you have got to be kidding

Alright, I recently recieved a ticket for speeding but I'm going to tell you guys the story of how I got trapped and see what your thoughts are about it.
I was on a 4 lane highway and according to the cop the speed limit was 65mph. My cars speedometer is a little off so I never know how fast I'm going for sure. This is how it happened:
I was in the left lane (fast lane) behind a truck so I was just going his speed. After a while he eventually turned into the right lane and as soon as he did it revealed a motorcycle cop directly in front of me. I wasn't worried at all however because I didn't think I was speeding. I then figured that I could just follow the cop and stay at his speed and i figured that would be fine. After following the cop a while he turned into the right lane and motioned me to do the same. When I did he turned on his lights and sirens and pulled me over. He clocked me at 76 in a 65 is what he told me, so I told him how my speedo was off and I figured I could just go the speed he was going. This is where he said he "paced" me he slowly worked his speed up and I did the same, once we were both up to 76 mph he pulled me over. HE SPED ME UP TO THAT SPEED!! He then said how being a cop gives him the right to respond to emergencies, therefore allowing him to speed and the posted speed limit if for people like me.

I just wanted to ask if any of you think this is right. Can he speed and in turn cause me to speed and pull me over for it?? Keep in mind he never turned his lights on before he pulled me over, which i believe is what they are supposed to do when responding to emergencies. Do any of you think I should fight this speeding ticket and if so give me the things i need to know in order to fight this ticket.
I appreciate any replies.

Most cops are dicks (in the 90% range)... We all have to live with it.

that is messed up but i dont see why he couldnt do that....i have cops ride my ass all the time trying to get me to speed but i dont....

me n my dad were on way home from ac boat show 2 yrs ago and we were jsut outside of philly when i car got so far up our ass (in a 95 ram 1500) that we couldnt even see headlights. now were up from 80-90 cuz we were bein pushed and were pushin the whole flow of traffic then we see his lights flash so we gget over and he drives by us so we were like ok wtf no more than 10 minutes laater did same cop pull off the side of road and get us for speeding.

Lookup entrapment.

You guys can say what you want but, I am a cop new to the career. It is true that by law we are allowed to ignore the speed limit in certain circumstances. I am not going to go into all of them but most pertain to getting to emergency calls. In the state I patrol you do have to activate your emergency equipment(lights and siren). With regard to the pacing, that is a commonly used practice and accepted by the courts, although this is the first instance I have heard of were the police vehicle was in front. The problem I have is with your statement “Can he speed and in turn cause me to speed and pull me over for it??” While he may or may not have had the right to speed, no one put a gun to your head and made you speed. The decision to speed, whether conscious or not, was yours. Just because the vehicle in front of yours is speeding does not mean you have to. I would pay the ticket, get my speedo fixed and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Well he obviously wasn't going to an emergency or else he wouldn't have pulled the guy over, why else would he have been speeding but have enough time to write someone a ticket?

Xenostalgia:
There are good and bad people in all professions. I would not have made the stop unless I got behind the guy and paced him. I run radar on the side of the road or pace from 2-3 car lengths behind. The other thing that struck me about this traffic stop is that the guy is lucky he did not get a second ticket. If you have something wrong with your car (speedo off)and you know about, you can get a ticket for defective equipemnt. I think it all comes down to the mannor in which he was caught. I believe he did it leagally, don't quote me, but I would not approach it that way. I am willing to bet that people are going to be on both sides of this and there is not going to be a real answer. It all comes down to personal opinion.

I've never had a problem with following a cop last night i was following a cop on the right hand lane just right behind him and i was going 85mph and he didnd't give a damn, he must have been cool but there are dicks out there

They way i see it - it is actually your fault that you were speeding, unless the cop was in the car with you with his foot on the accelerator. If the speedometer was broken and you KNEW it as you stated then it was your responsibility to have that fixed so you would know what your actual speed was.

I know several of the state troopers in our state and all of them have front and rear radar. In other words you dont have to pass one to get a ticket just drive up from behind too fast and your caught.

in TN We even have plain jane unmarked cars (just like grandma drives ) driven by plain clothes officers that mingle in with traffic looking for aggressive drivers. Pass one of those too fast or cut them off and your screwed

hey copcar what does it mean when you see like 10+ marked vehicles going somewhere fast but without there lights on? (They turned 'em on to go thru an intersection but not as they were going down the street)

Get a lawyer. With a lawyer it will get reduced, no doubt about that, whether you're guilty or not - it's not fair, it's not right, but it's way it works. I've benefited from this corruption a few times myself. The lawyer may be able to get you out of it but at the very least you'll get less points/fine

