jaywalking is still an offence punishable by the highway traffic act & cops are dicks

The BBQ Pit
1

or, “sometimes, cops have nothing better to do.”
i mean, i’m not disputing the fact that it may well still be on the books & everything… but c’mon. really. has your shift been that boring? are there no other, more pressing concerns for you to take care of, or at least be on alert for?

ok, here the situation:

as i leave my club, about 4am, i need to get across the street & up about a block & round the corner to catch a cab home. i look for traffic in every possible direction (including looking for traffic heading the wrong way on the one-way i’m cutting across) twice. it’s all clear - two cabs, one parked, the other just pulling out from behind the parked one about a block & half away. no other vehicles within two blocks in any direction of my chosen crossing point.

so i cross the road, and then, only after i am several paces up the block, i hear someone yell out, “hey you! stop!” i ignore this. (seriously, if i stopped, turned & looked every time someone yelled, “hey you!” when walking through the club district after hours i’d not only be on a first-name basis with every homeless person in the downtown, i’d’ve prolly got my ass jumped a couple dozen times for "getting in (on someone else’s) bizness.)

anyway, couple paces later, i got a hand on my shoulder, and i react by a)turning quickly, b) bracing myself in a defensive-yet-ready-to-strike posture, & c) upon realizing it’s a cop’s hand on my shoulder, opening my palms towards the cop, and spreading them wide from my body.

i followed this immediately by saying, “what seems to be the problem, officer?”

“give me your id!” he yelled. “i’m sorry,” i replied, “why? do you need my id?”

“jaywalking is a crime. give me your id, or you will regret it.”

“um… i think i got my driver’s licence in my backpack somewhere… i don’t always carry it with me though, cause i don’t drive in the city, and um, isn’t a bit of a nazi move to demand id from a guy walking down the street?”

“you better find it, kid, or i’m taking you in. resisting arrest. it’s a crime you know.”

… … …

“ya ok, i’ve found my dl. why do you need it?”

“you jaywalked. that’s an offence punishable under the highway traffic act. surrender your id, or be prepared to be taken into custody until such time as your identity can be positively established.”

five minutes later (approximately) i’m walking away with a $50 fine in my pocket, and a little less respect for every cop i’ll ever meet again.

eta:

and just to make sure this is pit-worthy:

fuck ass shit bitch cunt motherfucker asswipe cocksnot pussy-juice crap balls poo.

2

umm, what city and or country did this happen in?

$50 is pretty cheap tuition to learn that while it doesn’t always work, being polite and helpful with a cop is usually the best foot forward. May grate a bit.

3

That’s pathetic. The fellow ought to get a life, and a different job.

4

as a follow-up, i am going to contest this charge on two grounds:

a) selective enforcement – i’ve worked in the same place for 3 years, and during that time i’ve crossed the same road, roughly in the same spot, depending on traffic, near a thousand times; and i have personally witnessed, at a minimum, 10x that number of similar crossings by other people over that time. at least 1 in 10 of those crossings, both my of own & by others (inclusive,) have been witnessed by police with no response. either the law is enforced evenly, or it shouldn’t be.

b) i am domesticated, and therefore not subject to the rules of livestock (ok, this i kid about… but shit. really?)

5

this is in toronto, at/near richmond & the middle of the club district, ftr.

6

You’re in Atlanta, right?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/01/11/nhistorian11.xml

7

This could apply to any routine stop. Busted for jaywalking, but others do it too. Speeding, but others do it too…

Not only that, you tell them that you do it 1 out of 10 times, and now you’re admitting past crimes. :dubious:

8

so what? i do it in front of cops, no doubt the same cop who nailed me here, all the time. if it’s an offence, it is every time - and the cops have not been doing their job all these years. how come i never got so much as a warning before? a hey buddy, cut it out or we’ll fine youi? or it is an offence only when the cop is bored enough; in which case, is that really an offence?

and just for the record, i have no problem with pleading guilty in court to jaywalking. i just have a problem with being fined for it once, when i have personally seen others (and myself) walk away from the same “offence” in front of cops, literally thousands of times.
it is, or it isn’t, a finable offence. no “sometimes.” no “maybe.” no “when we are looking for something to do.”
that shit is just wrong.

now, if every jaywalker i ever see, when a cop is present, gets busted & fined from now on, i’ll shut up, and never again complain about this fine. fair cop.

though from from what i’ve seen ever until now, bullshit.

9

Totally irritating.
I’d go to court if I had the day off–I have done this in the past here in St Charles–and make sure the judge knows I think the cop is a doofus. In our lovely local system this requires me to pay court costs as well–another $50 or so in addition to the fine. It was worth it to me.

