Md. police officers ignore speed cameras

[LiberalNation]

LOL, not suprising, cops blatently break road laws all the time and get away with it.

Pesky cameras catching it all on tape........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_fe_st/odd_speed_cameras_police;_ylt=AimKTFI3LcLg_1ouvgZH 1PIDW7oF

ROCKVILLE, Md. - No matter what the cameras say, some drivers are refusing to pay dozens of $40 speeding fines. Who? Police officers.

In the last eight months of 2007, Montgomery County's new speed cameras recorded 224 cases in which police vehicles were recorded traveling more than 10 mph over the speed limit, according to department records.

Supervisors dismissed 76 of those citations after determining the officers were responding to calls or had valid reasons to break the speed limit.

But that left 148 who didn't have that excuse, and about two-thirds of those citations haven't been paid, said police Lt. Paul Starks.

The police union says officers shouldn't pay because the citations are issued to the owner of a vehicle, in this case the county, and not to the driver.

Police Chief Thomas Manger doesn't buy that argument.

"We are not above the law," Manger said. "It is imperative that the police department hold itself to the same standards that we're holding the public to."

Manger said officers who continue to ignore citations might be disciplined.

[diuretic]

They should just pay up. Heck where I am we've had speed cameras pinching us on and off duty for years. Unless we can prove we were going to a job and the speed wasn't excessive given what the job entailed then the driver has to pay. That was confirmed by a case taken to on appeal to our highest appeal court in the state so we just get on with it. These blokes are being stupid.

[nevadamedic]

I don't see a problem with the cops not getting a ticket. Those people put their ass on the line 24 hours a day seven days a week to keep us safe. I work with the police on a daily basis and I haven't met one yet that abuses his power or authority. It's not like their commiting rape or murder.

[5stringJeff]

I don't see a problem with the cops not getting a ticket. Those people put their ass on the line 24 hours a day seven days a week to keep us safe. I work with the police on a daily basis and I haven't met one yet that abuses his power or authority. It's not like their commiting rape or murder.

Well, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, so let's just allow everyone to blow off speeding tickets.

[diuretic]

I don't see a problem with the cops not getting a ticket. Those people put their ass on the line 24 hours a day seven days a week to keep us safe. I work with the police on a daily basis and I haven't met one yet that abuses his power or authority. It's not like their commiting rape or murder.

Cops are given dispensation to break traffic laws where necessary, just like firefighters and paramedics and other emergency service workers. Cops have no dispensation to break traffic laws as they wish. The story I read told of cops in this example who were giving the finger to the traffic camera as they sped past. That's not just unprofessional, it's arrogant and nothing's worse than a bunch of arrogant cops who think they're above the law.

[DragonStryk72]

I don't see a problem with the cops not getting a ticket. Those people put their ass on the line 24 hours a day seven days a week to keep us safe. I work with the police on a daily basis and I haven't met one yet that abuses his power or authority. It's not like their commiting rape or murder.

Yeah, but speeding, as well as speeding through traffic lights (happens alot with the cops around here), is a continuous problem. And this isn't a cop speeding to the scene of an accident, it's a cop speeding to get some Taco Bell, or hit the laundromat, and just because. In order for the citizens to have faith in the police force, the police force needs to be held to the same laws as the citizens, save where their job requires them to break those laws for the public safety.

[diuretic]

This is the kind of crap that makes me arc up:

http://tinyurl.com/3amxmu

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/681.asp