Cops complaining about cops writing cops tickets

theindependent

“I’m sure most of us would expect a break on a ticket if we were cops. I know I would.

As far as the website goes, we’re only hearing one side of the story, some cops deserve tickets just like anyone else, especially if they exhibit too much “above the law” attitude.”

I’m pretty sure, in the interest of fairness, that I’d ticket my own brother; he’s be less liable to do it again, that’s for sure.

Check this sliver of beauty out: http://www.copswritingcops.com/know.html

To wit: “Hereâ€™s how to get out of a ticket. donâ€™t break the law.”

Christovir

This is all very classic social identity stuff and in-group favouritism straight out of the textbook. It can be fixed by re-defining the groups (police as a part of the citizenry, rather than apart from – you can tell there is a group division through the language, like when police use the word “civilian” so often) or by creating a strong police group norm against this kind of behaviour. Both are going in the wrong direction currently, so the results are no surprise. Unfortunately, derogation of the police will likely only solidify these group divisions and in-group favouritism.

The town I went to college in had two colleges, with most residents supporting either one or the other. I was once pulled over for a bad headlight, the officer saw my college parking sticker, and strongly hinted that the reason he was letting me off with a warning was because of the particular college I went to. Many of my friends had similar experiences.

Another time I was pulled over (same bad headlight – was too poor to fix it) I was told I was given a warning rather than a ticket because I had no criminal record. I was grateful, yes, but it seems profoundly unfair to apply a different standard of law to people who have previously broken it and have served their time. It seems set up to encourage group divisions (and bitterness and re-offending amongst the outgroup), rather than rehabilitation.

vass

I have this vague memory of a news item a few years ago where a man failed the entrance IQ test to a state police force (I don’t remember which one) because his IQ tested too *high*.

Their reasoning was that applicants who were too intelligent wouldn’t stay.

Making a site telling the world that you’re a cop breaking the law you’re meant to uphold, with the intention of intimidating cops who *do* uphold said law… reminds me of that news item.

(Can anyone else remember any more details? Or am I dreaming and/or falling for an urban legend?)

Anonymous

Here is great article related to the post.

Seems cops are letting each other off for DUI’s
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/undueinfluence/326612_favors07.html

Also I discovered the bear sticker trick on the back window to alert cops you are one of them.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/undueinfluence/326602_favorsbear07.html
Though the image of the sticker is not showing.

Anonymous

Boohoo. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. If you don’t want to get a ticket (regardless whether you are a cop or not) then don’t speed.

Christovir

@Vass

I believe this is the story you are talking about. A longer NY Times story here.

The IQ cut-off is really low, too. This guy’s IQ was only 125, which translated as 33 out of 50 on the test they were using. Their cut-off is 27 of 50. That’s not even one standard deviation above the mean.

Also interesting, the would-be cop was named Robert Jordan.

BTW… IQ is not a very useful measure of “intelligence” unless we choose to define it in very narrow and subjective terms.

darrell

The police have gang control. What else is new.

Anonymous

Unfricking believable. First, these morons justify their violations by saying they are “trained” professionals (don’t try this at home kiddies). But, then they expect their untrained spouses, children, etc. to be let off for the same kind of violations? Effing hypocrites.

My brother in law is one of these morons. Any excuse to flash his badge and he’ll do it. His department even makes up miniature badges for the spouses to use as their get out of jail free card.

The “dicks of the month” are the ticketees not the ticketers…

Inner Space

This is ridiculous. In the very first story (‘Illinois State Police’) the cop who got ticketed was going so fast he almost could have been cited for reckless driving, not just speeding. If the cops don’t keep each other in check, there’s not reason for them to follow the laws that they enforce.

Anonymous

I used to date a girl who grew up in Indianapolis before she did everything she could at the age of majority to get the heck out of Indianapolis.

Her father had cheated on his wife, dumped his first family, often ignored alimony payments, and – worst of all – sexually abused this poor girl.

He got away with all of this because everyone around him assumed that him being a cop for so many years meant he was going to get away with it.

He re-married. He had a second family, with daughters.

The girl I knew dropped out and floated around a bit before she checked out of life completely and took to hitchhiking for a living. She became an anarchist, and the last time I saw her I tried to help her understand that her hatred of government was a sublimation of her impotence to her own bad cop father.

There was only so much I could do, you know? It still makes me sick.

The assumption of corruption is a terrible thing. That’s about all I can think about when I’m reading this site about how cops let other cops off because that’s what you’re supposed to do in our “just” society.

Cybe

I’m upset by the fact that so many of these people post completely contradictory statements right next to each other, such as:

“Here’s a question for you guys who would or did “write a cop”. If you pulled over a car with blacked out windows doing 91 in a 55 and it turns out to be your father, would you write him?
If you said yes, then you really have issues and I would never want to work with you. If you said no, then you are a hypocrit. Either you enforce the law 100% or not.”

So he wouldn’t want to work with someone who writes their father a ticket, but if they don’t do it, they are a hypocrite because they wrote another cop a ticket, and they have to enforce the law 100% or not (I’m assuming that he means “not at all”, because it’s obvious that you either are doing something 100% or not 100%) Therefore, this man does not want to work with any cop at all, because either they write the ticket, and he doesn’t want to work with them, or they don’t write the ticket, and they are not enforcing the law 100%, as he says that they should do.

