Cop Spotlight

Litigy · 02-10-2006, 01:57 PM

So i'm driving home last night from a friends house, doing the speed limit. A cop car goes by in the other direction, and puts a sportlight on me for maybe 5 seconds. I wasn't driving recklessly and as i said i was doing the speed limit. This has happened to me in my town at least three different times.

My question is:
1. Does this happen to other people often?
2. Are cops legally aloud to do this? What if i crashed from being blinded?
(Unlikely you'd crash, but still!)
Also, it was a fairly lit area with standard street lights, so it's not like he couldn't see me at all.

Mucho Gonzales · 02-10-2006, 02:02 PM

on your bike or in a car?

if you were on your bike i think you have every right to flip him the bird! I think blinding you is a big deal.

just make sure you can afford a ticket if you take my advice.

Joshua · 02-10-2006, 02:09 PM

Next time throw your hands up like, "What the fuck?"

Litigy · 02-10-2006, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mucho Gonzales

on your bike or in a car?

if you were on your bike i think you have every right to flip him the bird! I think blinding you is a big deal.

just make sure you can afford a ticket if you take my advice.

On the bike.

airbox · 02-10-2006, 02:12 PM

Talk to the local PD and see if it is standard protocol to almost kill someone.

Or you could mount a spotlight on your bike and shine it at them.

Mucho Gonzales · 02-10-2006, 02:17 PM

yeah, i think that's BS.

Where's SBN's own officer? typical...there's never an officer around when you need them

BrownRob · 02-10-2006, 03:16 PM

Maybe he was looking for someone that matched your bike and had to be sure?

I had couple of cops flash their lights at me to slow down.. but never a spot light.. sounds dangerous!

ZxHunteR · 02-10-2006, 03:20 PM

Thats a fucking rude thing to do. What an asshole.

three3eye · 02-10-2006, 03:27 PM

This exact same thing happened to me man!!! I was on the highway doing maybe 5 over the limit at most and it was a litle after dusk, starting to get a little dark, and on the opposite side of the highway a cop shines his spotlight directly on me, and it wasn't on before i passed him. I looked at my speedo just to make sure, and then I checked my mirrors for about 5 miles, the whole time thinking "WTF WAS THAT!??"

I'd really like to hear a good reason behind this. I'm glad u posted this, because I thought if I mentioned it people would call me paranoid.

Scud · 02-10-2006, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZxHunteR

Thats a fucking rude thing to do. What an asshole.

+1

Never happened to me but unless I was speeding, it would sure piss me off

ZxHunteR · 02-10-2006, 03:30 PM

The cop would say he did it because you looked like someone who ran before.

The real reason he did it was because he thought you needed a good blinding. And thats what you do when you sit on your butt bored for 8 hours intimidating people.

Litigy · 02-10-2006, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZxHunteR

The cop would say he did it because you looked like someone who ran before.

The real reason he did it was because he thought you needed a good blinding. And thats what you do when you sit on your butt bored for 8 hours intimidating people.

I Agree completely. I've gotten a ticket for "speeding" when i honestly wasn't. I never posted anything about it because I don't expect people to believe me. Basically i think they are bored and want to see if you will run. Or to just pull you over for some stupid reason or make one up, to check registration or maybe just want to check out the bike.

My town has VERY low crime. And there are a LOT of cops for some reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrownRob

Maybe he was looking for someone that matched your bike and had to be sure?

I had couple of cops flash their lights at me to slow down.. but never a spot light.. sounds dangerous!

It has happened at least three different times, different nights.

JedoubbleSe · 02-10-2006, 03:47 PM

i would be irritated but theres so many things they can say they did it for if i was on a pedal bike i would have fallen over and started complaining that my neck really hurt lol

BurnMyHeartDown · 02-10-2006, 03:49 PM

I would pull him over and write him a ticket for failure to dim lights or some shit. just turn around and start flashing brights at him. then get arrested.

ajohn505 · 02-10-2006, 04:23 PM

I'd file a complaint, at the very least.

Since most police departments will shovel the complaint into a basement filing cabinet, if they keep it at all (despite laws to the contrary), you'll have more to do:

Next, talk to your local alderman or other representative. Then write a letter to the editor of the local paper, being sure to explain your position reasonably and with good grammar. You probably won't see any results, but at least you will have added to the public perception that there are bad-apple cops on your local PD. Eventually, public discontent will grow to the point that there will be mass firings in the department and things will be good for awhile, until the cycle starts again.

At least that's how things work in Milwaukee.

Unfortunately there are cops that take the "thin blue line" principle to extremes, seeing themselves as knight-defenders of a weak populace. They're more-than/better-than ordinary citizens, in their own minds. Criminal bikers such as yourself could at any moment descend upon the town and wreak havoc, so they are to be intimidated at every turn.