What happens when a *cop* causes an accident in a *cop car*?

[Loach]

@Xema

How about this situation? (Claimed to be factual by a guy I met some years ago.)

Policeman in a parking lot, responding to a radio call about a burglary in progress, manages to scrape two vehicles on his way out of the lot (he apparently was taking a shortcut through a space between the two that wasn’t quite big enough). He proceeds to the burglary scene, where he manages to arrest the criminal.

Witnesses saw and reported the incident in which the two vehicles were damaged. From their report, cop is tracked down. But he claims the damage is the responsibility of the burglar, whose crime was the reason he was hurrying out of the parking lot.

I don’t even understand what that means. Maybe in a civil liability sense?

On our standard statewide accident reports there is no section to assign blame. Under “Contributing circumstances” you can check off things like “excessive speed” or “driver inattention.” In a different section of the report where it talks about type of vehicle there is a block to check for emergency vehicle and one to indicate if it was responding to an emergency. That in no way excuses any action.

Very early in my career I scraped up my tires on a curb when responding to an emergency call. My Sergeant at the time told me something I’ll always remember, “It doesn’t matter what kind of call you are going to, you can’t do any good if you don’t make it there.”

[Jake]

@Loach

Then there is the story of one of our officers who is legendary in his Barney Fifeness who managed to be listed as the driver in both cars of a two car collision. Now that’s talent.

Barney Fifeness? Now THAT’S classic!!

[suranyi]

I have a friend who is a cop, and he told me a story once of a fellow officer who was caught in another jurisdiction with DUI. My friend told me there was nothing he could do, the officer was convicted.

[pkbites]

Pretty much what Loach said. Another on duty is dispatched and takes the report like any other accident. Whichever driver is at fault, including if it’s the cop, receives a citation if there was a traffic violation.

If the officer is not on his probationary period, and the violation is not major (reckless driving, etc.) that’s usually the end of it.

A very good friend of mine just tapped the bumper of a car in front of him with his squad at a traffic light. The other driver got out, took a look, and said “no harm no foul” and drove off. A week later he filed a claim against the county to have his bumper buffed out. My friend drew a 15 day suspension because even though it wasn’t legally a reportable accident department written policy dictated that he at least request a supervisor to the scene. So there is that hanging over a Deps head too.

[GusNSpot]

@pkbites

Pretty much what Loach said. Another on duty is dispatched and takes the report like any other accident. Whichever driver is at fault, including if it’s the cop, receives a citation if there was a traffic violation.

If the officer is not on his probationary period, and the violation is not major (reckless driving, etc.) that’s usually the end of it.

A very good friend of mine just tapped the bumper of a car in front of him with his squad at a traffic light. The other driver got out, took a look, and said “no harm no foul” and drove off. A week later he filed a claim against the county to have his bumper buffed out. My friend drew a 15 day suspension because even though it wasn’t legally a reportable accident department written policy dictated that he at least request a supervisor to the scene. So there is that hanging over a Deps head too.

The guy who got tapped is an asshat of the first order.
No harm, no foul and it was his decision. ::: sheesh :::

I bet from now on that officer will arrest anyone who tries that before the Sargent or whoever gets there.

If I am the next one & I have something really important to me to not be late for, this asshat ruined it for me because he ruined the cop about it. No matter if the rules say the officer was supposed to do this or that. He is less likely ( won’t even try ) to give a citizen a break when he really needs it.

::: grrr ::::

[dstarfire]

On a related note, what happens if the officer is responding to a call and gets in a minor accident (bumping an empty car, or gets hit in a way where nobody is likely to be injured)?

[Projammer]

Unfortunately for every 500 incidents that are handled straight up and don’t make the news there’s one of these.

Florida Police Caught on Camera Conspiring to Lie and Frame Woman for Accident

[pkbites]

@GusNSpot

The guy who got tapped is an asshat of the first order.
No harm, no foul and it was his decision. ::: sheesh :::

In the real world, yes. But in law enforcement one lives or dies by ones agency Standard Operating Procedures. When cops get in trouble or fired it’s almost always based on a violation of department policy. If one follows the SOP, even if the incident goes completely to shit, in the end one is not going to get fired or end up in jail or successfully sued.

As minor as that accident was, even though the driver had originally said all was alright, the SOP did say a supervisor was supposed to be summoned. When that driver filed his claim (it was like for $300) nobody knew what the hell he was talking about. A quick investigation led to my buddy sitting in front of IA with the policy manual in front of him, turned to the page that clearly stated what he was to do in that situation. Poor bastard had to just sit there, shut up, and take his medicine. 15 days is 3 working weeks. At his salary at the time that’s about $3840 pre-tax. :eek:UCH!

[gunnergoz]

A good friend from work was accidentally killed by a San Diego policeman who was responding to a call without lights and siren, then T-boned my friend who had the right of way at an intersection. The city settled with the family. It was many years ago but even so, the settlement cost the city taxpayers (and presumably the city’s insurance carrier for what the city could swing from them) in the low seven figures. The victim was in his early 30’s and had a solid job, years of productive labor in front of him and two kids, so the settlement seemed fair, considering.