There are countless other examples of this on that website.

Monster

When my dad was a kid, his mom was driving one day and got rear-ended by a cop doing 100 MPH without his lights on (he later said it was because he was trying to catch up to a speeder without alerting him). The cop car flipped and decapitated the cop in the passenger seat. A justice of the peace arrived at the scene to declare the cop dead and get accounts from all the witnesses. The cop was clearly going too fast and lost control… there was no question of this.

A couple of days later the cops wrote her a ticket. Talk about gall. When she went to fight the ticket she found that the witnesses on the scene now changed their stories to favor the cops. In other words, the cops forced them to change their stories. Luckily, the case got thrown out because the justice of the peace at the scene was also the judge who presided over the case, and he knew what happened. He also knew the witnesses changed their stories. And yet the cop never got in trouble.

And that is just one of the many reasons why my dad raised me to never trust cops.

Anonymous

@porkbarrel

I’d love to hear where your line is then. How much further over the line does a cop get to go than we do? It should be codified if yo think it’s fair. It’s a ridiculous, slippery slope, and it happens with firemen and teachers as well, with their stupid union stickers on the rear window.

I think about selling the IAFF stickers, everyone should have one of their own.

It also screws up in other ways. My brother is a policeman whose girlfriend was plastered, got pulled over, and he received this ‘professional courtesy’ from the other cop even though he did not want it. So now he has something held over him now by some other turd in the department. Totally ridiculous.

If anything police should have LESS leeway. They want any respect? They should try following the laws they don’t even bother to remember, but feel justified in enforcing.

ethan

I keep wanting to start a blog where I would report every time I see a cop car doing something ticketable, with as many details–plate number, specific location, exactly what they did–as possible. People could send in their own reports, it would be great. Except I keep forgetting to actually do it.

That copswritingcops.com site is awfully disturbing. What we need is competing teams of cops policing one another. Or something.

Anonymous

By law in most cities and states cops are allowed to violate traffic laws in order to enforce them. You know referees can pass the line of scrimmage to enforce the rules of the game. Think about it.

Calton

Psst! Post #73 is spam!

Anonymous

The hipocrisy of these cops is unreal. The sense of entitlement on display here is thick enough to frost a donut.

After countless incidents of getting hassled by the cops, I have to admit that I enjoy watching these guys seething with impotent rage at having to go to traffic school.

In this day and age of police provocateurs and taser-happy pigs, Big ups to the cops who, as Mark puts it “Actually do their Jobs.”

marshn

I’m waiting for copstasingcops.com.

Anonymous

This creep actually tried to use 9/11 as an excuse for why he should get out of a ticket:

I am a police officer with the Port Authority NY/NJ Police Department.
I was coming home to NJ with my family from Myrtle Beach Driving up Interstate 95 when I was pulled over for Speeding by a Va State Trooper (Tpr Shehan # 5667)

I identified Myself as a Law Enforcement Officer with The Port Authority and The trooper asked me again for my license, reg and insurance card. I handed over my license etc and the trooper stated he pulled me over for doing 82MPH in a 65MPH.

“When the trooper came back to my car he stated he wrote me a summons for RECKLESS Driving because I was driving over 80MPH.
When I asked about the trooper extending Professional Courtesy the trooper stated he gives Courtesy “BUT NOT AT THAT SPEED”

The thing that burns me up is that not only did he not extend courtesy to me after My dept extended courtesy to his agency at the World Trade Center after 9/11, He wrote me a summons for RECKLESS driving which is $ 176.00 instead of speeding (17 MPH over speed limit would have cost me $85.00).”

dave(id)

I’m sure most of us would expect a break on a ticket if we were cops. I know I would.

As far as the website goes, we’re only hearing one side of the story, some cops deserve tickets just like anyone else, especially if they exhibit too much “above the law” attitude.

Anonymous

Why is it that Police Officers from the Northeast area of the country think that they can speed like hell through the southern states and display their badges and everything will be ok. I’m all about cutting a fellow Officer a break but damn some of you guys really push it. Here is a suggestion slow down !

frankiez

This website made me think about american TV shows like COPS: these shows are so violent that if the police of any other civilised country would do the same they would never show it on TV (since that show would be used as an evidence in court)…

codswallower

I live in Brooklyn where cops pretty much view red lights as optional and NYPD and FDNY members park wherever they like ticket free.

It seems clear to me that rampant violation of the rule of law at the highest levels of our government has been taken as carte blanche by the grunts.

I would suggest bringing this site to the attention of the Department of Justice if I didn’t think it would provide an object lesson for further DOJ corruption.

mrfitz

I am thoroughly disgusted with those hypocrites.

Anonymous

JoelC, I’m with you, I wish we could encourage the ticket writers for being fair.
– Hotwater

Subspace

My favorite part is the explanation that “every profession gets some kind of perk.” People who work at sandwich shops get free sandwiches, right? Well, why shouldn’t cops get free get-outta-jail cards?

