an officer waved me through a crosswalk on a red light and gave me a jaywalking ticket?

Question

ok, i was 18 and just moved back to my hometown where i was always used to crossing the street anyway, but they had a new stop light at the corner. there were no cars coming so i stepped off the curb. when i did, a police car stopped in the intersection in front of me and was going to make a right hand turn. i didn't want to block him from making his turn, so i stepped back on the curb. he then motioned me on to cross. so i crossed. he pulled his car over, got out and got my id from me and gave me a ticket. how ethical do you think that was? i didn't fight the ticket i paid it. this was in Los Angeles several years ago and the ticket cost me $110

answerer number 2 i promise i am telling the truth. i think it's possible he didn't realize at first that i didn't have a walking sign, but either way, he waved me on.

number 3, i have moved on, i just happened by this answer forum and saw some of the questions that reminded me of what happened (and to me it's kind of comical now--reminds me of some of those just for laughs pranks) and was curious to others' opinions. i love the police. i have never had a negative attitude toward law enforcement (my husband is a correctional officer) and i even drive the speed limit. i am not harboring a grudge.

ahso...turn your caps lock off, you are screaming at everyone. if it is that frustrating leave answers and go to bed. you didn't understand the scenario i was trying to explain but thanks for the pointers

i was alway taught not to argue with a police officer and to treat them with the highest respect so i wouldn't have tried to convince anyone it was their fault. it was my fault for stupidly crossing a clear street eventhough the light was red.

there is a distinct difference in someone holding a hand up in a stop gesture and someone rolling their hand toward themselves in a proceed gesture.

Answer 1

Sounds like a case of mutual miscommunication. I have worked in law enforcement, and even the most a**hole cops I've known wouldn't pull something like that intentionally. But alot of the cops I've known also wouldn't want to listen to someone try to explain themselves, especially if they wanted to tell the cop it was THEIR fault. Had you gone to court, it would've been thrown out immediately. In the end, it was $10 and won't show up on any record.
Rest assured, the cop wasn't trying to entrap you. Odds are they were trying to signal something else to you, or gesturing about something else to someone else. You did nothing wrong by trying to comply with what you thought the officer was directing you to do. Had he been having a good day, he may have listened to your explaination, but oh well.

Answer 2

Several years ago? Time to move on, don't let this bother you. Just cause the cop waved you on, it doesn't mean the officer expected you to break the law.
Live and learn!
Remember, the police are the good guys. You hear a noise outside your window in an alley at 3 AM, who are you going to call? Not one of your smart-*** friends who thinks were 100% in the right, no, you are going to call the police. The police are the good guys. By giving you a ticket, I bet you think before you do that sort of thing again and this has likely saved your life more than once since then, plus others you have told the story too. The police are the good guys.

Answer 3

In your second sentence of your question you say there were no cars coming. Was the officer riding a horse?

You stepped off of the curb, then stopped, and got back onto the curb when you saw the officer. If the officer hadn't been there you would have finished jaywalking. As the real world situation played out you initiated the"crime" but did not complete it. Attempted violations are the same as completed violation.

The Officer was well within his/her bounds.

Answer 4

Hey number three the police are not always the good guys OK, when they come and throw you up against your car in your driveway for doing nothing more than pulling your motorcycle out of the garage. Then tell you they are going to add resisting arrest to the charges because you are trying to explain that you haven't ridin your bike today and it wasn't you who was running from them. Pushing you around and truely about to make a false arrest only to have his badge saved by the fact that they caught the real perp while harrassing me. What I mean by having his badge saved is; oh I would have been more than willing to fork over thousands of dollars to have it put in my hand by the best lawyer in town for that stunt. Unfortunately no judge will give you monetary awards for suits against the police unless is it an extreme case, but they will take an officers job for derilection of duty.
Side note if I hear a noise in my backyard I'll call the police after I get the person on the ground at gun point and tell them come pick him up, I'm not gonna hide in my room and wait for them to come save me when they get a chance to come check out the scene.

Answer 5

Not a good idea to jay walk. On the other hand the officer shouldn't have waved you across knowing you were going to jay walk. That is the reason I find this hard to believe.

Answer 6

He sounds like a jerk and he probably laughed about it to his cop buddies. I guess he made some extra money for the city. I doubt if he cared what hardship he gave you. Forget about it. He's not worth the thought.

Answer 7

DID HE MOTION FOR YOU TO CROSS OR TO COME TO THE CAR?

IF I AM SITTING IN MY CAR. I PUT MY RIGHT HAND UP. I MOTION TO YOU, COME HERE.
DOES THIS MOTION OR ACTION, AT THE ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD, (WHILE YOU ARE THINKING CROSSING,
YOUR THOUGHT PATTERN WAS ON WALKING ACROSS THE INTERSECTION.) THE OFFICER MOTIONING, YOU BELIEVED FOR YOU TO GO ACROSS THE INTERSECTION?
IN FACT HE MAY HAVE BEEN MOTIONING FOR YOU TO COME HERE TO TALK TO HIM.

WHEN YOU CROSSED, YOU DISOBEYED HIS SIGNAL( MISREAD / MISCOMMUNICATED.) THUS HE REACTED,PULLED OVER TO YOU IN THE PATROL CAR AND GAVE YOU A TICKET.

JUST A THOUGHT FROM ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE. OR FROM THE WHAT IT IS WORTH DEPARTMENT?

Answer 8

You probably misunderstood his gesture. He wasn't waving you through, he was telling you to stop.

Answer 9

Sucks, but kinda hilarious in a way too. Sorry.