Two Clermont police officers fired after 'reckless' prank

[QuickZ06]

Its all good people of America, it was just a prank.........


Two Clermont police officers have been fired and a third suspended for a prank they pulled on a fellow officer.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office conducted an investigation of a short chase down U.S. Highway 27 in March.

A female officer spotted a sports car with tinted windows speeding and, according to investigators, she turned on her lights and siren near Clermont's Citrus Tower and started pursuit.

She said the vehicle was driving at speeds nearing 85 miles per hour through the 45 mile per hour construction zone.

When the vehicle pulled over in the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot, the driver hopped out, and the officer said she pulled her weapon.

The driver then started laughing saying it was all a joke, according to the report. (Guess thats all you have to say these days)

It turned out the driver was Officer Marc Thompson.

Sgt. Mark Edwards and Officer Dennis Hall were also in the vehicle.

All were off-duty, saying they had just returned from playing poker at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. (Sure they had no drinks)

Officer Thompson was fired for driving in a careless manner, and Sgt. Edwards was fired for conduct unbecoming an officer for not acting as a supervisor to stop the prank.

Officer Hall received a one day suspension. (The ole slap on the wrists treatment, nice)


http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/7/10/clermont_cops_fired_.html


Im sure Officer Hall learned a very good lesson here and will never do what he saw the other officers do. That one day suspension will sure show him :rolleyes:

[AdamT]

I'm actually surprised they were fired.

[angelatc]

Yeah, I'm actually surprsingly ok with the Captain getting fired and the others getting warnings.

[QuickZ06]

I'm actually surprised they were fired.

Agreed, but looking around at more articles I found this.


Police Chief Steve Graham said the latest firings were the appropriate punishment as the March 5 incident that reflects poorly on his police department.


Graham said termination was enough punishment without tacking on a potential traffic ticket for speeding or reckless driving. "We didn't follow up with a traffic ticket and it's within the officer's discretion to issue a citation," he said.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/os-clermont-police-prank-chief-20120710,0,1676318.story

Awww, how sweet.

[QuickZ06]

Yeah, I'm actually surprsingly ok with the Captain getting fired and the others getting warnings.

Im not, they all should be fired and punished, as they all know THE LAW (or at least they tell us that). They would throw every infraction at me or you if this was us. Heck, I don't think I would be allowed to drive for at least a year if his were to happen to me.

[specsaregood]

Im not, they all should be fired and punished, as they all know THE LAW (or at least they tell us that). They would throw every infraction at me or you if this was us. Heck, I don't think I would be allowed to drive for at least a year if his were to happen to me.
You never got a warning for speeding? Hell, he didn't even break 100.

[MJU1983]

Whoa... Did hell freeze over?

[QuickZ06]

You never got a warning for speeding? Hell, he didn't even break 100.

Well, other articles say they were above 90. But how do you give an officer of the law a warning for something he gives tickets for everyday? Thought these guys were held to a higher standard? They were evading the officer and recklessly speeding thru a construction zone, what the heck is a warning going to prove to someone who knows everything they were doing was wrong?

[specsaregood]

Well, other articles say they were above 90. But how do you give an officer of the law a warning for something he gives tickets for everyday? Thought these guys were held to a higher standard? They were evading the officer and recklessly speeding thru a construction zone, what the heck is a warning going to prove to someone who knows everything they were doing was wrong?

perhaps the warning was not telling them not to speed; but rather warning that they would not get any special privileges in the future.

[angelatc]

Im not, they all should be fired and punished, as they all know THE LAW (or at least they tell us that). They would throw every infraction at me or you if this was us. Heck, I don't think I would be allowed to drive for at least a year if his were to happen to me.

Meh - just a traffic ticket is all I would expect to get. Well, that and shot.

[QuickZ06]

perhaps the warning was not telling them not to speed; but rather warning that they would not get any special privileges in the future.