One of the “Dicks” was a cop who arrested a cop’s wife for driving on a suspended license.

Oh, and I nearly forgot this:

“The public has faith in us (supposedly).”

Anonymous

They do mention the names of the officers. In some cases it is tempting to email, say, Mike Buzan, from this website: http://members.aol.com/cretepd/members.html

and let him know I appreciate that he has a reputation among cops for applying the law evenly and without the usual graft that many cops mistake for professional courtesy.

RingMod76

There’s so much irony on copswritingcops.com it might just collapse inwards on itself and become an ironic black hole…

I nominate the creators of the site for the “Dick of the Month” award – for having the temerity to bitch and whine about the crap that they put everyone else through. It’s obvious cops need to write MORE tickets to other cops; perhaps, then, a few more of them will realize what arbitrary assholes they often are to the general public. Fuckwits.

Anonymous

“I’ve given breaks before for people doing 19 miles over the limit. I have even let one go for doing 150+ on LSD. ”

Being a cop sounds like fun.

tofer

Also from the list of what they want us to know:

“In one week I pulled over 40 cars for minor equipment violations.
12 out of 40 had no vehicle insurance.
7 out of 40 had suspended driverâ€™s licenses.
4 out of 40 had warrants.
1 out of 40 had felony warrants.
1 was a known sex offender with his 12 year old niece in the car
20 were let go with verbal warnings”

So:
40 tatty cars, 25 offenders
Assuming other 15 got verbal warnings, who got the other 5?

ridl

There’s a fantastic zine out of Arizona by a cranky old anarchist called “The Match” that has a regular “Who the Police Beat” section every issue. It collects, for pages and pages, all the latest reports from around the country of the staggeringly violent and abusive behaviour the brutal, uniformed enforcement wing of US Law inflicts on this country. If this “cops writing cops” site doesn’t convince you of the vastness of the corruption problem this insular “brotherhood” of state-funded thugs who, without the slightest hint of irony, call themselves peace officers face us with, go to your favorite radical book outlet and pick up a copy of The Match.

The problem is not with a few individual uniforms gone rotten. The problem is systemic, and it is getting worse.

Anonymous

Well don’t you just love it. Even the title of their website is messed up. “Polcie” Officers?

Deltron

I like the story under the Dick of the Month section in which a cop complains that he wasn’t let go by another cop for a DWI. To make things better, he then has 5 cop-buddies testify for him in court that he didn’t look drunk that night because he claims that he doesn’t deserve to lose his license.

Great system there.

nick

This kind of thing may seem trivial to some, but it’s important in a democratic society that nobody be above the law, whether police officer or President.

It’s also shocking to me that they would be so open about it. That itself shows a complete contempt for the law, and does nothing to improve the public’s confidence in the police.

Anonymous

That one on top now (Chicago cop who let the 150+ LSD speeder off [kind of hard to believe -- it must have been really late for that to even be able to happen]) is really lame. Chicago cops, especially, should know that the Illinois State Police prides itself on its professionalism. They have very low esteem for Chicago police who act likes asses. The only worse in the eyes of the ISP is the Cook County Sheriff’s deputies.

My brother spent 31 years in the ISP, declined promotion until they had ‘rolling sergeants’ because he didn’t want to drive a desk. He was willing to give a break for minor infractions, which didn’t endanger anyone when the driver was behaving appropriately. Doing 84 in a 65 zone is *not* a minor infraction.

My brother once transferred to a very tough area to be closer to home. Since the local population had ‘driven off’ the previous 3 troopers, he attended a community gathering at which he announced, “no breaks for anyone.” Less than two weeks later he caught our Mom speeding by two MPH over the limit. He gave her the only ticket she ever got. (He paid the fine for her.)

Good police draw appropriate lines for using the administrative discretion we allow them. This bunch of whiners wants even more.

Joe MommaSan

You gotta love all the whining, particularly coming from people who would have absolutely zero sympathy for “civilians” who whined about getting a ticket.

The part about how this “privilege” should carry over to the family members of any cop is pretty funny, too. Not to mention the claim that any “civilian” would get off with a warning. For doing better than 80 in a 55 zone? Shyeah, right.

But the best part of all is the complete and utter hypocrisy of claiming on the one hand that traffic laws are there to protect the public, (which they are) but on the other, that privileged individuals should be immune to them.

And people wonder why cops are so despised . . .

