Are some policemen above the law?

Question

I had a cursory glance and so far as I know am the first to mention here the policeman who was recently told by a judge that he would not be punished for travelling at very high speeds such as 150 mph when caught by the incar monitoring system (der!!). He had said that he was just getting used to driving his car but surely this kind of behaviour is inexcusable. Why are judges so soft on policemen in situations like this when they should realise that this leniancy only serves to make the general public less kindly disposd towards the police (and judges)?

Answer 1

The judge should be disbarred. If the policeman was driving at that speed on public roads then he was engaging in reckless and dangerous behavior. Any driving like that should have been done on a closed test track and not on public streets. The police officer should have been fined and or suspended or received the same penalty as any ordinary citizen in similar circumstances. Police officers are not above the law and behavior like this is inexcusable and the judge was definitely wrong.

Answer 2

Generally....No, police officers are not above the law, but then again they shouldn't be prosecuted for a situation that a civilian would not be prosecuted for either.

The officer was caught by an "in car" monitoring device, probably a "Teletrack" that many police departments use to track the movements of their officers, sometimes without the officers knowledge.

In this case the officer was cited using evidence from the Teletrack with no eyewitness corroboration. In order to be convicted of a traffic infraction in many states there must be an eyewitness acount of the infraction before a citation can be issued. When questioned by his supervisor he didn't help his case by making some stupid excuse about testing his car, the smart thing would have been to deny the incident occurred, but still there was no probable cause to issue a citation because there was no eyewitness. The judge was most likely following the law when dismissing the charge against the officer.

However the department would in all likelyhood take administrative action against the officer which would result in a reprimand or suspension from duty, which is far worse than the penalty that would have been imposed by the court. If you figure a 40 hour suspension without pay, at say, $20.00 an hour would cost the officer $800.00 in lost wages and any future violation of this type will probably result in the officers termination.

I would submit that even though the officer beat the rap on the ticket, he faces a far worse fate administratively. There is a whole separate system of checks and balances in law enforcement that may give the impression that officers are above the law, but, in fact they are not above judgement by their peers in terms of being removed from the profession for behavior that is unbecoming of a police officer.

Answer 3

Police are not above the law, I'm not sure what the case was, however, if the in-vehicle monitoring system registered that speed, it has no legal bearing because It's not like another peace officer caught him....there's nothing about using in-vehicle monitoring system as a witness written in the Transportation code, therefore, The Chief may have written him a citation for speeding, and the judge saw the legal problem with it and HAD to dismiss it, (if you see someone run a stop light, I can't give them a ticket on your word alone, I would need a written complaint from you filed at the court, the person would be issued the citation and you would have to show up at traffic court, like I would for any offense that I witness and ticket a driver for)....Anyhow, the in-vehicle monitoring system could be used to dicipline the guy and maybe give him some suspension time.....Rest assured, if someone gave him a ticket based on the monitoring system, he surely got grounded by the Chief......

Answer 4

I don't know the FULL facts of this case - and I suspect that most of us do not - the media do enjoy sensational reporting - after all, it sells papers.

However, personally, I cannot see that there would EVER be a time when it would be acceptable to drive at that sort of speed on public roads. I guess the judge had seen the full details of the incident and decided that the police officer should not be prosecuted for whatever reasons.

Even as a police officer, I agree with you that this sort of incident does give the public a very poor view of the police - and the media and all its sensationalism NEVER (or VERY rarely) mentions the hard work carried out by thousands of police officers, all over the country (and the world) on a daily basis. The job can be dangerous and you never know from one minute to the next what you will be dealing with.

I blame the media to a certain extent - and whilst I agree with freedom of speech, I feel that reporting should be clear and unbiased and NOT "spiced up" for profit.

Answer 5

No policemen are not above the law and I can not tell you why this judge did that. One should ask, since he was taken before a judge ( why the judge does not give equal treatment)

But I can say in most places not only would he have gotten the same punishment as everyone else in court. But he would have also lost his job in any police department I ever worked for.

Of course I have never see a police car that I drove that could go 150 miles per hour either.

Answer 6

I know why you and many other people feel like this over this particular incident. This officer, as has been pointed out in other answers was most certainly not above the law. He was, in my opinion, very very lucky in the court. However, he got an absolute discharge - which means he has escaped a fine, points etc but the result acknowledges guilt. On paper he is in fact guilty of the crime. The judge has been very clever as the officer now faces an internal inquiry and punishment (this does happen, believe me, its not nice) due to his bringing the force into disrepute and actually committing the driving offence on duty in a police vehicle.

Neither the police nor the courts are in the business of explaining the inner workings of justice and so it often seems that one thing has happened when infact, it is just the beginning of something else entirely.

Worry not, this unsavoury man will get his comeupance (?!!) sooner than you think.

Answer 7

The Police have always been above the law, as I found when I went drinking with my cousin around the area he lived in, when the pubs shut he said if he was in they would still serve until he decided to go home, unless.. On most race tracks where you can go to race motorbike or car there is a speed limit of 150mph, but the only vehicles on the track are all going the same way as you, and safety precautions are in place. The judges are soft on the Police cos they are making sure that if they get caught breaking the law the Police might look leniently on them too, an not book them.

Answer 8

Isn't interesting that some of the responses indicate that the police let one of their own off....couldn't be further from the truth. It was the judge who let the policeman off, not his colleagues. Other police officers have reported the circumstances of the ffence to the Crown Prosecution Service who have brought the case to court. having heard the evidence it is the JUDGE that has made the decision. So nothing to do with the police being above the law or letting each other off.

Answer 9

The law looks kindly on the police because they enforce it. Some police are very strict with the law, others break it at will. Be simply letting it pass the law and the judge is telling the police its ok to do this. They should come down even harder on the police for breaking a law they know like the back of their hand.

Answer 10

The police are allowed to travel at high speeds legal in emergency situations.

If this was not an emergency, judges are allowed discretion in decisions like that. I would not be so jealous of someone who received mercy from this judge, it might be you in front of him next time.

It might interest you to know that in the 70s, I knew a highway patrolman who would give tickets to city cops for speeding and illegal U turns on his highway in their squad cars all the time...