If you're rude to or insult a police officer, can they fine you or otherwise penalize you for it?

Question

Because I've WANTED to say some really sarcastic, snarky things to a police officer who pulled me over for no other reason than I wasn't wearing my seatbelt, and I got fined a whopping $20 for it.

I WANTED to say "Golly, officer, I can't thank you enough for setting me straight. You've REALLY done society a great service by getting another murderer off the streets... no, wait, I've never murdered anyone. Hm... well hey, you've caught a violent rapist... no, never raped anyone either. Oh I know! You've caught a drug smuggler! Nope, I've never touched illegal drugs in my life. Ummm...... well at least you got me to put my SEATBELT ON!!! You should feel SO proud!"

Could I be arrested or fined for that?

I'm not saying I will, people, I'm not saying I will. I'm just wondering if there's any kind of law that they could use to punish me IF I did something like that.

*sigh* I'm not telling you people that I hate law enforcement or that I hate that I was pulled over for ADMITTEDLY not wearing a seatbelt when I should have. I'm simply wondering: HAD I lost my temper (not saying I would or that I think I should now, but those were the thoughts going through my head at the time), could I have been punished. Once more, I'm not saying I'm actually going to do this.

Answer 1

No, you can't be punished for being rude, exactly, but they can and probably will look for other things to be nit-picky about. They won't cut you a break, and will probably give you the biggest fine possible for whatever offense they pulled you over for. Just don't push them too hard, or else they can arrest you for being uncooperative.

Answer 2

It depends. It depends on the type of officer he is and how leninant he would be in situations like that. Police are allowed to make their own decisions, they can choose if they want to enforce a law or now. But you know what, not wearing a seatbelt is a pretty big deal. It's dangerous, you or someone else can cause an accident and the seatbelt can safe a life. It's a shame most people think nothing of it, but it's the police officer's job to enforce the law. But just saying that to him is completely rude and disrespectful. I bet if you taken hostage by someone you would really need to depend on the police at that time.

Answer 3

sounds like a silly thing to do. Why provoke someone when they have loads of powers to stop you? If they really went to town I'm sure they could stop you, search you, put you in a cell for a few hours, worse still fingerprint you (which will be on the system for forever) and then let you go because they've decided there is not enough evidence to prosecute you for: disorderly conduct, or being a public nuisance or acting in such a way that they thought you were a terrorist. Remember the police have powers to designate an area where they can stop and search anybody they like. Why would you want to be so stupid?

Answer 4

You cannot be arrested for that per se, but there are probably other violations that he could legally ticket you for. He could legally conduct a vehicle inspection and cite you for things like improper tire tread depth, tag lights out, obscured tag (if you have one of those tag holders that covers the date decal like most do, that is illegal), and literally dozens of other little things that most people do not think about.

Why are you giving this cop so much grief over a $20.00 seatbelt ticket? How did he know you're not a rapist or murderer? Ted Bundy was caught by being stopped on a routine traffic violation. So was Tim McVey. Eric Rudolph was arrested by a rookie cop for dumpster diving after eluding federal agents for years. There have been numerous drug traffickers arrested on traffic stops. Besides, this is what traffic cops do. State Troopers in my state have orders from the governor to STRICTLY enforce seatbelt violations, even though they are only $20.00 here too.

Answer 5

I don't think it's illegal, no, but as others have said, a cop can find things to cite you for if he really wants to.

I see some of the answers have said that violent criminals *are* caught for minor traffic violations/seat belt violations.

That's all nice a dandy, but here's the thing - the question should be, "Should not wearing a seat belt be your choice or the choice of the law?"

It's your life. Yours. No one else's.

Just because criminals might be caught by making something less serious illegal doesn't mean that less serious something should be illegal.

I'm sure plenty of criminals would be caught if cops could just pull people over for no reason whatsoever, randomly. That doesn't mean it'd be right to give them that power.

As long as it's adults making their own choices with their own lives, I'd say I'd have to agree with your sentiments that police could be better employed worrying about other crimes.

I just wouldn't advise you to lose your temper :p

Answer 6

$20?! You are lucky.

Here in Ontario, Canada the fine is $110 and 3 points on you licence.

He didn't stop a murder but he may have saved your life.

You won't be arrested for that, but the officer can become suddenly very interested in other aspects of your safety.
Is your horn working? Is your emergency brake working? Do you have an expired insurance slip? Was your passenger wearing a seatbelt? See where I'm going? There is absolutely nothing to be gained by being rude to someone who is doing their JOB.

Answer 7

You won't get arrested or fined for that, I promise. No word will ever go on the citation that you were rude or antagonistic toward the officer for doing the duty he/she has sworn to do. What WILL go on the citation is all the other charges that he/she will find when they conduct a complete, bumper-to-bumper safety inspection of your vehicle. The prosecutor will also get a call to make sure he's aware of what a butthole you were and get a copy of the dashcam video, complete with audio recording.
No officer in their right mind expects you to be happy after you've been cited, but you should like an adult and not get pissy when you get caught doing something you very well know will get you cited in the first place.

Answer 8

20 dollars! only 20 dollars! poop where do you live?
my sister in law was just pulled over for this reason last month.
she was fined 250 dollars!
my brother in law was driving with his father and both got pulled over for this reason, maybe about 6 months ago, and got finned 450!
(i guess people on my partner's side of the family doesn't get it, lol)

and i have SOOOO wanted to say something like that once too... i once saw some police officer pulling an entire family out of a van, because he was reprehending their vehicle. (i dont know for what reason mind you.. but i do live in an area that is known to occasionally harbor illegal aliens, and based soully on appearance, i would suspect that this was the case) but it upset me, so much. i mean here is this cop taking a family's car, when there are so much more important things to be doing....

but im not really sure if you could say anything like you wanted to... i would think that they could do something.. and i think most would.

Answer 9

Everyone who has said that the cop will just start looking for violations is right, I just feel the need to respond to those who say that seat belt laws are frivolous and not wearing one shouldn't be illegal. None of you, should you be in a serious accident, would be the ones extracting your mangled, bloody corpses from the wreckage. Even if you don't die, the chances of serious injury in a car accident are higher if you aren't wearing a seat belt. This means more of a strain on our already overburdened medical system. Seat belt laws weren't written to give the police a BS reason to pull you over. They were written to alleviate the undue strain on the system caused by all you idiots who don't wear your seat belt because "you're an adult and it should be your choice."

Answer 10

You can actually be given a ticket in NC for RDO, Resist - Delay - Obstruct.

Cops are doing their job, why can't you understand that? You broke the LAW. Most people don't know that cops have two different days of work. One day is doing nothing more then pulling people over, for probable cause of course and serving warrants. The other day is running 911 calls.

I never understood why people get so mad and upset because an officer is doing their job.

So yes, you might want to bite your tongue. Hope you don't come to NC and say that....we bite back!