wisdomboobs

I think their are just too many cops nowadays. My oldest son is a county cop. I have 2 good friends that are city cops and a few others that arent as close a friends and I still say that. Instead of all the cops concentrating on the major problems they each defend their own area, which has its share of problems but imagine them all teaming up on the major problems, what could be accomplished. I am 42 and remember when their wasent near as many cops on the force. Their were lass problems and the cops had more class. I get no breaks around here like u might think. I would say im harassed even. I restore classic cars. Im a gearhead. Nothing wrong with that at all, but since I drive sports cars and hot rods im stopped alot. If I ever speed even 5 over the limit u can bet I will b ticketed. Honestly its that extrems all the time here. Small town in Florida here. Seems some of the cops are too eager to ticket people to me. I dont think cops are above the law, just as im not but when the law becomes a harassement for law abiding citizens their is a problem I think. Most of the cops here dont ticket other cops, ems, doctors, nurses and such. A couple troopers here will. I want to throw up when a cop talks like he is perfect and how terrible others are. I know they see alot of bad but not all r bad. U know the people vote on who makes the laws, dont forget that. My son was ticketed and had his truck impounded resently for going to a party at a friends house that invited him. Her parents had gone out of town which was bad but my son didnt know this at the time and the cops were there withing 5 min of the time he arrived. Why didnt they just send everyone home and call the girls parents that had the party u know. They ticketed all 19 people that were at the party and impounded 14 vehicles. Is that not crazy to anyone else? Cost him $103.00 for the ticket and $124.00 to get his truck back. Guess I just wanted to see if anyone else has my luck or agrees with me that their is too many cops so their looking too hard for something to do. I dont dislike cops despite all this, just think out country has over reacted to 9/11. U know I have a gun because I know that if I need a cop quickly they cant b there that fast. I am not crazy but belive in out right to own and use guns. All out liberties are slowly being taken away and most seem oblivious to it. One day in the not so distant future we will all b like sheep and out gov the shepard. Sad situation. Im glad im not any younger and have to endure anymore of it than I will have too. Whats so stupid is outa greed lots of people vote for the one that will put the most money in their pocket and not whats best for out country or its future and that will come back to haunt us all soon enough. Im not an Obama fan as u may have guessed. I supported Bush but he made some mistakes, like over reacting to 9/11. One voice cant do much but lots of voices can, in time change things. Does anyone agree with me or whats your view?

outlanderssc

These guys are doing a real public service documenting that this stuff goes on, to the point where it is expected as a “perk”.

I love the logic- You’re hired to enforce the law, so we’ll allow you to break the laws you’re supposed to be enforcing.

Kind of like making it legal for Paramedics to kill people since their job is to save lives -

Jon47

I get a kick out of when the cops do the same stuff that normal people do, justifying their speeding by saying ‘I was just going along with traffic’

JoelC

I think that I’m going to write a thank-you letter to every “Dick of the Month” for whom I can track down an address, email or otherwise. Seriously, good cops (which seem to be few and far between) need to be reminded that they’re doing a good job.

harry

Excellent post, i liked it!

I have come across the site http://www.winesocieties.com
Wine Societies, a new, one of a kind, destination site for wine culture and marketplace.

Anonymous

I was having trouble believing this is real, but then I reminded myself of every cop I’ve ever dealt with and I’m pretty sure it is. They’re only slightly less stupid than that computer thief who posted his photo on Flickr, so they must honestly not realize that thousands of citizens will read and remember this and despise cops this much more. Who here won’t remember this site next time you’re pulled over?

It is almost enough to make you feel bad for the 0.01% of cops who actually aren’t pieces of shit, assuming they even exist…

Anonymous

Whatever happened to ‘setting a good example’..

I think following the speed limit is part of their oath to uphold the laws.

Anonymous

I’ve got an aquaintance (friend of a friend) whose brother is a cop (this is in chicago). Everyone in her family has a little “shield” which the department (distributes? i’m not sure, perhaps makes available for purchase) just like a regular police badge.

She is always “designated driver” no matter what said friends are doing or where they’re going- because, lo and behold, when she gets dinged for speeding, she just flashes the badge.

I’ve asked her about it several times- but she’s obviously tight lipped about the whole thing.

Has anyone else seen this? I mean, I find this MUCH more reprehensible than the whole “bear sticker” referenced above.

posted anon cause the friends read BB- and they think the whole idea of freedom from speeding/etc is great

nick

“Kind of like making it legal for Paramedics to kill people since their job is to save lives”

Tee hee. Or maybe just maiming people?

Anonymous

Any cop who believes he should be allowed to break the law, even minor infractions, should be stripped of his badge and charged with abuse of power under color of authority.

The police are not above the law, and any cop who thinks so shouldn’t be a cop. Period.

Anonymous

I’ve given breaks before for people doing 19 miles over the limit. I have even let one go for doing 150+ on LSD.

Gee, I’m supposed to feel sorry for this guy.

You have to wonder, since most of these cops admit they weren’t paying attention, how many flew threw construction zones and such.

Anonymous

I work in advertising. If I meet one of my advertising brothers or sister out in the world, and they hit me up for a Superbowl spot, what am I going to do? Say no?

Because there may be a time when I need a Superbowl spot, you know?

welllfleet

I especially like the cop complaining about being issued a ticket when he has let people go who were doing “150 on LSD” =( jeesh!

Anonymous

I’ve seen a military police officer actually ticket his own vehicle.

He was checking a row of cars for expired registration, and came across his own car which had expired reg. The guy looked around and saw people watching, so ticketed the car…. his own.

