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Old 12-28-2011, 11:52 PM   #11
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

The news had a report about a new way to detect speeders. I don't recall what it was but I'd wait before purchasing something high priced. I just have a cheap 100 buck cobra and it works OK. The only time I've ever been hit by a Laser was by a Jet fighter using my van for a target. Glad I have one though and if I would have put one in my van when I purchased, I would have saved hundreds in insurance fees when I was caught on a rural road doing over 65 with my SMB trailer. I pulled points on that one as well...that hurt. If you ever drive in Yosemite, a detector is well worth having. They have some stupid speed limits up there.
I've been pulled over by a few of the local force to check out my van. Glad I wasn't drinking a beer

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Old 12-29-2011, 07:28 AM   #12
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

I respect work LEOs do, and appreciate it for obvious reasons. But often, I also don't get along well with the stereotype cop mentality. The fewer and briefer the encounters, the better.

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Where I get nailed are these small town speed traps.
That said, if you don't have the self-discipline to drive the speed limit in small towns or other places that are well known speed-traps (municipal cash cows), then you have only yourself to blame.

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Old 12-29-2011, 12:19 PM   #13
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

It's a money making business for sure. The tickets I've gotten are usually in small towns. One time it happened right at the city limit where the speed limit abruptly changed from 50 to 25 and I didn't hit my brake hard enough to slow down before the radar cop had me clocked -- cash cow for sure Reminds me of the movie "Nothing But Trouble".
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Old 12-29-2011, 01:58 PM   #14
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

I had a minority friend that was a cop magnet. He got pulled over almost every time he drove for some bull***t reason like fishtailing, crossing over the line when he hadn't and other crap reasons.
He got a video system installed in his car,front and rear cameras and a inside camera of the drivers door. He got pulled over for no reason, sued the police dept for harassment and got a whopping settlement.
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Old 12-29-2011, 05:22 PM   #15
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

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Originally Posted by Vegasrandall
I had a minority friend that was a cop magnet. He got pulled over almost every time he drove for some bull***t reason like fishtailing, crossing over the line when he hadn't and other crap reasons.
He got a video system installed in his car,front and rear cameras and a inside camera of the drivers door. He got pulled over for no reason, sued the police dept for harassment and got a whopping settlement.
Good thing he wasn't in Maryland where some guy had a video recorder on his motorcycle. Admittedly the guy was being a jackass on the road, but when the cop pulled him over, the cop went way too far. The cop, in his private vehicle, pulled in front of him, cut him off, and came rushing at him with his gun drawn, all the while, never identifying himself. When the recording hit YouTube, the motorcyclist was arrested since it is unlawful to record someone without their consent. Any repercussions for the cop? No.

Most cops are great, but there's a significant percentage that are real jerks because they feel they are above the law themselves.

The local, county and state governments will continue to feel the budget crunch for a while, so I would expect the revenue-generating mentality of rapid fire ticket writing to continue for quite some time.

Just wait until everyone's future government mandated GPS units start reporting vehicle speed to law enforcement and insurance companies. All in the public interest of course.

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Old 12-29-2011, 07:18 PM   #16
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

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Good thing he wasn't in Maryland where some guy had a video recorder on his motorcycle.
Here's the video:
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On April 8, police searched Graber's residence and seized the camera, thumb drives, external hard drives, and four computers. Graber was not arrested at that time because he had just had gall bladder surgery. When he turned himself in a week later he was arrested and spent 26 hours in jail
Wiretapping charges against the motorcyclist were eventually dismissed.

Wiki page for Graber
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Graber is a staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard, with two young children.
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Old 12-29-2011, 07:55 PM   #17
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

I grew up in Portland, and drive in the P-town area very regularly.

I have found the exact opposite. I get by with WAY more shenanigans in the van than in a car. One time i noticed a car following me up the Terwilliger curves. I was going pretty fast (70+ in a 50 with 35 MPH marked curves) and I thought he wanted to play a little cat-and-mouse. Once we got over 80 he flipped his hidden lights on. I slowed down to 55, and he waved while he passed and flipped his lights back off. If that had been in the car, I'm sure it would have been a very expensive ticket instead.

Cops definitely check it out, but in a good way. Plus, a good chunk of Portland Fire drives SMBs (seems like half when you look in the parking garage at the main firehouse), and PPB knows this I'm sure.

