if you are a police officer answer this one for me?

Question

Why do cops take the risk of getting hit by a car when clocking for speeding, they hide behind trees and other objects, they zoom from the interstates just to catch a speeder, or they tag team clock people where one stands in the street and the other say which car and then run in the street to pull them over. Would it not be more sufficient and safe for all if the cops would just let themselves be seen? Who speeds when they see a cop, no one that I know. so if you cops are out there to make the highways safer why not just be seen? i am sure there will be less speeding!!!!!!!!!!

OK TO ALL THE WISE GUYS AND GALS, I AM NOT SAYING EVERY COP LINE UP BUT I DO KNOW FOR A FACT THAT ON MY WAY TO WORK IN THE AM WHICH IS 56 MILES AWAY FROM MY HOME, ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN THERE ARE NO STATE COPS EVERYONE SPEEDS, EVEN THE LIL OLD LADIES. I DO NOTICE THAT WHEN YOU SEE ONE COP ON THE INTERSTATE, EVERYONE IS BEHIND HIM AND HE IS CONTROLLING THE TRAFFIC. NO ONE SPEEDS. LAST WEEK THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT WHERE A HONDA ACCORD LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND VEAR ACROSS THE I-10 TO THE OTHER SIDE SMASHING INTO AN SUV AND THE HONDA ACCORD WAS SPLIT IN HALF AND EXPLODED, THE SUV HAD MINOR DAMAGE BUT THE DRIVER OF THE ACCORD WAS KILLED, NORMALLY AT LEAST ONE TROOPER IS ALONG THE STRETCH, IF NOT TWO. WHEN THEY ARE THERE THE CARS ARE ZOOMING IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC MAKING IT VERY UNSAFE FOR OTHER DRIVERS. SO I ONLY WANT SINCERE ANSWERS NOT SMART @SS REMARKS.

ABOVE I MEANT TO SAY WHEN THEY ARE NOT THERE! PEOPLE ZOOM IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC.

Answer 1

A lot of good answers here. As a cop you still have some liability if you are in an accident. yeah, we get to do some cool stuff. Disobey some normal traffic laws once in a while in the course of doing our job, but if we get in a wreck doing it, we have to take some responsibility.

As far as speed enforcement. I don't want die in some fiery wreck for a speeding violation. I make myself somewhat visible and I can usually be seen if you are looking down the road and paying attention. I also don't take any chances. If I can avoid high traffic areas where there isn't a lot of room to move around I try to. I also don't enforce where there is poor visibilty, like curvy or hilly roads. Don't like being out when the snowbanks are 15 feet high on either side or if the weather just makes the conditions miserable. No speedind ticket is worth my life or causing an accident.

Answer 2

Ok, so I am not in the police department, however I do have a couple of good friends in the Sherriff's Department.

First off, I have to state the obvious. Why do you speed? Do you know that you are violating a law? (For the record, yes, I do speed as well, I am only trying to make a point here).

When you get behind the wheel, do you calculate the chance of getting caught while speeding?

I had the misfortune of riding with a friend some years back. I had been entertaining the idea of law enforcement, and wanted to see what it was really like. (Trust me, the TV show COPS, isn't even close to a normal shift!!)

On my second night with him, (the first night was spend wandering through neighborhoods, just "checking up" on things), we got a call that someone was fleeing from an officer. He was speeding through a neighborhood, and when the office "lit him up", (went to pull him over), the guy ran from him.

It took us about 5 minutes to catch up to him, and just in time to see him t-bone a minivan. The driver of the speeding car was drunk, and was carried away in an ambulance. The driver of the minivan suffered multiple fractures, and her 2 yr old daughter was killed on site.

This was all started by some moron speeding. He lost control, and ended up killing someone!!!

Contrary to what you might believe, speed does kill, and not just the person doing the speeding. All to often, it kills innocent bystanders.

The officers are there to do a job. Instead of yelling at them for doing what they are paid to do, (that's like yelling at the projectionist at a theater because the movie was bad), follow the laws.

I'm sorry for the rant, but after watching the accident, I changed my habits. That vision will stay with me forever, and I have an all new respect for what those officers have to deal with.

