Are cops breaking the law when they use their siren for 5 seconds to get through a red light?

Question

I've seen it so many times. A cop pulls up to the red light, flips on his siren, drives through the intersection, and then turns it off. This abuse of power makes me sick. What can be done about it?

I found an answer from a police handbook:

Use sirens as a warning only when responding to an emergency call or pursuing a suspected
offender.

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I wonder what 911 call warrants a casual drive with the occasional use of a siren to get through a red light.

This might not be a big deal, but I believe unchecked abuse of power will grow with every consecutive abuse. Cops start out by running red lights and finish off with broomsticks in people's rectums. It happens. Anyways, it's just annoying.

Answer 1

Turning on your lights and going code 3 doesn't give an officer the right of way, it merely asks for it. There are a lot of times when police officers are trying to respond to a place in a hurry but they don't see a need for using their lights. If i were in a hurry and i came to an intersection that wasn't busy i'd turn on my sirens to let the public know that i'm responding to an emergency.

Answer 2

No they are not breaking the law! Often times cops have to respond to calls quickly but do not want the suspects to know that they are coming. Such as a burglery in progress stuff like that you do not use you siren for. Using it through an intersection at a red light to get through is perfectly legal if the are responding to a call, and since you never know what a cop is doing in a car
LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE.

Answer 3

I have seen what you are talking about many times. If you complain, they will say they received an emergency call and then it was can cancelled. Hard to prove. I knew someone who sent a complaint to the attorney general of his state as well as the state police. They investigated and said they found no wrong doing. Then the local police found out who he was and never gave him a moments piece. If he didn't signal before he made a turn, they gave him a ticket. If he parked his car an inch or two further away from the curb that it was supposed to me, they gave him a ticket. If he didn't have his headlights on 1/2 an hour before sundown, they gave him a ticket. He finally hired a lawyer who sued the police for harassment. When it got to court, the judge threw the case out but gave the cops a waring to leave her alone. You are right, but sometimes cant win.

Answer 4

Nothing can be done about it. It is LEGAL and a common practice. So long as the officer can justify his actions with regards to department policy, using lights and sirens to clear an intersection is OK. The second the officer activates his emergency lights and siren, he may violate the vehicle code, so long as he does it safely and it does not matter how long the emergency equipment remains on afetr the fact.

Answer 5

This is a good question and I have been asked this numerous times. I did it just yesterday. The call went out as a burglary in progress. The lady was on the phone and giving out details to the dispatcher. We wanted to get there as quickly as possible, but without alerting the suspect. I hit my siren and lights just enough to get through intersections. Got at the scene in two minutes and was able to catch the suspect. Another question that I receive is why do police officers speed? When you call we try to get there as quickly as possible; however, must calls do not allow us to use lights and sirens.

Answer 6

legally, they can only go through an intersection on a red light, or speed when they are on a call. There is then local department rules, as to what constitutes reason to speed to the call. They must at all time take into consideration their actions (driving, use of force, etc) and the safety of the surrounding civilians at the scene, and enroute to the scene. As a civilian in your community if you observe what you think is an officer abusing his authority by speeding, running lights etc while not on a call, or a traffic stop, you can file a complaint within your local community. I would be prepared to know who the officer was, and get a copy of the call logs to make sure he indeed was not on a call before you file the complaint.

Answer 7

It is possible that the officer is responding to a complaint that is in progress and uses the lights & siren to clear an intersection and then turns them off as to not alert the bad guys that he/she is coming to get 'em!
It could be a mistake. Officer Jeff ********* (name blocked out to protect the ******) had a police car that had a horn/siren switch for safety. This meant he could hit his steering wheel horn to activate his siren if the switch was set to siren. He went to wave to a friend (yes, cops have friends) and beeped his horn (technically a violation as a horn is only to be used to warn another driver) but the switch was set to siren so he had to pretend he'd gotten a call and went merrily on his way.
Give them the benefit of doubt.

Answer 8

there is a good chance that they are responding to a call. Sometimes when they get a call that is not that big of an emergency, they won't risk the danger of driving the whole way with their lights going and sirens. But when they get ot a red light they will cautiously do that just to speed their trip up a bit.

Answer 9

They usually do this when they need to be somewhere quick, but the emergency doesn't actually warrant full use of the siren. I've seen them only use the siren when at intersections, and when approaching cars ahead lots of times too.

Answer 10

They have a call, it may not be bad enough to keep the sirens and lights off. In fact its dangerous to keep the sirens going so they usually do that. Believe me they cannot do it for their personal use, don't you understand that the calls are logged and everything they do is subject to someone at the PD to know.