Man, I can't believe the amount of folks on this thread who actually ADVOCATE a person being ARRESTED for a turn signal violation?!? Are you folks serious? Throw someone in JAIL for forgetting to signal?

Maybe that's the reason WHY we have the highest incarceration rates--People not only don't care about folks getting incarcerated for minor offenses, but they're actually cheering it on!

The violator in this case willfully disobeyed traffic law. You see, whether or not this fellow had intent or not, he violated the law. He could have been drunk or on a drug known to cause impairment. The police officer (COP means Citizen on Patrol, by the way) followed his end of the law and stopped the guy. Some stuff happened and we weren't there so who knows what the violator said to the officer. If he was acting so vile perhaps the officer suspected the fellow of being on, let's say, meth or coke? Come to find out later that poor little non-driver was sober and just mad - at least the PD knows now.

The fellow may have be indicating impairment and the strip search was probably used to see if he was hiding any drugs in his nether regions.

Bottom line - INDICATE TO COMMUNICATE!

Cops, being one of societies 'pillars" are not normal people. They are people with a ridiculous amount of power given to them out out of trust.

Should they violate that trust, the most severe penalty should be imposed... as economically as possible.

They were selected for their job under the pretense that they would commit no crime, so when they do break the law, we as a society should be outraged and merciless.

Criminals who DID NOT take an oath to uphold and defend our lives should be treated no different than they are today. Justly.

All police officers who violate their oath or out constitution should be punished immediately. No exceptions, no whining, no "ratemycop" just the most efficient/just punishment possible. . Make it into law please, and you'll get my vote.

This will serve as an example to all the crooked cops that we now have.

The power we give these people is ridiculous and when they abuse it, they should face a punishment that assures that they will never abuse anyone again.

Got a problem with the new policy, just don't enlist in the police "forces"

There will be plenty of positions for good honest cops, once such a policy is instituted.

I am sick of treating victims of police abuse, I remove on average, 3 sets of taser prongs every months... for the past four goddamn years. Not to mention the cases of hemorrhaging I encounter when "the force" brings in one of their victims to be treated before 'processing"

I would like to note that police officers are placing a major strain on the health care system be abusing so many of their charges. I am obligated to treat their victims upon arrival, giving them priority over patients already waiting.... It breaks my heart.

It breaks my heart when I am called to testify in Police abuse case that I was involved in, and I do it more and more often as of late. It has gotten to the point where I give my interns permission to stop working and act as a witness whenever the "force' brings in another lump of battered and broken human life. I have face harassment for this. Police harassment. Criminal Police Harassment for helping PEOPLE! MY JOB IS TO HELP PEOPLE!

They say not all cops are bad, and I believe them. I know the good ones.
Who do you think stopped the police harassment? Good Cops did...

But chances are you'll never meet one just walking down the street, as a good cop will not stop you for just walking down the street.

I have heard this thrice:

"We have concluded that the officer(s) reacted accordingly to the perceived threat posed by the deceased. Furthermore, although Mr Doe has been found to be a person other than that identified by the arrest warrant/not been charged with any crime and we feel that it would be unjust to punish our Dedicated Law enforcement Officials for following standard operating procedure in response to the perceived threat posed by Mr. Doe."

I have heard this "excuse" to cover up three D.O.A at my hospital.
It is a common one and extremely frightening as there is no oversight, and documentation is always minimal/biased in these internally-conducted investigations.

The point is that Justice is absent in the majority of these incidents... not cases, incidents. It is as though "Law Enforcers" are held to a much lower Standard of justice than the plebeians who are subjects to their varied interpretations of the law.

That said...

I have confirmed and documented the time of death in two of these cases ( or should I say 'incidents?') and witnessed confirmation on the other. Both cases were innocent victims of "The Force." No officers were punished in any of the incidents. Investigations were internally done as per usual.

God, help us all.

In any profession, there is people who abuse their power. (And btw are abused by their higher ups.) Just because somebody has authority doesn't mean they rule by divine right, nor is it a "given" right for them to be abused because they have that authority.

