When I was a police officer, I pretty much went out of my way to avoid writing other police officers and firefighters citations.  Most of the time, a traffic stop turned into a quick shop talk session, followed by, "slow it down and be careful."  Unless someone copped a 'tude with me, I figured I never needed to write a citation so badly that I'd have to hang paper on a fellow officer or a firefighter.

Well, fast-forward to the 21st century.  I'm a firefighter now.  I'm sure things have changed a bit, but how much?  I got pulled over in a town next to ours a few weeks back.  It was 0530, and dark.  I saw him before he even flipped the switch, so I hauled it over far enough to give him a wide corridor.  I turned on the dome light, assumed correct hand placement, and he approached.  Of course I identified myself, produced the DL and FR AND I got a ticket for speeding.  Okay, I KNOW I deserved the citation, but it would have been nice to at least have been given the warning instead of the citation.  

Let's just say that I'm not feelin' the love, anymore!  What's the prevalent philosophy nowadays?

We had the smae problem in the town I worked. We had a new guy that would write even the own cops a ticket. He found out real quick things can start to suck. His big thing was he thought the EMS And Fire fighters were trying to be wannabe cops beacuse they had the blue light in their cars. I told him these people might have to save you your loved one or your property some day. I extend professinal courtesy to anyone in public service. Needless to say the guy doesnt work as a cop anymore he was just to big of a jerk that even the other guys didnt like working with him. The guys I all work with are good ol country boys and thats how we like it. A good hand shake and a smile go a long way in this world. Just my .02 Jc

LOL...well, I'm not a wannabe, I'm a done-been (some would say a "has-been").  I'm seriously thinking about picking it back up as a fire/arson investigator, though the jury is still out on that one.

As far as us pulling someone's loved one outta the soup, well, I'd do it for anyone...no matter how much of a jerk they may be.  That's just what's right.  As I said, I know I deserved the ticket, and I suppose it wouldn't be right of me to expect him not to do his job if I'm expected to do mine.

Well you would not see me write a LEO or FF/EMS a traffic citation.  I have arrested a LEO for OUI, but I'm sorry, I do not and never will cut breaks on something like that.

I feel that professional courtesy is one of most important things in the job, b/c you never know when you will need one of those guys for help.  And a traffic citation can make that guy take his time to help you out.

Just my .02

I think maybe I've been given one ticket in 15 years and even then the officer  reduced it...
I've enjoyed the pleasure of professional courtesy often, but where do you draw the line?
Okay to let a guy off for a traffic offence, but what if it's something a bit more serious???
As time goes on I find officers are given less and less of an option when it comes to excercising discretion....
The young ones right out of police college are the worse Every damn situation is by the book... They aren't permitted to think for themselves.

Quoted: I think maybe I've been given one ticket in 15 years and even then the officer  reduced it... I've enjoyed the pleasure of professional courtesy often, but where do you draw the line? Okay to let a guy off for a traffic offence, but what if it's something a bit more serious??? As time goes on I find officers are given less and less of an option when it comes to excercising discretion.... The young ones right out of police college are the worse Every damn situation is by the book... They aren't permitted to think for themselves.

I'm pretty rooked out, no chim chim, but pretty new.  I always said I would write my mom a ticket if I pulled her over.  If you knew my family's sense of humor you'd understand.

Last night I had a driver almost run me off of the road.  I pulled her over and after seeing she wasn't drunk, realized that she had checked her blind spot and then her mirror, and I had passed through that gap as she was checking them both.  She had checked them in the wrong order and this resulted in her not seeing me.  She was polite and very nice.  Her 4 college age friends were all non-attitude having persons.  Very nice actually.

I get back to my patrol car with her paperwork and start to read the name on her license.  I recognize her name.  She is the surviving daughter of a member of my agency.  He was the head of our Union and a beloved figure in our agency.  He died before I finished the hiring process so I never had the benefit of meeting him.

I walked back up and asked her if she knew anyone in my agency and she sheepishly replied yes, her dad who was deceased.  I said his name and she kinda nodded.  Gave her paperwork back and said have a good night.

I can't imagine what I would have felt like had I not recognized her name (why should I recognize it, but I did) and written her a couple of hundred dollars of tickets.  Let's not even mention how bad it would have looked had I wrote her and the vets found out.  

Sometimes it just takes a little reminder.

Example: I used to live in a town that was volly EMS, paid fire with a big call dept. and a sizeable PD. At least once a week a volly or call person would get called on the carpet for "driving too fast to a call" or "leaving a POV in a bad spot" or some such nonsense. Then one cop's dad had a big heart attack. I happened to be on EMS duty that evening. All of a sudden we could do no wrong, particularly those who were on the call. We went from "not being professional enough" to "wow" in a heartbeat. Hell, I got stopped on my motorcycle twice that summer, nothing egregious just a few MPH over, and got the "Oh, it's you " treatment both times.

We transported his father a couple of more times over the next year, then he finally passed away. A year after that everything was back to the way it had been. It seems to be the nature of the game.

aa

P.S. I'm not condoning reckless/aggravated/stop signs/traffic lights/etc., but a little leeway on the ol' speed limit is always appreciated.

I pulled a girl over one night for swerving all over the road.  I was talking to her and she seemed really depressed.  I noticed flowers all over the inside of the car.  I asked her for her license and she said that she didn't have one.  I asked for the insurance and she said that the car wasn't insured.  I asked her where she was coming from and she told me that she was coming from a funeral of one of her children!  The poor girl seemed just really sad.  I normally would have made her walk and would have written her a ticket for no insurance and no DL.  Instead, I gave her a warning and sent her on her way.  I didn't have a heart to write her even though I should have.  

For those who cry about professional courtesy, member of the public get it sometimes too.