There is another culprit: crappy legislation. It’s pretty easy to add “whenever road traffic might present a hazard” to jaywalking rules.

In my town there seems to be a number of police officers who have found a profession that lets them be the big shot they never were in high school.

10

Oh, grow up. If I let my parking meter expire and I get a ticket, it doesn’t matter one whit that there’s a million other cars getting away with the same thing at that moment, or the fact that there are dozens of open parking spaces around me, or that I’d done it a thousand times in the past. I have no problem with venting a bit, but you got nailed fair and square. Pay the $50 and admit it: you broke a petty law and got a petty fine.

11

Spoken like a true defender of petty tyranny.

That’s the triumph of it for the petty-minded: it was “fair and square.”

That it served no purpose to further either the personal safety of the lawbreaker or the larger benefit of society is irrelevant. You Broke the Law and You Must Pay. No matter if the application of the law in this instance makes the law an ass and allows the policeman to glory in being the hole of the ass.

12

I would not use this as a defense if you’re going to contest the charge. Rule #1 when dealing with the law: never admit to a crime.

13

I’m generalizing here, but I suspect it’s never particularly beneficial to Godwinize your conversation with a police officer, regardless of the circumstances.

Neither that, nor lifting up your nose and making oinking noises, is likely to work in your favor.

14

I don’t want to hijack this thread but I’d like to ask the police officers on the forum if a certain situation is warranted.

Four years ago my husband and I went to the our local Wal Mart to get sundry items and other shit. I lingered at the sinus/allergy pill aisle because I wanted something that would take care of all of my symptoms. Some guy came by and stood by the aisle and I did not see him at first. When I did see him I flinched, because he startled me.

He asked me if I was okay and I said I was. He then asked if I was spooked easily or something like that, it’s too long to remember. I did say I was fine, I know that. I went on about my shopping from then.

Well, after we were done with our shopping we headed home. But it wasn’t to be done, not by a lonngshot. There was a cop car behind us and when we stopped they made me get out of my vehicle. Yes, I had to stand on the side of the road and give them my birth date and full name while they tried to trip me up with some stupid shit . “You say yor birthday is XXX?” No, I said my birthday is exactly what I said. Their whole stupid shit was that I didn’t have my ID on me. Sorry, I was going to the grocery store and didn’t even think about it. I have gone to that same grocery store for the last twelve years.

They eventually let us go, but not before making me feel like a criminal. I gave away the clothes I was wearing that night because I didn’t want them tainting me. And I am not a superstitious person. I have not had good dealings with cops.

15

I’d go with the “I’ve broken the law at least a thousand times before-why wasn’t I arrested then?” tactic, because that one always works in a court of law. :rolleyes:
The “Don’t they having bigger crimes to fight!” defense has always intrigued me. I can just imagine two cops talking to each other in a patrol car:
“Toody, that man just jaywalked. Wait here for a minute while I go ticket him.”
“Now Muldoon, you know that we are only allowed to solve so many crimes per day. Let’s hold off on this one just in case we come across a break-in or a mugging.”

16

Wait, you’re in Toronto? That can’t be, I have it on good authority that Nazi-police authoritarian bullshit only happens in the States, so obviously you jaywalked your way across the border. This is why we need more border patrol btw, to keep them jaywalking Canadians off our streets.

17

Guys, I’ve been a cop for 20 years. If this went down as bob_loblaw says it did, then I agree with him. This was a chickenshit stop and ticket, and the officer’s demeanor was entirely inappropriate.

There’s probably no point in bitching him to his superiors, since this was technically a violation, but it still wasn’t right.

Let me apologize for all of us who aren’t weighed down by our badges, bob_loblaw.

18

May I point out that the early morning hours are an excellent time to take a bucket of yellow (or white if appropriate) paint and install your own pedestrian crossing zone? :stuck_out_tongue:

19

I have absolutely no sympathy for the OP. You broke the law, you got caught, you gave the cop attitude, you got a fine. Pay it and move on with your life. Your argument about selective enforcement is also bullshit. All traffic law enforcement is selective enforcement.

And cross at the corners in legal crosswalks - that isn’t a bullshit law. That’s a law to help pedes and cars co-exist, even at 4 am.

20

Bwahahahaha… that adds all kinds of levels to “Why did the chicken cross the road?”

“Apparently, it doesn’t matter as long as the chicken is domesticated and not classified as livestock under California state law, which would subject it to a $54 fine.”

Add that one to your repertoire.