Friday, January 21, 2011

Nice lunch with Officer Friendly today

NOT!!!
I have had a rough day.

Had a little incident today that is going to take some money and time out of my life. Officer friendly decided that I was guilty of a non-crime and had to figure out how to squeeze me for a few coins of the realm and make my life a little more complicated for a short time.

My crime?

Not getting out of his way fast enough during icy conditions.

My charges?
Impeding the progress of Emergency Vehicles.
Careless driving
and Failure to show proof of insurance.

First, I know you go right for lights, just common courtesy. That and its probably best 'just to be on the safe side. Never know if or when they may lose control. Well, the roads are icy as hell up this way and I wasn't about to put a 4000 lb vehicle into the ditch when these guys could have easily gone around me. I did pull over when the shoulder had a clear spot BUT, that wasn't fast enough for one of the guys.

When he came up to the window, He POUNDED on the vehicle because my window was still up.(I was busy trying to sift through all of the corporate paperwork on the truck for the registration and insurance cards). Well, Maybe I shot myself in the foot but I Sllloooowwwwllllyyyyyy rolled down the window(this guy was all in an uproar when he was walking up to the drivers door, Not one ounce of 'civility' to speak of.) Instead of asking me for anything his first response was, "Are you F##king stupid and not see us?" Then instead of even waiting for an answer, he demands my DL and proof of insurance. I show him the mess I am trying to sort through and let him know its in there. I do pull out my drivers license which he immediately takes to his cruiser. Not one more word or even a minute to find the other piece he DEMANDED (not requested)
Now, it takes him about 15 minutes to run a check on me, See that I haven't had any violations moving or not, nor any criminal activity (do they count being a dissident yet?) nor any accidents in 15(!) years. When he returns I have found the card for the insurance, show it to him while he is handing my ticket, and his only response is "your court date is Febuary 15th, you can't prepay this ticket, you have to show up" and about the insurance card "Show it to the judge! you took too long to produce it."
At this time he gets back in his cruiser and leaves. I take another 10 minutes to just sit there and smoke and try and cool off. This Jack-knob was a complete prick, no sense of professionalism. He was all hyped up getting out of the vehicle, if it had been a 'routine' stop, I would have been worried about him since he is openly armed. This guy, to me, represents every reason why we want to change the course we are on. He openly displayed his contempt for citizenry, or even common courtesy. He could see the (near phone book proportions) mess in my lap looking for a piece of paper while I was sitting in a CORPORATE vehicle. How likely is it that a national corporation is NOT GOING TO HAVE INSURANCE? Then he completely stacks the charges up.

I can fight this one, and I am going to. I have to. My job could be on the line thanks to the wonderful 'service' this hired hand delivered to me this afternoon. I can have the insurance crap completely dropped just by appearing with a copy of it. The other two charges are the ones I am more worried about. That 'Careless operation" charge could cost me my job. Either way, it is going to cost me in my personal insurance(if it sticks) since there is no distinction between Private and Working conditions when it comes to your DL.

So, without disclosing names; Officer Friendly, if you are reading this,( and you will know its you just from the above description of events.) I want to thank you for your excellent discourse in screwing over a decent taxpayer. Your zeal is noted.

11 comments:

RJIII said...

Had one escort my son to the insurance companyto make sure card was legit. And still gave him the same ticket for no proof.

Diogenes said...

It really boils down to a "shakedown". A lot of municipalities are in dire straits, financially. This is just one more way of taxing the populace without calling it a tax.
And Taxing it is, vexing also and leaves most with a bad taste in the mouth(and soul).

chinasyndrome said...

Dio,your problem was using common sense (safety) no you should of got out of the way of your betters! Sorry man that really is some Bullshit!

China
III

Anonymous said...

They always say "America love it or leave it". Here soon you'll probably be shot for trying to leave...

Spud

Adventures in Self Reliance said...

They have dash cams we need dash cams. I used to see this crap harassment for riding a Harley in Wash. state.
Probably because I'm female the cops don't feel the need dominate and attack and most of the cops in Idaho are okay. But video cameras are so cheap now that we all need to get one. If for no other reason than to show authorities we can play the game.
If they are doing nothing wrong they shouldn't worry about being recorded. Isn't that what they say about searches?

Mechanic in Illinois said...

Almost all municipalities are in dollar straits not dire straits and will make money any way they can. They will have to lose a few officers before they wake up.

T.L. Davis said...

I'm pretty sure I would have been in jail. I almost got thrown in the hoosegow at a DUI checkpoint cause the cop asked where I was going.

None of your business, was my reply. I'm glad he was a lot more sane than your guy.

Mayberry said...

I've had similar experiences. One asshole cop pulled me over as I was heading to the parts house for a new headlight, because my headlight was out. I told him as much, but the prick gave me a ticket anyway. Yes, it was at the end of the month. "No quota" my ass...

Mayberry said...

P.S. Hey Mechanic, what did I do to piss you off? You haven't commented on my blog in ages...

Diogenes said...

Little update: the two drivers on that side our district were both pulled over today. Same guy, each time was for some BS reason. One was because the Van doesn't have a DOT number displayed on its side.(doesn't need one as we are internal logistics and the vehicles are class C) The other one for "Gross negligence" when he tapped the white line. Neither one got a ticket but it seems this guy has a hard on for our trucks now. I am guessing he was looking for me. I have to go back out to that area tomorrow, Seriously considering finding an alternate route back as I would rather avoid a confrontation. IF I run into this guy, I will end up in jail. He really doesn't know just how short my fuse can be(even though it takes a lot to get it lit)

GunRights4US said...

All I can say is: get names, get a good look at faces... and remember them well.