Question:

Are police officers above the law???

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Yesterday i seen a cop take a red light & the camera flashed but his exempt license plate wont be getting a ticket. He wasent in no emergency as on the next light i waved hi to him & he casually waved back & smiled. If that was anybody else they get a $350 ticket... should cops be above the law?

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  1. You have no way of knowing if there was an emergency just because he happened to stop at the next light.  Police officers don't always turn on their lights when they are on the way to a call.

    He may have to account for why he ran the red but I couldn't tell you for sure since you don't say where you live.


  2. In our department, officers are instructed to obey all traffic laws unless responding to a call.  In other words, drive like the car you are in is NOT an emergency vehicle until such time as an emergency exists.

    Officers in violation of this are subject to disciplinary action.

  3. No, but the government is corrupt.

    Some countries have a better method for informing traffic laws; some just use the military; some have police that take bribes.

    Ranting on Yahoo!Answers will accomplish nothing; there are better ways to correct this injustice.

    I have been pulled over for glaring at a cop that cut me off and slammed on his brakes for "suspicion". How is this right? It isn't.

    Get involved in your city and correct this. If anything police should have to obey the laws more strictly.

  4. They have the guns.

    and the billy clubs.

    and the flashing lights.

    and the badge.

    What do you got (besides the bill to pay for it all)?

  5. Some cops act like they're above the law, and in your case, this guy clearly was.  They shouldn't abuse their power like that however, and a more professional cop would not have run that light.  Interesting topic.

  6. Our Law Enforcement officers are granted certain privileges.

    For the privilege  of being SHOT AT... and disrespected.

    For having to deal with DRUNKS and WIFE BEATERS, having to get yelled out when they issue a TICKET to someone who isn't wearing a safety belt because they are too stupid to know it will save their life - or endanger someone by driving recklessly or at a dangerous speed...

    They can safely proceed though an intersection you can't.

    As the son of a Police officer who was nearly killed - and who's side-partner was killed...  Your lack of appreciation offends me - also - You were not in his car, you don't know he didn't get a call on the radio to BACK SOMEONE UP.

  7. yes! i see it all the time! but wat can we as society do? i knew someone who turned in cop like dat. what a happened next to dat person i cant even talk about it. even my town ive seen cop get away with murder,, i literally mean murder (187)!

  8. Legally they are not above the law, but too frequently, it turns out to be the case.  It depends on how public the offense becomes.  It is usually ignored when it doesn't get made public with video to support it.

  9. Ideally, no.

    Realistically, yes.

  10. Yes, they think they are anyways.. they think they can get by with murder..  

    last year there was this cop here and he was going 105 m.p.h. and he did not have his blue lights on or he wasnt on a call and he wrecked into a car and killed this old woman and he is in jail now.. for attempted murder or something like that.. that happened in west virginia, so i am glad that he wasnt above the law..  

    cops think they can drive fast as they want when they are not on a call or its not an emergency, but if we go 5 miles over the speed limit we get a ticket.. wtf?  i think thats messed up...   they should have someone over top of cops that gives them tickets also, if they are not obeying the laws like we have to.. but its all about who you know.. so that doesnt matter..

  11. Absolutely not, they just think they should be. I see cops on there cell phones driving (illegal in my state) all the time, along with several other things.

    I think it is just one of those things we will have to live with.

  12. Y es and No.

    Obviously there are perks to being a police officer - but they must practice what they preach. They cannot ask other people to not run red lights when they, themselves do it. What if they got into a car accident? There would be several witnesses that could testify that his lights weren't on. But the thing is, they are "above the law" because they have a legitimate reason to. He could have said that he didn't put his lights on at that time because he just got the call in.

    Sometimes people who run red lights don't get tickets either. So I guess it also depends on the situation and how dangerous it was to cross.

    However, in more serious crimes, police officers are, by no means, exempt from the law. They cannot abuse their power to commit crimes. Although maybe they would have some perks, they would lose their badge and go to jail.

    All in all, the police do their part for society and there are certain benefits, but none that exempt them from committing serious crimes. That's what they're trying to stop.

  13. I can't say for certain but they seem to think they are...in my small town on a friday night you'll find 3/4 of our police getting hammered drunk and don't seem to mind driving themselves home......saturday night these same people have the d.u.i checkpoint set up busting people for same thing they did the night before

  14. How do you know he wasn't the officer in charge of testing all the red light runner cameras?

    Maybe he's just a fat redneck, but you never know!

  15. Technically, they're not, but some conduct themselves as though they are. These are sometimes allowed to get away with their misdeeds.

  16. They think they're god's gift...

    the only reason ANYONE should go through lights is for an emergency... not to get to Dunkin Donuts! hah. good one right?

  17. No, they just think they are. They sit around and wait in secret to catch us good people. and then they speed for no apparent reasons, and break every law they can, just because they can get away with it. Sucks I know!!

  18. He's lucky he didn't hit anyone.  Of course, he would have claimed he was on a call, and he would have claimed he had his lights flashing -- your word against his.

