[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Professional courtesy (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 6/17/2006 5:16:19 PM EDT
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This is not the same old professional courtesy thread that keeps popping up, but I would like your thoughts on this, guys. Found this on the board in the breakroom tonight:
Discuss. This is obviously a post on some forum, from the wording, but I'm curious about how you guys feel about a story like this. I'll withhold my own opinion and see how others think. |
| The story appears to be true. Here is the link to the Miami Herald report. Link |
At least it sounds like he/they are gonna do right by him. What a shame. 
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The news story seems to be along the lines of what I was thinking. Do you trust someone telling a story like that or do you automatically disbelieve them when they spout something like that out of the blue. No time for lie detector, make your decision. Tough call.  I'd hate to be in the position of either of them. |
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Officer or non officer......I woulda let him go. Not officer woulda told them to slow down but be on yer way. (To cover my own ass more or less) I might call that agencies dispatch and ask if they have a major accident working, after I let him go though. If I get a yes, then no biggie. If I get a no, well then i'll follow him to the destination if i can or stop him right then and there. Officer, I would told him to get going asap. and good luck. Sad to hear about this. I would be interested to hear how the judge reacted if he went to court on it. Or if his brass talked to their brass? |
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Our ambulance service got a call for a man having a heart attack. I was on duty so I was the first to the house. The man is having a heart attack and I am trying to comfort him the best I can. The EMS guys arrive and take him to the hospital he was looking bad when I seen him leave. About an hour later I am running radar and a white chevy cavalier is coming at me doing 80 in a 55 zone. I stop the vehicle and the gentleman driving is the son of the guy who had the heart attack. he apologized for speeding and I told him to go and get to the hospital. I radioed ahead to the other municipalities to let them know who this guy was and to let him on through. his father ended up not making it but he did get to see his dad before he passed I would of felt like a real ass if his dad had died while I had him on the stop. I got a good heart and i am sad for his loss but I am glad he got to spend some time with his father before he passed. JHC
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Well, I have raced to back State Troopers in my area when they are out with a stolen vehicle by themselves, when they are fighting with suspects by themselves, when County Deputies get involved in shootings, when other officers are in fights with suspects. We protect eachother physically when stuff gets ugly. You may not like it and it may not even be fair, but I'm not writing an officer a ticket unless I have to. I've been pulled over once and was not written by the trooper. If he had written me I wouldn't have bitched though. And I have given warnings to gangster thugs before so it's not like there is a policy of "everyone gets a ticket except for officers." Thug shows me a ticket he got for his expired tabs from 15 min. ago by another agency. I sent him on his way without writing him. |
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We've had several officers from our department travel by marked patrol car to IPTM in Florida for courses. More than once they've been told after they arrive to make sure and not speed when they leave because FHP will stop and ticket them for the offense. I also had an instructor (FHP captain) in a course once who said at that time if FHP investigates a crash involving an officer on duty (read marked patrol car) and the investigation reveals the officer was at fault they are required by policy to cite that officer for the offense or face disciplinary action. |
...and this is why I hesitated to post this, even in the BoS forum.  Here' we go with "above the law" crap.
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Some of this probably stems from a situation a few years ago where the Florida Highway Patrol got caught trying to cover for an FBI agent who killed a couple of dudes in a car accident. I don't recall all the details, but the FBI guy was drunk off his ass, drove on the wrong side of the road, and smashed into a car driven by two brothers, killing both of them. The FHP initially tried to blame the victims, claiming that they were the ones driving on the wrong side, but the evidence was soon overwhelming that the FBI agent was the one in the wrong, and that the FHP had tried to cover it up. There were also racial politics at play (the victims were black, the FBI guy was white), and the whole thing was just really ugly. Anyway, since then, FHP seems to have gone out of its way to demonstrate that it shows no favoritism for law enforcement personnel. While that doesn't excuse what happened in this case, it might help explain it. |
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Major Kong nailed it. FHP has lost their minds and are writing other cops. Most of the troopers I've encountered hate doing it but they have a directive. How do I know this? Because FHP wrote me a ticket for careless driving in my fucking cruiser while enroute to a disturbance! I contested it and the judge threw it out. The trooper is a nice guy and thought he was doing what he was told. He apologized and I harbor no ill will toward him. |
You pulled over!?! That'd be on heck of a pursuit and ending., FSP need an asskicking. Seriously, that's the kind of BS that makes people drive slow to requests for backup etc....
