bagpiper said:
quychang said:
Charles, you're absolutely right. I don't know the exact codes, or carry a flashcard. I probably should. But on the other hand, my hackles get raised by ignorance, particularly in someone who's job it is to KNOW the law, not make it up as they go.
I try to remember that even among college trained lawyers, there is a lot of specialization. Consider that most lawyers will specialize in areas like criminal defense, water rights, corporate law, property law, etc.
One of the problems with the change in vernacular from "Peace Officer" to "Law Enforcement Officer" is the subtle requirement to know all the laws. Think of Andy Griffin. How often did he cite code? He was keeping the peace. And there probably weren't too many laws on the books in Mayberry that didn't relate directly to keeping the peace. Complex matters like estate law or property law were matters for lawyer and judges, so long as those involved weren't getting into fist fights or worse.
Certainly, police officers need to have some minimum working knowledge of areas of law they routinely need to uphold: traffic laws, various breeches of the peace, and the basics of our gun laws. A polite officer who is honestly mistaken, gets my courtesy so long as he is willing to accept correction either from me or his superiors when I provide it. If I ever have a run in with a jerk who has a badge, your course of action would seem appropriate.
Charles
I guess one of my issues is two fold. They don't necessarily know all the traffic laws either. And they are in a position to make judgement calls, like did you stop for a full three seconds at a stop sign, or did you pause and roll through? And even if you did, was it unsafe? An experience I had with a Summit County Deputy is a good example. I got off work near Park City at 2:00am. The only real traffic on the road was employees leaving the parking lot. There was a stop sign at the T in the road where our exit from work intersected the highway. I freely admit that I blew through the stop sign without even really slowing down. There was a set of lights about a mile down the road approaching me. Far enough that I could see lights, but there was no chance, even had he been doing 100 mph that he would hit me. About two miles down the road he caught up to me, pulled me over and approached the car. He laid out what happened, pretty much as I've described it, I said yes sir, that's pretty much exactly what happened. His response was reasonable, he said look...I realize at this time of night, with no traffic, what you did was not dangerous. But please, in the future, even if you don't stop, at least slow down enough that I can pretend that you did. And let me off with a warning.
That was bad enough, but about a week later, rolling towards home, just before getting to Henefer, he was coming towards me on the other side of the freeway. I was doing 80 in a 60 mph zone. Again, no traffic, straight road, no curves...I saw him pull down into the median to turn around and I pulled over before he even turned on his lights. He approached, said, don't I know you from last week? I said yes sir. He asked if I was aware of how fast I was going. I said yes sir, about 80. He said that's pretty much what I clocked you at, I know you're in a hurry to get home. Do me a favor and slow it down so you get there alive. I meekly said yes sir, I will. And he said if he caught me again, he'd most likely have to issue a citation. And he let me go. Yes, I was going too fast. No, I had no passengers, was cold sober, and the only one I was putting in danger was myself. He used his judgment and didn't ticket me.
You can bet that I didn't screw up again in his county in the almost 4 more years that I worked that shift and made that drive. I could see him shaking his head as he walked back to his SUV, and I''m sure he was chuckling at the coincidence of it being him catching me again.
Moral of the story. I'm always super polite, whether they are right or wrong. I admit to what I do, or don't do and talk to them like they deserve my respect. Even in the cases where I don't feel like they do. No, I didn't write to his Sargent, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have wanted me to. But I still remember him, and think how lucky I was to get a lenient officer twice in a row. So Judgment isn't always a bad thing.
I never give an officer with a gun, taser and handcuffs a reason to want to be a jerk to me. They have the position of power. If they are reasonable and most of them are if treated right, then no problem. If there is an issue, I don't confront, I report my issue and let them handle it internally. I've done it exactly once. And I wasn't a jerk about it, because he wasn't one to me. He was wrong. Dead wrong. I did disagree with him, he told me to tell it to the judge and issued a citation. I told it to his Sargent instead, showed up to court, the officer wasn't there and the ticket was dismissed. I suspect that he got the message, though I don't know. Maybe he had a valid reason for not making it. But I didn't end up with a fine.
Mel