FHP caught Brevard County’s Deputy of the Year Michael Fultz riding his motorcycle 111 mph but did not arrest him under Florida’s ‘Super Speeder’ law, News 6 has learned.
So once upon a time, a long long time ago (well past all applicable statutes of limitation) I noticed a pattern when people would get pulled over for speeding. If they were speeding a little, it was a speed trap and the cop was there to write tickets, it would take a whole lot of charm and luck to get let off in that situation.
If they were speeding a lot, like a whole lot, they’d get pulled over by officers who were more interested in where they were going in such a hurry rather than handing out tickets. Having established that the driver isn’t fleeing the scene of a crime or something like that, they’d generally be let off with a warning - often just a verbal warning, but even sometimes a written warning on the official forms.
You’re basically talking about the difference between traffic cops and regular patrol.
More pedantically, it’s “Traffic enforcement unit cops” or “Cops who went out of their way to take a speed measurement certification course and get issued the equipment and thus are expected to use them or lose them” vs. “Cops who didn’t.”
As you can imagine, the latter doesn’t care nearly as much about traffic enforcement.
Ironically enough, I am pretty sure I got let off by traffic enforcement units a couple of times when I was far enough over to qualify for “the expensive ticket”, but very rarely when it was just 12-15 mph over. Also, even though I tend to drive about 9 over most of the time, I seem to get an awful lot of tickets for 15 over - where the fine takes a bump up… Their word against mine…
In my area (HCSO, PCPD) you could tell by their boots: jackboots = traffic enforcement.
Of course there’s also FHP, who are basically an entire agency of only traffic enforcement.
I’d recommend getting a dash cam and your speedometer calibrated, just in case you got a wheel resize or gear configuration change that made your speedometer inaccurate. We were required to calibrate our patrol cars every year if we used it to measure speed, but there is zero such requirement for random motorists. I think the LIDAR and RADAR guns were yearly too, but I never applied for the class required to use one so I’m not sure.
I “calibrate” my speedos vs GPS every so often, they’re reasonably close (+/- 2mph at 70).
I waffle about the dash cam, of course I’ll want it after something happens and I don’t have it, but on the other hand I also hate the thought of a protracted court fight for what?
Is that really why they ask where you’re going? Like coincidentally they think they are also going to solve some massive crime? Like “I’m in a rush to get to my drug deal! Oops.”
The thing is, smarter people think better than to speed while carrying a body or a kilo of cocaine in the trunk, but smarter people tend not to commit crime as often, on average.
So as much as it makes no sense to you, it does when you factor in common criminals. Supervisors monitoring your KPIs don’t care if the arrest was made on a dumb person or a smart person.
If it were me, I’d respond: “Okay, I’ll follow you to the nearest public bathroom, but you’re still getting the citation.”
Someone pulled that on me once, but I saw them pass a few public bathrooms as they cut around a line of cars in traffic to get to the turn lane a bit faster by going down the wrong way of the roadway, so they were obviously lying.
You might have more luck with your lie among lazier/less discerning/dumber cops, it’s true.
Before I was old enough to drive, I once was riding with a friend who’d recently gotten food poisoning and who really needed a restroom. He was speeding to get there and, when he got pulled over, told the officer so.
I don’t remember the exact words, but after issuing the ticket, the policeman basically said “just pull over and shit on the side of the road if you need to.”
Well, I think the first clue is when they put their lights on and tell you to pull over, if you don’t then they have reason to call in the cavalry and “maintain order and justice in the land” by forcing you to stop, comply, lie face down while they cuff you first and ask questions later.
If you play nice (darn) then they ask the questions politely first and look for “tells” - you know: blood dripping from the trunk, piles of loose cash in the floorboards, a dark complexion (driving while black) - all the “usual suspects’” signs - probable cause. A remarkable percentage of actual criminals are not stone cold liars who are able to cooly answer the questions and act like nothing unusual is going on.
So once upon a time, a long long time ago (well past all applicable statutes of limitation) I noticed a pattern when people would get pulled over for speeding. If they were speeding a little, it was a speed trap and the cop was there to write tickets, it would take a whole lot of charm and luck to get let off in that situation.
