Cop loses job for giving small fines

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by Peter B - CV8

Don't know why he just wouldn't mark down the offenders actual speed..... (unless these stat's are held somewhere & looked poor on his record/quota).

I was done back in May by an Officer heading in the opposite direction on the highway, with a roof mount laser.

I asked him nicely if he could perhaps drop the recorded speed he got me at on the fine (cheaper/less demerits), he said if it was up to him he probably would as I wasn't giving him any attitude, but they get audited on what the recorded speed was on the system compared to the fine and stuff. Not sure how true it was, whether he was just making it up to keep the fine higher.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by BOSHOG

what are you getting at?

The various laws are normally interpreted to take into account all circumstances.

e.g. It is unlawful to have your number plate obscured from view. If you are driving on a muddy road there is a good chance that there will be mud on your number plates and headlights.
If the law must be always as per the text then you must be fined for this as your car is unroadworthy.

It is unlawful to have a dirty windscreen.
If you drive through a bug storm your windscreen will be dirty.
Again you should be fined for this as your car is unroadworthy

So if you are randomly pulled over for a breath test or license check, which happens not uncommonly and you have just passed through a bug storm or left a muddy road and you are stone cold sober and fully licensed under the "yellow fire" system you will be fined and your car deemed unroadworthy so you cannot even take it to the nearest servo to clean the bugs or mud off.

Luckily common sense is normally used by the police and the above does not happen, but the law says it should......

[Wally]

He got sacked because he knowingly made a false declaration on a potential court evidenciary document (the infringement ticket) and therefore perverted the course of justice.

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by flappist

So if you are randomly pulled over for a breath test or license check, which happens not uncommonly and you have just passed through a bug storm or left a muddy road and you are stone cold sober and fully licensed under the "yellow fire" system you will be fined and your car deemed unroadworthy so you cannot even take it to the nearest servo to clean the bugs or mud off.

Under the "Yellow Fire" system the person with an obstructed licence plate would be booked. Police are using number plate recognition more and more so I would think having your number plate covered would be a serious issue. I would suggest that anyone driving through enough mud to obscure their plate could spend a minute or two cleaning it off before heading back onto a public highway.

The system would not however prevent them from driving to the nearest servo to clean the plate and continue on their way. Confiscating cars at the roadside is far too extreme for me.

[pauljh74]

Take money from a private person ie theft and they get a slap on the wrist. Steal from or reduce the money government gets and they will chase you to the ends of the earth - no mercy

[MO]

Originally Posted by Yellow Fire

Under the "Yellow Fire" system the person with an obstructed licence plate would be booked. Police are using number plate recognition more and more so I would think having your number plate covered would be a serious issue. I would suggest that anyone driving through enough mud to obscure their plate could spend a minute or two cleaning it off before heading back onto a public highway.

The system would not however prevent them from driving to the nearest servo to clean the plate and continue on their way. Confiscating cars at the roadside is far too extreme for me.

As for your last para,want to bet,if the cop is in a bad mood or just zealous he/she can book you. I think you'll find if you read the pertinant section it does not allow for this and quite probably states..'that number plate shall be clearly visible at all times.
Oh and thank the gods that you're not a cop.

[predator_230]

Police officers like this dude are a dying breed. He should be the poster cop on how to use discretion. I only hope he wins his appeal so he can teach his common sense to all the rookies going through the academy. After all, if they were all taught the "yellow fire" system god help us all.

[FPV8U]

Nice Cops Finish Last..

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by MO

As for your last para,want to bet,if the cop is in a bad mood or just zealous he/she can book you.

This is exactly my point. Your punishment depends on the cop not the law.

Oh and thank the gods that you're not a cop.

Amen!

[xrford]

Either theres more to the story or Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay = dumb arze And now has to find himself someone else who can bring in 500 infringements over two years.. hes really made an example of the right person there :togo:

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Yellow Fire

Under the "Yellow Fire" system the person with an obstructed licence plate would be booked. Police are using number plate recognition more and more so I would think having your number plate covered would be a serious issue. I would suggest that anyone driving through enough mud to obscure their plate could spend a minute or two cleaning it off before heading back onto a public highway.

.

you have obviously never driven on any of our major interstate highways (newell, new england, cunningham etc) whilst there is a bit of roadworks going on, esp just after the watertruck has been. i guess i should hop out with a rag each time and give the plate a wipe, only to encounter more roadworks 10 min up the road.