[brickbacon]

A DC cop backed into my parked car on the street I used to live on. He ran my plates, knocked on my door, refused to explain in any detail what happened. Next, h
e called his supervisors who huddled up, then they decided to give me a ticket for being parked to close to an alleyway for which there is no egress and where there is a “do not enter sign” clearly posted. He said the cop car is an emergency vehicle and didn’t have to obey the sign. When I complained to the other supervising officers about the ticket, he and his buddy rattled off a list of petty things they COULD ticket me for: not changing my tags to DC tags soon enough, not having my wheels turned on a hill, etc. Then he said he could make my life a lot worse if they wanted to be dicks about it. Long story short, they delayed filing a report, ticketed me, and needless to say, didn’t pay. I suspect that my experience is more common than the cops agreeing to pay when they are clearly at fault.

[brickbacon]

Here was the short account of the incident I posted at the time:
Last night, while laying in bed, I get a knock on my door. It’s my roommate telling me the police were at my door, and that they had hit my car. THE FUCKING POLICE HIT MY CAR! I go outside and see that my back fender, the same place the drunk driver hit me, had been partially torn off, and dented to shit. The officer tells me his supervisor will be there shortly. Then he starts talking on his radio. No explanation, no apology, just that my car is damaged. He asks me if I want to fill out a report . Like I was really going to just let you fuck up my car, and leave.

The supervisor arrives and they go off to discuss the situation while another officer takes my info. As I hand him my stuff, I ask if him if that’s all he needs. He tells me, “[I’m] in his light”. The fact that this fucking asshole has the ball to say that after he hit my car is mind boggling. I’m sure he has a flashlight he could use. The supervision finishes meeting with the other cops. There are about 6 of them there, which indicates to me that deciding how to cover their ass is more important to them than actually investigating crimes. This is Washington DC, former murder capital of the USA, and they afford to call six cops to the scene to investigate how to resolve a car accident? The ranking cop comes over and starts questioning me.

Main Cop: Why are you parked here?

Me: On the street? (utterly confused)

MC: Yeah, you are too close to this alley, how are garbage trucks gonna get past you. How do you expect cars to pass you?

Aside: First, I was parked roughly 2 feet from the “entrance” of the alley, which really isn’t an entrance because of what I mention in the next paragraph.

Me: The isn’t an alley. There is clearly a “DO NOT ENTER” sign there, so no garbage trucks or vehicles would need to pass by. Not to mention that I am not blocking the alley, nor is there any sign, like there is near the alley farther up the street, that restricts parking near this particular alley.

MC: Signs!?!, this is an emergency vehicle. We can do what we want, we don’t have to follow signs. [Some of the other cops began cackling at this point]. You shouldn’t be parked here.

[He then turns around and starts looking over the police report.]

I was parked next to the entrance of what was formally an accessible alleyway. It is no longer accessible because a condo was built there, making it a dead end. Accordingly, a large “DO NOT ENTER” sign was placed near the entrance.

So there I am sitting on my neighbor’s stoop, next to the alley, while the cop who hit me is leaning on his patrol car with a shit-eating grin on his face. The ranking cop comes over to me and gives me a ticket for parking too close to an alley.

MC: This is a citation for parking too close to the alleyway. You shouldn’t have done that. As such, this violation indicates contributory negligence with regard to the accident. Doesn’t mean you are 100% responsible, but some of this mess is your fault. [walks away]

[I go up to the two cops who hit my car]

Me: I can’t believe you guys are actually giving me a ticket when you hit my car.

Bike Cop: We have to. It was partly your fault. Besides, I mean, if you want to be honest about it we could have given you other citations. You are parked on a hill [I AM NOT PARKED ON A HILL], you technically should have you wheels turned toward the curb. That’s a $25 fine right there. Also, you said you live in DC and you have NJ tags, you should have registered your car here. That a $75 fine there too.

Me: So I should be thankful that you only gave me one ticket.

Shit-eating grin cop: I ain’t saying you should be kissing our ass or anything, but if we wanted to be jerks about it, it could be a lot worse for you.

I haven’t been that mad in a long time. I just turned around and walked away as they were laughing and muttering things under their breath. It’s gonna be a long time before I trust the DC cops again, seeing as there’s a few of them that probably have it out for me. Just remember this story if I end up shot 41 times on my front porch with crack sprinkled all over my body.

[glilly]

I was bicycling behind and going the same speed as a motorcycle cop (I was in the bike lane). In retrospect I was probably riding in his blind spot. He made a sudden right turn w/o signaling. My front wheel rode up the side of the motorcycle. Somehow I was able to get my feet out of the pedal straps (this was 1988 – before clipless pedals were popular/affordable), jump off the bike, and land on my feet.

I was fine, and the bike didn’t have any damage that was worth repairing, but the cop said I had to wait for the supervisor. When he arrived, the cop alone talked with him. Supervisor only told me that if I found damage to be repaired it could report it to the city (or something like that).

That felt a little sketchy, and the motorcycle cop was a bit of a dick, but I didn’t really care as it seemed minor compared to some of the manglings I’d gotten on bicycles before.