Ask a cop

Cbtech · 08-28-2013, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

For just this short section i think it's largely dependent on what state you're in. In California you have to pay the ticket before a judge will even review your case. So in that instance paying the ticket is mandatory and IS NOT an admission of guilt.

That said, they bloody hell could have fooled me. In cali, traffic violations are basically guilty until proven innocent.

Sorry but you're incorrect here. If it is a Traffic violation you have the right to face your accuser in front of a judge before you pay any type of fine. Of course California wants you to pay and shut up and take your point. Paying the ticket is NOT mandatory and IS an admission of guilt if you pay.

dP3NGU1N · 08-28-2013, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbtech

Sorry but you're incorrect here. If it is a Traffic violation you have the right to face your accuser in front of a judge before you pay any type of fine. Of course California wants you to pay and shut up and take your point. Paying the ticket is NOT mandatory and IS an admission of guilt if you pay.

That hasn't been my experience at all. I regularly fight my tickets and court clerks WILL NOT schedule you a court date before you pay your fine. If you win your case the money is then mailed back to you in the form of a check. Ofcourse that check comes roughly 8-10 months after you win because our system is just that efficient.

I've contested the notion of paying my ticket first on several occasions. All of which ending in - pay and see a judge OR don't pay and be delinquent.

So in this case, sir, you are wrong. As far as LA county is concerned anyway, it might be different up north.

Zbrah · 08-28-2013, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbtech

Sorry but you're incorrect here. If it is a Traffic violation you have the right to face your accuser in front of a judge before you pay any type of fine. Of course California wants you to pay and shut up and take your point. Paying the ticket is NOT mandatory and IS an admission of guilt if you pay.

Actually he's right, my last ticket (speeding) I HAD to pay the fine upfront prior to my court date, it was Mandatory. However the judge dismissed my charges because the officer didn't show

approx. 2 months after the trial I received a refund check

Edit: I'm in Orange County, so maybe different laws where you're at.

dP3NGU1N · 08-28-2013, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zbrah

Actually he's right, my last ticket (speeding) I HAD to pay the fine upfront prior to my court date, it was Mandatory. However the judge dismissed my charges because the officer didn't show

approx. 2 months after the trial I received a refund check

Edit: I'm in Orange County, so maybe different laws where you're at.

2 months!? I still haven't received my check from beating a speeding ticket last february. They keep saying any day now

Cbtech · 08-28-2013, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zbrah

Actually he's right, my last ticket (speeding) I HAD to pay the fine upfront prior to my court date, it was Mandatory. However the judge dismissed my charges because the officer didn't show

approx. 2 months after the trial I received a refund check

Edit: I'm in Orange County, so maybe different laws where you're at.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

That hasn't been my experience at all. I regularly fight my tickets and court clerks WILL NOT schedule you a court date before you pay your fine. If you win your case the money is then mailed back to you in the form of a check. Ofcourse that check comes roughly 8-10 months after you win because our system is just that efficient.

I've contested the notion of paying my ticket first on several occasions. All of which ending in - pay and see a judge OR don't pay and be delinquent.

So in this case, sir, you are wrong. As far as LA county is concerned anyway, it might be different up north.

This MUST be a Orange county thing then (which is fucked up) but i have gotten tickets by CHP and they also give you a court date. One is from CHP and the other is city both dont impose a fine.

dP3NGU1N · 08-28-2013, 07:50 PM

^that is for your arraignment, sir. You can waive the arraignment hearing - it does nothing for you. What you CAN use the arraignment hearing for, however, is to establish your right to traffic school BEFORE you plead not guilty.

Once you plead "not guilty" then you are required to pay the bail amount first, which is your traffic fine, before a judge will actually see for your trial. I suppose this could be where the break down in communication is. What zbrah and I are talking about is the actual trial hearing, not the arraignment hearing - which are two different things.