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by prydey

you have obviously never driven on any of our major interstate highways (newell, new england, cunningham etc) whilst there is a bit of roadworks going on, esp just after the watertruck has been. i guess i should hop out with a rag each time and give the plate a wipe, only to encounter more roadworks 10 min up the road.

I actually live on one of those roads

I personally have never seen mud bad enough to obscure my number plate on my road but if you tell me it a common problem I believe you and hope you've never had trouble from the law as a result.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Yellow Fire

I actually live on one of those roads

I personally have never seen mud bad enough to obscure my number plate on my road but if you tell me it a common problem I believe you and hope you've never had trouble from the law as a result.

i was just throwing an example out there. i have been unfortunate enough to come accross these sorts of roadworks soon after the water truck or rain has been and its not pleasant.

i've also had the misfortune on one of my trips to come accross a locust (or some similar creature) plague which pretty much obscured the front of my car. when i next stopped for fuel, i did actually have to clean my lights they were that bad. number plate was obscured but i left it like that.

i for one am glad that police officers use discretion from time to time. i've been a good boy for the last 15yrs though so hopefully my luck continues.

[RG]

Originally Posted by xrford

Either theres more to the story or Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay = dumb arze And now has to find himself someone else who can bring in 500 infringements over two years.. hes really made an example of the right person there :togo:

Ken Lay comes across as nothing more than a Labor party yes man muppet. He makes Christine Nixon look impartial the way he goes on.

[Bent8]

Originally Posted by Yellow Fire

The police are there to administer the law not make it up as they see fit.

Even if these laws infringe upon your personal freedoms and have absolutely no justification other than milking the population of their hard earned money?...

It's kinda sad when you think about it though, this cop was thinking with his heart and although I agree he went about it in the wrong way, the people he works for are criminals who have no interest in our safety or freedoms.....very very sad!

But then what would you do as the population explodes and the only way to maintain your monopoly of power and manipulation is to take away our freedom and dignity?

At the very least, it shows that not every law enforcement officer is in it for the power trip...

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by Bent8

Even if these laws infringe upon your personal freedoms and have absolutely no justification other than milking the population of their hard earned money?...

Maybe if these unjust laws were enforced 100% of the time the population would wake up & vote out the clowns that keep making them?

Just a dream I have I guess.

[MO]

Originally Posted by Yellow Fire

Maybe if these unjust laws were enforced 100% of the time the population would wake up & vote out the clowns that keep making them?

Just a dream I have I guess.

LOL vote them out mwuhahahaha,wake up if it makes money for any gov't it stays.I think its time to pull your head out of the sand and see the world for what it really is.

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by MO

LOL vote them out mwuhahahaha,wake up if it makes money for any gov't it stays.I think its time to pull your head out of the sand and see the world for what it really is.

...and this is why the system stays the same.

[Charliewool]

Neil Mitchell was on this one today... Missed who he interviewed.. coulda been Overland?
An interesting point to come out of it was .. Of the 500 booked, 497 have NOT offended since!.. To Me, that's pro-active policing that has worked!

Edit... It was Police Association secretary Senior Sergeant Greg Davies.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Neil Mitchell was on this one today... Missed who he interviewed.. coulda been Overland?
An interesting point to come out of it was .. Of the 500 booked, 497 have NOT offended since!.. To Me, that's pro-active policing that has worked!

Edit... It was Police Association secretary Senior Sergeant Greg Davies.

Yes heard that as well. The (ex) policeman is taking it further so wont be the last of it anyway.

Every time I drive by the police in the Landau, they use discretion not to pull me over ...... and that goes for 90% of cars on the road full of minor defaults

All cops should have some discretion. Would be pure hell if there wasn't, both for the public and the establishment. I have been pulled over to be alerted that 1 stoplight wasn't working. Fixed it in 3 minutes and on my way ... no fine. Yes I know ... under the 'Yellow Fire' rule I should have been talking to bubba!



| [/url] |

[MO]

Originally Posted by charliewool

Neil Mitchell was on this one today... Missed who he interviewed.. coulda been Overland?
An interesting point to come out of it was .. Of the 500 booked, 497 have NOT offended since!.. To Me, that's pro-active policing that has worked!

Edit... It was Police Association secretary Senior Sergeant Greg Davies.

Well there it is the real reason he was sacked...497 did not reoffend....loss of revenue.

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by auslandau

Yes I know ... under the 'Yellow Fire' rule I should have been talking to bubba!

I'm surprised this forum reacted the way they did to my posts. I'll spell them out here again. If people still think I'm wrong that's cool. I just expected a different response from car enthusiasts. Maybe I was too obtuse hoping people would read between the lines.

