Anti Federalist
02-08-2011, 03:31 PM
Crime Scenes: No break for cops caught on camera
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-hermann-police-tickets-20110201,0,6988221.story?page=1
It's a widely held assumption, true or not, that cops give other cops breaks on traffic infractions. A quick flash of the badge, a union sticker on the bumper, a patch on the dashboard are the same as a wink and a nod, and a look the other way.
But the growing number of cameras set up to catch speeders and red-light runners in Baltimore and elsewhere has become the great equalizer for traffic scofflaws — unbiased enforcers of bad driving habits.
Police officers are getting caught, and are crying foul. The camera doesn't care whether a cop is off-duty and going shopping in his personal pickup truck or is on duty and speeding to a bank robbery in a marked police cruiser, lights flashing and siren blaring.
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"Maybe there's a reason why the officer wasn't going to a call, still went through a red light and was still doing his job," Cherry said. "The last thing we want to do is Monday-morning quarterback from headquarters or from the courts. I don't want to limit our front-line officers in making decisions when their goal is to make the public safe."
Some officers appear to have come up with creative ways to stay red-light-camera-shy. Last year, city police accused two officers of putting stolen license plates on their unmarked cars. The investigation continues, but police sources said at the time that the officers either wanted to prevent drug dealers from recognizing their cars or wanted to avoid getting tickets from the cameras.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-hermann-police-tickets-20110201,0,6988221.story?page=1
It's a widely held assumption, true or not, that cops give other cops breaks on traffic infractions. A quick flash of the badge, a union sticker on the bumper, a patch on the dashboard are the same as a wink and a nod, and a look the other way.
But the growing number of cameras set up to catch speeders and red-light runners in Baltimore and elsewhere has become the great equalizer for traffic scofflaws — unbiased enforcers of bad driving habits.
Police officers are getting caught, and are crying foul. The camera doesn't care whether a cop is off-duty and going shopping in his personal pickup truck or is on duty and speeding to a bank robbery in a marked police cruiser, lights flashing and siren blaring.
~~~~~~~
"Maybe there's a reason why the officer wasn't going to a call, still went through a red light and was still doing his job," Cherry said. "The last thing we want to do is Monday-morning quarterback from headquarters or from the courts. I don't want to limit our front-line officers in making decisions when their goal is to make the public safe."
Some officers appear to have come up with creative ways to stay red-light-camera-shy. Last year, city police accused two officers of putting stolen license plates on their unmarked cars. The investigation continues, but police sources said at the time that the officers either wanted to prevent drug dealers from recognizing their cars or wanted to avoid getting tickets from the cameras.