If you are pulled over by a police officer, are you allowed to call the field sargeant to come to the stop?

Question

I have a friend that keeps the police departments non-emergency number, in his cell-phone, so if he were to get pulled over, and he believes the stop is unjust or he is being treated unfairly by the officer, he simply calls the non-emergency number of the Police department, and requests that the field sargeant gets dispatched to the stop, to kind of "mediate" or ensure that the ticket is justified. He has told me that he has gotten out of tickets, and an unlawful search that way, as either the police officer backs off, or the sargeant has sided with my friend. I asked another friend that used to be a police officer if you were able to do that, and he told me no, your only legal recourse is let the court decide, and you aren't allowed to call the Sargeant. I was wondering if anyone knew the answer. I live in Los Angeles. Thanks.

Answer 1

You can do anything you want. Getting a response is yet another matter. I've had citizens complain against me on several occassions because they did not feel they were treated fair. Never once did a sergeant come to the scene and it would not have made any difference to me if he did. A sergeant does not have the authority to tell me whether or not to write a ticket. That authority is granted to me by the State. Only a judge or magistrate can decide the status of a ticket in a court of law. A sergeant however is a supervisor and if I had done something against departmental policy or something illegal, he would then have the right to intervene. All the complaints filed against me were investigated by the sergeant and in every case, the citizens complaint was dismissed. I once had a sergeant that stated "In this job you are going to get complaints, that means you are doing your job. If you don't get complaints, thats when I worry." Most citizen complaints come from people that need to vent to someone. Nobody likes being told what to do and some people have a harder time dealing with that.

Answer 2

You are allowed to call whomever you want. Will they come? No.

If a patrol supervisor allowed himself to be dictated while on patrol by anyone other than his boss, there would be no supervision.

A sergeant first off is not going to tell a police officer who is issuing a lawful summons not to write it. That is unlawful.

Remember that sergeant used to be a patrol officer as well. It is the same if a sergeant told a police officer NOT to make a LAWFUL arrest - it isn't going to happen.

Now, back in the locker room the sergeant may tell the cop "if it was me ...", that's another story and just an opinion.

The sergeant doesn't write the law or place his discretion in front of the officers in these types of situation.

You may just find that when the sergeant arrives with his or her vast knowledge, they inform the officer that there is about six other summones they can write.

Answer 3

You can call, and even ask him to bring you a Starbucks Vente Iced Latte, but more than likely, this isnt going to happen. You live in Los Angeles. If a desk sargent was asked to every arrest in process every day, there would be a lot of openings for desk sargents in the Ramparts division. Calling for a desk sargent in this scenario is like Custer asking to call Cochese out to help him at Waterloo. If the officer isnt doing something totally outrageous, the sargent or supervisor is not going to help you. More than likely, he's going to be all peeved off because he got dragged out of his office for no reason. For better or worse cops are going to stick together. I think that's a good thing. Cops need to stick together so they feel safe and can be more effective. There are more good cops than bad. By a HUGE margin. Even in Los Angeles. I think you are only asking for more trouble if you try to bring a supervisor to the scene.

I'd shy away from your friend's advice. I'd also shy away from activity that brings cops to you in the first place.

Answer 4

My Sgt. may show up, but he tells us to tell the person that if he comes to the scene, they are probably going to jail. Most Sergeants's have been doing this for awhile and are not going to let someone who thinks they know it all and can work the system dictate to them how they, or the officers they are in charge of, do their jobs.

You can call my Sergeant, but you will probably not get the results you were looking for.

Answer 5

I'm just going to be brutally honest with you to save you a lot of trouble. If you pull this stunt the police are going to go down on you hard. Just take the ticket, and fight it in court.

Answer 6

A supervisor will respond if requested by the Officer. If a citizen has a complaint, they are instructed to go into the station. Traffic citations are handled by the court, not a Sgt..

Answer 7

You can call, but they don't have to come.

Every time I have had someone ask me to call my supervisor, he has shown up and backed me up because I did nothing wrong...

Getting confrontational with the police on the scene is rarely helpful to the citizen. Wait and file a complaint later if you feel you were mistreated.

Answer 8

I don't believe your friends story. He was probably blowing smoke up your tailpipe. Just take the ticket and explain it to the judge.