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dodexahedron t1_j16k66u wrote

Reply to comment by Im_homer_simpson in After Arrest of 7 Cops, LAPD Reminds Its Own Officers Not to Drink and Drive by Exastiken

I literally had a cop yell at me "don't tell me the law, I AM the law" during a traffic stop when he was dead wrong about something he wanted to ticket me for. He of course did anyway and the court dropped that citation like a hot potato, because I was, in fact, correct about a traffic law. Something a state HP guy should be at least passingly familiar with, you'd think.

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DaoFerret t1_j17j351 wrote

You’d think they should have some requirement to be familiar with the law, but the courts have found that’s it’s “good enough” if they just THINK something is against the law.

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earhere t1_j18er9w wrote

Cops are notoriously ignorant when it comes to actual laws, and it doesn't help that the courts decided it's okay for cops to be wrong about the laws they're enforcing.

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No_North_8522 t1_j19g3vu wrote

There are people who's job it is to know the law and they're called lawyers. I agree cops should be familiar but the bar of knowing the law is too high for a police officer IMO

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earhere t1_j19gsdc wrote

This feels like a failing of policing in general. It's not that much of an ask for a police officer to be able to articulate the law that a person is being ticketed/arrested for. It's also a failing that a police officer can just enforce their will against the public regardless if their actions are lawful or not, and the civilian has to argue in court or have a lawyer argue on their behalf to show that the cop's actions indeed were not lawful; and they'll still have to pay court costs.

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shelsilverstien t1_j17vx9p wrote

I had a similar situation and still ended up having to pay court costs

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