pulled Over.

[Kevin Galliford]

Guys,
I know this is totally off topic but I have a question. I was driving home from work tonight and someone in a truck pulled in front of me. I later passed , and then abouut 10 minutes later a cop coming the opposite direction pulled me over and said, "in a hurry" I said not at all. he said "a off duty officer said you passed a couple of cars, Im like um sorry no." he then came back and said now be truthful to me he said i passed 4 cars. I told him someone in a PU truck pulled out in front of me then later down the road I passed him. he said ok. And I told him no way I passed 4 cars talk about a cop trying to get his end of the mont thing. I passed One car. he said "The off duty officer will call you later on, Im goign to forward all the info to him."

Can they do anything?? I mean I dont think I did anything wrong, The guy pulled out in front of me and went slow so I passed him after.

Can they do anything legally, I mean I was truthful and said I did pass someone i told him i didnt think i did anything wrong.

thanks guys

[Rick Bravo]

Didn't know it was illegal to pass in you neck of the woods!

The marked unit was coming in the OPPOSITE direction?

Sounds like a classic case of POPO (Piss Off Police Officer). Did you give the guy in the truck a one-finger salute, or in any other way communicate with him in a less than friendly manner? Obviously, someone going in the same direction as you was in a position to call or radio ahead and get a marked unit to mess with you.

"Call you later on"...FOR WHAT?

I doubt that this is anything more than a scare tactic, not that it is right or ethical, it is neither. The officer that stopped you couldn't write you up because he did not witness the offense and I seriously doubt that whoever instigated this little intervention will follow up on it in any way. If they were going to cite you, they would have done it on the spot.

Is there anything else to this story?

RB

[K. Forman]

If he does call, it's harassment, right?

[Jimmy McKenzie]

Connecticut. I think your state was one of the first to ban radar detectors also.
Don't forget the ammendments to your constitution.
The identical situation happened to a friend of mine a few years ago.
Upon returning home from the pub he passed a taxicab on the side of the road. Cab pulls out and hugs the bumper of my buddy for a couple of clicks. Buddy speeds up to put some distance between him and the pursuing taxi. Taxi is relentless and stays right with him. My buddy is driving a camaroSS. Floors it to show the cab he won't be tailgated and eventually loses him. Minutes later, upon arrival at home, 4 marked cruisers box him in at the edge of his driveway. Turns out the taxi was a wolf in sheeps clothing. A little experiment by the local police force to blend in with the landscape.
Lucky for my pal, he had a connection that got him off, but boy were the on duty guys furious.
There is no way the off duty badge is going to contact you. If he does, you will have a case that will have the judiciary rather unimpressed with a ridiculous tactic of actions beyond the scope of their duties.
Keep your local liberal tabloid newspaper informed. They love stories like yours...

[Rick Bravo]

There are two letters of the alphabet that puts the fear of GOD into police officers...IA.

I know that the few times I've had to appear before them (as a witness, NOT a subject), everything I have ever done wrong in my life flashes before me, including that extra piece of chocolate I snatched from my sister when I was six...I guess it's my Catholic up-bringing!

Jimmy is right about the cab. For obvious reasons, I won't go into details about UC work, but you'd be extremely surprised by the amount of law enforcement that is on the street at any given time.

If he does call and harass then you probably have a good personnel complaint that IA would have to act on. I doubt that it will ever get to that.

RB

[Kevin Galliford]

Hey everyone,
thanks for the responces!!

No I believe the car I passed was an off duty cop, Or it could of been the car behind me, who knows. He must of gotten pissed and called my plate in and then about ahh 5 minutes down the road, I come to a stop sign on a intersection and a cop was making a turn onto the road I was on, probably heading in the direction I came from to look for me, He turned his cruiser around after he passed me got behind me, followed me for like less than a minute and then pulled me over and said "In a hurry today" I said no not at all.

I didn't give the finger or anything. He said an off duty officer called in and said I passed 4 cars on such and such road, (first of all the road he named was NOT the road I actually passed the guys on, and I only Passed one car not 4) and the area where I passed him was like a 1/2 a mile straight away and had no physical double or single yellow line on the road, and no cars coming.

So ya thats what I figured, Im going to ask a friend of mine whos an officer and see what he has to say.
Also I dont know how there going to call me, the officer never got my phone number.

By the way rob what are you referring to when you say IA?

[Federico Dib]

I.A = Internal Affairs?

I guess that where you live must be a pretty place where there´s no crime or problems, because those cops sure seem like they have nothing better to do.

By the way what car were you driving?
I used to have a 71 Nova a little muscled up on the outside (I didn´t speed but it looked cool), and my brother had a 71 Camaro SS (what a beauty), and we used to get stoped by cops a lot.
I guess those kind of cars must fit into some kind of profile.


And that Cab story.... well.. what was the guy suppossed to do? Pullover and wait for a mad cab driver to jump out of the car with a bat or a gun?

[K. Forman]

Most police, due to counterfeit cops, say to not pull over unless you are in a well lit and populated area. Of course, that is in a large city. In the countryside, you'd likely get shot for doing that!

[Kevin Galliford]

I was driving a 2003 Saturn. LoL Ya I can go really fast in it (YA RIGHT).

[Rick Bravo]

IA does mean Internal Affairs.

Keith is correct. Due to the proliferation of home invaders and bad guys using the guise of police to commit robberies, it is advised that you only pull over for an un-marked in a public area...maybe even drive to a nearby police station.

If the un-marked trying to pull you over is legit, he/she will radio for a marked unit to make the stop if you are not complying.

Although most agencies advocate the not stopping for an un-marked vehicle, the officer trying to stop you will inevitably be pissed because you didn't do so immediately. Stay calm, be polite, explain the situation.

As for getting your number, piece of cake, all they need is your address and they can cross-reference it in the computer. They can also get your address if they only have a phone number.

RB

[Gary Chavez]

This is easy. This is clear intimidation.

A cop must witness a traffic offense to ticket, wether you 'admit' a violation or not. Dont wait for the 'call.' It wont come. I would talk to this on duty cop's supervisor as soon as possible and let him know what happened. Hope you got his name.

[Rick Bravo]

By the time you get to talk to anyone who will listen, things will more than likely get rather muddy. It's better to let sleeping dogs lie at this point. No harm-no foul.

Although what transpired wasn't exactly SOP, there was also no clear wrong-doing on anyone's part.

As for having to witness the offense...well, we are all human after all, and yes, there are cops out there who are not completely on the up-and-up. Remember, a lie is just as good as the truth as long as someone believes it! Unfortunate but true.

My best advice, as I would have said in the old country...fuggedaboudit.

RB

[Gary Chavez]

your right about letting it lie Rick.
However having spent 13 years on the tv news side, this kinda stuff still gets my back up.
And i was in San Antonio, not a real hot spot for national news.
I cant imagine our cops trying to behave around Miami media.

always roll tape.