Topic: Cops wonder why they have a bad reputation

[Retro Rocket]

My son went to Carindale { a large mall} on Thursday and came out to his car only to find out some small minded arsehole had punched his windscreen, leaving a open hand sized "star" in the middle of the passenger side of the screen. Well we found a second hand screen and have organized for it to replaced on Monday. So yesterday{Friday} i send him down to the fuel station to put some fuel in the car so we can take it to his mates place, his mate's Dad fits windscreens for a living. Anyway the Police pull him over and my son gets the typical "good cop bad cop" bull#$%*, the female {good cop} tells him he must get the screen fixed as it could get worse and possibly be dangerous, which is fair enough i thought but then comes her partner {bad cop} and tells him that he can't drive the car because it is dangerous and then proceeds to write out a $100 dollar ticket for a defective vehicle which takes a point of his license, which he has only had for 4 months and to top it all off he gives him an order to take the "dangerous" vehicle off the road and not drive it until it is fixed and to present it for inspection when done. Now we can't drive the perfectly good car anywhere to get it fixed and not only does my boy have to pay for a screen, someone to fix it, he also has to pay the $100 fine and an inspection fee when its fixed. Where the #$%* does common sense come into the equation?, the car is fine, the screen does need replacing but is no where near dangerous and all this has just doubled the cost of fixing it. I am writing a letter to the station master at the local Police station after speaking to traffic branch, they were of the opinion that the cop in question had been "extreme" in his actions, so maybe we have a chance of getting this dealt with with some common sense........WTF is wrong with people these days, no wonder the Police force has an image problem over here.......   End of rant......

Mick

[Hasenkopf]

Over here he would have been shot first,...... then ticketed for a bad windscreen, and failure to fall down when shot....

[sangyo soichiro]

Would have been nice to punch out the cop's windscreen and say, "Okay, I guess I'll pull over extra far so you have room to pull over too."  Of course, then your son would be in worse trouble. 


Your son got a raw deal.  That sucks. 

[dave500]

yeah that sucks mick,so long as your son was cool with the cop, doing something like your doing in an adult civilized way might prove worthwhile,like i guess he told the cop someone smashed it?and hes already paying for a new screen,man!!i hope the station chief sees fit to tear up that ticket,new driver,one point gone already,,an extra suck!

[Retro Rocket]

yeah that sucks mick,so long as your son was cool with the cop, doing something like your doing in an adult civilized way might prove worthwhile,like i guess he told the cop someone smashed it?and hes already paying for a new screen,man!!i hope the station chief sees fit to tear up that ticket,new driver,one point gone already,,an extra suck!
[/quote



Hi Dave, My son is very quiet and polite {nothing like me. } and was nervous as well but did nothing wrong at all and yes, he told the guy that it hadn't even been 24 hours since it had been broken. I phoned "traffic branch" in my area to find out if there was anything that i could do and they even said it was excessive and uncalled for and said that he could only be given a defect if it was completely broken which it is not,it is about the size of my hand and on the passenger side of the vehicle. The thing is that almost every small offense these days looses you 3 points, so if he gets pulled up for anything he will loose his license......Its cops like that that make it hard for the rest of the police as they are just plain arseholes..... I'm still pissed off about it........

Mick

[dave500]

yeah ,do your best,surely reason can be seen as to the events etc,,oh,but your sons not mr so and so,s son and not driving a late beemer or such,,try and get it waived if you can,if not,,you tried man,i hope this dosent sour your sons out look towards the dedicated police force,its life unfortunatley.,and being a young driver was his guilt.when i was young on my p plates i had a hk monaro(bit like a camaro) and got stopped all the time,never got a ticket just looked at and questioned,shine the flashlight in the back seat,open the trunk(american words here)i got used to it,one time i got TOLD to roll my sleeves up so they could look at my inner arms for "track marks"but thought nothing of the 1919 model 303 bolt action and anshuztch 22 automatic rifle in the boot(trunk)for which i had a license for anyway.i find most cops pretty cool these days,mind you i havent been stopped in years,my sister inlaw is a cop,shes all of 5 ft and 50 kilos.if you get stopped by her youll get a free donut voucher!

[Rocking-M]

Over here he would have been shot first,...... then ticketed for a bad windscreen, and failure to fall down when shot....

that's about right, but, maybe they would just have tasered him. Seems the bad cop attitude is universal.
Hope you get that one thrown out. (The cop and the ticket that is.)

[wardenerd]

Several years ago my brother in law and I were coming back from the movies and we got pulled over.  Out of the car get two cops.  One male one female both in tailored shirts, mirrored shades ,and flat tops.  My brother in law is polite and I am silent.  The female comes to my side and taps on the window with her night stick and motions to me to lower the window.  The other cop is anatagonizing my brother in law and orders him out of the car.  I grab my brother in law by the arm and say "  do what they say .  They are looking for trouble."  As he is getting out of the car the female places her night stick on my chest and orders me out of the car.  She asks for ID.  I produce my Federal Law Enforcement ID and she tells her partner to get back in their car and they leave quickly.  Could have been a bad deal if I was a civilian.  Oh By the way unless the cops are unpopular among their peers I find reporting them is useless.

[Retro Rocket]

Oh By the way unless the cops are unpopular among their peers I find reporting them is useless.

