Always Wondered

[ancient-one]

This is for LE's, current and retired. When you are running speed checks and you have two or more cars go by in more or less a group, all going about the same amount over the limit, how do you decide which one to pull over?
I am not asking this in a disrespectful way nor did I just get a ticket. I have never had a ticket but there were times when when I accidentally did something that could have gotten me one.

 

[Stevens]

The red one!
Steve W (not an LEO)

 

[walkin jack]

well I'm no LEO but I can answer that with at least two answers. Both for my experience on the opposite end of the radar gun.
.Driving east on I-20 from Dallas to Shreveport. Passed a DPS officer as he pointed his radar gun at me. He was out of his car and made no indication he wanted me to pull over. I relaxed some.

But I should have known

A little farther up the hwy there were to DPS cars and two troopers outside of them pointing to cars and pulling them over. Yeah they pointed at me.

I pulled over and put my window down. As the trooper was talking to me I heard his radio squawk and them...."brown Cadillac inside lane 81mph....Blue Ford pick up middle lane 78 mph and tailgating....etc. We had enough cars on the side of the road for a serious tail gate party.

.Driving north on I-45 between Conroe and Huntsville. DPS cruiser suddenly appeared in my rear view and lit me up. Several cars passing me immediately before and during this time.

While he was writing me up I asked him why he pulled me over instead of the others who were going faster than me. He grinned at me and asked me if I ever saw one of those nature shows where a lion takes down an antelope. I said that I had seen that before. He asked me if I noticed how he chose his target. I wasn't sure what he meant. He leaned in closer to me and whispered conspiratorially, He picks the slowest one because it is easier to catch.

He handed me my ticket. I said thank you sir. As he walked back to his car and I drove away I think we were both smiling.

 

[JayFramer]

The one with the hottest babe.

 

[Golddollar]

The one with out of state plates. That way they don't have to worry about political repercussions for giving a ticket to somebody who is well connected. I speak from experience. I didn't get a ticket but I had a Maryland trooper running my Pa. plates presumably to find an excuse to pull me over.

 

[Arik]

The one with out of state plates. That way they don't have to worry about political repercussions for giving a ticket to somebody who is well connected. I speak from experience. I didn't get a ticket but I had a Maryland trooper running my Pa. plates presumably to find an excuse to pull me over.

That it.... politics! Because they don't give tickets to politicians.... never happens! And I'm guessing your a politician? Or is it every out of state ticket a political one? Can't be anything else right?



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[Muley Gil]

As a law dawg for 25 years, this is what we were taught.

An officer shall make a visual determination that a vehicle appears to be exceeding the posted speed limit. This vehicle will out in front of other vehicles. At that time, the officer will use the radar device, which has been calibrated before and after each use, to determine that the said vehicle is indeed speeding and at what speed. Radar will pick up the vehicle with the most mass-say an 18 wheeler over a MG. Then the speeding vehicle can be stopped. It is up to the officer's discretion whether or not to issue a citation.

If I had any doubts, I would not stop that vehicle. I probably only wrote one ticket for every ten I did stop.

This is the way we did it in Alabama from the late '70s until I retired in 2001. I doubt things have changed much.

 

[LVSteve]

well I'm no LEO but I can answer that with at least two answers. Both for my experience on the opposite end of the radar gun.
.Driving east on I-20 from Dallas to Shreveport. Passed a DPS officer as he pointed his radar gun at me. He was out of his car and made no indication he wanted me to pull over. I relaxed some.

But I should have known

A little farther up the hwy there were to DPS cars and two troopers outside of them pointing to cars and pulling them over. Yeah they pointed at me.

There are a few stretches of the Las Vegas beltway where they do this. The road is NOT up to freeway standard and the speed limit of 45 MPH reflects same. As the local drivers run in packs here, the NHP trooper calls in a "block of 5" starting with (for example) a white Impala and ending with a red F-150. The troopers up the street wave in the whole block and ticket writing commences. Shortly afterwards my wife and/or I roll by at no more than 5 over and wave.

 

[A10]

Stop them both. If one refuses, let the other one go and pursue, charge them with evading a law enforcement officer. Impound and i8nventory the car, usually find the reason they ran.

 

[jscheck]

What Muley Gil said.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

While he was writing me up I asked him why he pulled me over instead of the others who were going faster than me. He grinned at me and asked me if I ever saw one of those nature shows where a lion takes down an antelope. I said that I had seen that before. He asked me if I noticed how he chose his target. I wasn't sure what he meant. He leaned in closer to me and whispered conspiratorially, He picks the slowest one because it is easier to catch.



In other words, the second mouse gets the cheese.



WuzzFuzz

 

[Golddollar]

That it.... politics! Because they don't give tickets to politicians.... never happens! And I'm guessing your a politician? Or is it every out of state ticket a political one? Can't be anything else right?

