Police Abuse....help!

[randomwalk101]

A friend of mine (female) drives at speed limit, never break any law and has never gotten a ticket of any kind before. She ALWAYS have her seat belt on. Anyways, today on her way back from work, going 35mph in 35 mph speed limit with her seat belt on and all the usual...Low and behold, a cop pulled her over (constable) and wrote her a ticket for not having a seat belt on. Duhhh...she pointed out to him that the seat belt is STILL ON...he said he didn't see it at the time and she probably had it under her arm. She said no, the seat belt was properly ON and it might be her long hair was covering it. He forced her to sign the ticket otherwise he will arrest her. She asked if she would put the statement he said to her (seatbelt under arm) in there...he refused and said he doesn't have to write more than he needs to.

Anyways, so my friend has no choice but to sign the ticket and stuck with something she didn't do ...what should we do???

Is there anyway we can report this cop to his superior for proper conduct review/investigation etc? It seems to me like if you're a cop, you can basically write ticket of whatever you like to fill your quotas at innocence people expense.

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[CivicR]

Just go to court and explain it to the judge...if she has no other infractions most likely the judge will dismiss it...oh and by the way signing a ticket does not admit that you are guilty...it just basically says that you received the ticket...this way people cant say later..."Oh I never got a ticket"

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John
B18C1 Powered 95 Civic EX Coupe(Sold)
H22A Powered 92 Civic VX Hatch(In the works)
88 CRX(Coming soon)

[klintman]

racketeering behind a badge and gun (a very old institution). the outcome will ultimately depend on the judge , but without a lawyer you can get run over and painted blue . the system is out for money not justice . in this county you must buy your rights (guilty until proven to have enough money to clog the system with lawyers). if she wants to take a chance go to cort . if she really wants to clear this up get a lawyer . what class of offense is a seatbelt ticket ?

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99' GSR / JRSC @ 6psi
-JR MAP & BTC
-Walbro 342
-Comptech exhaust & intake/icebox
-Comptech/Koni coilovers
-Mugen 22mm rear sway bar

[JRCivic]

Damn...
That sucks John.
I hope things turn out OK. I think there is alot of good advice listed above... follow it.

That cop is a REAL prick !!!

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'93 Civic Si H/B with B18C1, JRSC @ 8psi
Best 1320: 12.68 at 110 mph

[Tom Civic]

Just go to the court and pledge your case with the judge. Hopefully he'll understand and dismiss it. Judge Branich if i recall, dismissed my not having a license plate on the front of my bumper (even though i had it in my windshield) because i corrected it already by the time of the trial.

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Houston, TX
1999 FBP Civic EX auto SUPERCHARGED Performance: Jackson Racing Supercharger w/fuel pump
Air Intake w/ Hiper Filter, Heat Shield Thermal Research & Development Cat-Back Exhaust, Accel Thundersport +300 Plug wires, Nuespeed Sport Springs, APC Rear Strut Tower Bar, APC Breather Filter, VTEC Light
www.geocities.com/tom_civic99

[austrian type-R]

haha. I know tooooo good how it feels! I?m in trouble for 3 weeks now, because our cops don?t believe my front and rear wing are stock on my car. (It is not alowed to have aftermarket stuff on the car without any kind of inspections) I should pay 270USD for having wings which are stock on my car.

I showed her also pics of our type-R meet and the oficial Honda magazine for the type-R, where all the cars have the same wings. So I ask her, if this wing is not stock, why the hell would all those peoples buy the same aftermarket wings?????? She agreed and called the tech-guy for cars from the government again. The tech said again to her it is not possible that a car is equipped stock with such an big wing. That is a kind of tech motherfugger hahaha!!!! She also said such pictures and magazines means nothing to her.

Then they told me I should call the Austrian Honda importer and let confirm me that the wing is original. I gave this guy the number of the government bitch, he wants to call the government and ask thjem if they are serious. I?m sure all things went out for me. They are soooo silly over here.

Well, in a few days I?ll get a call from the government for a meeting.

They should be angry when I put my BIG AS HELL carbon Arospeed wing on my trunk! YEAH!!!!!!! I hate cops, I hate our government, I hate our laws for car tuning, but I don?t care and give a shit for our car laws!!!!!!!!

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Supercharged ITR?98 @ 5.5psi
BTC unit, Apexi VAFC, K&N short ram intake, skunk2 cam gears, Kamikaze 2.5", ceramic header, Thermal 3" exhaust, RC 310 injectors, Cartech FMU, AEM FPR
13.775 seconds 0-402 meters (1/4 mile)
http://www.geocities.com/superchargedtyper
http://community.webshots.com/user/austriantyper check out my ride!

[This message has been edited by austrian type-R (edited November 21, 2001).]

[randomwalk101]

I told her to find out where his station is and file a complaint toward him and perhaps talk to his supervisor concerning this matter. Hopefully this will set him straight and will not do this kind of shit to other people.
As for the ticket, I guess just go to court and pledge it to the judge at this "mercy"...otherwise, we would just have to eat it up.

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It's powered by GASOLINE damnit!!!

[dbman96]

Going to the police station and filing complaints will only aggravate the situation. She hasn't been found guilty of anything yet; she IS required to sign the ticket, and there is no reason to be putting the driver's statement on the citation.

All this should be taken care of in court on the assigned date. If you are NICE and HUMBLE in court the judge tends to be nice back to you. If you go in there telling a judge that a cop was "harassing" you by giving you a seat belt ticket you will get your ass fined without a doubt.

Swallow your pride, pay your dues. Save the anger for something worth the effort.


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[jimbojimbo]

this might be kinda brutal... but, here in SoCal you could call the local police department. Then file a complaint against the peace officer using his badge number and name (which should be on the ticket). That's what I'd do. The last time I went to court in a similar situation as yours the judge decided to go with the officer's testimony because he was a "nine year veteran". This was inspite of the fact that the judge agreed with me and found no law that stated when a person could do 45mph in a school zone that after school is 45mph. When I got my ticket that school had let out 40-45 minutes earlier. When I asked that same peace officer when people were allowed to do 45mph in that area his response was, "right about now..." Anyways, that's the short version...

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[BurntGSR]

All the above is great advice. If your friend can afford it then I'd say go as far as getting a lawyer to put the cop in his place. Traffic lawyers aren't too bad sometimes. Look one up and give them a call. For a couple hundred bucks you can probably humiliate the officer in court. I don't mind good cops. THey admit mistakes and will work with you. It's the bad cops that need to learn they're just doing a job, not acting God on the streets.



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Silvino