The only time the van draws extra negative attention is at Canadian Border Patrol. Every time I cross they ask me numerous times if I'm carrying firearms in the van, and give me a skeptical look then I say no.
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Old 12-30-2011, 07:16 AM   #18
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

Okay, I have to confess. I used to be a police officer many years ago. I worked the graveyard shift. One time on a very boring night at about 2:00 am I was parked in a parking lot in my patrol car watching the main road looking for traffic violations. A car hadn't passed by in over twenty minutes. Then I saw a car off in the distance and waited for him to get to me so I could pull out and follow him, hoping there was some violation for which I could pull the driver over. As I watched him approach in the distance, another car pulled out from somewhere and was now behind him. Good news. Now I had two cars coming at me. Surely one of them would have a violation. Then I was shocked to see another car pull out. Now there were three cars coming toward me. When the first car passed me I pulled forward, ready to pull out behind the three cars. Imagine my surprise when cars 2 and 3 were two other bored police officers hoping to write someone a ticket. I shook my head at the stupidity of what we were doing and got on the radio and called off the other two cars. I think the three of us then went for donuts somewhere.

So yes, there are times when police officers become very nit-picky on violations either out of boredom, ticket quotas or the jerky response and/or abusive or disrespectful behavior they get from the driver of the vehicle once the person has been pulled over.

However, there also are a few officers who are on an ego, power trip who use their badge to bully and abuse citizens.

After the Rodney King incident in California, I was asked by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to assess 30+ officers who the department had determined had the potential to also violate citizen rights or commit violence against a citizen. I rode in the patrol vehicle with each of these officers individually. They knew I was there to evaluate them and that I had the authority to discipline or terminate them. I was absolutely shocked to watch these guys consistently violate policy and be abusive to people as I was watching them with clipboard in hand. I can't even describe some of the idiotic behaviors I saw from these officers.

Sadly, there are some (I believe very few) police officers who are power-hungry, egotistical, pathological idiots who have to show people "whose boss" when they are in uniform (and, even more sadly, sometimes when they are out of uniform). That's why I'm actually glad we now have people armed with video cameras, camera phones, recorders and other things that catch the bad cops and, hopefully, weed them out. Unfortunately, it's the bad videos that get put on YouTube and the news, rather than the thousands of good things the officers do in keeping our cities safe.
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Old 12-30-2011, 10:01 AM   #19
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

Good Cop / Bad Cop

Here's my take on the whole deal. If you select 100 humans from any nationality, race, gender, religion, profession or any other sub-class or even a heterogeneous group of 'man-in-the-street' individuals, they will shake out on a bell curve of 'goodness'. There will be the 60-70% average folks in the middle of the curve with the left and right tails of the curve occupied by A-holes and saints respectively. When someone from either tail gets into a leadership position, the whole organization can go good or bad. For this last point, I cite the Maracopa County, Arizona sheriffs office.

Mac - you were probably a pretty good cop - have another donut.
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Old 12-30-2011, 12:50 PM   #20
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Re: Vans such large targets for the police

I will tackle the Laser Jammer issue first. They do not work. Ask any Leo and he will tell you. It would not be legal for them to sell you something that brodcasted on that wavelength. Also it is not like the old Radar guns that had a Huge spread. Lasers only widen to about 15ft at close to a mile away. The Leo is not going to gun you that far away. They will wait until you are within 1/2mi or so They are also point and shoot. The Leo looks through a scope and aims like a gun. Your headlight or plate is what is aimed at most of the time. This is why I laugh at the "Laser Detectors" they will go off when you are gunned and then the Leo already knows your speed so to late.

Now you are in a Large Vehicle so do attract the eye. If the general public stares at your Van (I have people take pictrues daily) it will catch the Leos eye too. They see us over traffic. We just stand out.

Sometimes it might just be the Person (like someone else has said) that sets off Leos. One of the guys I ride with gets searched every time we cross a border. Even if there are 5 or 6 bikes riding he gets stoped. He and I used to have the same 05 1200GS with minor differences. 8 out of 10 crossings on a ride all over South America he was searched. Just something about him.

I usally stay within 5mph of the limit but have been pulled over. Leos often will tell you about the "Attitude Check" They pull you over for a Minor traffic infraction to check for wants and warrents. Most of the time it is not worth the paperwork for the minor issue but when the attitude comes out because we got pulled over it gets easier to write the ticket.
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