Posted on 11/05/2011 8:00:13 AM PDT by Immerito
The growing tension was heightened Sunday when Sgt. Javier Ortiz, vice president of Miami’s Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the city’s 1,000-plus officers, attacked Watts and defended Lopez in a letter to union members. He accused Watts of just wanting to ticket a Miami cop.
“Officer Lopez was extremely professional,” Ortiz wrote. “Many of us would have acted differently if a fellow cop pulled a gun on them. I would have thought she possibly was a Baker Act that stole an FHP car and a uniform,” he wrote, using a legal term for mentally unstable people who are considered dangerous.
He went on to tell officers: “Please do not get to her level and begin taking action against Troopers because of the poor decisions of one. … Do not be running her information on DAVID, FCIC/NCIC, etc.,” referring to law enforcement databases that contain criminal records, addresses and dates of birth.
Such databases are to be used only for law enforcement purposes, not to gain personal information.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Im not crazy about FHP, but I see no wrong doing.
The Miami cop should lose his job.
The stupid SOB could have killed a lot of innocent people.
I agree, the cop should lose his job over this. He is supposed to be a public safety officer, not a threat. Had he hit someone and maimed or killed them, Miami would be on the hook for a huge civil settlement. 120MPH to get to a second job?? Wow. Must have been one doozy of a job.
I find it telling that the VP of the FOP has to tell the union members *not* to retaliate.
I wonder how many times this cop has told a speeder “being in a hurry is no excuse for breaking the law”? Cops that consider themselves above the law are a threat to society.
>>I find it telling that the VP of the FOP has to tell the union members *not* to retaliate.
I wonder if he delivered that warning with a wink?
The only thing I would say is how did the FHP cop know this Miami cop was not responding to a call or even chasing someone? Cops fly by me all the time and I have no idea where they are going or why. For all I know they are late to Dunkin Donuts. The dispatcher told her to layoff and she pulled the guy over anyway so it sounds like a blood feud to me. I would hate to be that woman FHP officer. Those Miami-Dade cops are bad news. I used to live down there.
I find it even more telling when the VP for FOP tells his membership not to run her info through criminal databases. That is a crime. Nice use of the English language, too.
Remember one of the President's TSA nominee had been written up for researching his ex-wife's new boyfriend. He was written up a long time ago. Today that would be grounds for immediate termination and criminal charges.
The Miami PD guy should be fired for misuse of his government vehicle and driving dangerously fast without an official reason. Being late is not a good reason.
Damn it’s kinda early for popcorn. Captain Crunch will have to to.
If that was true the Miami police car would have had its light and sirens on. Maybe if there was some emergency where they had to "sneak up" on someone he would have turned them off, but that would be in the last half mile or mile and should have slowed down below 120 by then.
The Miami cop should get the reckless ops conviction and the points on his license and be glad he still has that license. Anyone else would be walking for at least a month after being caught going 120.
The funny thing is that if this hadn't gone viral, the judge could have probably let the Miami officer off with a warning. Now that everyone is paying attention that isn't quite as likely of option.
I don’t know which is worse: the Miami cop’s unauthorized speeding or the female Florida trooper’s screeching rant. To me, this female cop’s obnoxious high-pitched, emotional tirade is indistinguishable from that of the typical unwashed hippy chick protester at an Occupy Wall Street riot. Incoming artillery is more pleasing to the ears than the sound of an unhinged bitty.
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Leastwise it’s never worked for me.”
Who said that?
This is a case of “you reap what you sow”. Listen to the Miami cop’s accent. (He’s either Cuban* born or, more than likely, Miami born and grew up in a Cuban neighborhood.)
History lesson: When the first of the Cuban refugees arrived to Miami in the ‘60s, the Sheriff was E. Wilson Purdy. His ideas:
1/ The Cubans were refugees from Communism, didn’t know anything about how things worked in America, and cops should be understanding and go easy on them. (We felt so sorry for them, for example, that we had the Miami stop signs translated into Spanish.)
2/ Cops had better things to do than write traffic tickets.
Well, here we are in Miami-Dade county 50 years later:
1/ In violation of state law, most of the cars on the streets are not insured, and the cops do nothing.
2/ Traffic enforcement is virtually non-existent. Cops just don’t bother. The only time you’ll get a ticket is if you’re in an accident.
3/ Especially in the Cuban immigrant dominated south and west sections of the county, people drive like idiots.
4/ Nobody uses turn signals. Everybody speeds, and weaves in and out of traffic. Even me**.
5/ It’s not uncommon to be driving the speed of traffic, 10-15 mph above the speed limit, and to be passed by a cop car, or to have a “rice rocket” motorcycle to weave by you at 90+ mph.
If there’s a limit to professional courtesy, I think 120 mph in traffic on the way to your off-duty job is well above it.
* Note I said “Cuban”, not “Latin”. Non-Cuban Latins will tell you what country they’re from in the first minute of a conversation. There’s a reason for that: A Colombian friend once called Cubans the “New Yorkers of the Caribbean”. In that country, laws were meaningless; it’s who you knew: “Palabra” was king. It still is. And we sat back and allowed it to become the law of the land in Miami.
** And, no, I don’t drive like that when I’m at our vacation home up north. I obey the laws.
>> female Florida trooper’s screeching rant ...
High speed chases = high stress = adrenalin dump. Even you would screech.
And when she found out she was confronting a peer, there was need to maintain the professional demeanor.
If professional courtesy is a two-way street, Courtesy? for 122MPH??? BURN HIM!!!
Actually not. I'd stack close quarter combat and danger close fire support against any car chase. Leaders shout, but don't screech. Screeching doesn't lead or inspire; it just grates on frayed nerves and contributes to chaos. This female trooper's voice doesn't make one want to comply with her commands -- except perhaps to make her shut up. If anything, her screeching only elevates the danger of a violent confrontation.
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