Perhaps, just they still are getting off the hook in some ways. But I do agree that a firing was in order but to just the driver and front passenger but not the back, makes no sense. They all know the law and clearly could care less about it. Im sure we will see an article on Hall down the road.

[specsaregood]

Meh - just a traffic ticket is all I would expect to get. Well, that and shot.

I've gotten at 4x more warnings than tickets during my driving lifetime.

[QuickZ06]

Meh - just a traffic ticket is all I would expect to get. Well, that and shot.

Yeah thats the other down side of not having a badge, you seem to be a target 24/7. Only plus is how bad of shots they seem to be.

[kcchiefs6465]

Some regular 'Super Troopers.'

[mrsat_98]

I've gotten at 4x more warnings than tickets during my driving lifetime.

Shit happens when you drive sober.

[Kluge]

I've gotten at 4x more warnings than tickets during my driving lifetime.

You must...be special......


I'll leave it at that.

[Tod]

Some places the fines are doubled when speeding in a construction zone and if you kill a construction worker the charges are more serious than an ordinary traffic death.

The driver should have been fined. The man in the back seat ordinarily I would say shouldn't be charged or penalized, but since he was an officer, he could have arrested the driver (as the supervisor could have) but there is no indication he made any attempt to stop the driver. (if he had a cell phone on him, lack of a call to an on-duty officer for backup is indicative of complicity in the offense). Since the back seat person is an officer, he should have been fired too.

Additionally, the driver should have been given an alcohol test and charged if positive.

[ghengis86]

For any mundane:
-felony stop w/ back up
-reckless driving (>25 over)
-fine doubled in work zone
-no refusal blood draw
-DUI/OWUI/DWI
-arrest
-add a charge for resisting arrest
-add a charge for assaulting an officer's fist with face
-pepper spray/tazer/night stick to the head
-accidental/intentional discharge of service weapon to the heart/face
-high fives while bleeding out on the pavement
-investigated, cleared and promoted by independent police commission


The above is SOP for those not part of the enforcer caste

[fisharmor]

I've gotten at 4x more warnings than tickets during my driving lifetime.

And I hope everyone sees this as a large part of the problem.

If officers get to use their own judgment about who does and does not get a ticket, then the law has nothing to do with protecting society and nothing to do with justice.
If they get to let us off, then every time a judge has scolded me for not taking driving seriously and not realizing the hidden dangers, it was unmitigated horseshit.

Of course, we all know all of that talk about safety and having to count to three at every stop sign is horseshit. We know this because nobody does it and yet society has yet to crumble.
We know it because you can now go to YouTube and watch videos of the current "world's most evil place", Tehran, and see that they don't have a single damned stop light in the entire city, but people drive around with no problem (and are in fact moving faster than they do in DC or LA).

The only reason for horseshit laws is to keep the cops in power. And the only reason for them to let us off is so they don't push that power beyond what it would take for us to revolt.
They know that if they each handed out 100 tickets a day, every day, they'd be employed for about another month and then they'd have to figure out what other occupation sees beating up homeless people as a valuable job skill.

And no, I'm not particularly happy that they got disciplined, either.
Keep your eyes on what's important. They're going to continue to get away with murder - and no sane person claims that murder is morally right.
So when they get fired for speeding - fucking speeding - a law we all inherently know is bullshit, and something that every one of us does every single day and wishes we could do without threat of being murdered - no, it doesn't make me all that happy.

[coastie]

I'm actually surprised they were fired.

I'm sure the County Sheriff promptly hired them on.

Either that, or they already work for the TSA.

[phill4paul]

I'm sure the County Sheriff promptly hired them on.

Either that, or they already work for the TSA.

Beat me to it. :) Yep, they will have no trouble finding another job in law-enforcement. A N.C. trooper got fired for abuse of his K-9 partner. He recently got re-instated w/ back pay. In the meantime he had found employment with a local cop shop.

[specsaregood]

And I hope everyone sees this as a large part of the problem.


Meh. I don't really have a problem with speeding laws in general. And I dont mind warnings in lieu of tickets either.