“A state trooper waited at least four days after a traffic stop to issue speeding tickets to a fellow trooper and a Gahanna police officer who authorities say were going almost 150 mph on westbound I-70.” So begins an article in The Columbus Dispatch. Of course, the more you read, the better/worse it gets. “Lt. Shawn Davis, a patrol spokesman, said the delay was to allow Trooper Bryan D. Lee, 25, of the Granville post, to consult a supervisor before issuing the tickets. Waiting for clarification is not uncommon, Davis said, and officers technically have six months to issue a minor-misdemeanor citation under Ohio law. ‘It happens all the time,’ Davis said. ‘I’m sure for a young trooper the fact that it involved two police officers weighed on his decision to seek supervision.'” Ain’t THAT the truth.
Anyway, as you might expect, Lee is not what UK denizens call “The Brain of Britain.” When told of the possible penalty—a $150 fine and a license suspension of up to three years—“Highsmith replied that he wanted to get the charges resolved because of his job, but he implied that the license suspension would be difficult given his work as a trooper. ‘What I did was 100 percent wrong. I made a mistake,’ Highsmith said in court. But after hearing the maximum penalty, he added, ‘I’m going to have to plead not guilty.'” [thanks to Robert Schwartz for the link]
Ask any judge: “I have no defense, but I don’t want to take the punishment so I’m pleading not guilty” is not the best litigation strategy for the general public.
A pig by any other name…
All he has to do is to walk into court in uniform and he’ll be scot free.
There are one set of rules for “them” (including politicians who apparently don’t need to pay taxes if there is a “D” after their name) and quite a separate set for “us” (the saps, no longer free citizens of a republic but “consumers” and in reality, SUBJECTS of fiat rule by fascists)
Fascism = the combination of government and corporate interests. Just ask Mussolini.
I just realized I made an Italian car / politician “funny pun” entirely by accident…
I have a “toy” (an early 1990’s BMW 740iL) which is capable of going 149 miles per hour. I was on a 70 mph expressway on Saturday going to visit my parents, and “could have” simply let the hammer down. The car certainly was built for doing it much more so than virtually any US built cop-car or 99% of the other vehicles on the road technically capable of such speeds.
Why didn’t I do it, even given the small chance of being caught? Several reasons.
1) I actually try to obey the rules.
2) I have some self control. (What a novel idea, eh?)
3) In order to go that fast, one should be surrounded by competent drivers. I live in Michigan. Enough said. (And yes, driving near Detroit is absolutely terrifying because they drive 5′ from your bumper at 80 plus and ARE totally imcompetent)
4) I may have passed the UK driving licence test (extremely difficult) but this does not mean I have the experience and skills to go that fast simply because I am not in practice – there is no place to legally drive at extreme speeds outside of the autobahn in Germany
5) My car is over 15 years old and things can go wrong
So I kept the car at less than 50%…. sad really. Maybe I should finally get that pilot’s license if I want to truly go fast fast fast.
Gahanna, OH is my home town, and I’m so proud right now. Gahanna cops are notorious in central Ohio for being ultra strict about speeding anywhere within the city or out on the freeway where it passes through the city.
It’s another upper middle class city with absolutely nothing going on crime wise and way too many police with nothing to do. So, all they do is sit around and write speeding tickets in the name of safety. I can practically guarantee this police officer has written 100 tickets this year to Gahanna residents going between 5 and 10 miles per hour over an unnecessarily low speed limit.
Two other particularly aggravating points:
When the police officer pulled them over they all had a good laugh about it and started talking about what class in the police academy they were in. Atleast, right before the officer turned off his audio recording of the stop for no particular reason. If this was any of us what do you want to bet we’d be thrown the ground and cuffed and hauled off to jail?
Also, one of the police officers has been on paid leave, with my money, due to a back injury since December.
link:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/11/speeder.ART_ART_07-11-09_B1_PJEEMD5.html
edit: another good link
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/07/10/speeder.html
If there’s any silver lining in all of this, a person on a local forum who claims to know both of them personally says they are both losing their jobs.
