Because you didn’t see the episode of Dragnet (circa late 60’s) that this horseshit story appeared on.
But what do I know?
I’ve been on the job since 1982 in a large metropolitan area (1.5 million+) covering 2 separate careers. I am a member of not only a police union but several peace officer organizations. I’ve also never heard of such a thing except as people selling them as a scam. All told I’m sure my thousands of posts on these boards holds no weight against their 2!
It’s not insane. It is a seriously good question. And it’s not a new question.
But to call it “insane,” or “communist,” or “utopian,” has been the standard way of dismissing the “why” question for generations. And of course it must be dismissed, because a lot of people *really *don’t want to hear the answer.
Hélder Pessoa Câmara, former (now deceased) Archbishop of Olinda and Recife (Brazil) and Servant of God.
A quick Google search shows that they are DEFINITELY a thing.
Meanwhile where I live, there was a “charity” that supported cops. Give them a few grand and they would give you a license plate that, based on multiple investigative reports, gets you out of tickets.
The charity came under fire for this so they stopped selling – oh gosh I’m sorry, “rewarding their donors” – with these license plates. For a few years. Then they mysteriously came back.
Yeah. In NYC, they are (or were, a long time ago, when I was given one) little badges. Actually, there is a card that goes with it, but what you show to a cop (discreetly, when presenting your ID) is a little badge.
I might still have one in a drawer somewhere. I don’t know. It was given to me a long time ago by a police officer (NYPD detective), a relative who really did mean well. I never used it. I felt uncomfortable about the whole thing.
pkbites, it’s not horseshit. They exist. At least here.
I’m very confused because a deeper Google search shows that not only are these cards 100% real (you can find literally DOZENS of local news stories about some sherif giving these people or those lifetime memberships to thank them for some service) but I also haven’t been able to find a single other person alleging that they AREN’T real. I’d be very interested in a cite from pkbites or, failing that, an apology to Embraceable Ewe.
Guess their two posts were where we should have placed our weight after all?
My brother owned a trucking company in Texas until recently. It’s very common. They moved earth from road construction and highway construction. Dallas PD were big fans of “your washer fluid is 2 inches low in the tank, here is a 250-500 dollar fine.” They worked in dusty environments and were afraid to use any. Fines in the 1000s a week for little piss broom stuff like that.
I believe most if not all of his points about the police in this nation are believable based on everything I’ve seen, heard, read about, or personally experienced. You can’t trust any of them because their Code of Silence is tantamount to Silent Assent. It doesn’t matter if, say, only one in twenty cops is a rogue cop if the other nineteen silently stand by and watch him kill you. In that regard, they are ALL killing you.
Fine. Then you better be sure it’s real before you try to use one. Around here in the early-mid 80’s there was an alleged “charity” selling these things telling unsuspecting saps that they would get them out of a ticket. A lot of people realized they were duped when they got pulled over and no officer ever heard of such a thing. It was an absolute scam.
Eventually the company was shut down and PSA went out advising people the charity was a scam and no money went to any police agency and no, they would not get you out of a ticket.
Then the “charity” popped back up a few years later only that time they were saying the funds benefitted
Local fire fighters and were good for the insurance deductible amount charged for ambulance transports and such. It got shut down once again. I do not know if anyone was ever prosecuted for running these scams.
I do know that many of the people who thought they had a getouttaaticket card were driving like jerks.
I’m sure there are some places where a crooked Sheriff or Chief or Mayor hands out “give this gentleman all considerations you’d give me” cards. But it is not the legitimate way law nforcement should be conducted, and most police unions would not endorse the idea.
I’m pretty sure the one my uncle Jack, my mother’s brother, gave me was real, if only because even a tough NYPD detective would have hesitated to cross my mother. And I’m pretty sure the one my friend Teri has, that her husband gave her, is real.
I don’t doubt that there are scammers out there selling phony “courtesy cards,” though. Or even actual non-profits that benefit police officers implying that the card they offer offers certain benefits, when in reality it’s bullshit.
Couldn’t agree more that law enforcement shouldn’t be conducted that way. As to police unions endorsing the idea, the various unions (there are a few) that represent NYPD officers seem just fine with it. For better or worse.
Their fine with publicly saying if folks give to a police association they’ll get out of traffic violations? Thats tantamount to soliciting a bribe.
You can give/join all sorts of associations without being an actual LEO. I just don’t know of any legitimate ones around here that would insinuate that joining would shield one from tickets. IIRC the phony one that was doing it was a boiler room op out of Nevada. They sent people some hokey ID card and a cheapola sticker they were supposed to put on their rear window. No agency had any actual affiliation with this alleged association.
I wrote a response last night but it appears to have disappeared, so apologies if this is a duplicate.
I was given cards in different years by different officers. The cards are dated with current year stamped on them, so I would only carry the most recent one. And I did get questioned once when the card I was carrying was several years old, but in the end, I didn’t get a ticket then, either.
They are not turned in when you use them. You show the card, you usually get a free pass, you put the card away.
To pkbites:
I realize we are strangers to one another and it’s wise to be skeptical on the internet but tbh, but when you say you’ve never heard of cards like these it makes me question whether you worked as a police officer. You don’t have to prove anything to me but internet skepticism works in both directions here.
I don’t have any cops as close friends, so this whole ‘get-out-of-trouble’ card thing was a revelation to me when I first learned about it. When I actually got my first card, I found out it was true.
Search Google for “police courtesy cards”. It won’t prove I ever had one of these, but it will give you evidence they exist. Lots of evidence. (I would provide a link but that is x-ed out on the formatting bar.)
25 years Deputy Sheriff, retired, 13 years current full time police officer for a department I worked part time at for 15 years prior to retiring the county and accepting full time as a second career.
As I posted, you can join a police association. I just know of no legitimate ones that would publicly say such membership card is a get out of ticket free pass. Many of the cites on Google are a mixed bag. But those that say it’s so seem to be from places lime Philly, NYC, and Chicago. Not exactly utopias of clean government I suppose.
And there was a phony charity here selling these things and they were worthless.
At that time he had been my boss for only a little over a year and a half. I had not yet realized how corrupt and completely full of shit he was. And in threads and other boards I admitted I was initially a supporter.
I retired in 2007 taking a 25 year retirement instead of waiting 5 years and taking a 30 year with a higher pension. I just couldn’t stand the insanity any more.
I can personally testify to PBA cards in NY (LI). My college buddy was driving and we got pulled over and he had his PBA thing right next to his license, and even kind of made it obvious in a ham fisted way, and the officer’s demeanor and attitude immediately changed and he got off with a warning.
That was the first I had heard of it. But next time I got a PBA donation solicitation in the mail I donated. Besides the card, it came with window decals. I did keep the card in my wallet, but always felt too awkward to show. But once an officer spotted it by aesthetic mixed in with everything else and name dropped it.
It’s definitely a thing.
Absolutely, this is not an official policy.
But also absolutely, that it’s not an official policy, in practice, is mostly a CYA conceit.
You’re moving the goalposts a bit. I’m talking about the card/badge that police officers give to their relatives. They are known to get the holder favorable treatment in a traffic stop. I doubt that it’s a free pass for anything more than that.
I’m not talking about some card given in return for a donation to a police association. About those, I said in my post “even actual non-profits that benefit police officers implying that the card they offer offers certain benefits, when in reality it’s bullshit.”
That speaks well of organizations and departments in your area. It’s not true everywhere. Plenty of otherwise legitimate organizations will “insinuate” that donations, or joining, confer certain benefits.