So today I was driving along in the right lane at the speed limit, and I see a Yaris speed past me on the left. Then I see a cop speed past right behind him. There could not have been more than 5 feet between the cars. I thought there was a police chase going on. Im coming up to an intersection with a red light, The cop pulls in front of me and activates his lights. I figured my assumption was correct. He proceeds thru the intersection without slowing and then shuts off his lights. The light turns green not 5 seconds later.

Stop your whining. Believe it or not, there is crime in Fairfax County. When police officers are responding to crimes they don't stop to write speeding tickets. I know you don't understand why police go through red lights when they are responding to crimes, but perhaps I can give you some insight.

You can check with VDOT if you wish, but the average traffic signal is set to cycle every 90 seconds when continuous traffic triggers the sensors on both ends of the intersection. Police do not have the ability to change that cycle (fire department can). An officer responding to a crime in progress could wait through five different red lights and add 5 minutes to his/her response time, but that wouldn't be very smart would it?

Police don't run full lights and sirens to EVERY call. Usually this practice is reserved for the most serious incidents when life is in serious danger. Some examples of calls in which officers would stop and clear a red light using intermittent lights/siren would be a fight in progress without weapons, a shoplifter running from or struggling with security, or even a 9-1-1 call with suspicious noises heard on the other end where someone may be in need of help.

Stop hating on the police and be glad that they are willing to drop everything they are doing and rush to a citizen in need...

I've been pulled over for not having my seatbelt on but then later the police officer wrote me up about tint. well my windows were up and theres no way he could see me and my passengers through the tint. he leans in and says ive been smoking marijuana in the car and searches it.

just two nights ago my friends and i were coming home at 3am from mount vernon when a police makes a U turn illegally and follows us, at the first chance to get off we get pulled over for HUGGGING THE FOGLINE?

Fuckk that

My advice to you is don't drive after 3AM, if you don't want to chance getting pulled over. It's just like Vegas; over time the house and the cops get theirs!

I never had trouble with police while driving at night but I do have to admit the cops have been out of their fucking mind lately. When I was walking my dog earlier I saw a cop drive by and give a few parking tickets. There was a huge stretch limo parked next to the yellow curb and he didnt do crap about it but gives another guy a ticket for the same thing.

End of the month, gotta get the quotas met. I saw lots of cops out on my commute today. After July 4th weekend we'll be back to the normal level of police activity until the weekend of the 26th.

how many times have people said there is no quota in ffx co on the website...old.

Observations speak louder than someone posting on "the website."

ee Wrote:
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> how many times have people said there is no quota
> in ffx co on the website...old.


it's a little something called lying. the police suck at it but not from lack of practice.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

They don't use quotas. That entire concept is illegal because it sets a number and forces the police to meet it, whether the crime actually exists or not. It is begging for the police to create fraudulent charges.

What they DO use is statistical sampling. They KNOW there are enough lawbreakers out there where the officers have no need for quotas. If you are a patrol officer and you aren't writing enough tickets to cover the statistical mean for your area/shift/whatever, you will get written up or face other discipline, so you are motivated to avoid this by seeking out the infractions that are already going on and ticketing them.

The practical effect of staging enforcement in lumps the way they do is that it fosters public perception of a "secret quota system" that actually has no need to exist, even for the purpose of meeting numbers. I find discussion of such a system existing in this area to be a bit uneducated and/or naive. I also find that my observations of local enforcement don't meld with the concept of end-of-the-month enforcement... I see police on the road margins every day running radar and checking stickers.

Enforcement is clearly upped on holidays, but, statistically, so is road travel in general, so it makes sense that the more people we have on the roads, the more need we have for enforcement. I don't see this as a 'quota' thing or even as a matter of meeting statistical norms for performance reviews, I see it as a common-sense decision for the public good that just happens to affect all those other things.

s



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2010 08:43PM by inkahootz.

In the quaint little city of Falls Church their yearly pay raises are based on the amount of tickets they write. The less tickets, the smaller the percentage the pay raise is. So you know the guys are going for the MAX!!!

Last Sunday I got pulled over @ 830am for Tint. While I was driving down Rt.66 at 8:45am I saw 7 yes 7 cop cars waiting to issue whatever tickets they could. The cop car were from the 495 exit up to Centreville Rt. 28! For WHAT?!?!?! Let people go to Church for Christ sake it's SUNDAY!

First weekend of the month. But there are no quotas of course.

Hello moron. Believe it or not the police need to go through red lights to get to calls. Its not like television where they run with their sirens blaring the entire time. If you looked out your back window and saw a guy in your neighbors back yard and called the police would you want the officer to drive 25 mph and obey all red lights or go 45 - 50 and run through red lights with his emergency equipment? You would be the first one on here whining about how long it took the police to respond to your call.