PanzerJaeger : “A pig by any other name…”
Yeah, a pig who will readily stand between you and any deranged citizen with a weapon. Agreed, the driver should have been issued a citation right then, but characterizing LEOs as “pigs” is ignorant.
_________________________
Begrudging a cop for being paid while off with a back injury (assuming it’s duty-related) is sorta harsh, don’t you think? Ever watch cops? Watch the stupid people who would rather wrestle with a cop than go peacefully, even though they know they can’t win? Have you ever seen the cop turn to the nearest citizen and say, “Here, you fight with him, I don’t want to hurt myself.” No, instead they have to get physical and risk injury just doing their job. If it’s job-related, he desrves to get paid.
Do as I say and not as I do…
Typical…
Bearadise, I’m with you on the generalization comment, but it’s this type of corruption (and corruption it is) that leads law abiding citizenry to get super pissed at cops.
You have to wonder what unwritten policies are in place that allowed this situation to develop the way that it did. It’s hard to believe this is a one off scenario.
Begrudging a cop for being paid while off with a back injury (assuming it’s duty-related) is sorta harsh, don’t you think?
The guy fell on ice in DECEMBER and is still off? Find that one hard to swallow. And they turned off the audio in the patrol car (yes I live in Columbus so I’ve been hearing all about this).
John
In ‘Animal Farm,’ the great novel by Orwell, at first the pigs, who set the rules, said no animal could sleep in beds, but as time wore on, gradually excepted themselves from each and every rule on the list they originally crafted with the other animals.
This is what led to the rebellion, and the other animals thinking that power corrupts, whether in the hands of the farmers, or the pigs.
Life imitating a great novel…
Begrudging a cop for being paid while off with a back injury (assuming it’s duty-related) is sorta harsh, don’t you think?
My point was not that injured police offers do not deserve compensation. My point is that he’s been on paid leave for a back injury for 8 whole months. But He’s not bed ridden, he’s not physically restricted, he’s riding a crotch rocket at 147mph on a public freeway!
I am surprised he wrote the ticket at all. Typically police officers do not ticket each other. HP on the other hand tend to write the ticket regardless of who you are.
Beardise wrote “Yeah, a pig who will readily stand between you and any deranged citizen with a weapon.”
Look up: Castle Rock v. Gonzales.
I’ll take care of myself thank you very much.
I’m going to disagree with menno here. If given the choice of an Illinois, Michigan, or Ohio driver behind me, I’ll go with the Michigan driver.
It’s probably because I’m native to Metro Detroit, but the best reason to live in Michigan is for driving. The roads are engineered well (even if the construction is piss poor).
If you need to live somewhere where people use their turn/directional signals, though, Michigan falls off your list pretty quickly.
Virginia is the state where the cops mostly frequently ticket ANYONE they can find, right? I would expect Ohio pigs to NOT ticket other Buckeye pigs.
By the way, and postscript, since the economic repression, I’ve never seen so many traffic cops out there, on highways or secondary roads.
It’s a traffic violation rapefest, as the money being lost in property taxes and income taxes at local and state levels has to be taken from the people somehow, someway.
Maybe I’m idealistic, but, it sure was nice when fighting rape, murder and violent crime and property theft was the priority of law enforcement, and not gaming revenue from everyday people going about their lives, maybe doing 5 or 10 over, maybe engaging in minor technical infractions.
Nothing stands between the officer and her pension.
mtypex, I thought that in Ohio, as soon as you have paid for your driver’s license, the DMV worker walks you out to your car and breaks off your turn signal stalk to prove that you live in Ohio….
I live in Virginia, and it’s fine. Just keep within the normal tolerance and you won’t be stopped. Me, I just go the speed limit (65 mph) and stay in the right lane, which is usually much less crowded than the left lane with its lemmings tailgating each other.