I have no intention of reporting the guy, anyway, his name is on the ticket and defect notice so  someone will say something to him. I just don't get the "instant arsehole" thing? is has to be easier for everyone if you are treated well and you respond accordingly, i feel i have always a right to defend my self and my innocence and a lot of people get a criminal record simply because they don't like being treated like an arsehole and speak up,  which can easily lead to you being arrested for, well they'll call it resisting arrest but everyone knows thats not the case. This sort of behavior pisses me off. Don't get me wrong though, i know all police are not like this and i know some great cops.....Ranting again....

Mick

[CannibalCrowley]

Being jerks about writing tickets is the least of their worries when it comes to reputation. It's not like they care though, people will keep on paying their taxes and the police will continue to commit crimes and have their buddies and the government cover things up for them. In a rare case where the truth gets out, the department or court will tell the public "too damn bad" and either the behavior will go unpunished or a slap on the wrist will be issued.

[dave500]

hey mick?i dunno,as a general rule ,cops here in australia aint bad.

[fmctm1sw]

Where the #$%* does common sense come into the equation?, the car is fine,

Mick

Mick,

I have a long ticket rant I'll add here too when I get a chance...  Wait till you hear my story..   

[Terry in Australia]

That's no good Mick, I pay for the comprehensive insurance on the wife and younger son's 3 cars, and I get the "free windscreen" thing which is great, I've used it several times over the years, including one time when I replaced the whole roof on the wife's Nissan Blubird wagon. I managed to bust the windscreen trying to get it out and after welding on the new roof wasn't even sure if a windsreen would fit, but the man from "Windscreens O'Brien" came out and dropped a new one in, and it was fine. The cars are registered in my name but everyone in the family is a "named driver" on the insurance policy, and so the cars are covered, no matter who's driving. 3 or 4 hundred bucks a year for each car, (about the cost of a new windscreen) but worth it, for the peace of mind. Cheers, Terry.

[74cb750]

This is a univesal problem.

Here in Vermont I drove my car with illegal lights (which I did not realize)
for several months.
One day a son comes home, takes my car and is promptly stopped/ticketed
for  illegal lights. 

[tortelvis]

I got ticketed in the UK for a defective tire on amy ratty old Escort. The ticket was issued at 3:30AM on a bank holiday Monday by a WPC. I went staright out next day and had the tire replaced and then reported to the cop shop as requested.
Cop: "Sir have you had the defective tire replaced?"
Me: "Yes."
Cop: "Did you drive the vehicle at all?"
Me; "Yes."
Cop: "Well in that case sir, I shall have to issue you with a citation for using a defective vehicle on the Queen's hiway."
Me: "So tell me, exactly what was a WPC doing down my little dead end road at 3:30 AM on  abnk holiday Monday anyway?"
Cop:" I cannot say sir, one must assume that the officer in question had nothing better to do."
Gee thanks guys! Now I have points on my license and exactly how was I to get tyhe damn thing replaced otherwide? I lived a far distance from the nearest tire place. Another cop with a nice looking bird doing a "ride along" with said cop ran a stop sign and nearly t boned me. He lit me up and gave ME Hell! Obviously embarrassed himself there. However, the cop that stopped me one night was ok. He was unmarked and invited me inside the car to see a short video of me taking off from a light a little, shall we say, "hasty." A brief lecture and on my way, despite doing about 80 in a 45. So overall the cops are generally a little too "jobsworth" for my tastes.

[Inigo Montoya]

At least it is nice to know that cops around the world are being dicks. And here I thought it was just the US where looking at a cop wrong gets your ass tazered!

[Terry in Australia]

I got ticketed in the UK for a defective tire on amy ratty old Escort. The ticket was issued at 3:30AM on a bank holiday Monday by a WPC. I went staright out next day and had the tire replaced and then reported to the cop shop as requested.
Cop: "Sir have you had the defective tire replaced?"
Me: "Yes."
Cop: "Did you drive the vehicle at all?"
Me; "Yes."
Cop: "Well in that case sir, I shall have to issue you with a citation for using a defective vehicle on the Queen's hiway."
Me: "So tell me, exactly what was a WPC doing down my little dead end road at 3:30 AM on  abnk holiday Monday anyway?"
Cop:" I cannot say sir, one must assume that the officer in question had nothing better to do."
Gee thanks guys! Now I have points on my license and exactly how was I to get tyhe damn thing replaced otherwide? I lived a far distance from the nearest tire place. Another cop with a nice looking bird doing a "ride along" with said cop ran a stop sign and nearly t boned me. He lit me up and gave ME Hell! Obviously embarrassed himself there. However, the cop that stopped me one night was ok. He was unmarked and invited me inside the car to see a short video of me taking off from a light a little, shall we say, "hasty." A brief lecture and on my way, despite doing about 80 in a 45. So overall the cops are generally a little too "jobsworth" for my tastes.

You couldn't have installed your spare (hopefully roadworthy) tyre and driven down to the tyre joint to get the bald one replaced mate? And over here, if a cop caught me doing twice the legal speed limit, I'd get more than a lecture, so I reckon your cops seem pretty lenient, in the US you woulda got tazered for sure! (well, maybe I watch too much "Cops", ha ha!) Cheers, Terry.

[gnarlycharlie4u]

yea well that is (unfortunately) the way the system works. Their job is to send as many people to court as they can and let the judicial system figure it out.
It's everywhere though not just Australia. A neighbor of mine just got a speeding ticket in Fairfax, VA. He was written up for doing 2mph over the limit.