Letter: An Abuse of Power

To whom it may concern:

Let me get straight to the point. I respect our men and women of law-enforcement. And yes, driving here can be quite precarious and the men and women in blue have to enforce the law and attempt to keep the unsafe driving at bay.

But when an officer pulls me over because “I can tell the way you were leaning that you weren’t wearing a seat belt,” well, that’s a new one and perhaps even a bit of an abuse of the law.

Am I guilty of sometimes driving too fast? Yes

Do I at times tailgate when I shouldn’t? Yes

But there has never been a day in my life of driving for over 30 years that I have never put my seat belt on.

Until today, of course.

At least in the eyes of the officer who apparently shares amazing vision with Superman.

I was courteous, referred to him as officer (boy was he miffed: “State Trooper, I am”. Officer of the law anyone?) and his only response when I looked at him incredulously and tried to make my case was that, “I see this all the time…”

One thing that I do not see all the time are “Officers” of the law who abuse their power.

Today, I witnessed the exception to that rule.

Happy Holiday!

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37 COMMENTS

  1. (Moderated) I used to back the men in blue until one of our local officers went out of his way to be (moderated) Now i lost respect for all of them. One bad Apple definitely ruins if for all. Sad.

  2. Had a similar incident. He responded “you can fight it in court”

    The problem is the state doesn’t compensate me for the lost wages due to missing a day of work.

    They don’t either compensate me for the raise in my insurance rates
    (even if I “win”, the prosecutor will offer a plea bargain in order to keep the officer in “right”, therefore it’s still reflected on my driving record for insurance)

  3. Please share the name of the officer who pulled you over. Once his name is listed let’s get all those who have had run ins with this officer file official complaints. This will remove the officer from our community

    • I wish I could… His name isn’t on the ticket. Though I spoke with him respectfully his smugness belied the honor of the uniform we are meant to trust…

    • How can you jump to the conclusion that the officer is wrong based on a one-sided story of the accused? Banding together to go against those in law and safety will create a future of lawlessness.

      • Not jumping to any conclusions or believing anyone. Just saying now that we have his name, those who feel he took advantage of them should report it. If enough people report their personal run ins with him then we can get him out of our area and stop this.

        I believe in the police and we need them and we must be respectful, but we also cannot allow them to feel they can abuse us simply because of the uniform they wear. It’s called accountability. If nobody had a run in with this guy then nothing will happen. If enough people did and share their stories then he will have to answer to them and a decision will be made.

  4. I’ve been told that “Conover” is merely the officer’s nickname. He was named nicknamed Conover, when one of his superiors realized what kind of phony tickets he was giving out, and told him, “Officer, you’ve been exposed, your con jobs are now officially over!!” Since then, everyone calls him “Officer ConOver.”

  5. Had a similar incident many years ago. I had taken off my seatbelt to reach over to the glove box to get my documents. as he walked away he asked why aren’t you wearing a seatbelt? Didn’t give me time to answer and he wrote a ticket for that. Many years later while purchasing life insurance, my rates were higher because of that ticket. 🙁

  6. No. That’s why the police should concentrate on the criminals and not write phony traffic tickets. A friend of mine who didn’t even own a cell phone at the time, was pulled over and given a ticket for using a cellphone. The same happened to a different friend who was the most cautious driver you could imagine – the cop claimed she was holding her phone and she had never ever removed it from her purse. She actually got off by crying and pleading. These guys aren’t saints. Frivolous tickets are also fraud. When they give tickets for speeding 10 miles over on an empty and open highway on a Sunday morning, that is playing gotcha and has 0 to do with safety.

  7. By your own admission, you speed, sometimes, you tailgate, at other (same?) times. Not the model driver. Do you really expect people to believe you never once drove without a seatbelt in 30 years of driving? Would be more believable if you said you almost always are seatbelted, including on this occasion. You lose all credibility when you exaggerate the truth.

    • If he would have stated that in 30 years he never sped, tailgated or drove without a seatbelt you’d have a valid argument, however he has nothing to lose by saying that he sometimes drives without a seatbelt as he told us he sometimes does other things wrong thereby rendering him truthful and with 100% credibility.
      If you were to argue that he loses his credibility regarding seatbelts as the issue at hand is a seatbelt one you’d have a good argument. But from what I understand you wrote that’s not the case. Please don’t accuse him of being a truth exaggerator when it’s clearly not the case.

    • Don’t waste the anti-semitism bullets on this one. This trooper is one lousy bully. Unfortunately, bullying is what some cops enjoy most about their jobs. Thankfully, it’s a small percentage. There actually are some fine, well-balanced individuals in law-enforcement. A cop stopped me past midnight on a deserted road in Jackson. I was really scared. Turns out I hadn’t received the new plates for my car and it appeared that the car wasn’t registered to me. After explaining it to me, he said he wasn’t issuing a summons and I should take care of it the next day. Which is exactly what I did. The officer wanted to ensure that the car was properly and legally registered and he saw no need to make me miserable. I called the Jackson police dept to update him that I had taken care of the plates. Case closed.

    • Sometimes you should be a safe driver and not complain when you are ticketed. Don’t play the anti semitism card. That’s just pathetic.

  8. When you respond to the ticket, check the “not guilty” box. Additionally you should request a Supporting Deposition by checking the appropriate box on the ticket. (A Supporting Deposition will provide you with additional information regarding the basis of your ticket. Obviously if there is no supporting docs for the basis of your ticket, your ticket will automatically get dismissed.)

    I got a seatbelt ticket at 1am. There was no way the cop saw me. It was pitch black outside. I checked off the supporting deposition box, even though the cop gave a reason. I never heard back from them again.

  9. need to get a dash cam that also has video inside vehicle that will at least help with some of these fake tickets like phone or seatbelts
    I am not against law enforcement, but let them fight crime for a change instead of going after law abiding citizens

  10. Dont you love all the police boot lickers in the comments, that said state troopers are not law enforcement they generate revenue for the state there is nothing they do to keep us safe

  11. If you have any complaints please call the police department and submit a report. That’s the only way change will happen. Not by griping online.

Comments are closed.