His behavior wasn't life-threatening. Have you ever driven in Germany? If you're going 70 mph on the autobahn you are a safety menace to the ones who are going 180. It's only putting himself at risk of injury or death.
In Texas, someone pulling a stunt like that without first identifying himself as an officer of the law is likely to get himself injured or dead. Believe me, the adrenalin rush you mention came from the man pulling a gun, not from the "triple digit speed. " I can tell you a story about that: I was going down the road one night and all of a sudden several cop cars surrounded me and a rather young rookie had his gun out, pointed at me, yelling at me to get out of the car lean forward and put my hands on the car, and it was obvious from his posture and the tone of his voice that he was scared, and I felt like telling him to calm down before he shot me for no good reason. I held my tongue, instead. One of the other cops recognized me and told the other guy with the gun on me, " we know him - he's the guy with all of the Beetle engines. Leave him be. " What do you think would have happened if I'd have sneezed??? Traffic tickets are no more than a source of revenue. I took some criminal justice courses. One of the assignments was to observe the court proceedings. Down here, tickets average about $140.00 (last I checked; it's probably more now); if the judge handles a case every three minutes and sits there for three hours giving out fines, he has taken in around $8,400. That's only the ones who are required to or voluntarily come to fight it in court. Think of all the people who get tickets and just pay them and don't take up the court's time. And don't kid yourself. Here, cops do have quotas, and if you know the right people you can get your ticket "fixed." And further, look at the latest security measures: you can't go in there with a weapon, it's like a jail, and the cashier is behind bullet proof glass in eyesight down from the security cops at the door and only has to press a button if somoene tries something. Oh, they claim traffic laws are to protect people and cop cars have "to protect and to serve," but whom are they protecting and serving. I could go on about people that have reported their bikes or cars stolen, and nothing was done about it because the one who reported it wasn't "connected. " One feisty little old lady (she rents from us) watched the news and saw her truck, in the news, which she had reported stolen, and told the cops where it was. They asked her how she knew where it was, to which she exasperatedly and emphatically queried, do you watch the 10:00 o'clock news?!?! They did nothing. It was the police from Lafourche Parish who finally found her truck and called her (and that's not where it was when the 10:00 PM news aired their report about it). Lafayette cops never did a thing after making a report. A friend of mine reported her car stolen. They came by and made a report. She happened to see her car parked somewhere - a residence on the bad side of town - and she told them. They said it would be better if she just went and stole it back. When she took them at their word and did, and told them she got her car back herself, they wanted to arrest her, because someone could have gotten hurt??? Kinda reminds one of the "Death Wish" flicks with Charles Bronson. The criminals reported private persons with guns and they were arrested, and " ...that's the way it is. " ________________________________ From: surfswab <[email protected]> To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, July 23, 2010 7:50:32 AM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: Cop Pulls Out Gun On Motorcyclist I've yet to read a convincing argument that the cop was in the wrong. He witnessed life-threatening behavior and he stopped it. That's what he's sworn to do. Having his firearm at the ready was a wise precaution in case the guy got squirrely. No telling what mental state the biker was in coming down from the adrenelin rush of triple-digit speeds and high-risk behavior. He might have tried to run over the cop and take off again, which would have compounded the problem. And I'm sure the cop was thinking just that. This wasn't just your ordinary traffic stop. The biker had already demonstrated the willingness and intention to put himself and others at risk. He was a menace -- and the cop did the right thing. All the rest of it is pure political posturing. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