Id want him to drive 40-50 with his lights on the entire time. Not that I would ever call the police for something like that

1998 to present PI Crown Victoria's have a strong magnet placed in the underside front end of the vehicle. This allows the light to change to green if that traffic intersection has the plate installed into the ground right at the intersection stop traffic line. (everyone has seen the strange "pressure plate" or small "railroad" looking tracks at our intersections here) This allows the emergency vehicle to automatically change the light. This was the technology before the small looking traffic like camera placed on top of traffic lights. Emergency vehicle has a strobe on its roof, the lens picks up the strobe and changes the light.
I know this because my Crown Victoria still has it and it works like a charm at most intersections around here. Don't believe? You can buy them for motorcycles since some of the pressure plates won't recognize the light weight of a motorcycle sitting on it. Less than $19 at most motorcycle catalogs.
www.jpcycles.com search for "Green Light™ Trigger"

Chris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1998 to present PI Crown Victoria's have a strong
> magnet placed in the underside front end of the
> vehicle. This allows the light to change to green
> if that traffic intersection has the plate
> installed into the ground right at the
> intersection stop traffic line. (everyone has seen
> the strange "pressure plate" or small "railroad"
> looking tracks at our intersections here) This
> allows the emergency vehicle to automatically
> change the light. This was the technology before
> the small looking traffic like camera placed on
> top of traffic lights. Emergency vehicle has a
> strobe on its roof, the lens picks up the strobe
> and changes the light.
> I know this because my Crown Victoria still has it
> and it works like a charm at most intersections
> around here. Don't believe? You can buy them for
> motorcycles since some of the pressure plates
> won't recognize the light weight of a motorcycle
> sitting on it. Less than $19 at most motorcycle
> catalogs.
> www.jpcycles.com search for "Green Light™ Trigger"


True.

The second part is true, but illegal.

The first part, no. The grooves cut into the ground have wires in them that detect any metal above them. That would be a vehicle. This tells the light's computer that there are cars waiting in that lane and it changes the light when it is programmed to. If you are at a light and no cars are in the intersection (and it is not a major cross road that would likely have a longer time) then that light doesnt have wires in the road.


http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question234.htm

Morons!!!!

The next time the police are headed toward your house to help you and need to get there but running full lights and siren may not be totally justified... I hope they stop and wait at the red light till it tells them they can go. That nice long red light too that just changed red.

You certantly do not understand the police are not doing it just to do it. They want to get to a location quickly and waiting at the light is delaying them from getting there. They are wanting to go help someone!! Jackass!!

Stop all your bitching about getting a ticket for tint too... You are breaking the law... sign and pay for the damn ticket.

This should be required viewing in highschool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

I neither agree with anything the ACLU stands for, nor do I endorse any of the activities that got the characters into trouble in the video, but the truth about your civil rights outlined in the bill of rights remains the same and is important for everyone to know.

Nobody needs to "teach you" the rights you have been given. It is up to each person to know their rights if the feel they are going to need to "flex" them.

This pretty much goes for criminals like the shit bags in the video who had drugs.

The video did nothing but teach kids with drugs how to avoid an arrest. That is pretty lame if you ask me.

Lawyers sucks and so does the ACLU.

Both work with citizens to keep criminals on the street.

I don't care if they have a quota or not. As long as the tickets they write are legitimate who cares? Don't want the ticket don't break the law. I find it amazing that people just don't get that concept.

snowdreems Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't care if they have a quota or not. As long
> as the tickets they write are legitimate who
> cares? Don't want the ticket don't break the law.
> I find it amazing that people just don't get that
> concept.

You are on the wrong web site to talk like that. This place is full of cop-haters and people that feel they are wronged when they get called to task for breaking the law. Sad, but true.

That's a pretty big sweeping generalization there watcher. I would like to see the percentages. I know PLENTY of stand up guys making a good living being honest cops. I also know plenty of pieces of shit that somehow Bs'ed their way through the academy and now pretend to be cops. And unfortunately the majority I've met have been FCPD. Granted, there is a new generation trying their hardest to wipe that stigma attached to them but it's going to take a V E R Y long time to get that taste out of the public's mouth.

Chris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's a pretty big sweeping generalization there
> watcher. I would like to see the percentages. I
> know PLENTY of stand up guys making a good living
> being honest cops. I also know plenty of pieces of
> shit that somehow Bs'ed their way through the
> academy and now pretend to be cops. And
> unfortunately the majority I've met have been
> FCPD. Granted, there is a new generation trying
> their hardest to wipe that stigma attached to them
> but it's going to take a V E R Y long time to get
> that taste out of the public's mouth.

Read my post.It was specific to this site. Tool.