The point of the arraignment court is to quickly process everyone who wants to plead guilty so they can pay their fine and attend traffic school. They will not hear your case if you wish to plead not guilty. What they'll do in that instance is give you a separate court date to make your case - essentially wasting about 3 hours of your time.

Wonka2581 · 08-28-2013, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

A question for all the LEOs. Do you really have ticket quotas you have to fill? Can you elaborate on the structure? Is it monthly? weekly? How many do you need (I suppose this varies by city). Is it a dollar amount or strictly a numbers game?

I'm seriously annoyed that it seems like traffic citations, by and large, are basically legalized extortion schemes for cities to make money. Now I recognize that this is not the fault of the officers but it doesn't make it any less of an issue.

A U.S. suprime court set a federal law on ticket quotas. It is up to the officer to cite you or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by axmea?

Wonka! I love this thread. Repped.

Cell! Thanks for chiming in. Repped as well.

My question has nothing to do with being stopped or the legality around stops. More about safety and being aware of your surroundings. Any best practices that you can share from your point of view aside from keeping distance, monitoring speed, etc. I just wonder what you look for as an officer. What do you look out for or pay attention to? How far ahead and behind do you look?

Good question,
I am always on my toes. LEOS dont have the safest job in the world. When Im working im always scanning for violations. There is not set distance. But when I'm around people I try to keep a reactionary gap of 4-6 feet when Im dealing with people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr&Mrs

1) Are you supposed to chase someone driving 30+ over the speed limit? Or is there any number you are to not persue?

2) What is your magic number and your general "force's" number on pulling a speeding driver as long as there is nothing wreckless envolved? 1-3 over 5-7 over 10-13 over etc.

Thanks

Diffrent Law Enforcement agencies have diffrent policys, My agencie had a very liberal policy, check with your local agency and ask what the persuit policy is also it depends on the charges, I.E. if the person just walked into a store and shot lets say 5 people then there is a very good chance he will do it again. Police will persue no matter what speeds are. When im running radar I normally dont even look at a car unless they are doing 15MPH over the limit, I might stop you but more then likely not give you a ticket, some people just need a wake up call to be more aware of there speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret86944

What is the distance police can accurately shoot radar & laser? In the hypothetical situation that I was over the speed limit (which none of us Z owners ever are, of course), and I could see a police car off in the distance, can he easily get me or is he typically getting cars that are closer?

Line of sight, if I can see your car the radar will pick you up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onelownismo

Possibly a dumb question but....

When you see a speed limit sign, where does that speed limit come into play? Immediately at the sign, or as soon as you can see it?

I've also always wondered about left turn on red, onto a one way street. What's the deal with that?

Speed limit will change as soon as you pass the sign. I dont get your second question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

Who do you work for?

Hamilton County Sheriff's Office

Quote:

Originally Posted by SouthArk370Z

Now for something completely different. What's with "Do you have any illegal guns, drugs, ... in your car?" Has anybody ever answered "Yes" to that question?

Yes, dont know why but yes they have, and BC of that I have cut them a brake one time it was for a little bit of weed. I put it in as found property so it could be destroid. Honesty goes along way with me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret86944

Why do the police always ask "Do you know why I pulled you over?".

Those are rookies... lol I always introduce my self and explain why I stopped you. I.E. you ran a stop sign.

Cbtech · 08-28-2013, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

^that is for your arraignment, sir. You can waive the arraignment hearing - it does nothing for you. What you CAN use the arraignment hearing for, however, is to establish your right to traffic school BEFORE you plead not guilty.

Once you plead "not guilty" then you are required to pay the bail amount first, which is your traffic fine, before a judge will actually see for your trial. I suppose this could be where the break down in communication is. What zbrah and I are talking about is the actual trial hearing, not the arraignment hearing - which are two different things.

