Posted on 06/29/2014 9:28:11 AM PDT by DariusBane
Illinois State Police says he is above the law.
You will see the officer check the drivers log, that is how long he has been driving. You will also see that the officer has the right to pull over and inspect ANY commercial truck at any time for no reason. That is what you, me, we have created on the roads. While I do not have a CDL, I do use freight companies as vendors and I get to hear their stories of contact with various DOT.
The bottom line is that this stop could have and probably would have turned out differently if the driver had not let the trooper know he was being filmed.
It is also important to note that the driver, his professional well being is completely held at the whim of the officer. That is how much power we, you, I have conceded to The State. It is a shame and the wide discretionary powers of The State desperately need to be trimmed.
Again, this incident only turned out well for the driver based on the arbitrary decisions of the officer. That is way to much power in the hands of an individual. You can be sure that with a different officer this could have turned out very very badly for the driver. This truth is not a good truth. This should scare the you know what out of you to realize how much power individuals wield in your name over the lives of others.
Give the cop a little credit, he’s not leadership material because he showed a conscience and did admit being at fault.
That’s true. Good point.
But my main point in putting this out is so “Joe Bag O Donuts” can see just how much power and discretion these officers have.
It’s chilling.
As an independent owner operator of a semi, thank you for posting as well as understanding our plight on the road.
I got pulled over one time for 70 in a 55 in a BMW. Two cops in two cars one following the other. I was pacing the rookie lead cop and the 2nd one pulls me over. I just told the Sargent that I was pacing his buddy. He walks back to the rookie and chews him a new a$$hole and lets me go.
No doubt cops have brain farts like everyone else, they aren’t at the top of the intellect scale, and put themselves in harms way every day. They have some pretty hefty ego’s but it’s healthy for them to be brought back to earth every now and then.
The cop was all ready to give the guy a ticket for honking at him. The cretin backed way off when it was going be something other than his word against a member of the public.
“Pray America wakes up”
I was pulled over by an out of jurisdiction city cop back when 55 mph was operative. I was discretely following him above the limit when he suddenly backed off and pulled me over. During our discussion as to why it was o.k. for him to be breaking the law (he was returning from the county jail where he had deposited a prisoner and I was on my way to work), he said “well you can tell it to the judge.” So I asked him if he knew where his chief lived?” While he was pondering an answer, I told him that while I would surely speak with the judge, he was going to have to talk to his chief who happened to be one of my neighbors and a good friend. His response was to hand me back my license and say “have a nice day.”
that the cop didn't give tickets is the way it should be...the law should be instructive not punitive...
There are other cops out there that simply would not have tolerated that attitude and they would have found some reason to further harass him or even run him in. Not saying that's right but it's always best to be polite and professional towards the cop during a traffic stop.
Nah, he just realized how bad it would look for him if the guy filed a complaint, having all of that on camera. That’s not conscience, that is CYA.
Why should a cop expect professionalism? I agree that courtesy is the best policy when confronted by armed employees with wide discretionary powers. The problem is that cops have been granted all the tools they need to ruin your life and career. That is the problem. This stop could have gone really badly for the driver. That shouldn’t even be possible. We are depending on humans to do the right thing. Usually humans don’t live up to that expectation.
So i wonder how many people this guy routinely screwed over who don’t have the leverage that you enjoyed?
It shouldn’t even be possible. But we have ceded so much power to the State that it is possible and routine. A petty tyranny that most pretend doesn’t happen.
If you had “told it to the judge” you would have to pay the fine because fines fund judges salaries. That to me is an unbelievable practice. Yet a routine practice. Why do “we” tolerate a petty tyranny under our noses? I don’t get it.
De-fund. your county and city when you can. Bond issues, sales taxes and extensions are our only opportunity. Force government to re-think how they fund city hall. Don’t participate in petty tyranny since you know the truth. They are stealing under color of law. We all know it. Yet most condone and support the corruption. Why?
Courts have always been funded by fines. That is how the lights stay on and judges get paid. A direct linkage between the wages and well being of court employees and tickets rendered, fines paid. A truly bizarre practice. Yet accepted as business as usual everywhere. Insanity!
Think what you want, but it is only your opinion.
A revenue collector with humility? Wow.
He was on camera. Seems like a decent person though. But I wonder how many “breaks” he gives to people speeding when as he says “I don’t remember speeding or being on my phone”.
Not many I would guess.
“De-fund. your county and city when you can. Bond issues, sales taxes and extensions are our only opportunity. Force government to re-think how they fund city hall. Don’t participate in petty tyranny since you know the truth. They are stealing under color of law. We all know it. Yet most condone and support the corruption. Why?”
We do our part to choke off revenue for government at all levels. Just saw that our “little town,” which pays the town manager something on the order of $200k is putting an additional $100k into his retirement account. And unless you go to the town council meetings, you would never know they had done this!
I remember years ago when visiting Reno, that Nevada had just implemented a 2% sales tax (after years of letting Californians pay the bills through the gambling casinos, it just wasn’t enough money). Now Nevada’s sales taxes are nearly as high as California’s, and Nevada taxes groceries and California does not!
The other thing that they’ve done is raise “fees” on everything imaginable, and our latest “newsletter” from our Sanitary District informed us that a rate increase was “necessary” to “shore up employee pensions and comply with additional Federal and State regulations.” $hit used to draw flies, now it draws politicians.
“We are depending on humans to do the right thing. Usually humans don’t live up to that expectation.”
Just what makes you think cops are human?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.