Posted on 01/07/2013 1:50:47 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
State troopers put their lives on the line every day. And the act of pulling someone over on a highway can be a deadly experience for any cop not following the best protocols. But police are also under great pressure to generate ticket revenue for their cities, counties and states, and their zeal to hit revenue targets can lead them to do the wrong thing.
So says a class action suit filed against the State of Utah and a specific state trooper who is accused of writing "driving under the influence" tickets when they weren't impaired.
State trooper Lisa Steed was honored inside the state police force for busting an extraordinary number of drunk drivers. But some of her convictions were subsequently over-turned, and the trooper was reprimanded and then fired for making false arrests.
Since Steed's performance and punishment were reported, dozens of people who were convicted have been signing up with lawyers for a class action suit. People convicted of DUI lost money, cars and trailers and even jobs, according to ABC 4 News/Salt Lake City.
One such plaintiff is Thomas Romero who was arrested by Steed in 2011. "I wasn't drunk ... I was not intoxicated. Nothing," Romero told ABC 4.
One of the representing attorneys, Robert Sykes, says he is looking at hundreds of drivers who may have been victimized. Sykes is ambitiously seeking that all DUI arrests by state troopers be over-turned in cases where the trooper was the only witness.
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.aol.com ...
This is Utah. I'll bet anything that this trooper is of the salt lake sect of mormonism. Perhaps the cars pulled over have similar Christian emblems or what-not.
False DUI arrest victims would be led before a jury of anti-alcohol cult members.
Utah, trooper making false DUI arrests....Read between the lines folks.
When the federal attorney general is a chicago mafiso what do you expect.. to happen.?.
Not only that but the Police and Firefighters are completely UNIONIZED..
Anybody notice what the Unions(police) have and ARE doing in Wisconsin and other places?..
The Sheep seem to love to be MILKED, Sheared and butchered..
Federal, State and Local giverment workers are ALL UNION members..
LOL my car was stolen and cost was $500.00 to get out!
Kraig, if your son is not reporting criminal behavior or suspicion of fellow officers, he is the balance of the problem. Tell him to man up with the big boy pants and put others on notice. He will be respected by the officers and the public.
Kraig, if your son is not reporting criminal behavior or suspicion of fellow officers, he is the balance of the problem. Tell him to man up with the big boy pants and put others on notice. He will be respected by the officers and the public.
I think a lot depends on where you live. We’re fortunate to live in a smaller community where the deputies are our friends, neighbors and relatives. When a bad apple shows up the sheriff or city chief are quickly informed.
That is why our local “LE” and “TXDPS” are called “Revenue Enhancement Agents”
New Years Eve party’s or Saint Patrick’s day party’s they come out in force and stake out the local watering holes ... if you step outside the establishment without a Cab Driver (the loophole) they get you for Public Intoxication, if you get near your vehicle you get a DUI and they come in and patrol the crowd with their flashlights in your face ... (kinda like spotting deer) when they get tired of sitting outside.
Then there are the Fishing Stops where they block the roads and search everyone ...
When it gets close to closing time we line up our “Rabbits” (aka our Designated Drivers) and we send them out with their charges in 4 different directions with instructions to drive slow with their turn signal left on ... then everyone else scoots home while the “Revenue Enhancement Agents” are busy bothering the decoys.
TT
Please give up your firearms America! /s off
Yep. I work for an insurance company and the towing company agreements with the police are outrageous. The person that’s not at fault for an accident is totally at their mercy - doubly so if they don’t have collision coverage (and in a lot of jurisdictions anymore, they are not providing the other party’s information at the scene).
Do not trust EVER your local LEO’s, they cannot serve two (2) masters! Guess where the American people are on that chain of command!
Eight Deuce on the loose!
Yes, that’s true, I live in Chicago, so it’s no surprise there are a LOT of bad apples here. On the other side of the coin, though, small towns can have their own corruption problems. There are plenty of towns that shake down out of towners for revenue, or have problems with the “Good Old Boy” network, where everyone covers for everyone else, because the Mayor, Police Chief, and the Judge are all members of the Elk’s Lodge.
Meh, I’ve seen cops in states all over the place get busted for faking DUI results, so I don’t think it has anything to do with the Mormons.
Sovreign citizen alert!
I live in a smaller county too. Deputies rarely give traffic tickets. Otherwise the sheriff won’t get reelected.
Indeed. I used the phrase "uniformed tax collectors".
“I got off topic but don’t judge all police based on what a few bad ones do.”
I understand everything you said. And the business of having to make split second decisions and all that. But your comments beg the question. This female trooper used her police powers to violate the Constitutional rights of literally hundreds of the people who had “placed their trust” in the Utah Highway Patrol’s integrity. I would suggest that you read FR every day as I do, and I think you will find that police malfeasance is at an all time high. I live in Northern California. We just had several of our local cops fired ( and they may well go to jail at the end of the day) because they were hooked up with a crooked PI who was working with a local divorce attorney to “set up” husbands with DUI convictions. The PI is now in state prison, the lawyer has been disbarred and is facing jail, but as of this writing, the cops involved are only out of a job. I have also had one occasion to file a written complaint against a cop. You don’t want to do that unless you are determined to see it through, because law enforcement comes after you for questioning the lawfulness of their activities. So you may well have been a good cop, but I submit to you that you are likely in the minority today.
” There are plenty of towns that shake down out of towners for revenue, or have problems with the “Good Old Boy” network, where everyone covers for everyone else, because the Mayor, Police Chief, and the Judge are all members of the Elk’s Lodge.”
There ya go! The Elks Lodge here is just a place for the good ole boys to get drunk and stay that way!
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