to write a complain letter or not. (rant)

[StoneChucker]

Oh for fuck sake -jeysus have we become so totally PC that the very people out there saving our lives are being reviled.

Look, Tony is jumping up and down again (I think he's frothing)

YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT...
I want to be pulled over, I want my licence checked and I want to be breath tested. I want a Reg/Wof check and a quick police check. I'm not joking, having this done on a random basis is what saves lives. I'm all for what the cops do.

Just don't friggen lie! Cmon Tony, you know what I mean. I agree with what you're saying in sentiment, but see what I'm saying for a second.
He wasn't going 84 infront of the old van for feck sake.

[hondacmx450]

I agree mate, really I do. But, there is a difference between "Going a bit fast back there weren't ya" and "Going 84, infront of that old van"...

PS: The time I got a ticket on the way to Taupo, the cop used that exact line! ("Going a bit quick back there weren't ya"?). Do they teach that at the academy?

that comes after how to eat a doughnut
and befor there is your ticket have a nice day jokes

[phaedrus]

Look, Tony is jumping up and down again (I think he's frothing)

YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT...
I want to be pulled over, I want my licence checked and I want to be breath tested. I want a Reg/Wof check and a quick police check. I'm not joking, having this done on a random basis is what saves lives. I'm all for what the cops do.

Just don't friggen lie! Cmon Tony, you know what I mean. I agree with what you're saying in sentiment, but see what I'm saying for a second.
He wasn't going 84 infront of the old van for feck sake.

yay, someone who knows how to say what i'm thinking better than I do

[Zapf]

Cop suspects someone has stolen a TV, cop says, "Where did you steal that TV from"?

Cop suspects someone was speeding, cop says, "Going a bit quick back there weren't ya"?

Cops ask all sorts of questions for all sorts of reasons, a persons reaction to a simple question can tell you alot about them and its a cops job to be nosy.

aff-man is being over senstive I'm afraid.

what happen to being fair? what happened to being an upstanding model?

its all changed to accusation and imtimadation these days... "make people FEAR about getting a ticket" I HATE IT!

[justsomeguy]

At the risk of sounding like an utter loser I must say that somebody I know doesn't mind getting the odd speed ticket - though that person has only ever got ONE speed ticket. and that too a stupid 63kmph 10 meters before a stop sign in a 89 1300cc corolla......

However that person speeds so regularly (not necessarily in an unsafe manner) a speeding ticket here and there is actually not too bad value for money as far as cheap thrills are concerned.

So I guess that person should greet the coppa with, "Oh Hi there mate, bout time isn't it".

[aff-man]

Most of you EXCEPT SC have missed the point entirely. I don't mind getting pulled over for random breath test (even though he didn't administer one) and i think it's even a good idea.

IF you read my post again you will notice that i said the rest of the stop was excellent he was easy going checked license and car details and then sent us on our merry way. A very good impression of how the situation should be dealt with..

I DO have a problem with the blatent lie to try and entrap us and when we called him up on it the cover story was flimsy ... the mighty non-existant van.. I am not trying to take a dig at the police in general and i do realise that any sort of letter is a complete waste of time. I just don't like people blatently lying and i given passed experiences it seems to be a common factor when being pulled over. If he had actually got us doing 84 he would have given us a ticket. so why say we were doing 84 why not just say random stop ,licence please???

And spud as said above there is a lot of difference between "going a bit fast back there" and actually naming a number. the first is like a questioning statement while naming a number is an accusition. How would you feel if someone accused you of something you hadn't done? Also would not naming a speed in such excess of the posted limit only highten the amount of stress on the driver being pulled over??

agggggggg i was just a little miffed and needed to vent

[Biff]

Vent away mate - this is the place to do it, and I know where you're coming from with the BS from the cop. But IMO opinion I'm happy for any cop to tell me that he thought he saw Osama Bin Laden in the back of my car as an excuse to stop me if it means that in doing so he catches drunk drivers/scumbags every now and again.

But in giving you this BS story about the speed he alledged you were doing he has done some damage to the respect the public has in the police. He should have simply been honest with you.

