Traffic stop by EPA agent upsets woman (TEXAS)

Star-Telegram ^ | Oct. 29, 2004 | Domingo Ramirez Jr.

[SuziQ]

"I had heard of people impersonating officers and then raping female victims," White said.

Yeah, that's happened, but not usually in broad daylight in a school parking lot. Sounds like this woman was feeling guilty for speeding and is projecting a whole lot of frap on the guy who caught her and pulled her over.

[Old Professer]

Another case of a badge being the equivalent of 4" elevator shoes and a double-dose of pseudo-testosterone.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Lower the bar of 'felony' sufficiently and we will all be disarmed as 'felons'. Further, 'felony' is a measure of the severity of punishment and not of 'crime' and is directed by mere legislators.

[mlocher]

Patton said he was heading up a program to keep kids safe in school zones

i feel bad for the woman, but in a few days she will be no worse for the wear. on the other hand, what the hell is an EPA officer doing heading up a program to keep kids safe in school zones. i suspect this is just another way the EPA invades our schools and subjects our kids to propagands.

EPA = environment protection @sshole

[FreedomCalls]

Lower the bar of 'felony' sufficiently and we will all be disarmed as 'felons'.

I pointed out something similar a few years ago here. I think the goal is to have enough laws on the books so that a person can be stopped at anytime and be found guilty of something. And after you have been convicted of a felony (like you say, the bar is dropping constantly) you will lose your 2nd Amendment rights. And that may be the ultimate goal -- disarmament by other means.

[pepsionice]

The next time this EPA nut attempts to pull a Texan over...he will likely meet some type of misfortune. EPA folks have no enforcement capability whatsoever. This is like someone from the Nuclear Regularitory Agency trying to arrest me...the power simply isn't there. Alot of these nuts got this way after 9-11, and they think they are like some kinda county marshall.

[flying Elvis]

I agree with you. It does not sound like this guy routinely engages in making traffic stops. He saw someone doing something stupid and thought he could do something about it. What if the driver had ran over a child and it was discovered that he saw her speeding and did nothing about it? I'd cut the guy some slack, but ensure that this does not set a precedent for EPA agents and traffic law.

[Publius6961]

Sounds like a case of a federal bureaucrat thinking he has a responsibility to run other people's lives.

Too many of them do. Those are the ones who should be working doing something else. Not in a position of authority.

I hope this doofus is fired.

[monday]

"He should have made a citizens arrest by showing his drivers license. He should have called the cops and let them do the heavy lifting."

wrong and right. He should have called the cops. He should not have tried to pull her over, or used his drivers license or badge. You have no right to pull someone over for traffic violations.

Attempting to do so is dangerous. As others on this thread have pointed out, the person you are trying to pull over has no idea who you are or what your intentions are.

If you behave in a threatening manner, you could be the one charged with a crime, and if you have the misfortune of threatening someone who is armed, you could be shot.

[monday]

Patton should be fired and prosecuted for official intimidation, harassment, and assault with a motor vehicle.

[Publius6961]

Euless police reports state that an EPA special agent... ...after he stopped her in an unmarked sports utility vehicle.

WTF?

EPA?
SUV?

What's the deal here? Does the environment allow special dispensation for storm troopers?

[Doctor Stochastic]

How does he know how fast she was going?

I heard a Texas judge state that: "Police are trained to judge speed." The defendant (not me) lost. (In that case, the defendant had been charged with speeding by a policeman who saw him from three blocks away, no radar.)

Of course, in NM, they all have radar: highway patrol, sheriff's department, city police, tribal police, BIA police, etc.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

I understand that police officers probably become pretty proficient at judging speeds because of their on the job experience. But this guy was an EPA agent. His guess at her speed wouldn't have been any more accurate than mine.

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[monday]

"Yea, the kind that doesn't get a six year old run over. I do consider 5-10 blowing. The question is, why don't you?"

because he is a reasonable human being? 25 or 35 are both dead slow. Many school zones ARE 35 mph. 25 mph is overkill. At that speed cars could dodge babies, crawling, across the street.

[monday]

"and did what many of us have done before, called the person on their blatant disregard for the law and everyone else. When she got uppity he then pulled her over. Good for him."

see post #109 If you do this sort of thing a lot, you shouldn't be surprised if your actions one day lead to tragedy.

[IrishCatholic]

I defer to your traffic engineering know how. I personally have never tried dodging babies crossing the street. However, I would assume they tried to make it slow for purposes such as, say, buses lined up letting kids out. Or a line of cars dropping kids off. The zone might be good for a half hour or hour long but the real crunch may be only five or ten minutes. The problem is do you get to guess what those ten minutes are. So, they spread it out on either side just to be safe. That seems to be the point. It doesn't matter if you won't spill your beer doing 40 through he school zone while adjusting the radio, eating a hamburger, and dodging babies on the street. You only have to be careless once.
So, part of being reasonable would be to use common sense, error on the side of caution, that sort of thing. Make it 25 so those that think driving 35 or so dodging babies is their idea of safety don't get the chance.

[monday]

"I defer to your traffic engineering know how."

good.. easiest argument I ever won;-)

[Centurion2000]

I kept asking him for his badge and name, and he wouldn't give it to me

Then drive off .... I'd do it ... interestingly enough I went to high school there.

[IrishCatholic]

I bet you win most of your arguments the same way.