Xenostalgia, that usually is a call that is not life or death but could turn into it quickly. I would assume a large fight in progress, something like that. Like I said earlier, not all officers, or law enforcement agencies for that mater, follow the rules for lights and siren. We just recently had a medium size fight in progress that turned into an officer down scenario. A few of the officers patrolling near by headed in that direction incase the fight went south, they might have exceeded the speed limit but no more the 10 or so miles and hour. One of the officers’s from my dept was knocked over and kicked/overcome by multiple people. At that point it became a multi jurisdictional response with lights and sirens. We had 3 or 4 agencies (including mine) respond to that. It could also be that there were fresh doughnuts at the local krispycreme*L*

I would like to state that while I am extremely enthusiastic about my new career, I realize some thing done by law enforcement is wrong. I don’t think we walk on water or are above the law either. I may have been reading into something that was not there, I just wanted to make sure you and I did not start out on the wrong foot.

97copcar, sounds like you're down to earth and not all stuck up and cocky, good luck with the carreer

u shouldn't of told him about the speedo cuz if u just get it tested and it shows that the speedo is off then the ticket either is voided or reduce or thats how it is in manitoba my bud got out of a 200 ticket doing that or if they screw up on the ticket and write down anything wrong or mispelt u can get out of it for that too

In PA a police officer must have sirens and lights on if en-route to an emergency... which is the only time they are allowed to exceed the speed limit, unless they are "pacing you".


I would fight it, tell the judge what he told you, tell him why you were following the cop and that he did not have his lights on. The only thing that might pigeonhole you is you telling him about your speedo. You might want to get a lawyer, is probably worth the money.

my 2¢

97CamaroRS, thanks. I am looking foward to it and I try to keep my feet on the ground. People make mistakes and as a veterian on the dept. has told me, not all people that break the law are bad. I am going to try and treat everyone I come in contact with like a member of the family.

What kinda training do yo ugo thru to become a cop?

I can only speak for my state, but I went through 660 hours of training at the academy. We studied and were tested on subjects like law, defensive tactics, firearms, defensive driving, interrogation, patrol techniques, officer survival and many other topics. Now that I am done with the academy my dept. requires that I go through 400 more hours of training with them. I will learn how my dept. likes the reports done, the layout of the city and how the dept. breaks it down into patrol zones and I will be tested and judge on my officer safety. In total it is about 1,100 hours of training before I am released to patrol on my own

Well for one your speedo should be working, for two your fallowing a motorcycle cop and if you get pulled over by one of those guys your getting a ticket. Not all cops are bad most are just everyday people that would work at a fast food joint. They get paid to serve and protect and I am sure they get tired of seeing the drug addicted pieces of shit that I see working in the Emergency Department. So if a cop if treating you bad it might be because you’re being a little ass hole, or something. Treat them with respect and they should treat you the same.

That is all

Lookup entrapment.

in KY pacing would not hold up in court...and for entrapment it would only be entrapment if i put that idea into your head that it would be okay for you to speed... for example...giving you the opportunity to commit a crime or violation (speeding) is not entrapment but saying "it is okay to commit that act" and then taking legal action against you would constitute entrapment.

EDIT: like prostitution stings you see on tv all the time....thats not entrapment because its not entrapment to give them the opportunity to commit a crime which is exactly why the under cover female officers have to be very careful in what they say and not suggest that they do the act....thats why they keep asking what they person wants and how much they are paying and stuff....

Example of entrapment: You roll up to a red light, cop next you. Cop throws revs at you wanting to race you throw 'em back. Both take off fast @ WOT and he gets behind you and pulls you over.

Example of entrapment: You roll up to a red light, cop next you. Cop throws revs at you wanting to race you throw 'em back. Both take off fast @ WOT and he gets behind you and pulls you over.

that would still be kinda in the gray....the officer gave you the opportunity to race but never said that it was okay for you to do that. again like in prostitution stings dressing like a prostitute and walking around on a street corner might give you the idea to pick her up but at no point were you given the idea that it was okay to pick her up. that is why the female officers must be very careful in what they say and do

stab the bitch =x

To my line of thinking you are defining entrapment. If you are not permitted to exceed the speed limit except when responding to a call, and another motorist follows you while you are speeding and your lights and siren are off... what the hell is that??? Ok for you but not him??? BULLSHIT.

I have a lot of friends who are police officers... most of them will not pull you over for going the same speed they are if they are just mosying around.... They view it as entrapment, especially if you are following them.

