Posted: 4/8/2012 7:29:37 PM EDT
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My girlfriend's roommate got pulled over for speeding today. She has Michigan plates and DL, and the officer told her that in NC, Michigan residents are required to pay speeding fines on the side of the road, right then and there. He threatened her with arrest if she didn't pay. Obviously she didn't pay, as she wasn't carrying anywhere near the amount the cop was demanding, so he "cut her a break" and let her go without a ticket. I'm not anything approaching a lawyer or an LEO, but that sounds really shady. Is that even legal?
Also, during the course of the stop, she mentioned she's in pharmacy school and the cop made a humorless remark about "oh great, so you can just be a legal drug dealer." If this is raising red flags for y'all too, what can she do to make sure this guy isn't extorting people on the roadside? She doesn't have any paperwork, but wouldn't the conversation be recorded? |
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Wasn't there, so cant comment much.
A traffic citation is a written promise to appear in court. Michigan does not participate in the interstate compact that says the states will honer each others citations and take action on drivers who get citations from out of state. Had the officer charged her he should have taken her before a magistrate where she would have to post bond instead of the officer just giving her a citation. So allowing for her to have heard what he was saying through a stress filter. What you posted may have been what she heard. Recorded by who? less than 20% of the patrol cars in the US have dash cams, if that is what you mean. Now if you think I have it wrong, or that she was harassed in some way it is your duty as a citizen to report this to the Chief/Sheriff/head of the department. We don't need dirty cops out there. NOI |
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Wasn't there, so cant comment much. A traffic citation is a written promise to appear in court. Michigan does not participate in the interstate compact that says the states will honer each others citations and take action on drivers who get citations from out of state. Had the officer charged her he should have taken her before a magistrate where she would have to post bond instead of the officer just giving her a citation. So allowing for her to have heard what he was saying through a stress filter. What you posted may have been what she heard. That makes sense and seems far more likely than it being a dirty cop. She said she thinks he was SHP, by the way. Recorded by who? less than 20% of the patrol cars in the US have dash cams, if that is what you mean. I was referring to audio recording, but I figured that audio was pretty commonplace. Now if you think I have it wrong, or that she was harassed in some way it is your duty as a citizen to report this to the Chief/Sheriff/head of the department. We don't need dirty cops out there. NOI Thanks for the answers. I hadn't ever heard of that interstate compact, so what the officer said to her sounded pretty shady, but it sounds like he wasn't stretching the law, he just had a bad attitude. However I can't say she didn't mouth off to him so I won't pass judgement at this point. |
| I have lived in NC all my life and have NEVER heard of having to pay a ticktet on the spot unless it was a DMV ticket for being over weight. I personality know about 50 LEOs from town,county,state Dept. and have never heard them say such a thing. I may be wrong but I think this cop is a crook |
| As nooneimportant said earlier, only a small minority of officers have the ability to record their stops (either audio or visual). Up until I was able to get a dash cam, I was recording stops myself on an audio recorder hanging from a lanyard underneath my uniform. If he wrote her a warning, and he is with the Patrol, his name and district will be on the warning ticket. The Patrol has their own warning books. |
| if all states could get their crap together it would be nice.... did you in know that in SC if you get pulled and ticketed on the lake in a boat you have to pay on the spot. happen to me once and was lucky enough to get a cell phone signal to call a frind and bring money.. |
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if all states could get their crap together it would be nice.... did you in know that in SC if you get pulled and ticketed on the lake in a boat you have to pay on the spot. happen to me once and was lucky enough to get a cell phone signal to call a frind and bring money.. Don't confuse state water regulations with traffic law. Most states don't require a license to operate a boat. so nothing to keep a person from leaving the state and never paying the fine or returning to court. |
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I have lived in NC all my life and have NEVER heard of having to pay a ticktet on the spot unless it was a DMV ticket for being over weight. I personality know about 50 LEOs from town,county,state Dept. and have never heard them say such a thing. I may be wrong but I think this cop is a crook NRVC Non Resident Violator Compact It is the agreement between states that allows courtesy summons for minor violations. Not all states participate. |
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Where in NC was this? In the last couple weeks or so there have been two seemingly unrelated incidences of police impersonators pulling people over (one on I-40 in broad daylight). In once case, the crook pulled the guy out of the car and stole 600 bucks while "searching" the car and in the other case, the perpetrator pulled what you described.... at least kinda like that. Apparently he told the driver that he'd let her out of the ticket if she payed a 200.00 fine right there on the road.