The point of the arraignment court is to quickly process everyone who wants to plead guilty so they can pay their fine and attend traffic school. They will not hear your case if you wish to plead not guilty. What they'll do in that instance is give you a separate court date to make your case - essentially wasting about 3 hours of your time.

actually the second ticket for the stop sign I pled not guilty hoping that the police officer wouldn't show up. they then scheduled my court date for another 2 months out. two months later I show up for court and as they're getting prepared for trials video of me going through the stop sign comes up on the screen. they gave us one more option to plead guilty or no contest before the judge came out. So since the cop was there with the video of me going through the stop sign I ended up pleading no contest then that is when they fined me $240

unfortunately I'm quite the veteran when it comes to the traffic court system here in Sacramento. The several times over the years that I've pled not guilty I've never had to pay a fine before going in front of a judge.

madwi · 08-28-2013, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onelownismo

Possibly a dumb question but....

When you see a speed limit sign, where does that speed limit come into play? Immediately at the sign, or as soon as you can see it?

I've also always wondered about left turn on red, onto a one way street. What's the deal with that?

Here in Michigan (well at least in my city) you are allowed to turn left on red when turning onto a one way street.

Wonka2581 · 08-28-2013, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElVee

1) What position do you have for people who legally carry a handgun in their car? Good idea, risky? Should that fall under conceal carry, since I doubt anyone should leave a gun in an unattended car? Are there better alternatives for personal safety? My personal opinion is that a gun is a situation escalator, not a situation diffuser.

2) When I see a cop in a car either while driving, stopped at a stoplight, or just sitting along the road, should I wave? I know cops are people, too, and I want to be friendly and supportive, but I also don't want to draw unnecessary attention to myself (not that I'm doing anything bad) nor want to have a wave be mistaken for a more rude gesture or plea for attention/help. (Yeah, I'm in introvert!)

3) Thank you for keeping us safe.

Law enforcement is too often heralded as an annoyance, but it's the rules and keeping people in them that backbones our culture and morals.

I wish all poeple who are able to carry would carry. Guns are safe people hurt people. Always follow your local laws on gun carry. And a weapon should only be pulled and used if it is a life or death situation. I could go into this for ever but trying to keep it short and simple. 2nd amendment is for good.

Wave or stop and say hello if you want to, we are people too. I ahve people wave and stop me to say hi all the time, Its kinda nice to get that some times from people. And your welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zbrah

My buddy wants to be a police officer, he just graduated college with degree in criminal justice, any tips for him to get his start in the field?

He has a degree thats a good thing. Its probly one of the hardest jobs to get. Just tell him not to give up he will get it. It took my 3 years of trying before I got in.

I thought I would share this with everyone,

What is a policeman - Paul Harvey - YouTube

This is a website that has every Fallen brother's and sisters who has made the ultimate sacrifice, It gets updated daily.

Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)

///PureSwank · 08-28-2013, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw2546

I'm an officer in Maryland and I can tell everyone that I will stop u for anything I can reference traffic violations but I will not give u ticket. We use the violation as probable cause for the stop to look for bigger and better things. Drugs guns dead bodies ect. I write warnings if nothing is found. Not all officers are like this though, so if you are not a drug dealing thug all u need to do is be nice and apologize for whatever you did. If your car is full of equipment violations expect to get stopped.

Really? Tell this to a Texas State Trooper aka Highway Road Rapers. They will cite you for having rocks stuck in your tire treads. You sir, are quite nice. Rep for you!!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

dP3NGU1N · 08-28-2013, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbtech

actually the second ticket for the stop sign I pled not guilty hoping that the police officer wouldn't show up. they then scheduled my court date for another 2 months out. two months later I show up for court and as they're getting prepared for trials video of me going through the stop sign comes up on the screen. they gave us one more option to plead guilty or no contest before the judge came out. So since the cop was there with the video of me going through the stop sign I ended up pleading no contest then that is when they fined me $240

unfortunately I'm quite the veteran when it comes to the traffic court system here in Sacramento. The several times over the years that I've pled not guilty I've never had to pay a fine before going in front of a judge.

Then it seems we're both right in our respective areas of the state.

Cbtech · 08-28-2013, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

Then it seems we're both right in our respective areas of the state.

sucks that they make you pay up front there though...that is not right at all.

