2Jan/1023
Are cops allowed to be on the side of the road with no lights on at night?
I got a ticket in Athens, GA coming home from work, the cops was at the bottom of a hill and at 10:45pm at night with no lights on! Isn't that illegal for them to be at the bottom of the hill and especially with no lights at night? I thought it was state law that anytime a car is occupied at night along a hwy or street, there should be parking or marking lights on, or hazards. I am just building my case to fight the speed trap!
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
That may be considered entrapment in some areas, but that doesn’t matter. There are a number of excuses a cop can give. The most popular is to say he was simply filling out paperwork when he noticed a speeding car go by. If he witnesses a crime, he must respond. "Your honor, I wasn’t monitoring traffic, I was filling out a report when I saw a car go by at a high rate of speed, I had to react."
I’m a cop and I hate that crap too, I’m with you. But the simple fact is, you’re hit.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
You’re out of luck, dude. Go confess to the charge and pay up. Fighting it is only gonna p*ss off the judge and make you feel worse. Why were you speeding in the first place, hmmmm?
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
umm its not.. maybe it was parked.. or had parking lights on.. and its the police.. and isnt it a lwa to go the speed limt?
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
THATS CORRECT IT IS ENTRAPMENT WITHOUT THEIR LIGHTS ON
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Yes they are allowed to do it. You’d better look closely at the loopholes of the law prior to fighting this. Your best bet would be to see the history of amount of tickets written in that area. However, there’s nothing wrong with speed traps. It’s called state revenue!!
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
nope, a cop can hide behind a tree with rador and get you!
They ticket more heavily the 1st,-5th of month and 13th-17th and the 27-31st of the month.
they have to make their quotas.
It’s legal in my state for them to sit in a blind spot and catch you doing something wrong.
YOU don’t have a case against the cop!
if you were in the wrong.
he has nothing to lose. So he will win.
The law is always in the right.
Bummer huh?
I tried to fight a ticket, and the only way to win, is if the cop doesn’t show up.
Just pay the ticket, and suck it up, and live and learn this life lesson!!
Sorry!! I feel for you! been there, done that, paid the price.
live and learn!
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Slow down
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Sounds like entrapment to me, By law they have to have the car running at all times while on duty. When it’s on the lights are automatically on. Fight it.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Every where I have lived and been if a cop is out at night they have to have there parking lights on. Though kinda hard to provide that in a court. I would check to see if anyone from work traveling app. the same time as you could be a witness to say they seen the cop car with no lights on. That would help. Sorry you got busted. I would add that you got stopped at the bottom of the hill. Sometimes the judge will throw out the ticket but remember to be nice about it. You get further with honey than you do with vinegar.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
They got you, so pay up. If they were parked in a way (and I doubt it) where they were a hazard to oncoming traffic, then they are in the wrong, but for the most part they are doing traffic enforcement, and any ways possible to enforce the traffic laws, they will utilize. But they do not have to give you a warning they are in the area, and if you were doing the limit, your question would not be posted???
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Got bad news for you pal — I used to live in Georgia and in the state known for its peaches the police are allowed to hide just about anywhere and do just about anything (including sitting on the side of the road with no lights on) for traffic enforcement. Your best bet is to go to court and tell the judge that you didn’t realize you were going that fast, but you take full responsibility for your actions and just ask for leniency. Judges are much more likely to cut you a break if you are respectful and take your lumps. If you start griping about a cop in a car with no lights on or you come across as a smart@$$ or someone with an axe to grind you’ll get HAMMERED.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
They can do whatever they want,including hiding at the end of a deserted road behind the one signboard that was big enuff to hide two cruisers……at least in Rhode Island!! I got a 75 dollar speeding ticket to prove it!!Guess cops suck no matter what state you’re in,until you need them of course…..Good luck with your case.You ought to try doing a search for the actual laws regarding that though on a Govt.website for Georgia-it is public information that you should be able to access.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Entrapment does not pertain to traffic. They can hide behind bushes, sit in the dark and so on. we used to park a lawnmower and attach the radar antenna to hand have the operator sit behind a bush with the unit. all’s far in the traffic business.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Police are permitted set radar enforcement with there lights off.
How ever, you mentioned that they were a the bottom of a hill, if the grade of the hill was 15 degrees or higher that’s not permitted
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Go pay your ticket. As for everyone and their mother who thinks entrapment is the police sitting around without lights on that is not the case. Entrapment is…. when a police officer makes you commit a crime so they can arrest you. Example if an undercover officer drives up in a sports car and tries to get you to drag race him and then arrests you that is entrapment. An officer sitting behind something without the lights on so you can’t see him is not entrapment. The officer in no way made you speed. You were speeding and the officer did what they are paid to do… protect society.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
You thought wrong. There’s no law that requires police officers in a patrol car to have their lights on when parked and running RADAR. Further, the police car being in clear sight at the bottom of a hill is not a "speed trap." A police car sitting behind a billboard and out of plain view is a "speed trap."
It’s also not "entrapment." Here’s the definition:
en·trap (n-trp) KEY
TRANSITIVE VERB:
en·trapped , en·trap·ping , en·traps
To catch in or as if in a trap.
To lure into danger, difficulty, or a compromising situation. See Synonyms at catch.
To lure into performing a previously or otherwise uncontemplated illegal act.
OTHER FORMS:
en·trapment (Noun)
You got caught speeding. If you hadn’t been speeding you wouldn’t have gotten caught. You don’t have a leg to stand on, so quit whining and pay the ticket.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Haven’t you learned, yet,"You can’t fight City Hall!"? A cop can do just about any little thing he wants, including lying on the witness stand, if you can’t PROVE different.
In your case, he doesn’t have to ly, as he is still legal; what goes for civilians doesn’t really go for the po-lice. If your ticket is so serious, best get yourself a lawyer, because like a doctor who treats himself as a patient, you act as a lawyer for yourself, you have a FOOL for a client!
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
Pay the fine. They can park anywhere they want as long as it’s not private property.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
LOL! This is too funny! No, it’s not illegal for the cops to be on the side of the road with no lights, but it IS illegal for you to break traffic laws!
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
trap? you were speeding, pay the ticket. Where the officer was parked has nothing to do with your violation of the law. If need be, his department can handle what he did wrong. You will still have to pay the ticket.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
The cop may have violated department policy, but that won’t get you out of a ticket. I also doubt that he violated policy. Even so, it doesn’t help you.
It sounds as though you wish to make an "entrapment" defense.
Entrapment is when a law enforcement officer entices you to do something that you would not normally do or where not intentionally looking to do. Here, your argument would be that the police officer enticed you into speeding by not being plainly visible. Obviously, that ain’t gonna work.
But good luck anyway.
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
I’ve said it before, EDUCATE YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!! Do not listen to half of these posts, they are wrong. If you are really worried about this, contact the local police agency and talk with the chief or his rep. If you really want to fight this, contact an attorney, don’t listen to your drunk/stoned friends, you will loose!!
January 2nd, 2010 - 05:02
In most states, police on duty are exempt from most traffic laws when on patrol, although they are not going to just go out and break them all the time. They do have to excersise caution and can be civily liable for damages they cause when breaking those laws. As for those quotas that keep comming up…have seen more than one supervisor loose his job or get demoted for setting quotas. HIGHLY frowned on in most large agencies.