Dear Cops: Discretion in Difficult Times

1. I was trying to think of my last ticket . First thing that came to mind was 3 seatbelt tickets. Then I remembered I was going to DTE and didn't know where it was. I got into a pissing match with someone driving 55 in the fast lane. The cop pulled me over and I was like sorry, I lost my mind for a sec. The cop gave me under 5 mile hr on a freeway. No points I found out later. 300 buck fee, but so much better than what I could have been hit with.
   For real note. Anytime anyone pisses me off while driving I just let it go now. Thank you officer what's your face on 75.
   Getting pulled over for seatbelts is still stupid IMO.

2. Warnings work! At least from my perspective if I get a warning I feel like I at least owe that officer to slow down (at least that's what goes through my head). He saved me a few hours of the online traffic school so I can get home a few minutes later (and safer) totally a fair trade!! Two questions though: is there pressure on the department to ticket more? The other question is if I want to move to a safer spot does hitting the hazard lights send a message of 'I want to comply I'm finding a safe spot to stop'?

3. Welcome to New York State where the Governor uses the state police as a source of revenue!!!!!

4. My 2 year old nephew died got hit by a car not the drivers falt though he got up in the middle of the night snuck out his window and got in the road officer was behind him seen it nothing could have been done I also spilled my bike because a kid ran I front of me out of no where

5. I can't stand many state troopers most my issues with leos have come from state troopers most local cops are pretty cool found that most troopers are dicks

6. Here in texas, speeding in a Construction zone the ticket doubles with or without workers

7. Here is the observation, most stops by police are justified. Now if you get a ticket is not always up to the police. Here police do what they are asked to do. Do I think the orange barrel traps that we see are bs, yes. I have been know to throw orange barrels but that is another story. I have been stopped by police and rarely received a ticket. Think of the police like this, they are a set of eyes and can help you. My new car has driver assist, but some of us dont have that. The police are there to help and working with them is always best. I drove big truck for many years and the police saw what I seen. I seen a bad accident at least once a day. I think clam minds are needed right now and this guy really has his finger on the pulse of America.

8. I like the "Thin Blue Line" Flag, NOT. it is 100% against the UNITED STATES CODE TITLE 18-Part I. CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE-CHAPTER 33 – EMBLEMS, INSIGNIA, AND NAMES § 700-Desecration of the flag of the United States-Specifically Subsection (a)(1) – “Whoever knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.”
   
   Also 4 U.S. Code § 8 – Respect for flag – No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Also (g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature. Also (i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. At last (k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
   
   You should be Ashamed of yourself for this Disfigurement! This is no different then someone burning the Flag. It is a disgrace and insulting to what I have served and others in my family have died for to defend. It shows that you are a Enemy of the State and the Constitution you swore to up hold. You REALLY should consider taking that Abomination down!
   
   I really am serious with this, this is VERY offensive to the U.S. Flag and ALL that have died for it. It is Unacceptable for the Police to hi-jack the image of the flag for their own agenda. I have no issue with the Police at all. However, you and others need to come up with your own image that you want to use to show your solidarity and quit desecrating the U.S. Flag!

9. One of the biggest problems in my state is ticket quotas.

10. Was your alleged violation in VA? Lol

11. From a retired career 911 Dispatcher.

    Fact: Officer witnesses something that is legitimate PC

    Fact: He/she walks up to the offender, assessing all potential threats.

    Contact.

    Driver is an ass or not an ass. Has history or doesn’t. Exactly why Officers have discretion.

    In these terrible times hopefully a learning moment can occur and an individual has a better take on law enforcement.

    Or, they look really hilarious when they’re tased 🙂

12. I'm a criminal Mastermind, I drove my car without a tag because it wouldn't pass inspection because I needed to put drive cycles on it. I got pulled over IN A PARKING LOT and got ticketed, I showed the cop the paperwork showing that I'm trying to get my car to pass. Well I guess I can only drive to the inspection place and home in his eyes… It's all revenue… Fuck that guy… That whole interaction made me dislike cops… And I really liked cops before.

13. I only got 1 warning in my life. the rest were tickets

14. Law Enforcement is now Revenue Enhancement!
    I'd rather have to deal with a criminal trying to take my money! At least, I could fight back!

15. Yup…unfortunately it needs to be said. I too was pulled over by an overzealous K-9 officer who told me I was going to jail because he didn't like my attitude. My attitude was simple: he told me I was under arrest and read me my Miranda rights. Then he asked me to explain my driving. I politely told him that I would not discuss the alleged violation with him now and would be happy to discuss it in traffic court. After 10 months of him continuing the case in court he refused to show in court and the case was eventually dropped. He made the local news that summer for his attitude issue that was uncovered when he pulled over a judge from an adjoining jurisdiction. In fact he caused all 100+ of his fellow officers to have to attend an 8 hour training on professionalism and ethics.

    No, I didn't go to jail that night. I wish I had, I'd have gladly sued him. As a retired cop I never figured I'd ever file a complaint against a LEO. I did with him. Hopefully he learned his lesson and began acting like a professional LEO or changed careers to something more suiting like worm harvester.

16. I've never got a ticket and my insurance increases every year. They will increase it even when they don't have an excuse to do so. The excuse they told me was 'inflation' lol

17. Got a warning a couple weeks ago for being on the phone. I need to get a blue tooth.

18. These days it takes the young officer a lot longer to start learning discretion having grown up with so much of life being zero tolerance they dont yet understand there's another way.

