My First Experience w/ a Cool Cop @ a Traffic Stop

Last night, I went to dog training class, then to a wine tasting at our offices. Had a few sips of wine, not enough to be near the limit. Got in the car and drove down 2nd street, which hits Market St. at a stoplight. This stoplight is "no turn on red" both ways---2nd street hits Market going one-way from both directions, so you have to turn left or right. like so:

127Market (2-way)
11111121|
11111121|
11111121|
2nd----> X <----- 2nd
11111121|
11111121|
11111121|

So I come up 2nd, and the light is red, but there's nobody coming for as far as the eye can see in all other 3 directions. Suddenly, the kids in front of me take a LEFT turn on red, obviously illegal at any intersection. I say **** it and take a RIGHT on red---legal in VA, but stupidly illegal at that intersection for no reason.

A couple minutes later, the blue lights are flashing in my rear view. Of course the first thing that goes through my mind is, will this guy smell the small amount of wine I had on my breath, subject me to a bullsh*t breathalyzer that is wrong 50%+ of the time, and send me on to prison? Second thing that goes through my mind is, how in the hell did this guy get me for taking a SAFE right on red, but miss the douches who took an always-illegal LEFT on red 2 seconds before me? Up to this point, I'd been pulled over maybe 4 times in my life, and each time, the cops were real dicks. So I had no reason to be optimistic. Then again, I'd never been pulled by a C'ville city cop before either.

Much to my surprise, the guy was very nice. He mentioned that there was no turn on red, I did my best to look surprised and dumbfounded, but was calm and half-smiling at the same time. He said, yeah, the sign is kind of hard to see, but that I should know next time...and that he wasn't gonna give me a ticket, but he'd run my license. After he ran it, he told me to have a nice night and sent me on my way.

Whew.

So there you have it. My one and only experience with a cool officer @ a traffic stop. Cheers to that guy. He could have been a dick, but he wasn't, so:

 

My Dad was one of the only cool cops I knew in NJ. I have met at least 30 cops and I'd say maybe 5 of them have been non-arrogant good guys. I don't know if it holds true in VA but in NJ, you can turn on red all the time technically. If they write you a ticket and you go to court, you'll win...

 

Well, there's a sign at that intersection saying "NO TURN ON RED". I can't imagine how I'd win that in court, other than the fact that, by the time you're first in line at the stoplight, it's really hard to see.

 

We have those signs too. That's why you may get a ticket, but you'll supposedly win in court...

 

Hehe, reminds me of the scene from Harold and Kumar. :fro:

 

Actually turning left on red is legal if it's from a one-way to a one way.

 

haha I was thinking that too. My grandfather was a cop, one of the only cool ones that I have seen too. He lived in Colorado and would never bust anyone for marijuana... because he smoked it too. He didn't have it in him

 

Which, as you can see from my diagram, it clearly was not...

 

Yup, there's a lot of intersections in this messed up downtown where I live. One way streets out the wazoo.

I've never met an on-duty cop who wasn't a power-tripping ahole.

 

Cruising in my 1970 Corvette... Turn at a light and its about 1/4 mile to our family business (and my workshop), so, naturally, I step on it. 450 hp screaming through my 2 chamber flowmasters... right by a cop.

I pull into our yard, wait for the electric gate to open, and just as I pull through, lights behind me. He's waiting, not entering the property. I toss 'er in reverse, pull beside him. "Good afternoon officer!"
"You know.... there's always somebody watching when you're doing something stupid."
"I know, I know, it was stupid."
"What year is that?" (at this point I realize I'm good to go)
"Its a '70, my Pop's and I restored it."
"Well, I'm going to write this up as a seat belt warning. Stop being an a$$hole."
Then, as he's pulling away, he shouts "Nice car!"


Totally seperate occasion, same car, same parking lot, Easter Sunday. I've got my sister in the passenger seat. We just pulled in from a quick cruise, and rather than pull straight into my workshop, I peg it and cut the wheel sending us into a seemingly endless donut smokey abyss. We got our laughs, and I pull slowly into the shop. Let it idle for a min and pop the hood to let 'er cool down. As I walk out the shop, I see a cop on the road, lights on, standing on the outside of the fence waving for me to come over. SO, I take the walk of shame, about 100 yards. "How ya doin officer?" He goes into this long discussion on how its a misdemeanor for me to do donuts with a passenger in the car, regardless if its private property or not. Tells me that if his supervisor drove by and saw it he'd throw me in cuffs. He ends the tale with a "If I had that car I'd do the same... Happy Easter."