Ah, Ohio! My mother was stopped for going 60 mph in the first year of the 55 mph speed limit — hard to believe now! She got only a warning though.
That’s nothing. In my state (NJ), you can’t sue a state worker, even if that worker hits you with their vehicle. In 2000, a friend of mine was struck by an ambulance, driven by a state worker who ran a red light by mistake. He had thousands of dollars in medical bills as a result but couldn’t sue the guy.
Bearadise :
PanzerJaeger : “A pig by any other name…”
Yeah, a pig who will readily stand between you and any deranged citizen with a weapon. Agreed, the driver should have been issued a citation right then, but characterizing LEOs as “pigs” is ignorant.
Well, that is their job isn’t it? And I wouldn’t count on them even doing that. A carry permit is far more reliable, at least around here. ;)
In my encounters with the PoPo (always as the victim), I’ve found each and every one of them to be only a small step above the criminals from which they are supposed to be protecting us. Low class, egotistical morons on a seemingly endless power trip.
Thanks for pissing us off, Robert!
Ahhhh, the joys of working in a profession where my co- workers are our worst enemies. Trooper Lee has made this situation as bad as he possibly could by waiting to “consult a supervisor.” By waiting and then issuing the ticket, he has opened himself and his agency to criticism of favoritism from the public while also creating enmity between his agency and the other officer’s agency.
He should have:
A.) Had the balls to stand behind the thin blue line from the very beginning and never issued the citations. No one would have known and there would be no shitstorm.
or
B.) Issued the citations from the very beginning and treated the two other officers the same way he would have anybody else. Some of his coworkers would be annoyed, but all of the public’s wrath would be focused (appropriately) only on the two asshats on the crotch rockets and not on him for the delay.
or
C.) Issued the citations, but only for 25 over instead of 80+ over. The offending officers would hardly have been in a position to bitch about it to their co- workers because they would have had to admit they were doing 150. They would have still taken a hit in their wallets, gotten points on their licenses, and probably dinged administratively for getting a ticket in the first place. Would the public be pissed to learn about him knocking the tickets down for two brother officers on the side of the road? Sure they would, but they would have never known. The whole reason that this is an issue is because Lee wrote the tickets for an ungodly speed that would attract attention to any reporter looking over the court docket. 25 over wouldn’t have attracted any attention, therefore, no shitstorm.
For the record, I would have taken option C unless the two offenders were total dicks about it. Then I would have gone with option B. I will also state that I’ve knocked a ticket down on the side of the road for all kinds of people, including a guy in a 1966 Cobra that I tagged doing 62 in a 25. he was cool, so he got 25 over (which is pre- payable) instead of Reckless Driving, which is a mandatory court appearance in my jurisdiction.
Flame away.
Was Baruth the third rider?
Third biker involved in officers’ 145 mph joyride by Elizabeth Gibson in The Columbus Dispatch on Friday, July 10, 2009:
The off-duty Gahanna police officer and off-duty state trooper who were clocked driving motorcycles at speeds of more than 145mph on I-70 last month were not alone.
An audio recording between the trooper who clocked their speed and the one who pulled them over indicated that there was a third motorcycle driver who was not given a ticket.
The third rider was either the angel of death or the “recovery” of the US economy.
Just FYI, I’m not sure why the townsfolk in central Ohio picked the name, but “Gahanna” in Biblical Hebrew means “Hell.” I only know this because I grew up there and was a Biblical studies major in college.
The third rider was Hitler. He’s not dead, I tell ‘ya.
I spotted him at the Columbus Wal-Mart a year ago, acting all suspicious like.
I think after the ticket, their license should be restricted to riding 50cc scooters for the next 3 years.
On the highway.
so…two sets of rules for going 140mph+
1) Officers – go as fast as you want. Sometimes you get off; sometimes you get a ticket
2) Everyone else – reckless driving, jail time, loss of license, maybe a good beating thrown in
What else is there to say? When you combine:
1. cops that cannot have above average IQ
2. have almost no formal education to speak of
3. are bored with nothing to do
4. enforce speeding laws which has no fundamental basis on fact
The result can only be disaster.
