Any LEO

Well...............your doing something right. I have done the same for driver's as well. Not just in trucks but cars to. The truth shall set you free. I hardly ever get anyone to tell me the truth, I should say at first. The first thing most do is the old Eddie Murphy line. "It wasn't me. It might have looked like me. But it wasn't me." Very rarely does someone say, "I screwed up. I know what I was doing..................". Had a 4 wheeler the other day. Guy driving with rectal cranium inversion. For those that do not know what this is, commonly referred to head up the arse. Speeding, unsafe lane change, almost to the point of reckless, but not quite. I get him stopped. He's about 40 or so. Been at the hospital bed of his dying mother all night after working the 4-12 shift. On his way home to change to go to his day job. Guy's working 2 jobs to support his wife and 3 kids. He also supports his mother and father, mother according to him only has few weeks to live due to cancer. His father has a terminal illness and he supports both of them. You can tell this isn't a scripted story like some I hear. He's visibly shaken and upset, and not only at himself. He came out and admitted he was wrong and he had some other violations. I didn't just let him go with nothing I still wrote him a ticket, but for a much less violation than I initially had in my head. I understand what this gut had going on and felt bad for the guy to some degree. He was very pleasant and upfront, not what I typically see when I stop the majority. After a while of doing what I do, you do become somewhat callous. But you get a good idea of who is telling the truth and who is not. Two weeks ago, I had a truck stopped and this thing was a piece, to say the least. Three tires were down through the first layer of steel belts, and I'm not saying a little area. These were the whole thing. Another trailer tire looked like a racing slick on Dale Jr's Chevy. So I had to ask the driver, "Did you do a pre trip?" The driver says "Ah............Ah.............Yeah. My boss is a little slow on some things". You think! So I go back and start checking, low and behold he was stopped 23 days earlier and inspected in another State. Driver goes on to tell me that this is his first trip with the carrier and he just started working for this fella. So I ask about three times if this was his first trip? Driver states "yep, first time I have been on the road for this guy." So when I handed him the previous inspection that had all the same tires and a host of other violations all that could be heard was crickets chirping.

 

We kinda figured that when you had the granny crapping herself....Mean ole dieselbear.....

 

I've received quite a few warnings, I find be polite, not telling stories, keep your hands in plain site and following directions works the best.

 

Last ticket I got was in 1975. Speeding in my car. I deserved it. Since my livelihood depends on my license, I'm usually pretty careful. Back in '99 I was headed north on 395, just north of where it meets 14 above China Lake. The road is wide, straight and divided. Had two of my grandchildren in back and we were singing some song to the radio when I looked over at a CHP going the opposite direction, LOOKING AT ME.
Oh, oh!
I hit my brakes as I looked down at the speedo and it said 79 at that point. I saw him turning around in the median, so I pulled over and waited.
When he came up to me, he first said, "I want to thank you for not making me chase you all the way to Bishop."
I told him, "I saw you, hit my brake, saw my speedo, then figured I might as well pull over. I'm guilty."
He then asked, "OK..moment of truth. How fast were you going?"
I told him, "it read 79 when I first saw it, but I was already braking."
He went back to his car, came up a few moments later and handed back my license. Gave me the speech about safety, have kids in the car, etc. "But," he said, "since you were honest, I'm letting you go. If I see you speeding again, you'll be calling the kid's mother from the station house!"
YES SIR!!
Back in 85, my wife and I were driving our car from San Diego to Portland. She was driving, it was 2AM and I looked over at the speed. It read 80. (this was when the 55 was still law). I told her to slow down, the CHP loved to patrol this area heavily (Shasta region). She told me to drive my car my way, she'd drive her way.
OK, I thought.
It wasn't five minutes later when the car behind us lit us up, after following us for quite a distance. He walked up to the window, she gave him her license and he asked, "ma'am, do you know how fast you were going?"
"yes sir, officer. I had my cruise control set. I was doing 80mph."
I cringed.
There was a pause, he handed her the license and said, "well slow down, will you?!"
"yes sir."
And he let her go.
I would have been headed to jail for sure!
But she always has been a lucky driver.

 

That 395 is quite a highway. It used to be a real death trap from the 14 intersection all the way to Mammoth Lakes. Particularly on a "ski weekend!" It is much better now than it used to be, but until they complete the four lane all the way, it will still be bad.

You will always have those rich little basturds driving daddy's Porsch, trying to see how fast they can make it from LA to Mammoth. Most of them with a snoot full of cocaine.

Back in the day, when I worked that area, it was almost all two lane highway. 100+ MPH is not at all unusual on that road.

 

Hey DB. I noticed you have said in the past that you give a driver the chance to be honest upfront and after that it is pretty much too late for the driver. Also your post about how calloused you are over time. Something to consider about drivers. I do not doubt that you encounter some real "winners" out there, but a lot of these drivers (me included) have encountered some real "winners" with the big badge, small town syndrome LEO. Just look at scarecrows post of what happened to him. Some of these guys have no clue about HOS or anything related to the trucking field, but take it upon themselves to try to enforce rules that don't even exist.