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It wasn't a matter of pulling over. I got hit and he was investigating the accident. The point is he shouldn't have been forced to write me simply because of an order from the colonel. The witness even made fun of the trooper at the scene and in court. My shift mates kept coming by and and screwing with him. Then on court day on the way out the court security officers also snickered at him. I actually felt sorry for him a little. He told me he wouldn't have wrote me if not for the the order. We've all been ordered to do stuff we hate at some time or another. I blame FHP HQ in Tallahassee. |
Bingo. Professional Courtesy means that you take what he says at face value because he's a cop. No cop I know if gonna make up something like that just to get out of a ticket. I would give any parent a walk on that, as well. |
Love this line of thinking. Officers have discretion they don't cite everyone they stop. I will not cite another cop period. If you don't like that too bad. It's not fair you say B.S. life isn't fair, so live with it. It's not fair a GM employee pays less for his car than I did, that airlines employees fly for free etc. etc. If you want that perk take on the work. I myself have been cited while on a hunting trip by a Montana HP officer. I work in a tourist destination and I am sure one day I will stop Montana HP officer. But he sure won't get a cite from me! |
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Holy shit. This story is for real. Police Officer Ticketed On Way To See Dying Son Son Buried On Wednesday POSTED: 2:44 pm EDT June 14, 2006 MIAMI -- A funeral was held Wednesday for a police officer -- days after he was killed and his father, who is also an officer, was stopped on the highway while trying to reach his bedside. Miami police Lt. Armando Bello got word that his son, Miami-Dade police officer Armando Bello Jr., had been critically injured in a car accident. Bello was racing north on U.S. 1 early Saturday morning, trying to get to Jackson Memorial Hospital. His 27-year-old son had been airlifted to Jackson after he crashed into a tree after leaving a party. Bello said that he told the Florida Highway Patrol trooper who stopped him that he was trying to get to his injured son, but he says that the trooper didn't believe him. The trooper wrote Bello a ticket for going 36 mph over the 55 mph limit. At that time, Bello didn't know that his son had died -- just moments before he was stopped for speeding. Later, once the trooper realized that Bello had been telling the truth and that his son had died, he said he would void the ticket so that Bello won't have to go to court. FHP said it will review the incident. Armando Bello Jr. Had Been Honored For Bravery In 2005, Armando Bello Jr. was recognized for his bravery and quick response in the rescue of an adult and four children from a burning van. While waiting for the arrival of fire rescue, the fully engulfed van exploded. Rescuers said Bello's swift actions saved the lives of two three-year-olds and two four-year-olds, as well as the driver of the van. Services for Bello were held Wednesday at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Westchester. In lieu of flowers, the Bello family requests donations to: The Police Officer Assistance Trust 1030 NW 111th Ave. Suite 232 Miami, Fla. 33172 |
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I think a lot of the resentment here is because this is made out ot be an issue of professional courtesy because his son was dying. As others have implied, someone's son dying is an issue of HUMAN courtesy. The professional courtesy angle should only come in with regard to whether the state guy believed the story. I would expect an officer to be more apt to believe a wild story from a fellow officer - that is only natural. The idea that a police officer's need or right to see his dying son is somehow more than Joe High School English Teacher's need or right to the same is quite unsettling. If anybody here does not agree, then the "us versus them" mentality is very understandable. |
I don't want to hi-jack this thread, but I have to comment: Not having to obey the law is a perk akin to an employee discount? I question your mentality and what you might rationalize as being acceptable. I understand not writing another police officer for simple speeding ticket, but when you speak in terms of blanket statements such as "I will not cite another cop period" then you are essentially saying that there is no conduct that justifies ticketing a fellow police officer. I guess that means you wouldn't cite a police officer if you rolled up on a car crash and found the officer drunk off his ass? |
Not to answer for BigDaddy, but here is my take. In Florida, most traffic is not criminal. I know that in some states, EVERYTHING is arrestable (South Carolina comes to mind), but in Florida, traffic is designated as a "non-criminal infraction" unless its DUI or certain other offenses. I generally extend professional courtesy for anything non-criminal. Criminal activity is something else. That is outside the realm of professional courtesy, in my opinion. That being said, I don't have to make an arrest. I can file a sworn complaint or a notice to appear. Just my opinion. |
Thanks for perpuating the attitude that cops are above the law. The higher above the law they think they are the lower I have respect for them. That's life I guess. |
