|
I have had a couple experiences with bad cops too. Back when I was lots younger early to mid 20's I was bad to drive after having too much to drink. One of the city police in the nearest town to where I lived found out that I drank pretty heavily sometimes and started pulling me everytime I drove into the city limits. After a few instances of this happening I learned if I was drinking to just go through the country on the back roads to get home. I'm not condoning drinking and driving, but what he was doing was not right either.
Another time that comes to mind was about 25 years ago when I moved from KY to NC. One afternoon I was on my way home from work on a four lane road, I was in a lane going straight and a state trooper was in a turn lane, when I went by he pulled out of the turn lane in behind me and pulled me over. I was still driving on my KY license and still had KY tags on the car. The cop said the reason he pulled me over was because the KY plate didn't look right. I guess he thought no one from another state ever drove through NC. Anyway he asked how long I had been living in NC and I told him, which I think it was about 2 or 3 months. He wrote me a ticket for not having my license changed from KY to NC, but he didn't give me one for not having the plate changed. After he finished writing the ticket he wanted me to sign it and I refused. When I was getting out of his car he started telling me where I could go to pay the ticket and I told him I would see him in court. In the meantime I went to the library and studied NC law a little bit. It said that a person had to change their license and tags within 30 days of becoming a resident, but then I also found where the law stated you were not considered a resident until you had lived in the state for 6 months, so in reality I had 7 months from the time I moved to NC until I had to make the changes. When the court date came I was there, but the cop didn't show up. I plead not guilty and was armed for battle with the laws I had found. The judge asked me if I had a valid license from another state and I told him yes and showed it to him. The judge dismissed the case and also made the statement that he was tired of cops writing tickets and then not showing up for the court dates which made me feel really good.
The moral of my stories is you just have to be smarted than the cops.
|