RingMod76

You know, I thought of something: traffic tickets are subject to open records requests (at least I would think so, in most places). You could very easily work backwards to figure out who the complainers are (take the details and the name of the ticketing officer, then figure out to whom the ticket was written)…then you can call their respective employers and mention that they’ve been online complaining about not receiving proper corruption benefits from other officers. Not that the jerks would learn their lesson, but still…

Anonymous

In addition all of the gross abuse of power that others have mentioned, I don’t think it’s really helping their cause to have a typo in the title bar. “Cops Writing Cops – Where’s the Professional Courtesy? Law Enforcement and Polcie Officers help each other.” Sigh… -_-

-b.glad

pbirmingham

@Welllfleet:

He’s undoubtedly referring to Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, rather than lysergic acid diethylamide.

Blackbird

@Ethan

I’ve had the same idea for a while, mainly because as a pedestrian, I see a lot of cops to a lot of stupid things. Recently I saw a group of cops surround a car guns drawn, no one decided to stop traffic in the area, so the cops made the cars turn around…fair enough. The downside to this was that they made them turn around NEXT to the car they had stopped. Of course, there was also the hotdog stand with about 10 people just out of the line of fire.

This of course it topped by a “Parking Enforcement Officer” – pronounced jerk. 3 mins before your free to park on the street, an officer in a car comes to give tickets. I saw about 7 traffic charges he could have had in the process of writing the 2 parking tickets. He almost got into 3 accidents in the span of those 3 minutes.

But of course, not all cops are bad…

AaronZ

A had a cop aquaintance who was just sent to jail for stalking/harassing his ex-wife. He thought he could get away with it because he was a cop himself and none of his buddies would do anything. (14 year vet, with pension down the drain!)
Well, the DA saw things differently.
He’s serving 3-12 months.

Anonymous

Reply to #86: Because we police officers in the Northeast give breaks to all the officers from the southern states that come speeding down our highways, thats why.

Unfortunately it’s like this: If an officer from the south gets pulled over in the Northeast, the northeast officer shakes there hand and buys them a cup of coffee (yes I have done this several times with out of state officers)..But.. If a northeast officer gets pulled over in the south, the officer from the south gives the officer from the northeast a ticket. The officers from the south need to get off of there “Power High” and learn some conditions of brotherhood.

I had 2 detectives respond to Southwest PA to bring back a murder suspect for extradidtion. The PA State police pulled my detective over (on duty), with a criminal in the car and proceeded to keep that detective detained and write him a ticket for speeding. Are you F’n kidding me. Talk about a safety issue. There was a prisoner in the car and the officers were on duty. If we stopped an out of state officer who was transporting a prisoner we would not only let them go with no ticket we would give them a lights and siren escort to the state border.

Look, its bad enough that we as cops cant really rely on anyone else except other cops when we need help, so why start bad blood with another agency by writing another cop a ticket. A ticket is nothing more than a petty violation. Not writing one is perfectly fine. It is called discretion. I use discretion in not writing about 90% of the people I stop. Cop or not.

Anonymous

Anon, I also belong to the same department as you do. I would just like to say that i thoroughly enjoyed your response to #86. Just a few months ago i got stopped in GA and i had to deal with the “This is my highway” speech. As you’ve probably already experienced another officer screaming at you during a stop, I’m sure you can guess what I told him next .. I told him to either write me or let me go, but there’s no need to raise your voice and tell me that this is your highway. Granted, i do have limo tints on all windows of my car besides the front .. I don’t exactly blame any fellow officer for stopping me. (‘chuckles’). My main point is, you’re absolutely 100% correct in your response. We always do extend deep courtesy to southern officers, but we never seem to get the same treatment in return. I can’t even count the amount of times that I have given fellow officers from the south a huge ‘break’ on a stop, or the amount of times I have provided them escorts while offering them a cup of coffee, just as you have already done yourself. Where is the mutual respect? In conclusion, dave(id) or #86 … whoever you are, you had some nerve posting your comment and suggesting us to slow down. I suggest you to ‘wise up’. Once again Anon you’ve been absolutely stellar in this whole thread .. keep up the good work!

bradford

Any respect I had for cops is now gone, thanks to that site, except for the Dicks of the Month. Bravo to you for doing your job.

Tommy

Oh no, wait, it’s okay:

“This is a site for officers getting traffic tickets that ANY normal civilian could get a warning on, verbal or written.”

54N71460

Oh, I also thought the cop let go that guy who was driving 150+ on acid!!!
Too bad it was just the name of the street. I was starting to like cops…

Anonymous

This has been going on for a long time. I’m happy to see these ‘cops’ are stupid enough to voice their beliefs online where it’s all being cached and recorded for public scrutiny. I have met some outstanding police officers, but there is a population within some police departments that act like sadistic children. In a big city there is some oversight, but in rural or suburban areas you will have no luck reporting bad cops, I’ve tried. The local attorney, police department, and town know who they are, but they are waiting for someone else to do something.

porkbarrel

There’s plenty of hypocrisy there, but I understand the general idea that they feel due discretion from fellow cops. I guess none of the cop haters writing has ever been given a break on a violation or helped by a police officer, but I’m willing to bet they will dial 911 when they’re in a tight spot, rather than some of their ‘cool’ friends. Cops have to deal with dangerous situations and unpleasant, crazy, violent people every day. Most of them do it the right way. It’s a difficult, shitty job a lot of the time. My uncles were Chicago cops and I heard some appalling stories about situations they faced. There are some cops who abuse their power and are just jerks, we’ve all met them. Almost all of us have met good ones too. Cops getting a break from other cops on moving violations is a reality and no big deal. For you cop haters, walk up to one sometime and ask them how their day is going. You might meet an interesting human being.

