Why is it okay for Cops to Speed and not us?

Question

I understand why we can't speed and all but why is it okay for cops to do stuff that is illegal but if we did it we would either have cuffs on or a nice big ticket?

Answer 1

Interesting, I just finished a required reading assignment for school about a man who was injured really badly, after a policeman made an illegal u-turn (not in pursuit) and crashed into the victim on a motorcycle. The man was able to sue the officer. Sorry, not an answer.

Answer 2

A police officer is allowed to drive faster than the speed limit, if in the performance of his duties. As several have said, he may be responding to a call where a siren and lights would not be appropriate. That being said, a lot of cops just abuse the system because they can. By the way, if you get put in cuffs for speeding, sue!

Answer 3

Police officers are authorized to exceed the maximum posted speed limit when responding to an emergency call. However a lot of police officers do abuse the privilege of driving a squad car, because what officer is going to stop another officer. Keep in mind though, especially in congested areas a police officer will respond without lights or sirens. There are two reasons behind this. The first is that the officer maybe responding to call in which he does not want anyone to know he is coming, like a bank robbery or fight in progress. The second is that many drivers do not care about what lights and sirens mean and wont get out of the way or a lot of people get worried and instead of getting out of an emergency vehicles way they will get in the way and can and have caused accidents. Either way, just remember if you see an emergency vehicle coming up behind you quickly, with or with out lights on, pull to the right and let them go.

Answer 4

Plainly said, we cops have things to do and places to get. I know that all people will say that they too have things to do and places to get, but let's face it, these things are different.

You may be speeding because you are late to work and, if you don't get there on time, your boss will scold you. I may be speeding because I am enroute to a 911 call and, if I don't get there on time, a child might die, a woman might be beaten, a house might be burglarized.

Most cops don't speed because they like to to speed, they speed because they care about the precepts of the job, they care about protecting the community they serve. Every call warrants an expeditious response from the police, but very few calls require a "lights and siren / code 3" response.

Let me give a couple examples.

A call of a robbery in progress with an armed suspect will result in the police responding code 3. A robbery alarm call will not. Most officers will likely consider this a possible robbery in progress and respond as such. So if they go speeding by, maybe that's where they are going.

A call of a woman being beaten by a man might result in a code 3 response. A 911 hang up call from a residence will not. Most officers will consider the possibility that some emergency is going on when 911 is called and they will respond as such. So if they go speeding by, maybe that's where they are going.

So, is it OK for the cops to go speeding by. Not really. But before you get to angry about it, remember that they might to speeding to your house because your daughter heard someone breaking in, called 911 and hung up.

Answer 5

This question has been asked over and over again. Cops need to respond in the minimum amount of time to calls. I believe you may find the answer by asking yourself "if you needed a police response would like then to stop for every light and observe all the speed limits".

Answer 6

Lots of interesting answers on here. Law enforcement professionals are exactly that. PROFESSIONALS. They have to respond to a variety of different circumstances and situations, that the rest of the "sheep" in society cannot even fathom. Trust their judgement, at least a little. If you think that an officer is abusing his authority, record the time, and the car number, and call it in to your local police agency. If the officer was in fact responding to an emergency, then your complaint will be disregarded, but at least you might feel better. Most of you have no idea what police officers have to deal with in a "typical day at the office".

Answer 7

It is ILLEGAL for the police to speed, except when enroute to emergency calls, and even then, they are not to exceed a certain speed, and exercise extreme caution. There are cases where police offices have been pulled over by state police and other law enfocement agencies for reckless driving and speeding for no reason, other than they think that they are above the law.

Answer 8

Cops need to drive fast for several reasons.

-- They have the right ..lol..

-- Imagine the chaos if a cop couldnt speed or if they did speed would get pulled over by another cop during a chase

-- Many times they have a reason to run the lights. Like a call of, say, domestic violence

Answer 9

b9teamchief... Has it right ...

the police are permitted to speed in certain circumstances .. I mean if your child was kidnapped and the cops got a lead on the car that took them and it was possible that your child was in that ar still WOULDN'T YOU WANT the police to speed ?

ALSO the police undertake intensive driving courses that teach them to handle their cars better than most of the public do.

If it is a matter of a police car speeding because they want to go to Subway for lunch when it opens .. THEN that is a different matter

Answer 10

well first off, if your just speeding, your not gonna get arrested(usually).
second. police are trained to drive fast. and if they are in the cruiser, they may be going to a call, not every call do cops click on the light bar and wailer, but they may require some urgency.
and third, consider it a perk of the job. like a bonus. you wanna deal with the scum of the earth all day every day, we wont mind it if you speed