Help A Cop

[shatto]

So......I asked.

A California Highway Patrol was taking a report at the Post Office I had dropped mail at, so I asked if he had a minute and he said he did so I asked if there was an email address or any other way to report police officers who didn't obey the seat-belt laws, noting that I never see a CHP not wearing their belt and almost never see the local police using theirs.
He said; "That's because we are exempt." and explained how most consider getting hung-up in the belt too risky if they need to make a hasty exit of the car for one or another reason. He said CHP chose to use their belts for safety reasons and thought other officers nuts for not using them, but they didn't have to.
I told him I'd have to find something else to be angry about. And we parted buddies.

Here is the deal;

Invent a plastic or leather or kevlar or something shield that would fit between the safety belt and the officer and his.....or her gear, so the belt will not catch on anything when being removed.

Seriously. I have the impression that cops fear entanglement in the belt but would prefer to wear it.
Let's try to help.

[theholycow]

I suspect that these guys have it figured out.
http://www.carbonmotors.com/machine

[Jay2TheRescue]

Personally, I feel that public safety vehicles (Law enforcement, Fire, Rescue) should obey ALL traffic laws when not in an emergency situation. When I drove ambulances, I always thoroughly inspected my vehicle at the start of every shift, and I inspected my backup vehicle should we encounter mechanical problems during the night.

The vehicle was never pulled out of Park unless everyone was properly belted, (and of course the oil pressure gauge came all the way up). I also was very big on making sure my patient was stable on the scene, then driving to the hospital with the lights & sirens off, obeying all traffic signals & regulations. I just felt it was safer.

I felt, that as an operator of a public safety vehicle, I needed to set a good example for the public when not in an emergency situation.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I felt, that as an operator of a public safety vehicle, I needed to set a good example for the public when not in an emergency situation.

you just nailed a huge part of society's breakdown...if we set better examples be it as parents, bosses, pastors, public servants(especially congress), etc, our future would be much brighter!

[VetteOwner]

yea cant count the number of times ive seen the ol bacon brigade break a ton of traffic laws and even laws regarding unlawful use of lights and sirens...

wish there was a way to report them but no and prolly never will be.

[SeanHenry]

Just get the badge or car number and call the station and place a report. I know a cop who just got off duty was in his personal car and stopped at a gas station on the way home to pick up a 6 pack someone in the store reported him and he received a demerit for purchasing alcohol in uniform.

[IndyFetch]

That is a biggie here in Indy right now. An on-duty veteran officer was on his way to a call when he plowed into the back of two motorcycles that were stopped at a red light. A third motorcyclist was narrowly missed. One of the motorcyclists was injured, and another was killed.

No field sobriety tests were given, and the cop appeared to be fine. However, when a routine blood draw was pulled at the hospital, it was found that he had a BAL of .017%, more than twice the legal limit!

An investigation followed. It turns out that he regularly buys vodka at a shop in uniform. He was also seen carrying a bottle of "water" when he was standing around after the accident. No one bothered to check it at the time, because the officer displayed no symptoms of intoxication. He must have been a veteran alcoholic, too.

The best part: His lawyer got the blood draw thrown out, so he now has no evidence against him in the drunk-driving charge. Now he is just an officer who crashed his car responding to a call. I don't even remember if he got fired.

[ben98gs]

Originally Posted by Fetch

No field sobriety tests were given, and the cop appeared to be fine. However, when a routine blood draw was pulled at the hospital, it was found that he had a BAL of .017%, more than twice the legal limit!

I think you mean .17% as legal limit is .08%... And the actual number was .19%.

Other "error" in the story is the lawyer did not get it thrown out, the prosecutors did it himself because procedure was not followed. The blood had to be drawn at the hospital by a certified person, but the blood was drawn at an occupational health facility in which the lab tech was not certified under Indiana's DUI laws to draw the blood.

Anyone interested to read up on it, just type IMPD and officer Bisard in google.