"Man, can't you just cut me a break?"

[Legoate]

I have a pet peave about people stealing other people's license plate tags instead of paying their own registration. So yesterday, while driving through what I like to call "pervert park" I see a single male sitting in hid idling junker car. I run the plate and keep driving. I notice that the car is expired in '04 but has '05 stickers. I contact the driver and ask "so what's the deal with having current stickers on your car with expired registration?".
He tells me "Yeah, that's just something I do to get by until I can get my car registered." I ask if he has a license, and he presents a license that is expired by two years.
I do a check of his license and find it's not only expired, it's been suspended. I ticket him for false tabs (a misdemeanor), driving suspended (another misdemeanor), no insurance, and expired reg. I also run a records check on him and find he has an outstanding warrant for EXACTLY the same charges from four months earlier.
I approach the car and ask him to sign the ticket at which he says "Hey man, can't you just cut me a break?"
So, as the polite officer I am I inform him of the break he is already getting:
1. I'm not taking your car and making you walk out in the pouring rain.
2. I'm not taking you to jail for your warrant and new charges.
3. I'm not going to tow and store your vehicle for 30 days and charge you $1200 for the storage and impound fees.
4. I'm making your registration and insurance tickets correctable if you present proof that you've fixed them to the court.

"Now, sign your ticket."

He quickly signed and called for a licensed driver to come take his car home and park it.

Just so you know, I'm not really that nice. If it hadn't been 10 minutes before the end of my shift, and absolutely pouring rain- the car would have been towed and he would have been out on foot- pondering the wisdom of driving suspended with false tabs.

Some people just don't know how nice your are being to them until you point it out charge by charge.

[Babysmamadrama]

Guaranteed another FTA. :D

[Johninaustin]

Guaranteed another FTA. :D

Yup. No doubt. ;)

[Legoate]

Guaranteed another FTA. :D

Actually....one other thing I said to him.....
"You have a court date for March 18th to contest this ticket, when you don't show up for that date, another warrant will be issued for your arrest."

I have absolutely no doubt he will FTA on the 18th. However, it's nice to save up those misdemeanor warrants so we can use them at a later time when we need to. I don't know how many times a misdeanor warrant has helped me solve a problem...just another little trick to pull out of my hat when I'm running out of options.

I did a little research on my old ticket stubs and separated out all of the people who I remembered being a jerk on the stops. I then checked on each of them and found that without exception, everyone of them had FTA'd and now had an arrest warrant issued. There are a couple who I wouldn't mind visiting at home....right about dinner time.

[Johninaustin]

Do like I do. Put a little # in the upper corner of the cite if they are an ***. Makes them so much easier to sort out.:D

[Darin]

I had a guy last night that was suspended. He kept saying man your ruining my life, cant you cut me a break human to human?

My response: No. Sign at the X.

[mcsap]

I know people who do not have a lot of money that manage to register and insure their cars. Those that use deceit to try to get around the requirements and are caught will PAY through the nose to make sure it ends up costing them more than if they had done it legally.

[steelcityk9cop]

I live by 5 rules when it comes to tickets…..

1) If you ask for a warning or a break….you automatically get a ticket.
2) If you name drop…..you automatically get a ticket.
3) If you cry…… you automatically get a ticket.
4) If you start flashing skin…..you automatically get a ticket.
5) If you say you only got stopped because of the color of your skin…. You automatically get a ticket.

In my opinion… I’m letting all my fellow LEO’s down if I let any of the above go free after those behaviors….it just encourages them to do it again next time they get stopped.

[tenfour]

That's funny ^

I was just telling my wife, because she said if she ever gets pulled over she'll probably start crying. She honestly is a very sensitive person, but I told her she'd probably end up getting a ticket because the officer would think your trying to make him feel sorry for you.

[Legoate]

I live by 5 rules when it comes to tickets…..

1) If you ask for a warning or a break….you automatically get a ticket.
2) If you name drop…..you automatically get a ticket.
3) If you cry…… you automatically get a ticket.
4) If you start flashing skin…..you automatically get a ticket.
5) If you say you only got stopped because of the color of your skin…. You automatically get a ticket.

In my opinion… I’m letting all my fellow LEO’s down if I let any of the above go free after those behaviors….it just encourages them to do it again next time they get stopped.

these are pretty good ones.....I also use....

6. If you have a radar detector, you automatically get a ticket.
7. If you decide to argue with me before I ever see your license, you automatically get a ticket.
8. If you start asking me "don't you have anything better to do?".....
9. If you start advising me of your miranda or civil rights during the stop.....

I'm sure there are more....just cant think of them right now.....or at least any that are postable here...

[steelcityk9cop]

The radar detector is a biggie.....i always note that on the bottom of the ticket so the judge can see that.

[mcsap]

The radar detector is a biggie.....i always note that on the bottom of the ticket so the judge can see that.

Especially since municipal PD's in PA aren't allowed to use radar.

[ChesCopPodz]

I get to confiscate radar detectors and charge them for having them here.
1. Agree
2. Agree
3. Not always. I can tell the fake from the not. If it's real, it doesn't bear on whether or not I ticket. If it's obviously fake, ink flows.
4. Agree
5. Definitely agree.

Number 5 is two fold. Number one is because it's ignorant to think that and even stupider to say it. ESPECIALLY at night when there is no way in hell I can see who's driving the car. Other reason is for documentation. If they are going to caomplain that I am only doing it because of race, I am going to be sure to write the ticket to show the reason I pulled them over. If the complaint goes through and I didn't write, all I can do is tell the reason for the stop. Then the question "Well if you really saw that violation why didn't you write a ticket for it?" So I do, EVERY time the issue comes up.

[MrMisterSU]

6. If you have a radar detector, you automatically get a ticket.

Im sure glad the trooper that pulled me over a year + ago wasnt using that mentallity. He didnt even bring it up - which I thought he would have. He was a real nice guy about everything. At the time I was on my way back to campus with atleast another 40 minutes on the drive - and I had the restriction of not driving after 12am still. He got me at 11:40 something I believe, and all he said about that was if need be, let my girlfriend (at the time :rolleyes: ) in the passenger seat next to me drive in a little while (older women :cool: ). I think I later found out he was actually my roommates girlfriend's cousin or something. He was a nice guy. Too bad he works a barracks/county over - so if I ever end up getting a LE job around here after college I most likely wont get to see him again and thank him for being nice... lol.

[daNattyFatty]

i had one guy get pissed at me last night cause i gave him a repair order for a tail light. he proceeded to tell me about all the busted cars driving down the road, and he doesn't even get a 1st time courtesy warning. i'm like dude, it's a freakin $3 bulb, would you like me to give you a $50 citation instead?!?! that shut him up pretty good