Not saying that your GF's friend wasn't pulled over by a legit cop, but I've NEVER heard of paying a fine on the side of the road, and given the recent news reports, I'm even more suspect. The advice from the NCHP is to turn your flashers on (if it's a legit cop behind you, it signals to them that you did see them and aren't necessarily running) and then call 911 with as much detail as you can give. The 911 op can contact the officer and let them know what's going on, and then verify for you that it's an actual cop and not some chucklehead looking for a quick buck. |
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Assuming this was in fact a real LEO, I suspect the answer above is correct about the Nonresident Violator Compact. According to my citation book the following states are not participants:
AK, CA, MI, MT, OR, & WI That means that technically we are supposed to take people from those states before the magistrate rather than writing them a citation and releasing them. Generally speaking the bond in that case would be the amount of the fine plus court costs. Should the person not return for court then the bond is used to pay the fine and court costs. In reality I have never actually done that, I generally just write the citation and hope the person pays or appears. The exception to that would be a fairly serious traffic misdemeanor, in which case I would likely arrest a NC resident too. |
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Assuming this was in fact a real LEO, I suspect the answer above is correct about the Nonresident Violator Compact. According to my citation book the following states are not participants: AK, CA, MI, MT, OR, & WI That means that technically we are supposed to take people from those states before the magistrate rather than writing them a citation and releasing them. Generally speaking the bond in that case would be the amount of the fine plus court costs. Should the person not return for court then the bond is used to pay the fine and court costs. In reality I have never actually done that, I generally just write the citation and hope the person pays or appears. The exception to that would be a fairly serious traffic misdemeanor, in which case I would likely arrest a NC resident too. Those states you listed are correct. It's the same here in GA. LE is supposed to take them before a magistrate judge for a bond, but that's up to the officer. Most release them on citation. If the violator doesn't appear in court or pay the fine, GA suspends their privilege to drive and they will be arrested next time they are stopped. Once again, it's up to the officer. Sounds like he did everything correct. |
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Where in NC was this? In the last couple weeks or so there have been two seemingly unrelated incidences of police impersonators pulling people over (one on I-40 in broad daylight). In once case, the crook pulled the guy out of the car and stole 600 bucks while "searching" the car and in the other case, the perpetrator pulled what you described.... at least kinda like that. Apparently he told the driver that he'd let her out of the ticket if she payed a 200.00 fine right there on the road. Not saying that your GF's friend wasn't pulled over by a legit cop, but I've NEVER heard of paying a fine on the side of the road, and given the recent news reports, I'm even more suspect. The advice from the NCHP is to turn your flashers on (if it's a legit cop behind you, it signals to them that you did see them and aren't necessarily running) and then call 911 with as much detail as you can give. The 911 op can contact the officer and let them know what's going on, and then verify for you that it's an actual cop and not some chucklehead looking for a quick buck. It's not legal for an officer to accept bond on side of road in GA, but in AL, that's SOP......... |
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Wasn't there, so cant comment much. A traffic citation is a written promise to appear in court. Michigan does not participate in the interstate compact that says the states will honer each others citations and take action on drivers who get citations from out of state. Had the officer charged her he should have taken her before a magistrate where she would have to post bond instead of the officer just giving her a citation. So allowing for her to have heard what he was saying through a stress filter. What you posted may have been what she heard. That makes sense and seems far more likely than it being a dirty cop. She said she thinks he was SHP, by the way. Recorded by who? less than 20% of the patrol cars in the US have dash cams, if that is what you mean. I was referring to audio recording, but I figured that audio was pretty commonplace. Now if you think I have it wrong, or that she was harassed in some way it is your duty as a citizen to report this to the Chief/Sheriff/head of the department. We don't need dirty cops out there. NOI Thanks for the answers. I hadn't ever heard of that interstate compact, so what the officer said to her sounded pretty shady, but it sounds like he wasn't stretching the law, he just had a bad attitude. However I can't say she didn't mouth off to him so I won't pass judgement at this point. What do you mean you won't pass judgement? You just said he had a bad attitude........ |