Lidar debate- a cops perspective

["Michael Porter" <mpfive0@maine.rr.com>]

I have been reading all the posts about the speeding ticket Dwayne received
and I just wanted the add my opinion as a municipal police officer from the
northeast US.

Steve, while you are innocent until proven guilty, in speeding only a
preponderance of the evidence is required to prove the case. And in most
cases when it is your word against the officer's, like it or not, the state
will win. The court puts more weight on the officer's testimony because he
is considered an expert witness.
To win you will have to show either the officer has a lack of credibility
(hard to do) or that he was mistaken (easier). There are many ways to show
how the officer might have been mistaken, heavy traffic, weather conditions,
faulty equipment etc ( there are many books that can assist you in these
arguments)

Word of caution, while it is your right for a trial, as others have stated,
you can be penalized by the judge for requesting a trial , if you are found
to have committed the infraction the fine could be increased.

I am giving you this advise because not all cops are the same nor do we all
look at traffic violations the same way. I don't know what type of agency
stopped you but it was most likely a State Police/Highway Patrol type. I and
most Municipal look upon them as no better than "AAA with a badge". They
focus there enforcement on the average citizen, because they are usually to
intimidated by real criminal confrontations. But this is a whole other
subject.

I do have to disagree  with your assessment of your driving skills as
compared to the avg.. officer. We do get extensive high speed driving
training, the starts at the academy and is continually updated every year.
This training literally destroys hundreds of cars a year. We push them hard
and even into each other. I find hard to believe that any Public driving
school would go to these extremes. I am not saying any of you are not
excellent drivers, but do not underestimate the skills of professional
drivers who drive in very high risk situations everyday we go to work.And
the cars we drive are not stock by any means, they are not available to the
public. If anyone has driven an Impala SS they can say they have come close
to the Chevy Police package, the Crown Vic while not as fast still handles
very well, and has excellent brakes. Again these are not your fathers
sedans.

In closing, I can not speak on any other departments SOP on "ticket quotas"
or "revenue building" but I can honestly say that I have never heard of such
a thing. There doesn't need to be any quotas. Every department has enough
"traffic nazis" on the force to write enough tickets for the rest of us
"real" cops, and they do it on there own, without any quota requirement. You
have to remember that every ticket is worth anywhere from 2 to 4 hours
overtime to The e officer when they have to appear in court, no matter how
little time they spend there. So, when you tell them, "I'll see you court",
you are doing just what they want.

In regards to Dwayne's "confession", it is a non-custodial situation so the
Miranda warning is not required, but I have no way to prove that he was the
one who actually typed the confession in the computer and sent it, so it
can't be used against him. He would have had to have been under oath in a
legal setting to be convicted of perjury, and then only if he was proven to
have been speeding in the first place.

MHO,

Off Michael Porter
Badge #81

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