I got pulled over by an off duty cop!

[EA2BA]

Originally Posted by XA Coupe

He can pull you over without a problem. As to the use of his car for speed measurement... no he couldn't .. But ... if he doesn't use that as his basis for measurement then that whole line of defense will be worthless.
From what I can gather, you are not likely to get a ticket but if you do... go and see a solicitor .. I would contest it and find out on what basis he is measuring your speed on.
Personally .. I wouldn't sweat it.

I thought it was possible to have the speedo police calibrated to be accurate, hence he could use it and it stand up in court, just what I have heard, but could be urban legend.

[santoitaliano]

apparently if an off duty cop is at the scene of a crime when it is happening, and does nothing, he can get in shit coz he is always on duty...

i guess as far as pulling over goes.. it all depends on whether it feels suss or not.. if it feels suss then make a call or drive to the nearest station... im sure if it is a real cop following you then they would accept that it is fair that you felt uncomfortable... after all we are all human and do have a conscience.

[Captain Stubing]

Anyway, I saw a bloke with a lawnmowing business, and his lawn at home needed a cut real bad... who can I complain to?

Can anyone ever have time to themselves, away from work?

If it was a serious situation, I'm sure even 'normal' people would stand up and say, "Hang on, a sec!"

[InitialD]

Originally Posted by ghia_drive

A couple of police officers demanded to see my licence once while I was mowing the back lawn! Apparently a car had just been observed speeding down G'borough bypass and for some reason they hassled me about it. :

Dont you love the G'borough Bypass? Everytime on a Friday night or saturday night Ive driven down there going home or to a mates place, They stare at me and many times pull me over. Ive gotten the stupid reasons why aswell :

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Smoked

A different question, off Topic.

Can a Police Officer order you out of your car, or do they have ot arrest you. This is if they have pulled you over. Also, if they suspect you have illegal substances or stolen goods, can they order you out of the vehicle inorder to search it?

And, in all the runnings ive had with police, they are usually very nice, if you are nice. That said, i had one that decide to inspect my car fro Roadworthiness, and when i proceeded to exit the Vehicle, he ordered me to remain in the car. I ignored him and told him he has no right to do that. He left it at that, but can he do that?

i'm pretty certain that they have every right to search you, and your vehicle, without a warrant etc, and without arresting you, if they have reason to believe there is drugs or weapons etc in it.

[MorphUnreal]

usually if u look like a stoner or they can see stuff they'll search it.. although one of my smartass mates got asked the usuals ie "do you have any illegal substances in this vehicle?" to which my mate replied "yea, two pounds of grass in the boot".. he was stuck there as they spent the next 2 hours searching pulling apart his car on the side of the road. aparently if u admit to it (even jokingly) they are 'have' to search your car. (me reckons they were just trying to kill 2 hours off their shift)

[Yagz]

Originally Posted by MorphUnreal

usually if u look like a stoner or they can see stuff they'll search it.. although one of my smartass mates got asked the usuals ie "do you have any illegal substances in this vehicle?" to which my mate replied "yea, two pounds of grass in the boot".. he was stuck there as they spent the next 2 hours searching pulling apart his car on the side of the road. aparently if u admit to it (even jokingly) they are 'have' to search your car. (me reckons they were just trying to kill 2 hours off their shift)

Yeah, good idea saying that to a cop ..

[Dez]

sorry, but your mate is a ********, why ask for trouble like that? i would have kept him there longer, just to teach him a lesson.

[FPV 41T]

i went to court for overtaking an off duty hp officer and they are supposedly trained to estimate speeds so it doesnt matter what car they are driving because they dont base it on their speedo even the judge said they take their word for how fast you were going i got the traffic offenders programme and two years good behaviour bond (or 2 years no license and $3000 fines)

[BlueVU]

Poor bugger FPV, but you were a bad boy anyway!. But u are correct police can book you for "estimated" speed..Whether in an unmarked car or their own personal car, which is crap!!, also parking on wrong side of road is an offence too. Found out when a friend of mine (officer) rang me up and said "I can book you for that" I walked outside and here he is parked behind or should I say in front of me LOL..As for the ppl saying they won't pull over for an unmarked car? Why not? They still do exist in NSW anyway..There's 2 SS's I know of that patrol Newcastle..Don't think any excuse will suffice when you don't pull over.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by BlueVU

There's 2 SS's I know of that patrol Newcastle..Don't think any excuse will suffice when you don't pull over

It's a little different if you pull over in a police station... if you didn't feel safe, they can't do anything.

[OED666]

Rollin and I had an incident last year with an off duty cop.

it was wet, and i had a few drinks, and Rollin was feeling like a drive, and there was a few roundabouts...

so we decided to go drifting and an off duty cop caught us, and went rank. and said to expect a letter in the mail for a court appearance for both of us. It was in november last year, and it hasnt come yet... he took all our details..

Rollin didnt have his licence at the time either... and i was in the shit (well potentially) cuz i knew he didnt have a licence and let him drive (sorry drift) my car ... hehe

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Steffo

It's a little different if you pull over in a police station... if you didn't feel safe, they can't do anything.

you're not always that close to a police station...i can see how driving on could and probably would raise some issues....

OED666: a court summons can still be on its way.....they can come a year later

Originally Posted by BlueVU

..As for the ppl saying they won't pull over for an unmarked car? Why not? They still do exist in NSW anyway..There's 2 SS's I know of that patrol Newcastle..Don't think any excuse will suffice when you don't pull over.

There was big announcements about the abolition of unmarked cars in NSW, although after a bit of searching I came across a minutes of a meeting where it was listed that commanders of LAC's can now apply for unmarked HWP to be stationed within their area. So while there are some unmarked HWP, there is nowhere near the numbers that used to exist.