Anonymous

My brother is a traffic cop in a large western city and he’s told me of the times when he would be threatened by a beat cop for giving him a parking violation. One time, the cop even threatened to put my brother in the squad car!

What the hell is wrong with these insecure nuts with badges? Maybe we need to mandate weekly psych evals for all cops. Seems that too many of them think they’re special.

Isn’t the authority to possibly rob people of their liberties enough of a perk? Guess not.

BTW, military GI’s are not the same as cops. When a person serves, they’re defending the nation as a whole. Cops just prance around while preying on the helpless lower classes of citizens.

This why memorial day is only for remembering the sacrifices made for our freedom by our military. Cops have nothing to do with the holiday since they do not harbor the same view of our liberties.

If cops want to act like soldiers, join up and do a few tours in the middle east, then maybe you’ll have a more realistic idea of what freedom is before you violate someone’s god-given rights.

Anonymous

A cop that lives down the street from me drove drunkenly through my front lawn at 3AM this past winter in his big old 4×4. He left two huge ruts and tore up my yard. Several neighbors witnessed it and filled me in the next morning. My next door neighbor called the police, who refused to even knock on the door of his house. All this happened while I was asleep. Since the cops didn’t do anything, I bitched him out in front of his house when he was raking a few days later. That felt good. What a jackoff.

jenjen

Oh I can tooootally see how the absolute power corrupts absolutely. Check this – I’ve been a librarian for 15 years and I have yet to pay an overdue fine. And I’ve been a day late with my books at least twice. WOO HOO, in your FACE, suckas! Professional courtesy baby, yeah!

sharper

The failure to honor the principle that no one is above the law corrupts more than just police. In Baltimore, I could not get the police to ticket about 100 cars that were tripled parked on both sides of the street because they were a attending a political fund raiser with the then Democratic Governor and Lt. Governor. Because of the location in a tourist area, the street required the use of a neighborhood parking permit (except in the middle of the night). A public garage was 2 blocks away. Even though I ultimately had a supervisor and 4 or 5 officers responding to my complaint, no one dared hold the politicians accountable. In this case, the corrupt politicians were corrupted the police.

About the same time, I was commuting to DC by train with a fold-up bike and regularly passed the National Gallery of Art on my way. A whole block of Pennsylvania Ave in front of the museum was dedicated to illegal parking (including across cross-walks) by U.S. marshals. All you had to do was put anything identifying you as a marshal in your front window (e.g. a ball cap or T-shirt imprinted with the words “U.S. marshal”) and you were home free. I was obviously not the only one who noticed this, since at least several of the signs were clearly unofficial or long-out of date. I think some people also just realized that the police never ticketed that block. The DC police refused to touch it (except for the one very clearly bogus ID).

Yes, police and marshals do important work (I’m not too sure about politicians), but they are not the only ones who do so. Unless its an emergency, they can obey the laws like the rest of us.

donopolis

I love that so few of them can spell or write well.

I feel like posting a story about being a normal citizen who failed to come to complete stop at deserted 4 way stop @3:30 in the morning and got a tkt. boo hoo.

Or how about a story about the PO in Dallas that was speeding 60 in 40 (no lights or siren)through a residential area and struck and a killed a woman and child. They got no professional courtesy…so unfair.

D-

Anonymous

My friend’s mother is a nurse who expects the same “professional courtesy” from law enforcement. At first I thought it made sense, you know, if she was pulled over on the way to the hospital or something…But she actually goes to the length of hanging a stethoscope on her rear-view mirror at all times…and gripes in the same manner these cops do when she gets a ticket.

Kevin

I’ve heard the same complaints from POs here in Chicago — professional courtesy is mostly alive and well.

Still, every once in a while you get an overzealous meter maid who chooses to ignore the “code of honor” and tickets a car with a police hat band hanging off the rearview mirror.

Anonymous

I tried to send them a thank you letter for exposing the rampant Above the Law attitude we see today from our law enforcers. but got this:

“Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

cwcstaff@copswritingcops.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 13): 550 sorry, no mailbox here by that name. (#5.7.17)”

That’s the address on their site… grrr… anyway.. here’s my email… you read it :)

“I just wanted to thank you for calling attention to all the cops who
think they can get away with breaking the law and all the Heroes who
don’t let them. We live in a time of rampant police militarization and
over reliance on semi-lethal weaponry to do The Hard Work. I know
your actual mission statement is trying to shame officers into
providing greater leeway to these law breakers, but the actual effect
is exposing this Above the Law culture corrupting some of our
protectors, and I thank you for it. We need to hold our law enforcers
to the HIGHEST standard of behavior without exception.”

Anonymous

I notice that NOW there is no email contact on the “cops writing cops” site. There’s a PLACE for it, but it’s blank. I imagine they’ve gotten enough choice comments – I was going to give them one until I saw they left it blank.

chowda

this is the email I attempted to send to the address on their website… it bounced.