    There is an unwritten "law" for cops -- no harm, no foul.  And if someone does get hurt, they cover it up.  It would take a good lawyer to prove there was no police call the guy was answering.  It happens all the time!  And most lawyers do not want to go up against a cop for traffic stuff.  They need them on their side too often in court.

  19. Yeah they are above the law. They also have way too much power.  

  20. Leggally no but technically WE ARE and there is nothis you can doi. We have to be taugh and do some off-books procedures to protect and enforce the law. Like in an investiguation, if you know something crucial and wont talk. When we done beating your *** up, youll talk, at the end of the day someone is saved or a group of people are safe, but a lowlife dont like us. Who cares. If law enforcement officers werent taught with crimininals you wouldnt be so safe !

  21. technically no, but they are. I was going 10 miles over the spped limit (75 in a 65) and a cop actually passed me, no lights, no turn signal, just a cop who thinks he's better than everyone else

  22. Police Officers are not above the law.  Police Officers are subject to the same penalties any civilian would be, in fact, police officers can be faced with stiffer penalties than a civilian.

    In Arizona, it is an aggravating factor for sentencing if the person was a peace officer at the time he / she committed the offense, meaning that they could end up getting a stiffer penalty.

    Additionally, there are a number of police officers who have committed crimes while not on duty.  They are punished and imprisoned just like anyone else.

    The disparity, that most complain about, happens usually when an officer is on duty and is accused of using excessive force.  I have only read of one or two cases in which an officer, on duty, was actually convicted of a crime related to the performance of his / her job.

    I believe that Courts give police officers a lot of latitude to make quick decisions in the field and are uncomfortable second guessing the officers actions.  Slamming a person to the ground and handcuffing them certainly looks rough, but the alternative very well could be an officer getting seriously injured or shot.

    In one recent videotaped police beating, the police are observed hitting a handcuffed suspect for about 30 seconds.  What the tape does not show are the allegations by the police officers that the suspect was trying to grab one of the officers guns.  I will admit that what is shown on video looks damning, but if what the officers claim is true, then they would be fully justified in hitting the suspect, as the suspects attempt to get a police officers gun is an attempt to use lethal force.

    No one grabs for a police officers gun with the intention of just taking the gun.  They are going for the gun with the expectation of using it.

  23. no i dont think police officers should be able to get away with whatever they want.

    it's not fair, and being a cop doesnt necessarily make them better than us.

    however, they do product us, and usually do their best to keep us safe.. so i guess every once in awhile we should give them a break.

    but in your story, no, that is not fair in my opinion.

  24. Many cops think they are, at least when it comes to traffic violations. I've toured the training facility for the state patrol in my state. After seeing the rigorous training they go through, I can see how many of them would feel invincible on the roads, but the facts are that unless they have their lights flashing and they are responding to an emergency, they are subject to the same rules as everyone else.

    Be proactive and report him if you have is license number or his squad car number. He may not get a $350 ticket but it sure won't look good to his boss when his boss hears these types of things. My wife reported a cop who cut her off, almost hitting her, then took off going at least 60 down a 40mph road. I'm not sure if anything ever happened to the officer but the next day the chief of the department called to thank her for reporting and apologized for the officer and said he would take care of the situation.

  25. No they're not, but many of them view themselves as so, think they are and act as though they are. As long as they aren't called on it the trend will continue and it will snow ball out of control. One day we will be under martial law. I always travel with a video cam to capture these perpetrators. We have to nip it in the bud.

  26. i absolutely hate when cops think they can do that s**+*..i know a bunch of cops in the town where i go to school..i know for sure a bunch of them are under 21, and get allowed nonetheless into the bars and drink for free WITH NO ID..now..thats not an issue for me or anything..but when i was underage..it was h**l..so wtf? and even with what your saying..they can beat lights..and skip stop signs and whatever..its bullshit and i think they should be reported for reckless driving.

  27. No of course they shouldn't be, the people in charge of law must be the most seriously law abiding.

    but of course corrupt groups do form, and when they form in authority they tend to try to control anything that threatens their corrupt powers.

    If his lights weren't flashing and you can prove what happened he will be in trouble.  Perhaps the camera in his own car taped the event, and you should maybe take down the number of his vehicle and the time and place where it happened, and they could check his camera and watch him non-chalantly drive through the red light with no lights on.

  28. They shouldn't be above the law but in most cases they get away with all infractions that would command a ticket.  I am not going to complain about this because of how dangerous their job and how little they are paid.  I think they should at least have to obey the highway laws when off duty but all they do is flash a badge when pulled over and they get to go without a ticket.

  29. No.  I have personally turned in cops twice and faced them in court for turning on their lights long enough to buzz through a light then turning them off.  

    You have to be careful if you try something like that, though.  They will be out to get you after that.

    I was moving out of town once and was not in my hometown the other.

    julie...you are wrong.  They cannot disregard traffic laws without their lights on.  They can keep their sirens off, but silent pursuit has NOTHING to do with the lights.

  30. They shouldn't be above the law, but it seems as though they are.

  31. umm no there not above the law

    hes gonna get into sh*t but like

    its "the citys" fault since there "public servants"

    so we ended up paying in the end
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