A little anecdote.
I've lost count of how many times my wife has gotten a warning, while driving my vehicle with Veteran plates. Every time, thanking her my service...
Meanwhile, no warnings in her vehicle. Thankfully she's learned to slow the fuck down. lol
I've lost count of how many times my wife has gotten a warning, while driving my vehicle with Veteran plates. Every time, thanking her my service...
Meanwhile, no warnings in her vehicle. Thankfully she's learned to slow the fuck down. lol
D
Deleted member 11415
Guest
Lol that's funny
she deserves it to because you're awesome!
Windcrest, Texas. Zero discretion. You get stopped, you get at least one ticket.
I avoid Windcrest.
My last time getting stopped resulted in a warning ticket, I was polite and he was courteous.
I avoid Windcrest.
My last time getting stopped resulted in a warning ticket, I was polite and he was courteous.
I've been the beneficiary of this several times. and I was grateful for it. And there was one notable time when it totally made no difference. :)
I have no problem with LEOs using discretion and giving people and other LEOs breaks. My Purple Heart license plate has gotten me a few breaks. More back when there were fewer of them. Now after two more wars they’re all over the place.