1) The road rules as they stand at the moment are terrible. Inconsistent treatment of offenses (see "hoon laws" & speed cameras as revenue raising rather than safety devices)
2) The police at the moment use "discretion" to soften the blow of certain laws that they themselves feel are incorrect (see the actions of the officer in the OP)
3) Removing the "discretion" of the police would expose the laws for what they really are (ie thousands of people getting booked for offences that they were once "let off" for)
4) Laws would have the opportunity to get changed once they are exposed as unjust.

Now of course point 4 is the problem. Are the Australian public smart enough to work through points 1-3 to arrive at point 4? I hope so, but no-one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average voter.

Rather than creating a police state I was suggesting the opposite. The problem is with the laws not the police. I feel sorry for police having to enforce them. The clowns who make these laws should feel the anger of the people rather than being shielded from it by police trying to do the right thing by motorists.

[MO]

Well herein lies the big problem of the written word especially on a car forum with this subject........sarcasm and reading between lines are hard to see.
As both rely heavily on voice intonation and facial expression.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Yellow Fire

4) Laws would have the opportunity to get changed once they are exposed as unjust.

Now of course point 4 is the problem. Are the Australian public smart enough

See ..... thats why you got the reaction you did. You are living in la la land if you think that would ever happen. Once in place, they will never ever change .... no matter how many polls, marches, letters to the editor, change of g'ment, rantings in forums, million petitions ..... once these things are in place .... thats it!

Without getting into the political sides of things as that only leads to punch ups .... look what is happening at the moment with the damn ETS and Turncoat sitting on Krudds knee with a hand controlling the actions of his mouth! They are all the same ... nothing changes ... we are sheep and they know it too well.



| [/url] |

[Iggypoppin']

Originally Posted by FalconXR6

It's now game on moles.

Not nessecary or needed.
I think what's happened here is he has used discretion- in the wrong context. As a police officer, you are allowed to choose to issue a ticket for infringements; it has happened to me. However, if you "use discretion" to decide whether to issue a fine or not, and you do, then the right to use discretion any further ceases. You must issue a ticket that matches the numbers on the radar gun and the corresponding speed limit. Whether he then issues additional infractions against your vehicle is again, up to discretion. Once he makes that decision however, he must follow the rules.

[ltd_on20s]

Originally Posted by auslandau

Once in place, they will never ever change .... no matter how many polls, marches, letters to the editor, change of g'ment, rantings in forums, million petitions ..... once these things are in place .... thats it!

thats cause we are sheep in this country. we wave our fist in the air and yell" you b**tards" and do nothing.


i was in Lebanon(unsurprising being of lebanese descent), when the government raised the basic cost of petrol by about.......14 cents......14 CENTS... only a few months after they had raised it previously.


about 300,000 picketed parliment house for a week till it got dropped......


can you imagine 300,000 people standing in front of every states parliment for a week?

[Iggypoppin']

Yellow fire, can you go back and thoroughly re-read everything you've written?you seem to have "catch 22'd" yourself a few times..

Under the "yellow fire" rule I should have been booked last year, condemned, "Clap that loon in irons!" etc. Thanks to the friendly officer and his discretion, I was warned and asked to go..

I had a bug on my windscreen in my line of sight, should I have been done for that too?

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by auslandau

See ..... thats why you got the reaction you did. You are living in la la land if you think that would ever happen. Once in place, they will never ever change .... no matter how many polls, marches, letters to the editor, change of g'ment, rantings in forums, million petitions ..... once these things are in place .... thats it!

I've said my bit about the topic at hand so I won't drag this far off topic.

Surely you find it incredibly depressing to admit that the system is so broken that it cannot be changed? To admit that a corrupt government system cannot be removed by people standing up for themselves? To admit that the general population is so stupid that they vote against their best interests?

I'm no hippy. I'm a white colour cog in the capitalist machine who spends his disposable income on the things I am told will make me happy just like everyone else here.

If you're right (which you may well be) it's a pretty bleak outlook for the future of this countrty.

[Yellow Fire]

Originally Posted by 76txcoupe

Yellow fire, can you go back and thoroughly re-read everything you've written?you seem to have "catch 22'd" yourself a few times..

I have re-read everything. I feel everything I said was consistent but I'm happy to be picked up anything.

As I said above perhaps I was too obtuse. I was expecting someone to latch onto the "don't blame the police blame the laws" topic but it didn't really happen that way.

[MO]

Yellowfire,your young,you will learn eventually about the ways of the world.