Posted: 11/4/2007 1:18:45 PM EDT
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So I am driving 1-20 eastbound through Dekalb County the other night when I witness what appears to be a DUI. Guy is weaving all over the road. Then he sideswipes a pickup truck right in front of me. The pickup slows and begins to pull off the the side when the "DUI" takes off. Seeing other cars slowing for the pickup that got hit, I decided to follow the DUI and call 911. So here I am driving down I-20 on the phone with 911. I describe the vehicle, give the tag no, and start calling off exit numbers as we pass them . . . thinking all along that a unit would be on the way. So after about the 4th or 5th exit, the 911 operator says, "Sir, I need road names. I don't know exit numbers." What?!? Why didn't she tell me that like five minutes ago? It gets better . . . So then I call off a road name, and she says, "Okay. Thank you. I'll let the units know." . . . click. She hangs up. That's all. I don't know what is normal procedure, but I was sure that they would send a unit to intercept the DUI or something. Nope. But, FYI, WHEN DIALING 911, DON'T ASSUME THE LOGICAL - THAT THEY WOULD KNOW EXIT NUMBERS OR MILE MARKERS. They apparently don't. And they might not tell you. |
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Nothing groundbreaking-especially for Dekalb. There has been more than a few times where there are outright arguments with them over the fact that I85 and I285 are nowhere close to being located within Gwinnett County. You would think that with a DUI, and a hit and run that they would have had someone to intercept you, but there's no telling why they didn't. Since it was Dekalb close to the weekend, I wouldn't doubt for a second that they just didn't have anybody in service nearby to send but it could have just as well been an idiot Call Taker. |
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What you NEED to do next time is call *GSP They WILL send a unit, or so I have heard. My wife used to work at a major Atlanta Counties 911 office, they would F11 or F12 (delete call) all the DUI/Speeding calls. She was not happy about it, but then again, she was not happy about a lot there and no longer works there. |
| a co-worker and I were taking an offsite training class and his truck was broken into and his gold clubs were stolen. he called 911, waited on hold for over 30 min before he was discnnected. called back and at 45 min they finally answered. then it took over 2 hrs before someone got there. this was at 16:30 during a week day. |
After the 911 operator hung up on me, I stayed behind him for about another mile. The vehicle exited off 1-20, and I continued on my way. I had no reason to stay behind him any longer if they weren't going to send someone out. On I-20, I was having to do 90+ to keep up with him. This was Sunday a week ago. I have been very curious to find out what, if anything, was done. I found a website called scandekalb.com, which has both live feeds and archived feeds of Dekalb 911. I listened to the time period during which I called, and I can't tell that they even made a dispatch. Interesting . . . |
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Silly boy, You should have somehow directed him to the Duluth City limits. They would have had swat, air support, Natl Guard ETC. He would not escape under any circumstances!!! Those crooked bastard will NOT pass up an opportunity to generate revenue. Hell, we all know DUI's generate a lot of revenue for the lawyers, municipality ETC. They might have declared martial law until the scoundrel was apprehended. TD |
That is good to know. I didn't even think about that. Does anyone have experience with that? I just assumed that they were dispatched through regular 911. |
Yeah, we get your thoughts on the city od Duluth-it's getting old. Since you brought it up and put it out there in plain language-what makes the cops "crooked bastards"? |
Been fine with me if he'd have been executed on the spot, with a bullet to the brain, then his family charged for the price of the bullet.  Drunk drivers are less than dogshit on my shoe.