[Sylox]

We have heaps of unmarked Highway Patrol cars around here.
There was a White BA xr8 driving around the industrial estate near work on Friday sporting Green P plates. Now I didnt think that was legal. WTF

Also see them occasionally parked on the side of the road with the bonnet up and leaning over the corner of the engine bay with the speed camera. Didnt think that was legal either....

[XRQTR]

Sorry to the boys on here in the job as for the most part u seem to be sensible and honest, well enuf anywayz haha, but what i cant handle is the smartass recruits, what i wouls love to do to them in a ring.

In particular the ones that pulled me up a couple of years ago claiming they saw me run a red light, even i might have not believed myself had they actually been in a position to see what color the traffic lights were, but as they were quite some distance away i argued the point , to which his reply was ' are you blind ' now correct me here if im wrong XA but I dont think thats standard procedure or even allowed, is it????

Anyway needless to say I decided to take it to court on the advice of a solicitor, however, later on the advice of one of dads mates, retired Fed, he told me if I had no witnesses not to waste my time or money. So come the big day in court I changed my plea to that of guilty and tried to explain to the judge what had occured and the events leading up to the case, to which she replied ' its better that you have decided to take responsibility for your actions rather than waste the courts time ' :countdown .

Now to my point, I want to attach a camera and voice recording device in my car, can i later use any images and/or voice recorded in my car in any traffic offences where i have been incorrectly accused and/or fined?????

[BlueVU]

Originally Posted by devil cv8

There was big announcements about the abolition of unmarked cars in NSW, although after a bit of searching I came across a minutes of a meeting where it was listed that commanders of LAC's can now apply for unmarked HWP to be stationed within their area. So while there are some unmarked HWP, there is nowhere near the numbers that used to exist.

Well Well, fancy seeing you on this thread Devil :P. But I do agree with you, there's only a handful compared to dozens that used to patrol the state.

[b2tf]

XRQTR, i would say no, you cant record them. At the very least you would need to inform the officers that they are being recorded, and i dont think they would take very kindly to that.

NSW has had a drop in the number of unmarked HWP and even GD cars, but dont be thinking they're not still out there. The latest tactic now is to even use slimline plates - you used to be able to tell an unmarked car miles away because it had aerials all over it, was the latest model and had the latest numberplates - not anymore. There is one XR6T here, and it looks exactly the same as about 6 private cars around town - even the numberplate is similar.

[Cheahman]

I would never recommend anyone to pull over for an unmarked cop car, especially women. Some of you are saying to pull over for them! would you tell your daughter, son or wife to pull over for them??? Not likely! There are to many sickos out there who would do these sorts of things. If it happens I would just drive to the nearst cop station and sort it out there.

[BlueVU]

Cheahman, While I understand your concerns and others who have posted similar thoughts, I still think your asking for trouble, for example : say you don't pull over, nearest cop shop 20k's away, this unmarked car has the lights on dash flashing, motioning you to pull over, you keep going, cop thinks something is suss here, drugs/weapons/car stolen whatever it may be calls for back-up, another cop turns up in a fully marked HWP car, or a Paddy Wagon will you pull over then?? As I said before, will want to be a live or death explaination to the cop as to why you didn't obey his directions first up. An excuse like " I feared for my safety" just wont cut it IMO.

[klawsterfobik]

Originally Posted by Sylox

We have heaps of unmarked Highway Patrol cars around here.
There was a White BA xr8 driving around the industrial estate near work on Friday sporting Green P plates. Now I didnt think that was legal. WTF

Also see them occasionally parked on the side of the road with the bonnet up and leaning over the corner of the engine bay with the speed camera. Didnt think that was legal either....

He was probably cold..

[Spaniard]

Originally Posted by BlueVU

But u are correct police can book you for "estimated" speed..Whether in an unmarked car or their own personal car, which is crap!!

I'm pretty sure that in Victoria no copper would be allowed to use that as reason for a fine. That is a load of bullocks if that is allowed.

[Yagz]

If you see proper blue and red strobe lights, then by all means, pull over, but if someones just flashing a badge at you with their window down, don't stop!

[b2tf]

Realistically it is VERY easy to tell whether an unmarked car is real or fake or not. All of this 'dont stop' advice is pretty dangerous in that if you dont stop, and you cant give a decent reason as to why you didnt (and id say 'oh i wasnt sure' is not a good enough reason), you could find yourself in hot water.

As Yagz has said, look for the following:

* Red and Blue Strobes mounted either on top of the dash or in front of the rear view mirror (up the top of the windscreen). 99% of the time they will also flash their highbeams at the car they want to stop.

*The latest model car (anything from late VYII - BA, no AU's around anymore)

* Aerials on the bootlid

* At night there is usually 2 officers in the car

And of course, if in doubt, pull over, just dont put your window down. Ask for their badge, but do it nicely and dont be a smartass about it. And do not EVER let passengers get out of the car - some officers will ask the driver to stay in the car also, but dont ever let anyone get out of the passenger side etc.

[XA-Coupe]

Originally Posted by VH-PBC

I'm pretty sure that in Victoria no copper would be allowed to use that as reason for a fine. That is a load of bullocks if that is allowed.

Then it's a load of bollocks :hihi:

Originally Posted by BlueVU

another cop turns up in a fully marked HWP car, or a Paddy Wagon will you pull over then??

An excuse like " I feared for my safety" just wont cut it IMO.

when a fully marked car turns up, then yes, you do pull over, and an excuse of "I was not certain that the commodore/falcon was in actual fact a police car and I feared for my safety, as shown by the fact I pulled over immediately that a marked car indicated for me to pull over"
a lousy lawer would beat any charges from the failing to obey a police officer's direction...especially in NSW where unmarked HWP cars are few and far between.

In vic, you'd probably be shot long before a marked car turns up