A driver can fight such actions, but it is a pain in the butt to get back to that town on the court date. They could get a legal plan of lawyers to handle it, but drivers are held accountable for their actions with the point system it is only fair that LEO's should be held to the same standards. If one keeps trumping bogus charges to rules they don't understand. Then why do they not have a point system and when they rack so many points lose their job like a trucker does?

I understand that officers have to make split decisions of life or death in some situations, but not when it comes to hassling a driver over something they don't know or understand, but yet are enforcing. I am also aware of the officers not trusting people because they are always being lied to. The thing to consider tho, that many drivers do not trust LEO's for the same reason you do not trust the drivers. Many have had bad encounters with officers. My wife was with me one time when I was broke down. I did everything I could and was suppose to do. The local cop kept stopping and hassling me telling me if I did not move he was going to impound my truck. I was waiting on a wrecker. All wreckers were tied up on calls.

My wife could not believe how unprofessional he was. He was a jerk. I was even on the phone telling my employer about the last time he threatened to impound me when the DM was laughing and said tell him to go ahead the wrecker is on call now when the cop came back and started chewing me again. The DM heard him and said he is a jerk. The point I am making is by the actions of some uniforms is the reaction that you get from some drivers.

 

I agree with you. If they are not certified inspectors they should not be doing that. As far as acting like a jerk, I don't agree with that either. I treat people the way I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes. There are some folks out there who just act like an arse from the world go and they get treated like an arse. I'm not argueing with someone nor am I going to listen their sheet. They want to argue and scream and act like a complete jackarse, that's the way they get treated. If a leo acts inappropriately then you should call his supervison and voive your concerns to them. At least where I work, it is a full blown investigation. The in car camera systems are great, in my opinion. You don't get the he said, she said stuff as much any more. I had a guy who I stopped a few years ago call in and complain I said all kinds of stuff to him and his female passenger that was inappropriate. My commander took the complaint and had the guy come in and officially file a complaint, sign his name that he was telling the truth and all. I got the call about it, which i knew was BS, so I wasn't worried. Internal Affairs pulled my tape and low and behold everything this person said was no where near the truth. After a few days this complaint was dismissed. The guy was furious when he was called and told this. They brought him in and sat him down in the office. Turned the TV on and hit play. My supervisor was in the room and said the guy as soon as he recognized the back of his vehicle, he didn't say another word. After the stop concluded on tape, the commander asked him, Any questions? It seems you were the one making the rude and discourtous comments. The guy got up and left and never said another word. The camera can help the officer or it can hurt him. But if the guy does his job the way it is supposed to be, the camera is your friend. As such, you don't beliddle people and you treat folks the right way. I too have seen the little man syndrome, the barney fife syndrome, and about every other type of personality out there. I make it a point to stay the heck away from that type of officer. I don't like them nor do I want to be associated with them. I know the general public sees these types and has run in's with them. But I can tell you from my experience eventually folks that act that way always end up in the ringer and get fired or quit. The problem, it seems another one pops up. Doing what I do, I know there are some who hate me. I know there are some who will dispise me. I don't and I wont let that worry or bother me. I am who I am. I have wanted to do what I am doing a long time, I never saw myself working the unit I am in, but after I was assigned there I really enjoyed the work and the people. 99 percent of the truckers I deal with are decent, honest folks. The other 1 percent are the ones I write about on this tread. That is society. When I was on the regular patrol, that was the way it was as well. I enjoyed going to someone's house and helping them. Finding the person that broke into their house and stole their property. I enjoyed locking up men or women that beat their significant others. Especially men that would kicked the sheet out of their wife and thought they were a tough guy. It was extremely enjoyable to whip their arse when they wanted to fight, because almost all of the "tough guys" would be drunk and think he was 10 feet tall and no one would remove him from his house. I enjoyed finding the little kid that ran off from his house or was lost in the woods. What I didn't enjoy was dealing with the perverts that molest children. Seeing the families broke apart because of the domestic situations and seeing the little kids crying and upset because I just hauled their daddy away. The worst was dealing with children that were killed in a car wreck, or were murdered. Stuff like that is what makes you somewhat callous. I don't know why, but you try not to get attached or think to your personal life and your loved ones when you have to deal with a tragedy. I find that I have to distance myself so that I can do what needs to be done and be as professional as I can.

Tarps, if a guy treats you like the way you described you should report it. Because it is probaly not the first time, but it may be the last time. I'm not big on the complaint process, because I have been through it, and can say that none of the complaints I have received which is 3, have been substantiated. My in car camera showed the world the entire contact which is great when someone outright lies and makes up BS in an attempt to get out of something.

 

Hey DB, how well does the in car camera work when you have a truck pulled over? I mean doesn't the trailer block the complete view of the cab and you while you are making the stop?

 

That is the same thing I was wondering.
Many LEO's will pull the car behind the truck and face the front of the car out toward traffic some, thus making a larger image of the patrol car to traffic that is passing, and increasing safety.
The side effect is that the camera is facing out toward the road some, and the trailer will be filling the right half of the camera picture.
Then the LEO will approach the truck on the passenger side, again to stay away from traffic and safe.
I do not blame them for any of these moves, but all of them add up to where the camera and mic will not pick up the conversation between the driver and the officer. Thus there will be no real record on tape of the stop.