I wonder when the citizenship will stop complaining and start acting to remove ridiculous speed limits and curb the abuse of power of cops.
If I was the cop this never would have become a news item. Does that make me a bad person?
Bearadise’s comment about a cop standing between you and any deranged citizen with a gun brought to mind an incident in an episode of “The Sopranos”. A good citizen witnesses Tony commit a murder. The good citizen goes to the police and identifies Tony as the murderer. The police are elated and don’t tell the good citizen who he has identified.
Later in the episode the good citizen is sitting in his home reading Robert Nozick’s “Anarchy,State and Utopia” (great irony) when his wife who is reading the local paper starts screaming. She has read that the man her husband has identified is Tony Soprano. The good citizen can’t get to the phone fast enough to call the police and tell them he was mistaken.
Interpretations may vary but I read into this incident that the police are unable to protect law-abiding citizens from criminals.
I just showed my wife this story and she said it sounds like a story that would come out of her home country of Brazil.
Dukeboy01:
C.) Issued the citations, but only for 25 over instead of 80+ over. The offending officers would hardly have been in a position to bitch…
For the record, I would have taken option C unless the two offenders were total dicks about it.
A reasonable compromise. Perhaps the ticketing cop could have made degrading public comments about the two brother officers – they were on donorcycles and not that much of a public hazard.
What’s amazing is how lame the fines are in Ohio – $150 for ~150mph?!?.
Tauronmaikar says:
What else is there to say? When you combine:
1. Cops that cannot have above average IQ.
*Is this a fact or dislike for the police.
2. Have almost no formal education to speak of.
*Is this fact or dislike for police?
3. Are bored with nothing to do.
*Is this a fact or dislike for police?
4. Enforce speeding laws which has no fundamental basis in fact.
*Lost me there friend!
If you don’t like cops just say so. I’ll only be offended for a second…with my limited IQ and all!!
*Here’s a fact. Police screw up. The aformentioned speeding motorists should be cited/jailed. If they broke a department policy, which it would appear they did, then discipline them.
Lee’s inability to take prompt action, with regard to stopping the officers, speaks volumes about “his” and only “his” decision making skills.
Furthermore, I’ve stopped plenty of non police officers for “+stupid” over the posted speed limit. They all have not gotten tickets, or been thrown to the ground in violent fits of rage, taken to jail never to seen or heard from again.
Give me a break.
MikeyDee:
In my state (NJ), you can’t sue a state worker, even if that worker hits you with their vehicle. In 2000, a friend of mine was struck by an ambulance, driven by a state worker who ran a red light by mistake. He had thousands of dollars in medical bills as a result but couldn’t sue the guy.
Many states protect all workers (public or private sector) from minor criminal violations on the job. The employer, however, IS liable. This is especially true of traffic infractions.
While this is probably disappointing to the Sue-Everyone-For-Every-Bump-In-My-Life crowd, it’s probably good public policy.
In 20 years of ticket fighting, I’ve never seen a cop write another cop knowingly. I’ve heard cops complain on scanner while letting off other cops bagged in a radar trap, saying “that’s another one – is everyone “on the job” today” ?
I’ve seen radar logs from NJ where there are a few cars/plates crossed out. On cross examination it comes up that the cross outs are “fellow law enforcement officers”.
I have even seen this run to my client’s benefit. I’ve had “Cadets” accepted at various academies (police) let off hugely from some big screw ups traffic-wise with full acceptance and knowledge of the Judge and Prosecution as not to hurt their chances at being qualified as police officers. We did not get the “usual deal”…
The one time I saw something close was when a cop tagged a run of the mill speeder. Turns out that person’s wife, who was in the car, is also a cop with the same agency (big city) but didn’t identify herself.
The husband was convicted of a reduced speed. The wife-police officer was roundly lambasted by the Sergeant in the Court for not identifying herself. In the midst of his officer safety related tirade, he said “and he would not have been cited”.