AND... if the officer is reving his engine and makes a race inuendo... then actually races you, and then pulls you over... he should be suspended without pay for 3 months and demoted. He is endangering the public by leading on a race that he never intended to take place. If that's GRAY then I really lost respect for the law and the police. Actually, in my personal opinion... he should be booted off the force and lose his pension and medical benefits.

Damn Jim, who's side of what bed did you roll outta? (Talking about losing benefits and stuff)

stab the bitch =x
:evillol:

i totally agree with that....an officer should never race and that would be a very dangerous thing to do and is plain wrong!....this was just a hypothetical situation trying to explain entrapment and personally i wouldnt pull someone following me either.....the racing thing is not a gray subject, it is wrong under any circumstance imo but it is gray whether or not it would constitute entrapment is all....sorry my intentions werent to offend anyone

Not offended. That whole thing pisses me off. Not nocessarily a Police issue, just a legal isssue in general. We have way too many laws that give WAY too much power to the local and state authorities - eminent domain, taxing authority, etc and when you get a ticket for something stupid that just's like light a stick of dynamite as far as my temper goes.


Hey Xeno, I rolled off the side of the bed that said - "You're gonna have a bad fucking day today, and there's no amount of advil that'll help... and by the way... you're gonna keep having bad days for like 4 more weeks."

Lol Jim, women usually have periods for 5-7 days not 30

I agree with you guys. If a cop is instigating a race they both should loose. The idiot for trying to race a cop and the cop for creating an unneeded hazardous situation. When responding to emergency calls we do speed and crate hazardous a situation but, I don't think anyone here has a problem with that. I comb some of the law enforcement sites like I do here. There was just an article recently that I read were 4 officers were suspended for chasing each other. A marked car chased an unmarked stang. These were county guys and the locals quickly got involved and spiked the car. They were wrong and I am happy to see that they are getting punished for it.

Yeah hey copcar I read in the forums that if you run for long enough at fast enough they will just setup a sniper and kill you?

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=2690242&postcount=21

Lol Jim, women usually have periods for 5-7 days not 30

No one said anything about periods. My wife is PREGNANT... with only about 3.5 weeks left to go. Tired, crabby, uncomfortable and generally an enormous pain in the fucking ass.

For instance... try to help her clean the house, because A. it's not getting done and B. she can't do it. She sits there and yells at me the whole time. At which time I get like homicidal, go out and smoke a pack, and wish my maro was all better.

Try to be nice and make dinner (I'm actually a pretty damned good cook), and she still has a bug up her ass, mad because she can't eat because the baby keeps kicking her ribs, etc.

Like it's my fault. I was ASLEEP! She woke me up and said, NOW DAMMIT! I was like... If I fuck you one more time I think I'm gonna have to go to rehabilitation cause my dick's gonna fall off. And she said she didn't care... so...... it's not my fault, I practically slept through it. I'm innocent.

Drive you fucking nuts after a while. No sex in like 4 months, fight all the time... this kid better appreciate what I'm going through, or it's ass is out on the streets at 18.

Wow Xenostalgia that is one hell of a story. I know that we don't do that. There was a guy in an SUV that ran from us this year. He was paced at over 126mph on a interstate and had city, county and state police on his butt. In the end they spike his tires. I can not see an agency taking the risk of shooting a person in charge of a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed. The person would then crash and could cause further damage and danger. Who is to say the vehicle would not roll off an embankment and into a housing community.....who knows. I am not saying it did not happen the way your friend told you, but it would be unlikely in my jurisdiction. And by the way, we do have kick ass stories.

earlsfat..........i luv you :smile: haha just kiddin.........but i agree with your morals man........you tell 'em haha

o and just for the record i did resect this police officer and he was still a complete asshole

You said the truck got into the right lane and revealed the cop so you continued behind the cop maintaining the same speed thinking you'd be O.K. I see people who actually tailgate cops on the freeway, inches from their bumper and think to myself man you're just asking for it. And sure enough, on go the lights, siren and that dreadful motion to pull over. I don't take any chances whatsoever with cops because they're just looking for trouble. I mean I literally stay away because I consider them to be like wasps. Now maybe you weren't tailgating the guy but if you're exceeding the speed limit and he's checking his rearview mirror like any seasoned veteran, he's gonna nail ya. So now you're looking at a fine, wasting precious time in court and your insurance going up, maybe even points so now what? Dude, I'd bet if you could replay the situation over again knowing the outcome, you would handle the whole thing differently. Be careful and smarter than that in the future man! There are some people you don't want to invite into your life and cops...are one of them. The other people you don't want are debt collectors and bad women. :)