Couple Who Catch Cop Speeding Could Face Charges

a_nonamiss writes "A Georgia couple, apparently tired of people speeding past their house, installed a camera and radar gun on their property. After it was installed, they caught a police office going 17MPH over the posted limit. They brought this to the attention of the local police department, and are now being forced to appear in front of a judge to answer to charges of stalking."

Comments

Moo

[Chacham]

apparently tired of people speeding past their house

Well, according to the article "They have said they did so in hopes of convincing neighbors to slow down to create a safe environment for their son."

thinkofthechildren will get you a lot futher than speed.

Re:Moo

[mrbluze]

"A Georgia couple, apparently tired of people speeding past their house, installed a camera and radar gun on their property. After it was installed, they caught a police office going 17MPH over the posted limit. They brought this to the attention of the local police department, and are now being forced to appear in front of a judge to answer to charges of stalking."

Wow! Mobile police offices - must need a lot of horsepower to tow that thing!

Re:Moo

[utopianfiat]

It doesn't matter whether or not they had a radar gun or a method to calculate the speed of passing objects. Did you read the post?
 
  they caught a police office going 17MPH over the posted limit.

So whether or not the office was speeding is a non-issue. I'm pretty sure driving an entire police office along a residential street is illegal in some way.

Re:Moo

[revolu7ion]

the Sipples' attorney, Edward McAfee

Mr McAfee halted proceedings and demanded the courtroom be swept for viruses.

Believe it or not...

[drsquare]

You don't actually own the road in front of your house. They should increase the speed limit by 20mph to show this couple who's in charge.

Re:Believe it or not...

[drago177]

relevant joke worth the read (somebody tell me if true):

I always wanted a hopped up muscle car when I was younger. I couldn't afford one. Now I can, and I have one. It is a '70 Mustang, and her name is Bessie. Bessie is the prototypical juvenile, male-caveman, scratch you crotch and drink cheap beer car. Chromed engine, dual exhaust, 250 horsepower, big tires, tra la la la.
I'm driving Bessie on Beach Boulevard behind an ancient guy in a beat up truck. He decides to turn in front of me without a blinker. I accelerate to swerve and avoid him, and this asshole, overaerobicized woman jumps in front of my car with her hand up.
Meet Ethel, the neighborhood busybody/nuisance. She proceeds to yell in my window, "Hey, slow down you fucking idiot." I'm a well-bred, mellow guy by nature, so I ignore this. As I drive away, she yells, "asshole" at me again. Twice? Fuck that. I turn around and drive up next to her.
"Do you have a problem?" I ask.
"Yeah, why are you driving like an idiot?"
"I was driving like an idiot? How, exactly."
"You were speeding. I watched you."
" You were? I see. How did you measure my speed?"
(Ever the interrogator, I am.)
"I heard you."
"So, you measured my speed by ear?"
"I can hear."
" How fast did you HEAR me going?"
"Look," she says, "I don't have to take this. Here comes a cop. I'll wave him down."
THE POLICE? This woman is a trip. She waves him down, and proceeds to tell him that she observed me speeding.
"What happened?" he asks. I told him the story, and told him that I accelerated to an indicated 33 mph (the speed limit is 35) to avoid a collision.
"Are those mufflers legal?" Ethel asks. She's pushing it. I reply, "I have a C.A.R.B. exemption for them." I give the paperwork to the cop.
She tries to find another thing to screw me with. She says "What about those big tires? They CAN'T be legal. " I began feeling little overheated gears in the back of my head start to turn.
"These tires were available on the 1970 Boss 429, " I told the cop, " Which makes them street legal as a replacement."
Ethel gets angry. She whines, "So you're not going to give out any tickets to this asshole?"
The cop says, "No, I am not."
I've about had it. So I say, "Sir, this woman told you that she left the street at the corner, and she met up with my car here. According to Title 39, pedestrians have to cross the street at a right angle. This woman admitted she crossed at a 45-degree angle, which is a ticketable offense."
"What?" The cop looks confused.
"Also, she told you that she walked in front of my car to stop me. A citizen can't detain someone without probable cause, under Terry v. Ohio (My new favorite case). Since she couldn't measure my speed, she had no probable cause to detain me. That is an indictable offense."
The cop says, " But, I didn't see any of this."
"But," I said, "I did, and, as an officer of the Court, I can demand her arrest. I'll agree to dismiss the Illegal Detention charge, but I want her cited for not crossing at a right angle and Hazardous Conduct on a Public Street."
The cop called his Lieutenant, and after the cop told the story, he authorized the summonses.
She went home with $215.00 worth of traffic tickets, and they are worth a total of four points against her license, as well as the appropriate insurance surcharge!
Of course, if she demands a trial I won't prosecute. But the look on her face as she walked away was more than enough satisfaction for me.
Yea, I've passed the bar, and I'm on a mission from God.

Those police offices are a real danger

[ghoti]

they caught a police office going 17MPH over the posted limit

Wow, that's one fast police office!

Re:Those police offices are a real danger

[Qzukk]

You think police offices are bad, you should see how post offices drive! They don't even care if its raining, sleeting or snowing!

Re:Those police offices are a real danger

[Rob the Bold]

they caught a police office going 17MPH over the posted limit

Wow, that's one fast police office!

Where I live, police offices routinely go over 750mph, so it stands to reason that those down south in Georgia are going even faster.

Another Arrest

[Nrbelex]

The couple then placed the entire Bartow County Police Department under citizen's arrest for intimidation...

Moo

[Chacham]

Couple Who Catch Cop Speeding Could Face Charges

Certainly, capricious captions claim: Careless Cop Caught Cutting Celerity Cap; Criminal Court Charges Capturing Couple

Cartersville: Child-caring couple connect camera, chronicalling cop cutting celertity cap. Court...

Re:The police are not there to protect the citizen

[istartedi]

If local cops are mis-behaving, this is what IAD is for, and if IAD is corrupt, that's what the FBI is for, and if the FBI is corrupt, that's what Canada is for. :)

Re:The police are not there to protect the citizen

[6Yankee]

Enough people have to be able to understand those big words, first.

Re:To all the cop haters!

[Anonymous Coward]

As a former law-enforcement professional, you should know that you have the right to use paragraphs. If you do not know how to or cannot afford them, paragraphs will be created for you. You have the right not to use rhetorical questions or other meaningless interrogatories in your diatribes. You have the right to utilize commas to offset interjections.

Re:The police are not there to protect the citizen

[grolschie]

Cops are people. There are good people and there are bad people.
Therefore, there are good cops and bad cops.

Nonsense argument.

Cats are animals.
There are furry animals and there are scaly reptilian animals.
Therefore, there are furry cats and scaly reptilian cats.

I for one, welcome our new hypocritical, speeding, scaly reptilian cat overlords! ;-)