Cops, Judges, Legislators don’t get tickets, and rumors run that occasionally a few beers might be overlooked…
PanzerJaeger:
In my encounters with the PoPo (always as the victim), I’ve found each and every one of them to be only a small step above the criminals from which they are supposed to be protecting us. Low class, egotistical morons on a seemingly endless power trip.
Give me a break.
You’re on the right track taking responsibility by having a carry permit. You fall down by assuming the ‘PoPo’ have any responsibility to protect us from the criminal class. Because legally they DON’T (although many are hard pressed to admit it).
Cops are as handcuffed by the system as anyone. Good and decent police enforcement generally goes hand in hand with a solid political structure. Of course, in many areas (like Ohio), that is lacking.
It’d be refreshing to hear an Ohio politician take up the Brit’s Tory idea of “Ending the War on Drivers.”
Ahhhh, the joys of working in a profession where my co- workers are our worst enemies.
LEO’s would do themselves a HUGE favor if they actually lobbied to relax (even eliminate) regulation of casual traffic laws.
It’s probably the primary reason why many average citizens despise and generally distrust the trade.
That and firearms. Cops in countries without them have far more casual encounters with the locals.
I live in Central Ohio, and I don’t see the big deal on how this was handled. As mentioned previously, they could have just not issued ANY ticket, and no one would have known. The trooper was smart in making sure he was CYA himself before issuing the ticket.
I’m glad there are cops that like to drive fast – they will probably be more sympathetic to others who like the same thing. The worst cops are the safety-nazi types.
They got tickets, so what is the big deal?
They got tickets, so what is the big deal?
The big deal is that preferential treatment in general leads to an antagonistic relationship with outsiders.
It’s not so much about this specific case as is it about a perceived slight.
Bearadise,
Sorry, but I’m not a holster sniffer. Most police officers care way more about their own safety and the safety of their fellow officers than they do civilians. LEO’s routinely abuse disability pensions and police and fire pensions in general are creating financial crises for many municipalities and states. Yes, a fraction of police officers are genuinely noble people, but most are just on the job. They’re a particularly annoying form of leech public employee.
Public employees should not have the right to have labor unions.
If it was 80 or even 90, I’d be a little more empathetic. But 150 mph?
Face it – most cops are honest and the one’s I’ve come across are cool as long as you’re respectful and not a total derelict.
But 150mph is reckless endangerment, even if the car is driven by a brother in blue.
Expect all bureaucrats and the lackeys below them to be loyal to pay and pension vice subjective concepts such as freedom, We, the People, and other items of propaganda shoved into the masses’ heads that allows the few to live luxurious lives at the cost of the many.
It is not for NO reason the label jack-booted thugs has been bestowed upon the members of an increasingly militarized law enforcement bureaucracy, whether local or nation-wide based.
This fantasy that law enforcement officers are here to protect you has no basis in fact. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled years ago that the police have no duty to protect you.
You are responsible for your own safety. The police come around after the crime has been committed. Most police work is revenue collection, in the form of traffic citations. The last time I was stopped for cutting a yellow light too close. I pulled into a parking lot to get out of traffic. When I looked around, I was surrounded by four police cars with two officers in each car. I was proud to see my tax dollars at work. When you see “Protect and Serve” on the side of a police car know that it means that they protect each other and serve their superiors.
here is a link to support pmd1966’s case:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html
Yet even more proof….the irony is that it is the day after the discussion of police protection in this thread:
Todnight (approx 30 minutes ago) I”m nearing my apt in Chicago.. I’m about 2.5 miles north of wilson avenue exit on I-94, driving southbound.
Granted this is in a MAJOR urban area, not the suburbs with tons of forest preserves.
On the side of the road is a deer, about 50′ from the roadway walking downhill. Traffic is zipping by at 65-80.
I call 311 to report this and I am told “we can’t do anything — they are always there”.
NOT EVEN Put up a deer crossing sign ???