[aff-man]

Vent away mate - this is the place to do it, and I know where you're coming from with the BS from the cop. But IMO opinion I'm happy for any cop to tell me that he thought he saw Osama Bin Laden in the back of my car as an excuse to stop me if it means that in doing so he catches drunk drivers/scumbags every now and again.

But in giving you this BS story about the speed he alledged you were doing he has done some damage to the respect the public has in the police. He should have simply been honest with you.

Yip just a random licence check is all they need, why alledge a speeding fine???

[scumdog]

YOU KNOW I HATE PIGS BUT SOUNDS LIKE HE WAS JUST TRYING TO FIND DRUNKDRIVERS AND JUST SAID THAT SPEED AS AN EXCUSE TO PULL YOU UP, IF HE WAS POLITE AND DIDNT GIVE YOU A TICKET THEN DONT WASTE YOUR PEN AND PAPER

Man this is SO scary, *WINJA making this much sense!!

Good valid comment WINJA, sums up my thoughts exactly.

The cop MAY have been trying to 'wind-up' these dudes, who knows??

*Are you SURE you are not really Spud/Hitcher/Frosty/White Trash or somebody sort of 'normal' WINJA??

[scumdog]

It's not about the being pulled over, everyone is perfectly happy about random checks...

It's about the blatant lie to entrap you!
But, can you blame them? Look at the way "we" slag off cops all the time. (I can live with the tone, but not the false statements).

'Entrapment' suggests that a penalty of some sort is dished out in a somewhat unethical manner.

No penalty was applied in this incident.

Yes, if true it could be at worst seen to be unprofessional.

Mehh, I've used the line "Looked to me like you must have been doing at least 200kph when I first saw you", normally they take it in the manner I meant - that they were going a bit quick but that I did not know their true speed.

[spudchucka]

but could you tell me where the 84Km/h could have come from?

Who the fuck would know! Go track down the cop and ask him.

[marty]

and to think that i've insisted that the drivers name must be schumacher, even when they've argued that it was smith....

[spudchucka]

I DO have a problem with the blatent lie to try and entrap us and when we called him up on it the cover story was flimsy ... the mighty non-existant van.. I am not trying to take a dig at the police in general and i do realise that any sort of letter is a complete waste of time. I just don't like people blatently lying and i given passed experiences it seems to be a common factor when being pulled over. If he had actually got us doing 84 he would have given us a ticket. so why say we were doing 84 why not just say random stop ,licence please???

Perhaps he had a reading of 84kph, wasn't sure where it came from and the question was simply to gauge the drivers reaction? But then again perhaps he was bored and was just screwing with you for a laugh?

And spud as said above there is a lot of difference between "going a bit fast back there" and actually naming a number. the first is like a questioning statement while naming a number is an accusition.

I can only assume that you don't have a great deal in your life to worry about if you are getting all het up about this. Its really no big deal, the cop is just doing his job regardless of whether you like his methods or not.

How would you feel if someone accused you of something you hadn't done?

In this situation I'd politely point out that there had been some sort of error. If the cop gave me a ticket for an offence I didn't commit then I'd be seeing him in court.

I wouldn't be getting all precious about it and writing pointless letters.

[vifferman]

I understand your annoyance, at the driver effectively being accused of summat that was patently (to all parties concerned) a fabrication. Yes, it would've been far better for the policeman to have just said "Random breath-test / licence check, because you pointed at me and doncha know it's rude to point?" However, given that there was no harm done (apart to the officer's credibility, and perhaps by transferrance/extrapolation to that of the Police force as a whole), I don't think you're going to gain anything by complaining in writing. It's likely to be fobbed off (as it should be - no real harm's been done), and may just make your peevitude (yeah, I know that's not a real word) even more worserer.

[MSTRS:Me]

Forget the letter - waste of time, paper & stamp. But I'm sure that the lesson of 'us & them' will not be forgotten. The alleged incident is right at the bottom of the scale, but is yet another nail in the coffin of the esteem in which the police were once held. It is but a small step to the scenario of 'Going a bit fast back there - however I could be per$uaded to not write you up'