Posted on 02/11/2014 6:44:15 AM PST by moonshinner_09
A Highway Patrol trooper who caught another officer speeding to an off-duty job at 120mph is suing for more than $500,000 - saying his allies harassed her after he was fired. Florida's Donna Jane Watts made national headlines after handcuffing Miami Police Department officer Fausto Lopez, while he was in full uniform and driving a police car. Since the incident in 2011 she claims she has had threatening calls on her cell phone, police cars idling outside her house and fellow officers accessing her private driver's license information. Ms Watts - who is suing more than 25 police agencies - said she is even afraid to open her mailbox. Other calls included prank calls and orders for pizza, she claimed. In a lawsuit she said law enforcement officers had long been known to band together and protect each other, but her case took things too far. According to her lawyer, she suspected her private driver's license information was being accessed by fellow officers, so she made a public records request with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. It allegedly showed at least 88 law enforcement officers from 25 different agencies accessed Watts' driver's license information more than 200 times - in just three months. Ms Watts is suing those police agencies and the individual officers under the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act, a 1994 law that provides for a penalty of $2,500 for each violation if the information was improperly accessed. Watts' attorney, Mirta Desir, said it was clear most of the officers had no legitimate reason to look up her data. If all the searches were found illegal, Watts could receive more than $500,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
That appears to be how you would interpret my statement.
Yes, isn't it great not being in the USA?
The Manger Dawg Pack has been duly alerted to your latest expression of distaste for this country.
The number of scandals taking place in America.Many with Obama claiming they are all myths. IRS scandals,phone tap scandals. My point being many professional law enforcement agencies are showing up in the news for all the wrong reasons.Obama claims the irs is not corrupt. Miami Police Department giving Justin bieber unauthorized police escorts to strip clubs.Obama on Obamacare the gov has given the public affordable healthcare.IMMIGRATION was allowed to run out of controlPolice agencies being told they cannot enforce immigration laws ending with law enforcement releasing illegals who just came into America.IRS tax fraud child credits illegals are racking millions of dollars.These are few examples. I disagree with you it is laughable America has any embarrassing attitudes and reactions for how they carry out their duties.Lastly Team Obama against voter id’s. Same people do not have any problems with same people needing id’s for voting is very bad.Needing id’s for Obamacrae,welfare etc,etc...If you think think America is ticking along quite nicely. I wish you well with America really does not have any problems like a 3rd world country would have.Thank you for your opinion.
Good for Ms. Watts , hope she wins.......
” A man would know, you don’t handcuff a fellow officer.”
Well, your name fits this comment to a tee! An officer would handcuff a citizen who was apprehended driving that fast, so why is a crazy driving cop any different? I’m not a fan of female cops, but she did the right thing.
Is there another interpretation? You made the statement, I asked the question, you try to turn it back on me without answering.
Again, would it be legal for poor people to steal?
And why would it be your prerogative to distribute another man’s bread?
...and she was a nice Hanna Montana while George Bush was in office.
Now that Obama’s the chief, she is a slutty Miley Cyrus.
It’s all trickle down.
No, we think you're a stupid jerk for standing there far removed from the fray, blathering-on inanely about how wise and "free" you are for running away and making your observations irrelevant.
Seems to me it’s like Benidict Arnold writting Op-Eds from England about what the folks back home are doing wrong and how great things are living in England.
Good analogy.
I support the female officer.She did what SHOULD be done a hundred times a day until the police follow the laws as they demand the rest of us must do.The particular offense of speeding to or from a second job as private security is one of the more common officer traffic offenses.I worked with one such.In a different case,some years past I heard from his fellow officers of a state trooper who moved house using his cruiser at 100mph plus in multiple trips with his personal items.Another was killed rear-ending a load of steel while speeding to get coffee,as was his habit.
I can’t, and most people don’t respect those who break the very rules they are paid to enforce;we may be in FEAR of those police,but we do not RESPECT them.
“The officer heard that there was a dog that needed to be shot....He was in a hurry to get there first.”
Horrifying Video: Cop Shoots Mans Service Dog During His 9-Year-Old Sons Birthday Party
Crime Feb 10, 2013
Well, my dog is dead. I dont think thats fair.
One thing about Miley Cyrus, she is not being arrested or being charged with crimes.She is running good public relations.She is getting free press worldwide.Her songs are still selling and people attend her Concerts.For 2014...
Justin Bieber: Upcoming Concerts
Sorry, there are no Justin Bieber upcoming concert dates available right now.
Miley Cryus,does stupid stuff and at the same time she remains on tour all this year and her music is selling and she is not going from court house to court house. At the end of the regardless what she is called.. She is still cashing in without being arrested.I personally do not care for her. She is still a product the public is buying it.Justin Bieber,is slowly dying a slow death. All he will have left is the is what the others before who crashed and burn,going to small clubs singing his greatest hits it’s all he has left
An offender is handcuffed for the protection of the arresting officer,it is drummed into all LEO’s.It is standard operating procedure.
In addition the perpetrator was armed,what was she supposed to do?
“..would not arrest a man who was stealing a loaf of bread because he was down and out and wanted to feed his family...”
I would. Stealing is stealing.
Stealing is unnecessary - I would gladly share what I had it if asked. I think most people would, given the circumstances you mentioned - a man truly “down and out” and trying to feed his family.
But stealing deprives me and MY family of what I worked/earned/achieved. Suppose your family was suffering, and that man stole food/supplies/ etc from you? Now YOU’D be hard pressed to feed your family.
Sometimes, some things ARE that black and white, brother.
As for the cop... I’d have busted his ass too. On the spot. He’s a danger to people. They aren’t above the law. If anything, they have to maintain an even higher standard of behavior.
What he thinks or says of anything that happens here is as irrelevant as he is.
“..An offender is handcuffed for the protection of the arresting officer,it is drummed into all LEOs.It is standard operating procedure.
In addition the perpetrator was armed,what was she supposed to do?...”
There IS a sort of conspicuous irony in this situation, isn’t there...
Hi there, Kartographer.
This guy produces nothing but a steady stream of comments about how great it is to be away from the USA. He’s living in The Philippines, you know, and almost always finds a way of slipping that in.
His distaste for this country is there for all to see and that is why we Manger Dogs—he’s the one who first applied that moniker to us—keep on his a@@. He never seems to get the hint to just shut up about the matter. Therefore, no pity.
Jabba, lol, with all due respect, you need to re-read this article later today when you sober up. Mr. Lopez was traveling 120mph on private business in a cop car on a crowded expressway endangering innocent citizens lives each second along the way.
Your statement “you don’t handcuff a fellow officer” almost defies comment but I will try anyway. Why the hell not? The man seriously and grievously broke the law. We could google up video of cops in handcuffs all the time. So, I don’t understand your thinking unless your a cop yourself.
You and I could find a lot of common ground re the war on men, starting with the fact that thousands of cop videos prove a woman should not be out on the streets by herself confronting lawbreakers. But, in this ONE case, the woman cop did exactly the right thing and I’m proud of her for having the pluck to do it and the good old boy cops harassing her I hope get what they deserve as well.
Obviously the Speeding cop agrees with me because he fired the dummy as he should have.
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