19. I can say as a truck driver, if you go excessily slow in a work zone, you actually start to encourage people to do really stupid things. Especially when you are restricted to the left lane as a truck, people will tailgate you for a while and then abruptly change lanes when they actually can't see whats in the right lane they are abruptly changing into.

    Now we can say, they shouldn't do that, which is true.

    However, part of driving is understanding how other people act or what behaviors they engage in and far to often, people are now speeding and performing very dangerous maneuvers when they encounter slow moving traffic.

    So how do we deal with that, do we go the speed limit understanding its never going to change without significant increases in enforcement? Or do we adapt our own behavior to discourage their bad behavior.

    Example, go the speed of traffic, even if its 15mph over the posted speed limit, but is it safer to do that than to go too slow.

    Example or real world scenario. I-80 through Chicago has a posted speed limit of 55mph, this is actually ridiculously slow for a 4 lane there. Traffic normally moves at 70+mph and around 65 in the far right "merging" lane.

    If you were to go 55 not only do people start engaging in really stupid behavior, cutting off, brake checking etc, you also have to ride the far right lane which causes significantly more traffic interactions, which is usually where accidents occur.

    Personally, I go whatever speed traffic is traveling at and stay out of the merging lane so I can just simply hold my lane and pay attention to the people in front of me. I can usually spot the idiots who are going to cut me off and anticipate them to avoid an accident.

20. Mike you idiot, why didn’t you just tell the officer you were traveling then there wouldn’t even be an issue.

21. MIKE THE COP!…fellow LEO here this video needs to apply to all stops and all calls for service regardless what is going on. Always try to help someone before you set them back in the system.

22. desecrating the flag isnt cool

23. There is a reason the NM State Patrol is part of the Dept of Revenue… Tickets are a revenue stream for many places.

24. I agree with you. I have not gotten a ticket in over 10yrs because I matured quickly before I lost my license. In February I got pulled over for doing 56 in a 40 which here in FL it’s 4 lanes wide on a main road. The officer was upset. While he did give me a break in reducing the ticket to a 46 on a 40 he told me that the highway right behind us is 55 so I was definitely going too fast and if someone would have stepped into the street without seeing me it would have been bad. And those words stayed with me. In my defense I did not know how fast I was going because I was behind another car and it was 5am. I think he gave me a break because I told him I had a CWP. But anyways I make sure I’m filling the correct speed now

25. You look like an idiot with that flag behind you.

26. Where I live, some departments actually pull random people over and give them gift cards for following traffic laws. It's not done on a regular basis but I think if more police departments gave random awards to random drivers, it might prompt other drivers to follow traffic laws.

27. At least one lesson non-officers can learn is always be respectful if you get pulled over. Deescalating the situation may not help you but it won’t make it worse.

28. Tries to tell officers to go easier on people now. People dislike the video. What asses.​

29. Did they know you were a cop? The story about the 6 year old girl is powerful dude.

30. Great video Mike.Here's why I have respect for most leo's. About 30 year ago I got pulled over smoking a joint.the officer asked me if I had any weed on me.I said yes sir I do, and took it out of my pants and handed it to him.he said wait right there and went ran me, After returning from his car. He handed me back the weed and said dump it out in the bushes right there.I said ok, he said, the reason I am not weighting you up is because you were honest with me! he said all I get is bullshit from people all day.
    Have a great day & stay safe!

31. Yes I’m from MA it’s not about the ticket I could care less about the ticket fine. It’s the 6 years it’s in my license and I am charged more for insurance it is a $$$$ scam in this state. There is no real son to pay a fine and have an insurance company charge you more because you got a ticket.

32. As an Australian teen on my p’s I can totally agree with u. I have lost my license for speed of 18km over. It was three months off the road which honestly didn’t teach me much( it was my first offence). I also hit three children at no fault of my own a while after. I was going slower than the speed limit in wet and hazardous conditions and I had then run straight out in front of me. There was a cop two cars behind who actually defended me to the mother and made sure that I wasn’t charged for reckless driving. This incident actually made a huge impact. Not only did I find out the real nature of a motor vehicle and what it can do but also saw what the difference between a good cop and one who doesn’t care. Without the cop there supporting me I would have been charged. All I’m saying is cops have your back. Yes u may get a bad one every now and again but reality is most are there to look out for u. So make sure u treat them like anyone else, cause u may need it

33. Cops use less discretion when city hall needs money.

34. Of course it always helps to be white.

35. Last ticket I got was in Troy, MI. Officer said I would as going 80mph in a 70 and was tailgating. How the hell could I be going faster than the guy in front of me and tailgating without running into him? I stopped driving after that. I use Uber and buses now. Haven't had to deal with cops, tickets, secretary of state lines, insurance, vehical maintenance and saved a ton of dough by not driving. Cops around here are dumb dicks.

36. Hey Mike, pass the Tp over, would ya?

37. The reason people don't like to be pulled over by these sick perverted cops is because cops fish for anything to arrest on, many cops bait, try to get their "suspect" to do or say something that at least to them justify an arrest, abduction and extortion. Lastly I don't believe your BS story. Pull me over, give me your fake citation full of lies, I'll stand firm on a jury trial. Arrest me for having an empty pill bottle with a doctor's perscription sticker right on it. I don't want a warning. I want to face you my accuser in court.

38. okay, admittedly I speed all the time, but where I speed there are no children, there aren't even side walks and why its only 35 is beyond me. I've done 50 done that road and still zero chance of something going wrong. you can see a mile down it, and its lit well.

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