Answer 3

Because giving tickets is revenue generating.

And they want to have the "fear factor" to keep speeding down.

I think they should stay hidden. Only reckless idiots get caught.

If you are a responsible speeder like I am, then you are 100% aware of your surroundings. Not just looking out for troopers, but also 100% aware of everyone else around you as well.

Additionally, my car is a great hi-speed model with well maintained 140+ mph rated tires, and I always make sure the conditions are right with little or no traffic ahead of me, no tight curves, no blind crests in the road, and A+ road/traction/weather/visibility conditions.

The problems occur when some idiot in a non-hi speed rated/equipted vehicle, SUV, van, or cheapo car with garbage tires and handling going too fast. You seldom hear of a serious sports car or sports sedan cracking up at hi-speed.

I have no radar detector but I know their hiding tactics. And their un-marked cars are always "obviously" so. I even can spot the planes they use sometime.........LOL

Answer 4

You answered your own question. People slow down when they "see" a cop. So if you don't see one, does that mean that you are free to speed. The knowledge that there may be a cop hiding behind the bushes, or just over the hilltop, or behind a billboard, discourages a lot of speeders and they slow down. I wish there were enough cops to escort every driver down the road at a safe speed, but there isn't. We must therefore attempt to catch a few and make examples of them so that there is a known threat of being caught to the other violators. This is what is called "deterrence".

Answer 5

My husband doesn't mess with the interstates here, mainly the high traffic areas. Especially thru streets that are residential areas. He told me that he only pulls over for 15+, unless it's a school zone. And all he has to do is pull into a parking lot to run radar. People are so oblivious, they'll zip along doing 50 in a 30 on their cell phone and not even see the big white car with the lights on top clocking people. Speeding enforcement is important here - for a mid-sized city, we have several hit and runs.

Answer 6

We should not have to be on the road to keep everyone in line. Often I have found having a patrol car in view only momentarily deters the acitivity. Numerous times people fail to realzie after they pass I can monitor away speed and I constantly see them speed back up thinking they are in the clear.

I sometimes "hide". Are you scared I might be there? Good means I'm doing my job. I can not be everywhere and my goal is to keep people in check by having them not know where I am. Remember I'm watching you :D.

If there was no speeding when a cop is visible tell me why I continue to have my best speeding tickets sitting on a hill, under a highway light where reflectors are visible well over a mile, on interstate.

Answer 7

As far as risks, that' s one of the hazards of the job. There aren't enough Police to do what you are saying. Some people speed just to see if they can get away with it, it becomes a challenge. How do you like this for an idea. In Illinois, an unmarked radar/camera van is going to be utilized again. You're clocked, your picture is taken, and you receive the speeding ticket in the mail. First offense, $375, second offense, $1000. I have a hunch, there will be less speeding.

Answer 8

I don't recall of any incidents where a cop hiding was hit by a speeding motorist. Highway patrol know not to sit in certain spots that would be dangerous to them or other motorists. You don't think they care about their own lives or others?

You have to ask yourself what would you do if you were a cop and had to catch people speeding in order to lower the accident rates and catch criminals?

If you hide, you would get more speeders, thus lowering the rates of accidents and also doing field investigations to catch criminals. Believe me, it works.

If you didn't hide, then people would still speed because they never get caught. Traffic stops are the #1 most effective tool to catch criminals, people with warrants, dui's, or hopefully preventing a crime before it happens.

BLAME SPEEDERS NOT THE COPS FOR ACCIDENTS, DUH!

Answer 9

its more like this
police officers cannot line up every 30 feet of parkway
besides they are looking for people breaking the law

what if a man is speeding sees a cop and slows down. then on ce the cop is gone he speeds up again
lets say this man hits a tree and dies

and it probily could have been avoided if the cop catches him speeding.

everything cops do are what if things.

besides you people should know to NEVER speed. Its not worth the risk.

Answer 10

Isn't it illegal for cops to be hidden like that? o_0

They are always in plain view on the streets, at least I see them.

Sometimes the car is parked in a lot, or the side street, but never behind something that would hide the car/bike altogether.