Copsusing flashlights to check for seatbelt violations

Mods if I posted this in the wrong thread please move......Well tonight on the way home from a softball tournament my team was playing in, we came up to this stop sign. Well at the stop sign was a cop and he came right up to the window while we stopped at the stop sign, got real close to the car and shined his light in the window I guess making sure our seatbelts were on in the car. Luckily all 5 of us had them on. nI know its the law in FL now and this incident happened in Winter Haven, but it was 9pm tonight and I just think thats a poor tactic...how bad do they need the money to basically invade our privacy to try to catch us not wearing our seatbelts. I just think that is a little to ridiculous.

I read an article yesterday about some cops in Minnesota. They were dressing up as homeless people. They would then go up to cars and see if the occupants had seat belts on. If not, they would radio ahead and have the car pulled over.

IMO, not a good tactic. Just gives people another reason to beat up on cops.

I really feel most cops mean well and are usually put in these predicaments by their superiors.

reply to post by lspilot6946


It's not that they need the money ( although it does help to have a few tickets under the belt every week). It is a tactic employed to allow them to get you pulled over and eventually seearching your vehcile, especially that late at night. Cops mindset: 5 people stuffed in a car, driving around at 9 pm at night in Winter Haven, they are up to something. Not saying it is right, but that is the mindset behind it. Florida officers are all about the finding drugs in peoples cars. They will use ANY tactic legal and sometimes not to exercise their search powers on a vehicle. This isn't me badmouthing them or being anti-cop this is the truth from my perspective working alongside of them for 8 years.

reply to post by lspilot6946


Or maybe they're looking for someone?

reply to post by Ferris.Bueller.II


Thank you for that.

To The OP-
Seriously, did you ask him WHY he shined the lights in your car? Or did you just sit there and take it ? I mean, he could have been looking for anything, or anyone. I know traffic cops are ****s, but I doubt that a cop is going to sit near a stop sign(standing mind you) to check for seatbelts individually.

Next time shoot him dead. Florida has recently expanded the Castle Doctrine, and there have been numerous cases of people dressed as police kidnapping, raping, and mugging people at night on quiet roads. At onen point there was even a published alert to not pull over for an unmarked or poorly lit police car in any remote areas.

Therefore, odd armed man approaching my vehicle at a red light at night = preemptive defensive strike.

Obviously I am being a little sarcastic, because I have some good friends in law enforcement, and I don't want them getting shot, but I also know that when my town does a crackdown wave like this, they first put out highway signs warning that a crackdown is coming, and they put several police men and cars at the intersections, and they do it in well lit areas.

If Winter Haven did not take those precautions, then you are perfectly justified in defending your vehicle and your friends lives.

IF he was looking for seatbelts as you say, and you were wearing them, what is the big deal? You just need something else to complain about when it comes to cops? Just as the military, they are not all evil and the few bad eggs give the good guys a bad name.

Perhaps if you would have manned up and asked what and why he was doing that, perhaps you could have posted a definitive answer. Instead you posted speculation that will bring out the cop bashers. I am no cop (yet, but I am working on it) and I would sure as hell ask why he was doing what he was doing, but that's just me.

My vote is looking for someone, not trying to catch you on some petty seatbelt charges.

Semper Fidelis,

-Nate


[edit on 13-3-2010 by Acid_Burn2009]

reply to post by lspilot6946

how bad do they need the money to basically invade our privacy to try to catch us not wearing our seatbelts. I just think that is a little to ridiculous.

The ticket people get for seatbelts is in fact to save your life. You see people pay taxes, and dead people don't pay too much taxes. Governments want you alive because it is the taxpayers who give the government what they need.

I would not look at this seat belt ticketing as a short term money making scheme, I look at it more like dairy farmers tending to the cattle. A dead cow does not produce milk.

A life saved by a seatbelt is a lifetime of taxes earned !

reply to post by wiredamerican


Good Point. I still hate the seatbelt laws, and would prefer to make my own decision without government involvement, but I do see your point.

