Any DUers that are police officers, I need some advice

Let me give you the heads up on the issue:

Early Saturday morning, 0200. Coming home from a lounge where I editted screenplays I have just completed writing, AZ DPS Officer makes illegal u-turn coming out of a post office and almost runs me off the road by almost clipping my front bumper, going 75 in a 40. The officer then tailgates another driver for two miles. . .turning off the road without using a turn signal.

These are all things an officer would pull a civilian over for

1. excessive speeding
   
2. exhibition of speed
   
3. unsafe lane change
   
4. illegal turn
   
5. aggressive driving
   
6. tailgating
   

Now, I believer the officer was not on a call because I doubt an officer on a call would stop at red lights or use a post office while the officer should be protecting the public. I live in the safest area in the world. We haven't had a violent crime in my area of the Tucson metropolitan area in 20 years. The officer turned into a house development, most likely to go home for the time.

When I called the officer on duty, I got attitude and hung up on. I neglected to get the officer's badge and name. I called again today and a different officer answered, only to get the same aggressive attitude and the threats. I have this officer's badge and name. Oh, and I was polite until the officer started giving me attitude, then I became unhinged.

Now, here are my questions (some might be flame bait, but I am pissed off:

1. How can officers pull us over for doing the same things they do? Shouldn't police officers be held to a higher standard since they are given the trust to enforce the laws?
   
2. Is it common for officers to talk to the public like we're dirt under their feet?
   
3. I have this officer's badge number and name, as well as the offending cruiser license plate and number. Should I detail this in an LTTE and ask for an explanation on why officers drive and act like this?
   
4. If an officer kills a member of my family (it almost happened to my mother) because of their reckless driving and they aren't on a call, can I sue the shit out of the officer, the department, the captain, the sargeant and everyone else?
   
5. If the officer is on a silent call, what is protocol for getting cars out of your way so you can get to your call?
   
6. Why don't police understand that the attitude and the actions are what taint people against police? Why do police feel above the law?
   

I am beyond pissed off. Please, someone needs to explain this to me. The PCSO (sheriff) and TPD (Tucson police) are sick of hearing my voice because I am on the phone in a second after something like this happens. I guess my last question is. . .what do the academies teach officers to do behind the wheel?

PM with all the ranting you need to do.

Then let this matter drop. No they shouldn't do this or that, but it's in your best interest to let it go. Really.

Make a complaint, not just about the officer with the lead and dangerous foot, but also concerning those you have spoken to since then. The pecking order would be the shift supervisor, then the commander of the department, then the head of the agency. But, if your complaints are not getting to the right parties, then IA needs to be made aware that their appears to be violations of department policy.

If you call IA and leave word you have a complaint, they will probably get back with you.

Excessive speed when not responding to an emergency, without lights and sirens, is definitely against General Orders of most departments. Public safey is the greatest concern of the law enforcement agency and driving as you describe presents the danger to public safety and is against most General Orders or Department Policy.

You should be able to do a search on the internet to find a standard general order dealing with this. Many departments have banned the standard car chases when trying to apprehend known criminals because of the danger they pose to the public.

Good luck.

Edited to add: As the poster above warns, you need to realize that the thin blue line is real and cops protect their own. How many tickets can you afford to receive.

You might want to talk to your town selectman or the mayor.

Someone either elected or appointed your sheriff / police chief. Find out who they answer to.

If you decide to go it on your own and try to deal with the cops directly, and they're still giving you a hard time, decide just how "bad-ass" you want to be. You may say you want to talk to someone in "Internal Affairs" or "Quality Assurance," or the town "Ethics Board," depending on how they're organized. You might also ask for the name of their insurance agency in case you wish to file a claim against them.

You can go to the station and ask to examine their logs for that night and see who was on duty and what calls they were out on at the time.

The logs are usually available for viewing by the public with little or no questions asked.

You could also file a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) requesting information on who was driving the squad car at that hour, and if they were on a call or not. You can also request copies of dispatch and 911 tapes.

If they give you a hard time with any of that, explain that you have other legal avenues you can pursue to obtain that information which you're legally entitled to anyway.

My personal feeling is that if you want to be taken seriously by the cops, find a lawyer to represent you. Have your lawyer tell the chief that he and his client would like to sit down and talk about the incident.

That gives the person in charge an opportunity to "save face" before you escalate it over his head or by going to the media.

There may be some kind of advocacy group in your area that monitors law enforcement and has a mandate to help you with this at little or no cost.

If that doesn't work, do a google search of your local newspapers, find a reporter who has written articles critical of police misconduct (or better still, your police department in particular) and contact that reporter directly.

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, nor did I sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'm just a chronic gadfly. This is not legal advice. And I am, after all, wrong 1/12 of the time.

See also:

Fully Automated, Fill-in-the-Blanks
State Open Records Law Request Letter Generator
http://www.splc.org/foiletter.asp

I'd be sure to ask myself if I thought it was worth it first.

Especially if this is the department in the town where you actually live.

If it were me, I'd let it go unless:

1) This were ocurring frequently
2) They were already harassing me
3) I could do it anonymously (sounds like it's too late for that)
4) It was a town I didn't actually live in or work in

It sounds like there should be some level of action that will satisfy you that they're taking the problem seriously, yet should also make the cops happy that you're not being too big a pain in the ass about it.

You might want to pursue such a line of dialogue with the cops if you think it's worth it.

It's time for DU to talk about this crap. Too many cop-lovers on this board, perpetuating the myths that allow this and worse to happen.

guns, and a free pass to use them. To Serve (the rich), and Protect (the status quo) is no joke. Just let it go.

And yes, I HAVE seen it before.

The initial, offending officer has a drinking problem.

Case in point:

I was a barroom bouncer once. One night, this nebbishy kid comes up to me and tells me that someone, who had identified himself as a police officer, had stuck a large-frame semi-automatic weapon in his ribs 3 times and threatened him. I looked at the guy in question and yes, he was drunk. The offended kid had called the cops. The offending officer caught wind and went out to his pickup truck, took off his jacket, took off his shoulder holster with a large-frame weapon in it and stowed it behind the passenger seat of the truck. Eventually, a New Jersey State Police sergeant arrives. He talks to the officer and then grabs the kid and proceeds to browbeat and utterly intimidate him, threatening to take the offended kid to jail. I was sick to my stomach.

Turns out this wasn't the offender's first time for this. He had a drinking problem and had done this many times before. He is also the son of the police chief of a major NJ city police department. Where the offender worked as an officer.

We found out later that his string played out and was finally fired. His father could no longer cover for him.

These sorts of things happen all the time. Cops cover for cops. Fact of life.

...an abuse of power.

Here's part of an article in my local Hong Kong paper about such abuse in China (subscription). The Beijing government has decided to clamp down on these abusers. So should yours. You are absolutely right to be fed up. Someone's got to stand up to them.

Time to revoke the Beijing elite's licence to flout traffic laws

For those stuck in the daily bumper-to-bumper traffic on Beijing's crowded ring roads, nothing is more maddening than seeing others openly flouting regulations, driving dangerously on the hard shoulders, running red lights, making turns under the "No Left Turns" signs, and parking freely on the pavements.

More often than not, these the scofflaws are those driving vehicles bearing diplomatic, military and police licence plates.

...For ordinary residents, those vehicles running amok on the streets have become a powerful symbol of corruption and abuse of power.