“I just wanted to thank you for calling attention to all the cops who
think they can get away with breaking the law and all the Heroes who
don’t let them. We live in a time of rampant police militarization and
over reliance on semi-lethal weaponry to do The Hard Work. I know
your actual mission statement is trying to shame officers into
providing greater leeway to these law breakers, but the actual effect
is exposing this Above the Law culture corrupting some of our
protectors, and I thank you for it. We need to hold our law enforcers
to the HIGHEST standard of behavior without exception.”

Anonymous

It’s one thing to expect preferential treatment. That part doesn’t surprise me. But complaining on the Internet when you don’t get it, that’s pretty stupid.

Anonymous

Two true stories.

Not long after high school one of my best friends was a punk rocker. He was skinny, but probably dressed intimidating to cops… if they squinted hard enough. One day my friend was eating with my younger brother on the grass in front of taco bell (no smoking inside.) Two cops pulled in and told them that the manager had complained about undesirables outside the restaurant and searched them. My friend wore a pair of handcuffs across his front belt loops (again, punk rocker.) The cop asked if he used them to cuff my brother to the bed when he effed his f—-t boyfriend.

At this point the manager came out. She was a girl that both my brother and I had grown up with both at school and believe it or not, Sunday school. She said she sure as hell had NOT called the police and why were they harassing her customers and friends? She apparently really came to the rescue.

My girlfriend of many years was effected far more deeply by a cop. Her best friend from high school was killed by a cop that lost control in a chase and slammed into the back of a parked car, killing her friend in the back seat. He didn’t even apologize to the parents.

I remember a few particular officers who would get whiskey shots at a bar and then drive across the street to hand out curfew tickets at the local Denny’s. (source: another friend who was the bartender serving those in uniform.)

I’m sure there is a good cop out there… somewhere. Call me, cuz I have clearly never met you. Though I too, have been harassed by hundreds of your “kind”. As my younger brother once declared during a D.A.R.E. school presentation by a cop when the cop was talking about how awful violence against the police was, “Yeah, I’d aim for the badge.” (He always had more balls than me.)

agoodsandwich

Sure, we’ve all been let off the hook before, when we really deserved a ticket. On several occasions I’ve been caught speeding when the officer didn’t give me a ticket. I suppose in many cases that’s a matter of the officer’s discretion, and a special bonus when it happens.

The difference here is that these cops are so indignant that someone would have the nerve to give them a ticket, even at times when they are bluntly admitting breaking the law. We all get pissed when we get busted, but this attitude of special priviledge is disgusting and rather uninspiring when coming from the enforcers of the law.

These guys are supposed to be our heros? Sheesh.

Anonymous

Isn’t this just typical–so many cops nowadays have no problem with the “Do as I say, not as I do” axiom. For the most part they are just publicly endorsed bullies. Yes, there are some who do the job and are what we used to expect cops to be, honorable and courageous people who do actually serve and protect the public. Just watch how many of them walk now, like an ape with heat rash and a bad attitude.

missclaudia

I am not a LEO, but many close friends and family members are. For the most part, I think cops are doing their best at a very difficult job. However, I think there are a lot of terrible people who become cops, or perhaps turn into terrible people once they go into the field.

I’ve been pulled over a number of times and a few of those times I’ve gotten off with a warning and I’ve really appreciated that. The cops were polite and respectful, just trying to keep people safe.

Then there are cops like my uncle. Horribly racist, power hungry a-holes who think they know everything about everything and believe they are better than everyone else. I know for a fact that my uncle has been pulled over while driving drunk. He’s also been pulled over when having a low blood sugar attack (he’s severely diabetic). His “brothers” never give him a ticket. They’re trying to protect him. Meanwhile, he doesn’t change his behaviors and he consistently puts the public in danger. He needs to get help. He needs to see a doctor. But if he sees a doctor and they figure out he’s an alcoholic and doesn’t manage his diabetes, he’ll lose his job. So what happens when he kills someone?

To make things worse, his daughter is now thinking about becoming a cop. I asked her why, thinking she would say something like, “I want to keep people safe.” or I like helping people.” but instead she said, “because if you’re a cop, no one can tell you what to do. If they say anything to you, you can just take them in.” She’s 23 years old. That’s what she’s learned about law enforcement from her dad. She has also used her dad’s name as a “get out of jail free” card.

We should all be posting this stuff on their forum instead of here. not that it would change any minds.

5000!

Ironically, they link from the homepage to a page called “What cops would like the public to know…..” that features this nugget of wisdom:

“Hereâ€™s how to get out of a ticket. donâ€™t break the law.”

Guess they don’t read their own site!

Anonymous

Any chance the site is a troll? Or even a federal sting?

Pity that it’s probably for real.

Gloria

This comment comes from the forum: “Anyone can graduate an academy and call themselves a police officer. Not everyone can become a COP.” But you can if you flout law and professional ethics, and place some misguided notion of “brotherhood” above public justice!

One commentator mentions that traffic ticket writing is the pettiest of an officer’s duties. The point isn’t whether a duty is prestigious. The point is that traffic laws exist to deter careless driving, which can have *fatal* consequences. It’s not a small infraction.

