State Trooper

[sobo]

This incident happened a few years ago. I was traveling home to Texas after visiting family in Louisiana. I noticed the car in front of us had a woman driving, a man in the passenger seat. He was holding an infant in his lap, with no car seat. I called 911 to report it, hoping they would get pulled over or something would happen to prevent a tragedy with this small baby.

I noticed their speed picked up. We tried to get the license number and keep them in our site, I looked down and we were going 80 mph. We slowed down. They were racing away from us and we were going 80 so I can only imagine how fast they were going. I then saw the man hold the baby up and hand it to the driver. There was no mistake, this was an infant, barely able to hold its head up. I was on the phone with 911, they put me through to someone else. She called and dispatched an officer. Sure enough, I saw a sheriff's deputy car parked right on the county line. The car with the infant sped past and no action took place.

I'm wondering, as far as jurisdiction goes, would it be correct to assume that officer was unable to pursue further since it was out of his jurisdiction? And if 911 knows something is taking place on interstate, why would they not call the state trooper who is able to carry on without worrying which county he's in? Or is that not in their ability?

I was just curious how reported incidents are handled when they occur on interstate since jurisdiction may prevent further action.

[MP_Steve]

This incident happened a few years ago. I was traveling home to Texas after visiting family in Louisiana. I noticed the car in front of us had a woman driving, a man in the passenger seat. He was holding an infant in his lap, with no car seat. I called 911 to report it, hoping they would get pulled over or something would happen to prevent a tragedy with this small baby.

I noticed their speed picked up. We tried to get the license number and keep them in our site, I looked down and we were going 80 mph. We slowed down. They were racing away from us and we were going 80 so I can only imagine how fast they were going. I then saw the man hold the baby up and hand it to the driver. There was no mistake, this was an infant, barely able to hold its head up. I was on the phone with 911, they put me through to someone else. She called and dispatched an officer. Sure enough, I saw a sheriff's deputy car parked right on the county line. The car with the infant sped past and no action took place.

I'm wondering, as far as jurisdiction goes, would it be correct to assume that officer was unable to pursue further since it was out of his jurisdiction? And if 911 knows something is taking place on interstate, why would they not call the state trooper who is able to carry on without worrying which county he's in? Or is that not in their ability?

I was just curious how reported incidents are handled when they occur on interstate since jurisdiction may prevent further action.

It's kind of hard to say. We wern't there and are not fully aware of the circumstances surrounding this incident.

The deputy parked on the side of the road may very well have just missed the car passing him. Nobody's perfect. Or he could've been on the side of the road waiting for something of more priority that was reported to travel in his direction.

In regard to your jurisdictional question, at least where I'm from, if you're a sheriff's deputy and are sitting on your side of the county line and observe an infraction on your side of the county line, you are able to pursue into a neighboring county or state for that matter, in order to affect a traffic stop.

[Taxx]

Not From Texas, but for what it's worth....

I received my commission from the State where I live. So, I am authorized to enforce State laws anywhere in the State, no matter county lines. With this being said, I am most likely not going to get involved in minor offenses that do not happen within my jurisdiction.

Pertaining to your account of the events, bear in mind that while you were on the phone with 911 they may have been coordinating with other dispatch centers because of the jurisdictions you may have been crossing while following the vehicle. Also, that information has to be dispatched to patrol vehicle. I can think of several reasons why the LEO you observed did not take action, the officer you saw:

1. Wasn't dispatched to the call yet so had no idea he was looking for that vehicle.
2. Had a suspect in the rear of his patrol vehicle or some other person he was assisting. (currently on a call)
3. His vehicle was not operational at the time (mechanical failure).
5. He forgot his hat.

BTW...#5 is a joke:D

It doesn't seem likely that a LEO that is unable to pursue a violator into another jurisdiction would hang out at the county line.

[sobo]

Thank you both very much. This certainly helped me. I always wondered what happened to that car and hoping they made it home okay. I hear accounts of car accidents where these young children are killed due to the negligence of their parents and it breaks my heart.

MP_Steve, thanks. It never occurred to me he could have been there for other business.

Taxx, even though you're not in Texas, your explanation was certainly helpful. I hope they were able to dispatch someone who was able to ensure the people made it home okay. Of course, in this day and age, at the time, I wasn't sure if someone had kidnapped the baby which could explain why there was no car seat and the suspicious behavior. We were behind them for quite a stretch. We didn't see the baby until later, but beforehand, they pulled over, switched drivers. They pulled off interstate, we went on down the road, then they sped back up and they were back in front of us. That's when I saw the baby. Thanks again.

And what is the deal about the hat? I've seen many references to something like a LEO wasn't wearing a hat. . . was someone seriously trying to get out of a ticket because the officer wasn't wearing a hat?? :rolleyes:

[mcsap]

State Troopers do more than just patrol the interstate.

Although I dislike people who don't put kids in car seats I also dislike driving 95 mph to try to weave through traffic for nothing more than to try to catch up to a base traffic ticket.

We cannot give a lot of prioity to such a call even if you feel it is quite an egregious violation.

[sobo]

State Troopers do more than just patrol the interstate.

Although I dislike people who don't put kids in car seats I also dislike driving 95 mph to try to weave through traffic for nothing more than to try to catch up to a base traffic ticket.

We cannot give a lot of prioity to such a call even if you feel it is quite an egregious violation.

I know Troopers do more than patrol Interstate. I just knew they have jurisdiction across the state and was curious if a call is placed to 911 regarding something (could be anything, not just a car seat thing) taking place on interstate, do 911 dispatchers have the ability to get the word to Troopers initially or if they would just report to the local authorities and then it go from there.

I agree about "trying to catch up" which is why when I realized how fast we were traveling, we immediately slowed down, finished reporting it to the authories and let it go. I was the passenger, talking on the phone with dispatch. I knew the driver was trying to get a license plate number, but when I looked down and saw he was approaching 80 mph in a 70 zone, I told him to slow down and move over. I had the description I needed. I reported it to the authorities and carried on as usual. No sense in breaking the law trying to report something or putting ourselves or others in danger. I'm no vigilante, just trying to report what I viewed as a crime trying to be a good citizen and prevent a tragedy. And I often wonder about anonymous calls. If I see a crime and report it, I understand LEOs cannot drop everything to chase down these calls, especially when they may be prank calls and such. I don't know how it works, I'm not in law enforcement, which why I asked out of curiousity. Thank you.