# Is police 'professional courtesy' justified? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 3, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579 "2007-01-03T19:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579/41 "2007-01-04T21:14:34Z")
[QUOTE=Bearflag70] That site ticks me off. It’s bunch of crybaby cops whining because they broke the law and had to pay the price, just like common ordinary people. WAAAAH! [/QUOTE] I’ve been reading over the forums on that site for an hour or so now. Most of the cops who post there piss me off, and frighten me- they seem to feel that they’re above the law. There’s one guy, however, who gets lambasted every time he posts (not going to mention his name- even though the site appears to be dormant, I don’t want to start a forum war), since he believes that people who enforce the law should be held to a higher standard. I wish there was some way to contact the guy- I’d love to let him know that he’s the kind of cop that I respect. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579/42 "2007-01-04T22:00:00Z")
> [@Hogwash](#): > > Hey, I like it; Gil Grissom is a legend. 😃 Hey, to each their own. My roommate can’t understand why I like (the British version of) Whose Line is it Anyway. > [@Hogwash](#): > > I’ve never been pulled over myself, but I don’t think the procedure is radically different. As far as spotting a cop’s wife is concerned, the special badge would seem redundant if you could tell from license and registration alone. Also, a cop’s friends would definitely need a special marker to distinguish them from the masses and to cue the ‘So you know Officer Jackson?’ chatter. I can’t say I’m a big fan of a “special badge”. Who gets it? Who doesn’t? The officer’s old college roomie? The guy with the season tickets next to his at the ballpark? His tax man? An old study buddie from English 101? > [@lowbrass](#): > > So you believe it’s ethically and legally correct for a cop, who otherwise was not going to issue a traffic citation, to do so because he felt that the person wasn’t nice enough to him? No, but you’re more likely to get off easy–in _any_ adversary situation–by being understanding, apologetic, etc. Speeding tickets shouldn’t be any different. I got off easy on my only speeding ticket–saved hundreds of dollars on my ticket because he cut 5 mph off, given that I was scared shitless, apologetic, and polite and had never so much as stolen a paperclip from Office Depot before. It’s not ethically correct to bump the penalty up for not being nice enough, but it _is_ ethically correct to bump it down for being extroardinarily nice. > [@lowbrass](#): > > or if the infraction was minor enough to warrant only a warning That’s exactly what I’m talking about. If you’re blazing through a 35 zone at 100 mph, of course you shouldn’t get off easy. But if you were (say) going 85 in a 70, and you were clearly not posing much of a danger given the traffic conditions, the cop should have some room to let you off easy, right? I’m not any more bothered by a cop getting away with that kind of thing. > [@DrDeth](#): > > I think it’s OK, as long as the violation is of a sort where the Officer would consider giving a warning to a non-police officer. This is the gist of my argument. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579/43 "2007-01-04T22:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] No, but you’re more likely to get off easy–in _any_ adversary situation–by being understanding, apologetic, etc. [/quote] Yes, but we’re discussing if it’s _ethical_, not if it _exists_. > [@](#): > > It’s not ethically correct to bump the penalty up for not being nice enough, but it _is_ ethically correct to bump it down for being extroardinarily nice. I don’t see how. If you are a cop, and you give a ticket to Person A in X situation, but do _not_ give a ticket to Person B in X situation, you are in effect _penalizing_ Person A. How is basing the decision on whether the person was “extraordinarily nice” anything other than arbitrary? Is there anything in any vehicle code that suggests one’s guilt is contingent on how “nice” he is? > [@](#): > > That’s exactly what I’m talking about. If you’re blazing through a 35 zone at 100 mph, of course you shouldn’t get off easy. But if you were (say) going 85 in a 70, and you were clearly not posing much of a danger given the traffic conditions, the cop should have some room to let you off easy, right? I’m not any more bothered by a cop getting away with that kind of thing. It’s not the discretion itself that’s unethical, it’s the idea of _basing_ the decision on completely arbitrary personal feelings. Deciding not to cite a speeder because the speed, while technically over the posted limit, was safe for the conditions at the time \<- o.k. Deciding to cite a speeder because you thought he looked at you funny \<- not o.k. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579/44 "2007-01-04T23:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] It’s not ethically correct to bump the penalty up for not being nice enough, but it _is_ ethically correct to bump it down for being extroardinarily nice. [/quote] Wouldn’t that just encourage repeat offenses by nice people, making life just a bit more dangerous for the rude? Perhaps if it’s a written warning it doesn’t matter, but some warnings aren’t written down, right? ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579/45 "2007-01-05T02:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=lowbrass] Do you mean your brakes actually got _stuck_, or do you mean that you braked hard while turning, expecting the antilock system to correct for your error, and then were surprised when it didn’t do so? [/QUOTE] Sorry for the long delay before response. I was driving about 20 MPH in a 25 zone, there was icy rain at 2:00 am on a small town road. My ABS warning light came on, so I decided to pull over. I let the car slow down to about 10 MPH on its own. As soon as my foot touched the brake, they locked hard. The car slid sideways on the ice very slowly to the left, essentially doing a u-turn. I pulled out of the slide by lightly touching the gas and I managed to pull it to a stop by the curb, now facing the wrong direction. I got out to examine the car and scrape some of the ice which had accumulated on the headlights. The sheriff pulled up behind me with his lights on, I thought he was going to offer help. Instead he issued a citation for unlawful u-turn. My explanation meant nothing to him. When he asked where I was heading, I told him the town, and he said “That’s the direction you _were_ going.” Exactly, Beavis, I had not intended to slide as I said at least three times. I asked him how I can turn the car around without getting another ticket and he pointed out a parking lot I could use. After I shut the car off and started it again, the warning light went off and the brakes functioned normally. And yes, I showed him the warning light that was lit, but that didn’t help fund his department, so he ignored me. So, the moral of the story is, if you think there may be something wrong with your car. Don’t even touch the brakes until you are on a nice, safe, deserted highway in the wilderness. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579/46 "2007-01-05T02:35:19Z")
Thanks for clarifying that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-police-professional-courtesy-justified/386579.md?page=2)