Wonka2581 · 08-28-2013, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbtech

sucks that they make you pay up front there though...that is not right at all.

I agree with you, In TN I set a court date and you can show up or pay it out of court.

zguynate · 08-29-2013, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cell

I have no quota for tickets. Lots of things can determine if we will ticket more people or not. Largely due to who the supervisors are.

Good overall numbers can sometimes lead to a better position than a beat cop.

I personally don't give out many tickets. Only tickets I would give are things like expired plates and no city sticker. This is because people have that responsiblity to have there documents updated. Just like most cops, I wouldn't give out a citation unless you were a total *** or just plain deserve it. If you were an *** then I would hit you up for as many tickets as possible. I have even let people go for acting up and saying sorry for it.

sometimes cops pull people over for the smallest things because it might lead to finding a gun that was used in a murder. We just never know what we will get everytime we pull someone over.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

Its against the law in the state of TN to have a quota. Many of my friends ask me if I have a quota. When I tell them no, they think im lying to them lol. Some departments have performance standards, which will compare one officers numbers to the shift average.

Im not a big speeding ticket writer unless I feel you are putting public safety at a risk. If youre hauling through a school zone or residential area, Ill probably give you a ticket. If you dont have insurance, you will be getting a ticket. If you run a stop sign (blatantly run it, not a slow rolling stop) or a red light, you will be getting a ticket. Anything that I feel can put others at risk. I will also give tickets for state registration. However, a slow rolling stop at a stop sign, lights (tail light, brake light, headlights), window tint, speeding on the interstate (as long as its not 100 mph lol), slight speeding on city streets (10-15 mph depending on conditions), etc, I usually do not give tickets for. Unless youre an a-hole of course lol.

Most of my traffic stops are to check for warrants, drugs, weapons, DUI, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr&Mrs

1) Are you supposed to chase someone driving 30+ over the speed limit? Or is there any number you are to not persue?

Thanks

My department only pursues for a violent fleeing felon. Even for most of those, our supervisors break it off.

Given that, some officers still do it lol. They will chase off the radio. If you wreck out, the officer will turn his lights off and haul *** the opposite direction lol. We had one guy that chased a guy on a motorcycle for speeding and somehow ended up running over the motorcycle in the back yard of someones residence lol. I have no idea how that happened lol....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret86944

Why do the police always ask "Do you know why I pulled you over?".

That is just the typical thing to say. There really isnt a specific reason most officers say that. I usually say "Hey how are you doing? The reason im stopping you is...." If you say "Do you know why I pulled you over?" that gives people the oppurtunity to say "Because im black", "Because you think im hot", and whatever other crazy stuff people can conjure up.

08-28-2013, 07:50 PM	#66 (permalink)
dP3NGU1N A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Irvine Posts: 1,682 Drives: 13 PW sport 6mt Rep Power: 18	^that is for your arraignment, sir. You can waive the arraignment hearing - it does nothing for you. What you CAN use the arraignment hearing for, however, is to establish your right to traffic school BEFORE you plead not guilty. Once you plead "not guilty" then you are required to pay the bail amount first, which is your traffic fine, before a judge will actually see for your trial. I suppose this could be where the break down in communication is. What zbrah and I are talking about is the actual trial hearing, not the arraignment hearing - which are two different things. The point of the arraignment court is to quickly process everyone who wants to plead guilty so they can pay their fine and attend traffic school. They will not hear your case if you wish to plead not guilty. What they'll do in that instance is give you a separate court date to make your case - essentially wasting about 3 hours of your time. DEpointfive0 likes this. __________________ 35% Hooper Optik \| Takeda Attack CAI \| F.I. HFC \| Hotchkis Sway Bar \| Stillen 24row \| OS Giken Super Lock LSD \| TK Shift Knob \| EVO-R Carbon Diffuser Last edited by dP3NGU1N; 08-28-2013 at 08:00 PM.