Does anybody really do high speed escorts for Joe off the street? I hear it occasionally, but can't imagine the liability this would incur. |
People expect us to do them all the time. It's hard not to laugh at them on the phone, but I stop myself. |
And I am betting you are not a law enforcement officer either??? Hell your probably on the other side. I could care less what you respect or not. Its a professional Courtesy because we look out for each other, because if we dont look after each other who will. Its a brotherhood, the thin blue line. You wouldn't understand unless you were apart of it. But as far as no resepect. I bet if your house got broken into, you would have a lot of respect for the guys on the way to save your ass.  I am done now DRUFF |
Is there anything you wouldn't give a pass to on a fellow officer? |
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I have never wrote anyone a ticket during a medical emergency and usually call the ER to let them know what's coming in. If it is serious enough I will escort them until another unit can pick them up, and I have even made them wait for an ambulance due to the severity of the situation. But to write a ticket, NOPE. |
And I am betting you are not a law enforcement officer either??? Hell your probably on the other side. I could care less what you respect or not. Its a professional Courtesy because we look out for each other, because if we dont look after each other who will. Its a brotherhood, the thin blue line. You wouldn't understand unless you were apart of it. But as far as no resepect. I bet if your house got broken into, you would have a lot of respect for the guys on the way to save your ass. I am done now DRUFF I'd call 1911 (Colt) before 911 and have the police clean up the mess in the above scenario. Truth be told I'd have respect for the responders, but it'd last just as long as they let some of their own break the law and get by with it. I dont expect to be let off for any criminal acts, I dont expect anyone else to either, be it because of "professional courtesry" or what not. If a cop thinks they're still above the law, pfffffffft. |
Yeah drug crimes and if someone is intoxicated. As far as traffic, who the hell cares. DRUFF |
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That's very poor behavior from the ticketting officer. If I was the recipient of that ticket, I think I would insist on my day in court, and I would want that officer to present his side of the issue under oath before a judge. Make it a matter of public record that it went down the way it did. But that's vengeance of a sort, and I'm sure the father isn't planning on that. |
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It is damn rare that I actually write any officials, but this incident had me so steamed that I could not let it pass. I don't expect to hear back from FHP, but I think that they may "rethink their policy" if they get enough heat from the LE community. My take is that this has NOTHING to do with "brotherhood" and everything to do with "humanity".
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| My take on it is this: Professional courtesy starts with me not giving my brothers a reason to write me a ticket. That being said, if I get a ticket I'll pay it. No questions asked. I was the one that screwed up, not the guy who stopped me. Now I've been in a situation where I could've written another cop a ticket and I haven't yet. Reasons being 1) I've never pulled another cop over for something that I haven't let John Q. Citizen go with a warning for and 2) Some guys would take it personally and where does that leave me when I need them to back me up? Granted that shouldn't matter, but when the bullets are flying it does. I don't expect professional courtesy, but I do extend it. But please don't put me in a position to have to make that decision. |
Although not an escort, a County cop gave me a ride after pulling me over. I was on the way to the hospital to see my Grandfater - he was fading fast and was only expected to live a hour or less ( hospital 70 min away). I was doing 75 in a 55. I explained what was happening and why I was speeding. Officer offered to take me to the hospital with lights and sirens on. He did, and I was able to see my Grandfather before he passed on. Av. |
Sorry for your loss! That is exactly what I mean about "human decency"! As a side-benefit, it also earns a great deal of respect and tremendous PR for both the officer involved and the agency. |
GOOD cop:
BAD cop:
The difference: One explains clearly without taking sides, whereas the other does nothing but reveal the author's desperate desire to be something special or a part thereof. |
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91 in a 55 passing and changing lanes? geeze.. that's a tough one. I'd hate for him to get killed too... I'd have to escort him and take the write up... I get off duties that come through speeding all the time "slow down, have a nice day." But there is one fellow that works off duty at a place in town that drives constantly in the high 50s through town, a 35mph zone. He expects to get off every time. when is "enough enough" and it turns to ticket time? Last time he had his daughter with him, and I hate that she is learning to drive from watching him... |
Very well said. |