On your line of thinking, it could be related to the new Healthcare Bill as well. Less injuries = Less Healthcare.

On a contrary note. If the government is this proactive about rearing tax payers, then why would they even consider Gay Marriage? The whole original point of tax breaks and special provisions for raising families, was to get more taxpayers and soldiers born, and Gay couples do not accomplish this. Nothing against Gay Couples, but if the seatabelt argument stands as you wrote it, then the Gay Marriage Ban stands along with it?

"Perhaps if you would have manned up and asked what and why he was doing that, perhaps you could have posted a definitive answer."

Or maybe the cop should have "manned up" and explained to the driver and occupants of the vehicle what his intentions were. When you're a law enforcement official and approach someone's vehicle, the least you can do is explain your purpose. Why should the driver have to be put in a position where he runs the risk of pissing off some power hungry ill tempered cop who is invading his space without any explanation?

Wow, you're in Winter Haven huh?

I grew up and graduated from high school in Winter Haven. How awesome is that? Small world indeed!

As far as the thread is concerned. My stint in the military was primarily comprised of Police training among other things. On military bases, seat belts are mandatory and have been before it was law in many States.

Occasionally, whether on or off base, "alcohol related" incidents involving the vehicle of a fellow member of the military (whose driver and/or passenger(s) were injured, or in extreme cases killed due to not buckling up) would generate a forceful campaign to see that the rules were being followed, including such comparable tactics as mentioned in the OP.

Most accidents, more so the details of an accident, are unbeknown to the everyday citizen in most cases. Police Officers however see first hand the horrors and grizzly scenes of injuries and deaths related to citizens not "Buckling Up" on a VERY frequent basis. So for them to take such an extreme measure and be adamant (invasive or not) about preventing any foreseeable tragedies is commendable in my view.

The check that you and your passengers were exposed to in the OP cost you what? ...a little bit of time?... perhaps temporarily inconvenienced you because you were ready to get home after the game? I can say with the utmost assurance that WHPD's efforts that evening revolved around saving lives and nothing more.

Consider yourself lucky that they have the resources to do so.

On the other hand, I am aware of the argument that the seat belt has been the reason why a life was lost as well. Despite these occasional anomalies, statistics show that wearing your seat belt increases your chances of survival in an impact related accident, that, and like you said in the OP, in FL it is the law.

Good Day!

*edited for luster

[edit on 3/14/2010 by UberL33t]

reply to post by lspilot6946


In Clearwater they are pretending like they are fixing the traffic lights above the road and tagging people underneath them with a gun lol. I was like you gotta be kidding me, luckily I slid by.

Florida = dirty cop tricks

I find this practice quite unsavory ! Huzzah for posting this info. We have weekly seatbelt, dui, and driver's license checkpoints here in Cali now, it started less often, then, well you know. Every week. This last report I read in the Sun newspaper said they started their checkpoint on a main street in San Bernardino at 6pm! I got flustered at that one, cause people are still trying to get home from what work we have left to us in this extremely high unemployment area!! Usually they use the 9-12, dui excuse. Last month they towed 142 cars at 2 checkpoints. 6 were drunk drivers. I told a friend about it and he said good, they got those 6 drunk drivers, good percentage! 6 actual bad guys out of 142 tows at probably 500 bucks each?? Keep on em, good report.

This is no cop bashing thread and was never intended to be. I just think the tactics are a little fuzzy I guess. And about me not manning up, well I was in the back passenger seat of the car and was shocked, and when I explained to the other guys in the car how I felt they just shook it off, then we got into the discussion about ATS and all the things that are happening in this world. I do wanna say however that what the police did, did not at all waste any of our time. We seen them checking other cars as we approached the stop sign, and kinda had a idea what they were doing. About the seat belt law in florida..I wear my seatbelt all the time...but we should have the right to choose. Hell in Florida motorcycle riders aren't required to wear helmets...I just dont get the difference really. I just dont think cops should be sneaky on how they get people caught for petty stuff. Do it the old fashioned way.