Why do police officers.........?

Question

I have seen many police officers drove 5-10mph over the speed limit while they are not chasing anyone ( some of them were even talking and laughing (sometimes eating too lol) to a friend or co worker next to them while driving, so obviously they are not on duty). Ive seen on freeway mostly. But yesterday I also saw two officers drove by about 50 mph on 40mph street, and guess what? they ended up at starbucks..lol.. Im just wondering if they are actually allowed to drive faster tho they are not on duty, or are they simply just being a jerk since nobody will pull them over?

Answer 1

you know i am so tired of answering this kind of question.
look it up if you really want know.

Answer 2

I routinely drive 5-10mph over the speed limit, or more while enroute to calls. Many calls required an expedited response without the use of lights or sirens.

Do I drive faster than I should sometimes? Yep.
Do I punish people for doing what I do? It depends.

Will I drive 80 down the freeway at 2am with no other cars on the road? Sure. Would I drive 50 down a residential street next to a school at 3pm? No.

So they're talking and laughing, so what? Do you talk and laugh at work? I do, after a call where a guy just beat the hell out of his wife and put her in the hospital, yeah, I typically like a good chuckle, I'm sorry if you don't approve.

No, nobody will pull us over unless there are unusual circumstances, a while back there was a college police officer who was on-duty, under the infulence, he was stopped and arrested by CHP. So, it happens, though extremely rarely.

To answer your question, is it right? No. Does it happen? Yep. Is it abused? Most definately.

Answer 3

Every state has laws that define emergency services exemptions to speed laws. Some states allow police officers to exceed the speed limit at any time while on duty and in an authorized emergency vehicle. Others are more strict and the exemption is only responding to calls and pursuit of violators.

Answer 4

Some officers do drive fast and if they pull people over for doing what they are doing then it is wrong. However, some officers will not pull you over for traffic violations that they themselves commit. Also, there are times when an officer needs to respond to a situation without running codes (lights and sirens), this allows them to come to a scene unannounced. It also prevents the public from being in danger. Sometimes the public reacts oddly when lights and sirens are approaching them (causing them to have accidents, etc.).

Answer 5

Yea, we speed. We also usually don't write people tickets for 5-10 over because we know everyone does it.

Next time you call the police do you want the cop going the speed limit or the one going a little faster?

Answer 6

Ok, there are a few things I think you might not be aware of. First and formost is that if the officer is in uniform and in his patrol car he is "On Duty" no matter what he is doing he is on the job.

Also many units are sent to a call "Code 2" this generally means no lights no sirens. It doesnt mean that there is not a serious situation unfolding, it only means they do not want to draw attention to themselves with the lights and siren.

I work on an ambulance, we eat when we can and we grab coffee when we can. We tend to also drive fast even if we are not on a run. No it is not right, no it is not legal but I guess you have to kind of look at our state of mind.

Most of our week consists of DRIVE FAST. So it kind of carries over to slow times as well. I have to pay careful attention when I go home to, I get in my personal vehicle and I'm still in the ambulance mind set.. I have to keep telling myself "slow down, obey the limit".

Public service workers are under a HUGE amount of stress and we all deal with it differently. Unfortunatly this might look like "goofing off" to the general public when you see us at starbucks or dunkin donuts.

Trust me, when it's time to do the job, we're doing the job, not going for coffee or donuts, BUT when we have down time, we make the most of that too.

Most officers work 12 hour shifts, it's rough and us EMT's we work 24 hour shifts, so ya, we have to eat.

Answer 7

I routinely drive between 5 and 100 mph over the speed limit and sometimes I get caught and have to pay a fine or get a good attorney. I have pity on the Police because they are just trying to enforce the laws and the truth is, most donut stores are not open 24 hours a day and who wants those crummy stale donuts from the grocery store. God Bless the boys in blue and help them to get fatter and slower.

Answer 8

Look at it this way. You probably usually go 5-10 over the speed limit on the highway. So does the officer.

Answer 9

You can file a complaint, or better yet, call the local PD and ask to speak to the watch commander. Explain the situation and what you observed. If the watch commander is worth his or her weight in doggy doo, they will ask the officer about the incident and note it in the log. If enough people call about these problems, they will be investigated.

I complained about the fact that 4-5 cops (the bulk of the officers on duty) would hang out at the local Starbucks everyday. I didn't make an official complaint, but the problem was taken care of right away. No problems - no conflict. Try to resolve the issue as directly as possible at the lowest level. You can always escalate it if the problem still occurs.

No - cops are NOT allowed to break the speed limit unless their is a legitimate emergency. They can be cited -- but most of the time they get to spend a couple of days on the beach without pay (best way to get the donut eater to understand - take away their money)

Answer 10

Hell, I would always drive 5-10 miles over the speed limit if I could, and they can.

Answer 11

I am assuming you had a radar gun and are trained in its use and you re-calibrated the unit before you clocked the squad car.

You should have called for a back up, made the stop and wrote a ticket. BUT, you better show him the radar gun or they'll sue you and win in court.