But hey, try convincing officers who have better things to do, like bust people for smoking weed.

chowda

“but I’m willing to bet they will dial 911 when they’re in a tight spot”

That argument is so tired… of course we will… handling most problems yourself is a good way to end up in jail. Just because we need cops doesn’t mean we have to just accept every infraction, even if it’s minor. Cops should be model citizens, not regular citizens with a license to kill and speed.

Anonymous

From a COP to the Public.

Ok first lesson.

A traffic violation is that, itâ€™s just a violation.

Under the law, a violation is a petty offense. The law allows Police Officers to use discretion and give warnings or as the public would say a “break”.

I have used “discretion” not to issue summonses to all types of civilians from school teachers to doctors to the unemployed, from white folks to black folks. I use this discretion based on the facts surrounding the “car stop”

The issue that you folks do not understand is that REAL cops (cops who do chase criminals and protect the public) do not look at writing tickets as “real police” work.

Real cops would much rather hunt down a drug dealer or another real FELON rather than ticket some college kid with a “no seat belt” summons.

Real cops look at traffic tickets as what they are “petty offenses” not worth much of the publicâ€™s time or tax dollars.

Some psycho cops think that hunting down the soccer mom and making her cry on the side of the road for not using her directional during a lane change is GOOD Police work.

Real cops do not accept these psycho cops and will not speak with them or back them up on calls. They are outcasts in the police community.

This is why we hate cops who write other cops tickets.

See folks itâ€™s a little deeper that just the ticket.

The majority of cops are not talking about covering up crimes or major traffic violations that would endanger the public.

We are upset with psychos that not only harass good civilians but harass cops with the same nonsense.
We know these psycho cops make the public hate all cops.

vass

@74: Thanks, Christovir.

I entirely agree about IQ, by the way.

Anonymous

At first I wanted to think this site is a joke…then I found the forums and am not sure what to think. DOJ will most assuredly be hearing about this website.

Anonymous

You have to all take a step back and look at things objectively…

First, no1 is saying cops are above the law…
Second, a ticket/summons for a vtl infraction (speeding,blinker,stop sign) is just a violation… its the lowest offense there is…

third, I, being a cop, probably do about 50-125 car stops a month… and usually write about 10 maybe 15 tickets (usually three or four to each motorists..)

And a majority of those people I pull over, are good, hard working joe schmucks, just like myself… therefore…just bc they technically violated what some piece of paper deems to be illegal, doesnt mean they HAVE to get a summons… thats where police “discretion” comes into play….

If the person I pull over is a relatively good person… and they made a silly mistake… I tell them what they did…and say have a good night… It all depends on how they talk/act/treat me…

Therefore, if I am giving MOST regular citizens out there breaks, why is it so “ironic” if i give a fellow police officer a break…

I dont give cops breaks b/c they are cops…i give them breaks bc they treat me with respect/ usually only did one or two things wrong/ and are a relatively good person…just like most people out there…

WHen i get the thug who drove like a jerk and acts like a jerk….i Write all the summons that he violated….

THere are plenty of bad people out there… no need to write the good people…

-John Doe

btw: this is all in regards to minor traffic offenses… not serious crimes… (assaults/weapons/drugs etc…) cop/good guy/bad guy… no discretion when it comes to those issues..

be safe

Anonymous

Cops are a club, just like every other culture out there. They have their own rules, their own unwritten rules, for being in the clubhouse. Every culture does this.

Cops are very much in it for each other. They rely on each others’ moral support for being out there and being “on the lines”.

When someone breaks that code, it is like violating the laws of the clubhouse that enables the entity to function.

As civilians, you are looking at it (and complaining about it) from your point of view, not bothering to take the time and understand.

This is racial segregation in America all over again, except this time it is cops vs. civilians. Doesn’t matter if you’re black and white, or black-and-white vs. civilian, it’s about two sides not understanding each other.

Merc

“For Dick of the month, I nominate Trooper Davis, badge number #314159 of the GPD. I was doing a routine traffic patrol while I spotted somebody DWB. It was clear he was a drug dealer because he was driving a Lexus and was too short to be an NBA player. I pulled him over, did the sniff test for probable cause, and searched the trunk. I couldn’t figure out where he was hiding the stuff so I tried to motivate him to tell me — nothing too extreme but he must have had a weak heart or something.

I called in a code 243 but Dickhead Davis wouldn’t give me his backup piece. He said some BS about “planting evidence”. Look, we both knew the perp was guilty but he was going to let me take the fall?

Traffic tickets are bad and all, but I’d say not tossing your brother a bone like this is much worse.”

Wonder if they’d publish my bit of fiction…

agoodsandwich

“At this point I asked him if perhaps he could lessen the speed, to which he replied “Can’t do that. Judge round these parts frowns upon that.” Now realizing that I have entered a scene from Deliverance…”

Excuse me? The cop wouldn’t lie for you, so you must be in some backwards hick countryside?

What an obnoxious sense of entitlement. This is why people hate cops.

cstatman

DON’T TASE ME BRO!

:)

Cops complaining about cops writing cops tickets

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