As usual, a story is written with a possible slant. (Probably to embarrass the police force.) And I'm sure if there was no probable cause for the cop to go over board, then the cop will be ridiculed and possibly demerited by his supervisors. Especially if it presents the "force" in a bad light. Of course, If the one arrested directly threatened the officer, "swore" at him, or did other behaviors that were not reported. Then the news reporter who wrote this story is not fully telling the truth.

What amazes me, is the amount of people quick to judge the "cop" without adequate information to support their conclusion. Granted, I for one have been wronged by are "supposed" public defenders. But that doesn't mean I'm going to state their all guilty because of one possibly slanted story.

Originally posted by Griff

Originally posted by sir_chancealot
And which of these three things are illegal?

Shhh!!. Don't you know that questioning an "authority" figure nowadays is illegal? Welcome to Amerika.

Certainly. I'm sure he was a possible terrorist as well.

One never knows when an innocent traffic stop will turn into a terrorist plot discovery.

[/sarcasm

I really think that both sides of this incident need to be explored. Until we see the dash-cam video, there's no way that we'll know what really happened.

Turn signals should always be used. Respect should always be given when talking to the police. It is common sense. You can be a big hero to all the bums in the county lockup, but that won't win you any medals on the outside. Turn signals are for the "other people" on the road, not you. They keep you from ketting slammed into by another car. Most cope are just happy to do their job and not get shot doing it. To say all cops are brutal abusers to the unsuspecting public would be like saying everyone with a gotee' is gay. All in my humble opinion.
Have a nice day.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo

But he does admit to challenging the officer's questions during the stop.

Hmmm. Yeah right. He "challenged him". Id love to hear the cop's side. This article is just too one sided.

I bet he did far more then challenge him. I would bet, based on the things I read here, that he verbally assualted the cop, acted like an arse and put up a major fight over getting the ticket.

I think its impossible to make a sound judgment on this, when you are hearing a biased report of the situation.

"a biased report" ? ! ? correct me if im wrong, but arent you in law enforcement ? that sounds to me like a biased post

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Man, I can't believe the amount of folks on this thread who actually ADVOCATE a person being ARRESTED for a turn signal violation?!? Are you folks serious? Throw someone in JAIL for forgetting to signal?

I am entirely serious, firstly he broke the law, secondly in my opinion it is a rather serious law.

Sure, he may slow down to turn the corner, if you're in another car you may just get a rough bump thats easy to fix. But if your are walking, you could be seriously injured; or even killed.

Many times I have had to jump out of the way of cars that suddenly take a turn without indicating, quite a few of those times there was a good chance of me being killed if I hadn't moved. If this had happened and he had hit someone, would you still be on the drivers side? Would it be the pedestrians fault even though he did no wrong?

Just because the driver didn't see a pedestrian doesn't mean there wasn't one there (Not saying there was in this case, but as a general thing) and so turning without indicating is seriously dangerous. The time of day does not matter either, in fact when it is dark it's even more serious that you use your indicaters as it is very hard to see someone walking.

Driving is not a right, it is a privilege.

I see nothing wrong with installing devices in vehicles (especially semi-trucks) that alert the police if they travel over the speed limit for over a few miles. If they speed through a school zone. If there is an emergency, then when you go to court, you simply use the paperwork from the hospital ect. I also think vehicles should have a cell phone inhibitor inside them. Plug your phone into the car's adapter and you can use hands free. Put the car in park, and your cell phone works normally. There is no reason anyone should be texting or driving while holding a cell phone up. Simply pull over if you want to.

Jail for not using a turn signal *shrug* maybe extreme. But loosing your license for a history or not using your turn signal, 100% agree. If you cannot follow basic simple steps like using your turn signal, you should not be diving a motor vehicle.

ok, i know there are some good cops out there (i know some) but i think they're in the minority and their numbers are dwindling. so whether this particular guy was right or wrong, police officers continue to go overboard when dealing with citizens and it's getting worse. it's worse now than it was lets say 10 years ago so imagine how it'll be a decade from now!

Thugs with guns and too much power and Power tends to corrupt.

I live in Texas. There is a very high probability that the officer wanted to stop this man so he used the turn signal as an excuse. I bet some where around half the cars, maybe more, do not signal at turns, lane change, etc. If people were to normally get stopped for failure to signal then that is all the police would ever do, all day long, everyday.

The guy got setup. A waste of time and tax money.