Needless to say, I've been lucky with the car. A few close calls, but nothing to worry about just yet.

 

You people are why my insurance rate is so high. Not so much evan, as ahem other posters in this thread.

 

May I ask why?

Unless you whipped up some crazy stereotype about my driving, I've offered no evidence of ANYTHING that wouuld have to do with insurance. (yes, me being the... ahem.. "other poster")

 

Good to hear it Evan.

Let me start off by saying, I am a cop magnet. They just like to pull me over for some reason. That said, I haven't ever been arrested or gotten a ticket for something I didn't do. In fact, I've gotten off lightly for things I did do that more than likely should have been ticketed more harshly.

Moral of the story is, not all cops are bad. Most are actually trying to uphold safety. If you are nice, 9 times out of 10, they are nice right back.

 

Do I really need to explain why using a public road as your personal quarter mile drag strip is dangerous and irresponsible? High risk driving leads to accidents. Other people's accidents leads to an increase in my insurance rate.

Insurance rates aside, you're still making the road a more dangerous place for others, which is reprehensible in and of itself.

 

The grand exception to that rule? Virginia State Troopers. I swear, every single one of those bastards was a an angry little nerd in high school and got picked on by everyone and abused by their parents and never did anything worthwhile, and so they got a job with the Virginia SS Troopers so that they could wear those jackboots and be assholes to people to make up for everyone in their life being assholes to them. I've never met a VA SS that wasn't a huge steaming icehole on a major power trip. One time when I was a teenager I got caught speeding on I-66, and I was young and scared that my parents would kill me, and as he standing there looking at my license and registration, I'm blindly staring at him, not really "looking" at him, just staring into space wondering how bad I was gonna get punished. He roars at me, "What the hell you starin' at? Well, son, you better get a good goddamn look at my nametag, cuz yer gonna KNOW my name by the end of this..." F*cking douche. Same thing when I got a ticket over in Harrisonburg from a Trooper---real dick, tried to tell me that there was no use trying to explain myself to him, because he had no choice but to write me a ticket (some horsesh*t about click it or ticket month).

 

I beg to differ--- every person I know of that I would have classified as a 'nerd' in high school grew up to be well adjusted intelligent people by in large and few grew up wanting 'revenge'.


Revenge for slights in HS is for the stupid. And it sounds like the VA Patrol recruits the stupid people.

 

Oh, Korny, why you gots to always be overanalyzin!? My point wasn't that they were nerds, my point was that they were angry, mistreated people who decided to get their revenge by being assholes to other people (while carrying a sidearm).

AFAICT, VA SS recruits angry people with a chip on their shoulder and a willingness to be a jackbooted thug to normal citizens. That seems to be the only prerequisite. As for stupid, who knows.

 

i had a california state trooper tell me to "Stay off the freeway when you see a black and white." He was pissed that i passed him, going maybe two miles over the speed limit (my speedometer said i was going the limit.) I guess i should've respected the freeway that he obviously owns.

 

Nice story Evan. It is common for people to dislike the cops and think they are power hungry J.O.'s. The reasons are numerous.

1. The media loves posting "Bad" cop stories.
2. People always remember and tell friends about the Ahole cop.
3. Like anything, there are pricks in ANY type of job.

I know cops who belittle and lecture people and issue tickets with barely any restraint. Alot of these cops have had alot of physical altercations on stops and demeanor complaints. I have had 1 demeanor complaint in 8yrs on the job and have yet to get in a scuffle on a stop due to inciting someone to violence. Not saying I am great or anything. The old adage "you get more bees with honey" is very true. If you treat people like PEOPLE we can all get along.

 

It's a side effect of my job as I tend to look at things both in and out of context all day, every day. Then I pop in here while I compile or make an ISO and don't turn off the QA part of my brain.

 

Drivin' down the two-lane in a 55 mph zone at the speed of 67 mph. Cop meets me, spins around and flags me to a stop. I had already come to a complete stop. Had my license and registration out already when he reaches the window.

I volunteered, "Yes, I was driving like a damned fool, hurrying back to the office. I'm guilty."

He responded, "You were driving 67 miles an hour. Drive more safely next time. Have a good day."

That was it. I've found that if you admit right off the bat that you were a fool, they'll agree and let you off.