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First off let me start off by saying I'm anything but negative where LEO's are concerned. My Father retired with over 30 years service in a larger Metro Atlanta county so I grew up with many LEO in and out of the family home. Many of whom I looked up to at the time and still do today. To make a long story as short as possible........ This was about 5 years ago some of the details escape me, but I will try my best to relay an accurate of account of the day I was robbed by the City of Duluth. I was out checking on a few of my crews. I was going up Buford Hwy and turned left on PTI. I was heading up the hill where the speed limit goes from 25 to 45 or 55 MPH in a few short blocks. Again, the exact details elude me. The fine cops in Duluth had a speed trap on top of the hill on the right in front of a bank. I do not remember the name, but I do know there was a deceleration lane where they were robbing people. They gave me a driving award for going 47 in a 35 zone. I politely told the cop that I could see the 45 MPH sign from where he hit me with the radar. Mind you it plainly visible with the naked eye. I'm not talking about 3 miles with a $1500.00 spotting scope. I knew I was in the company of a crook and signed the ticket and moved on. I paid my fine a few days later at the walk up window. That is the 1st and last driving award I've received in about 15 years. If you catch me fair and square then I say bully for you, but that was chicken shit in Duluth. One more thing I would like to add. The money I paid for the fine was not a hardship on me. I've never cared if I lost so long as I wasn't cheated or otherwise defrauded in the process. What those crooks did was no different than if a so called thug robbed me at gunpoint. Wait a minute, I was more or less robber by a thug at gunpoint!!!!!!! TD |
If you felt that strongly about being "defrauded," why not exercise you rights and fight the ticket? Don't bitch if you haven't exhausted all possible means of appeal. |
I'd have a better chance fighting Mike Tyson with one hand tied behind my back. How in the hell do you expect to fight on their home turf with thier judges ETC and stand a snowball's chance in hell? Quite frankly I have/had better things to do with my time and money than fight it out in Duluth's kangaroo court. I'm quite certain they bank on that fact. Most people that are at lease semi successful or gainfully employed will have better things to do with their time and money than fight a ~$200.00 ticket. I'm not talking about Bill Gates or Donald Trump money either. I would have lost much more money and time fighting it than I could ever save even if the judge found me innocent at the preliminary hearing. Please remember that time is money if you are employed, more so if you are self employed which I have been for the better part of my adult life. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG!!!!! TD |
| Sorry for getting off topic, but if you are going to sit there and stand on your principles, you need to be dedicated enough to state your case and have your day in court. If for nothing else but the principle of it. Far to many people are willing to gripe and complain about anything and everything under the sun, but when it comes time to say or do anything about it, they don't want to deal with the inconvenience. So they go on about their lives making excuses for not doing what they feel like they should have done. I too own my own company, and as far as I am concerned, my time is not worth anything. I love what I do, so if I spend 4 hours or 8 hours working a day, I haven't lost anything. You can be damn sure that if I get a speeding ticket, and am only doing 2-12 mph over and I feel that it was unfair, I will be in court and I will do everything I can to prove my case. |
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I'm friends with many of the Duluth PD guys. I came close to taking a job there. I know some of the higher ranking officers and they are as honest as they come. One of my best friends is an LT there and member of this board. I like and respect you treedawg, but think you are painting with a rather broad brush there and are calling all of Duluth PD crooked. I can also say that I've meet a couple of the Duluth guys over the years that were a little more "gung-ho" than your average LEO. I could say the same for a few other departments too. Those guys don't seem to last at the duluth department though. I know the area you are talking about and agree the quick speed change is so fast you almost need to slam on your brakes to avoid speeding through the area. I wasn't there when you got your ticket, but if I ever thought I was unjustly treated I'd be sure to fight it any way possible just for the principle. That's just me though. Back on topic, I've called GSP after seeing an obvious DUI on the highway and followed the guy for over 40 miles of I16 coming back from Savannah. Never had anyone come out and check on us or the DUI. That said, I'd still try them before DeKalb if you are on the highway. Mark |
PITT maneuver- it's not just for cops 
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Mark, I agree, I did use a very broad brush when painting a picture of the Duluth PD, but I can only paint the picture I saw when I had interactions with them. I was not the only one that had the pleasure of doing business with them that day. There were several other cars pulled over at the same location and several other officers were busy writing tickets. To call this a "bad apple" or isolated incident would be far from the truth since there was at least one other LEO engaging in the practice and possibly two or more. As I previously stated this was about 5 years ago so the precise details escape me. TD |
Beside the fact the Christmas is coming and some of us need more work! 
I fought a BS ticket in the thriving metropolis of Kingsland, GA 20 years ago. I was so mad about it that I hired a lawyer (on E4 pay). We went to Magistrate's court, and the old geezer didn't want to hear anything about logic or the law. As far as de judge was concerned, I was guilty, so I'd best shut up, pay up or go to jail. My lawyer got spun up too. He appealed to state superior court. After three court dates at Superior Court, the DA threw it out. Kingsland didn't get a dime of my money. I still think the Kingsland PD was top notch. The home we rented backed up to some Gov't housing. We made one or two 911 calls in the middle of the night and had officers there in about 90 seconds. My MIL had trouble reaching us when we first moved down there, so she called the KPD. They sent an officer out to put a note on our door telling us to call home. I thought that was pretty cool. |
Andy Williams rules page two. |