I'm just an ordinary citizen. I get a little upset when local governments use our police to shake down motorists. I guess the thought is somebody from out of state won't come back to fight the ticket or have the issuing officer sent off to a less desirable post. In the incident in question, I was coming up an off ramp with the trooper on my tail. I watched him repeatedly looking down and to his right. With a LEO on my tail I was driving very carefully so the only thing I could think of was he was running my plate on the computer just for the heck of it to see if there a reason he could pull me over.

 

[Arik]

I'm just an ordinary citizen. I get a little upset when local governments use our police to shake down motorists. I guess the thought is somebody from out of state won't come back to fight the ticket or have the issuing officer sent off to a less desirable post. In the incident in question, I was coming up an off ramp with the trooper on my tail. I watched him repeatedly looking down and to his right. With a LEO on my tail I was driving very carefully so the only thing I could think of was he was running my plate on the computer just for the heck of it to see if there a reason he could pull me over.

So cops can't pull over or check anyone with out of state plates?

An ordinary citizen? Cool but the rest of us...cops or not...are not mind readers!
This guy is also "just a regular citizen"

Yes cops follow people and check plates. They can't know who you are or what your all about.

 

[rwsmith]

They just say....

....we can't catch everybody. Todays's your lucky day.

 

[Old cop]

When cars travel in packs above the speed limit we would stop those we could catch, and that means some get away. It happened to me last weekend when I got stopped for speeding. The officer told me others were speedning too but she could not catch them. Sometimes it just works out that way.

 

[snubbyfan]

I remember from back in the day. I was a rambunctious energetic fellow. My car was an '86 Toyota Tercel 4wd station wagon with rock climbing, mountain biking, rollerblading and other stickers all over the back windows. Over sized wheels and tires and a double bike rack on the roof.
I was in a group of other cars and we were all speeding. I had long hair, dark skin, the above mentioned car and cranking "Bulls on Parade" at full volume.
The other cars were a bit more "normal" looking.
For some reason the police officer singled me out and ticketed me.

 

[nachogrande]

AS EXPLAINED TO ME, WHILE GETTING WRITTEN UP.

"When you go fishing, do you expect to catch every fish"? Just cuz others are speeding TOO & maybe faster, you don't deserve a ticket? Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Suck it up buttercup, it's not a capital offense.

 

[nachogrande]

THEY "SINGLED OUT" YOUR CAR MAYBE???

I remember from back in the day. I was a rambunctious energetic fellow. My car was an '86 Toyota Tercel 4wd station wagon with rock climbing, mountain biking, rollerblading and other stickers all over the back windows. Over sized wheels and tires and a double bike rack on the roof.
I was in a group of other cars and we were all speeding. I had long hair, dark skin, the above mentioned car and cranking "Bulls on Parade" at full volume.
The other cars were a bit more "normal" looking.
For some reason the police officer singled me out and ticketed me.

DEFINATELY PREDJUDICED, against bicycles. LOL
NOT a race card, hate crime IMO. More a matter of your vehicle being easier to pick out in the crowd, my GUESS. I also would think & hope that tail gaters/ aggressive drivers would get special attention. IDK for sure that cops motivation for choosing you, but at too fast speed & multiple vehicles I imagine it might be hard to tell who was playing what music, or their hair style. That type of "profiling" may be more present in an individual type scenario, again JMO (non leo)

 

[Arik]

I remember from back in the day. I was a rambunctious energetic fellow. My car was an '86 Toyota Tercel 4wd station wagon with rock climbing, mountain biking, rollerblading and other stickers all over the back windows. Over sized wheels and tires and a double bike rack on the roof.
I was in a group of other cars and we were all speeding. I had long hair, dark skin, the above mentioned car and cranking "Bulls on Parade" at full volume.
The other cars were a bit more "normal" looking.
For some reason the police officer singled me out and ticketed me.

I want one of those old Tercel 4x4s!!! Such a cool little throwback yet simple, rugged, lots of room and great 4x4

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[Golddollar]

So cops can't pull over or check anyone with out of state plates?

An ordinary citizen? Cool but the rest of us...cops or not...are Inot mind readers!
This guy is also "just a regular citizen"
Yes cops follow people and check plates. They can't know who you are or what your all about.[/quote]

In the whole situation, I can't remember there being anything resembling Probable Cause to create a justification for investigating me.

 

[xray97]

In the whole situation, I can't remember there being anything resembling Probable Cause to create a justification for investigating me.

Probable Cause is the standard required for the initiation of an arrest not an investigation. No necessity of PC (at least in my day) to “run a plate” to check wants or stolen.

 

[Arik]

In the whole situation, I can't remember there being anything resembling Probable Cause to create a justification for investigating me.

Probable cause is to stop you which he didn't have and thus didn't stop you.

Otherwise you're in public I can get your plate, I can photograph you and do my own investigation, I can try to look up your plate. Obviously I don't have access to that type of data but it doesn't stop me from trying to enter it into Google. Cops are also now using plate scanners on their cars. You may not like it but you're in public. Now if you're car was in the garage of your house....

My friend's first day on the job. Ran a license plate and got a violent felon who was on the run for years and wanted by the Marshalls.

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