If they were speeding a lot, like a whole lot, they’d get pulled over by officers who were more interested in where they were going in such a hurry rather than handing out tickets. Having established that the driver isn’t fleeing the scene of a crime or something like that, they’d generally be let off with a warning - often just a verbal warning, but even sometimes a written warning on the official forms.
You’re basically talking about the difference between traffic cops and regular patrol.
More pedantically, it’s “Traffic enforcement unit cops” or “Cops who went out of their way to take a speed measurement certification course and get issued the equipment and thus are expected to use them or lose them” vs. “Cops who didn’t.”
As you can imagine, the latter doesn’t care nearly as much about traffic enforcement.
- Ex-cop
Ironically enough, I am pretty sure I got let off by traffic enforcement units a couple of times when I was far enough over to qualify for “the expensive ticket”, but very rarely when it was just 12-15 mph over. Also, even though I tend to drive about 9 over most of the time, I seem to get an awful lot of tickets for 15 over - where the fine takes a bump up… Their word against mine…
In my area (HCSO, PCPD) you could tell by their boots: jackboots = traffic enforcement.
Of course there’s also FHP, who are basically an entire agency of only traffic enforcement.
I’d recommend getting a dash cam and your speedometer calibrated, just in case you got a wheel resize or gear configuration change that made your speedometer inaccurate. We were required to calibrate our patrol cars every year if we used it to measure speed, but there is zero such requirement for random motorists. I think the LIDAR and RADAR guns were yearly too, but I never applied for the class required to use one so I’m not sure.
I “calibrate” my speedos vs GPS every so often, they’re reasonably close (+/- 2mph at 70).
I waffle about the dash cam, of course I’ll want it after something happens and I don’t have it, but on the other hand I also hate the thought of a protracted court fight for what?
Is that really why they ask where you’re going? Like coincidentally they think they are also going to solve some massive crime? Like “I’m in a rush to get to my drug deal! Oops.”
The thing is, smarter people think better than to speed while carrying a body or a kilo of cocaine in the trunk, but smarter people tend not to commit crime as often, on average.
So as much as it makes no sense to you, it does when you factor in common criminals. Supervisors monitoring your KPIs don’t care if the arrest was made on a dumb person or a smart person.
- Ex-cop
I’ve had luck with “I really really need to go to the bathroom!”
If it were me, I’d respond: “Okay, I’ll follow you to the nearest public bathroom, but you’re still getting the citation.”
Someone pulled that on me once, but I saw them pass a few public bathrooms as they cut around a line of cars in traffic to get to the turn lane a bit faster by going down the wrong way of the roadway, so they were obviously lying.
You might have more luck with your lie among lazier/less discerning/dumber cops, it’s true.
- Ex-cop
Oh, I wasn’t lying.
Fair enough, it looked like you were implying it was a trick you’re passing on to others.
Obviously it doesn’t matter either way and I can’t prove or disprove what you’re claiming now.
Yeah I’m suggesting they say that if needed, but lie convincingly.
Right, and I’m suggesting it’s one of the older tricks in the book that only dumb/lazy cops would fall for.
But how would they know if someone just did the same stuff but was lying
Before I was old enough to drive, I once was riding with a friend who’d recently gotten food poisoning and who really needed a restroom. He was speeding to get there and, when he got pulled over, told the officer so.
I don’t remember the exact words, but after issuing the ticket, the policeman basically said “just pull over and shit on the side of the road if you need to.”
Hey it was worth a shot. I’d ignore that advice because the next cop will brand you a sex offender for it.
As far as I’m aware that depends on the state; few states have the “peeing in public = sex offender” laws. Mine certainly doesn’t.
Not aware of a “pooping in public = sex offender” law, but they might be covered under the same statute in the states that take issue with it.
Well, I think the first clue is when they put their lights on and tell you to pull over, if you don’t then they have reason to call in the cavalry and “maintain order and justice in the land” by forcing you to stop, comply, lie face down while they cuff you first and ask questions later.
If you play nice (darn) then they ask the questions politely first and look for “tells” - you know: blood dripping from the trunk, piles of loose cash in the floorboards, a dark complexion (driving while black) - all the “usual suspects’” signs - probable cause. A remarkable percentage of actual criminals are not stone cold liars who are able to cooly answer the questions and act like nothing unusual is going on.