Speeding LEO's

[Jack L]

You forgot one of the most used (but unauthorized) codes of them all...code 2 1/2. Driving fast, but using lights and sirens just to bust intersections, then shutting them down till the next one.

+10 on that.

I would like the see the DMV insert more questions on their tests regarding yielding to LEOs and other emergency vehicles that are riving Code 3 or Code 2 1/2. The general public seems to have forgotten those laws.

[Steveo8]

LOL! Been there oh so many times.....

"Move right, move right, to the right, right! no no no nonono NONONONO!!! D@MNIT DON'T FREAKIN STOP IN THE FAST LANE!!! ARE YOU CRAZY?!? GO!!! YOU'RE GONNA FREAKING DIE GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!! GAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

The whole time you're thinking; "they're gonna get smoked, someone is going to die, and it might be me!"

HECK YEAH! That sound like me and I am not a LEO!

[J_B]

The example I have used for years is simply this...

If someone was breaking into your home, would you want us to get there as quickly as possible? Of course you would and we want to get there as quickly as possible as well. Unfortunately, that type of call does not authorize a Code 3 response. So, what do we do?...yep, drive a few miles an hours above the speed limit as we safely can to get there.

Now, keep in mind that one person's opinion of 'safely' and the driver of the patrol car's opinion of 'safely' may be substantially different!!

Reminds me of a friend from another agency who's beat partner was heading to a call and was in the diamond lane, haulin' butt.

Guy pulls up next to him, honking, yelling out the window and waving the officer down.

Officer pulls over, thinking something must be really wrong. Guy gets out and starts chewing out the officer for speeding and being in the diamond lane during the peak hours.

Officer's response was something to: I'm heading to a call for service. If you were in need of law enforcement help, would you want some citizen pulling me over for speeding and being in the diamond lane while rushing to your aid?

[oddjob]

I remember people not pulling over or freezing up while I was running code 3.....Its just the way people react to a stressful situation (stress for them).

I responded to an armed robbery call (211 pc) at a grocery store. I took a position of cover and my partner was telling people not to go into the store. We had our guns out. The people's response was "But we have to get milk!" they were serious!! They stared at us for about 5 seconds, went back to their car and drove off. This was a righteous robbery and the suspects had fled by the time we arrived. We found this out later.

Just remember when LEO deal with people we have to deal with the lowest common denominator some times......and it gets pretty low at times.

[alex00]

I think what most people that get irked by the police speeding tend to forget is that when we are driving, it's for a reason. I'm not running personal errands and speeding because my favorite TV show is about to start, or running late for work, or whatever million other reasons cause people speed. I could be driving fast for a list of reasons too numerous to type. Is it legal for me to speed? No. Is it a violation of agency policy to speed? Yes. Will I be held accountable for an accident, and get two days on the beach if I'm at fault? Yes. My agency has a pretty liberal Code-3 policy, meaning we can turn on the lights and siren at our discretion. It's rare for my supervisor to shut me down, but it has happened. If I think the call requires a Code-3 response, by all means I drive as hard and as fast as I can within my abilities while giving due regard for the motoring public I share the road with.

There are those times when we are trying to catch up to a car we want to stop. If I turn on the lights it's going to give me away, and may cause the driver to hit corners on me and try and out-run me. If I can sneak up on them, it may prevent a pursuit.

I learned a long time ago that there are always people that will be displeased with some aspect of law enforcement, and there is nothing I can do to change that. If I don't get there soon enough, they complain. If I speed to get there, they complain. If I pull a car over, they complain. If I ignore a speeder, they complain.

Oddjob, you made me laugh. I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me. AR or shotgun out, marked cars everywhere, and they look at you like you killed their kitten when you tell them they have to go buy Fun'yuns at another AM-PM.

[lavgrunt]

MMMMMM !!!!

........Fun'yuns !!!!!

[kheiney]

I'm glad the police are going faster then the speed limit. If they were going exactly the speed limit then everyone around them slows down to the exact speed limit.

Do you ever get annoyed when people slow way down around you?

[geeknow]

Herding cattle? Try herding wild cats.

When you run lights and siren, be prepared to get taken out by total idiots who have their own interpretation of the law. I see people pull to the right, slow down and stay in their own lane, pull over slowly over the length of 2 city blocks, stop right then and there no matter what lane they are in even if it is in the middle of the intersection, move to the left(!) and stop in the turn-in lane, and whatever else you can imagine.

There are also other situations such as you already got 3 units in pursuit which is the maximum number by policy and they are all lights and sirens, you are moving along with them, but not going code because you are not in the pursuit, and you are not looking to do any noise washout by having your sirens on while driving on parallel streets which might turn into a perpendicular street... cops know what I am talking about... so you expedite so you can be there without having the lightshow go on.

You can also expedite code 2 response where maybe an officer has asked for backup, but it hasn't escalated into a code 3 situation, but you can tell he needs someone then and there... like he's got a car pulled over, there's multiple people in there, and they are not cooperative. Nothing that bad yet, but he needs someone there to back him up... SOON! Having been in those situations, every second feels like a minute when you are waiting for another officer to be there to back you up. So, if someone calls for a back, I am going there asap.

How about a burglary alarm call? First unit is there, rolling silent because that's how you do it. Sees an open door or window, hears noises. He holds position, asks for backup. You gotta get there and help him asap. He can stand there forever, or the burglars can come out the next second and force his hand, you don't know. You get there as fast and as silently as you can so you don't alert the burglars.

There are tons of reasons why cops might roll hot but stealthy. I agree, if you are not doing anything and you just like speeding in a marked unit to burn up more free government gas, it is inappropriate and it is dangerous, but without knowing everything, I prefer to give cops the benefit of the doubt that they are not out there ****ing around for no reason.

Thanks for your perspective...very broad, indeed.

You used the term 'noise washout'. I've never heard it used before. What is it?

[code33]

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/vehicle-equipment/articles/81021-Limiting-Cars-Lights-Siren-Use-May-Prevent-Police-Crashes/

The "washout" factor -- a phenomenon where competing lights and sirens essentially cancel each other out, leaving officers potentially oblivious to other patrol cars -- is believed to be at least partly responsible for Wednesday''s wreck that claimed the life of rookie Officer Jon C. Cook and left rookie Officer Nick Ferrando in critical condition.

You used the term 'noise washout'. I've never heard it used before. What is it?

[alex00]

I'm glad the police are going faster then the speed limit. If they were going exactly the speed limit then everyone around them slows down to the exact speed limit.

Do you ever get annoyed when people slow way down around you?

I don't get annoyed when people slow down around me, but I might get a little non-plussed when they slow below the speed limit when I am behind them. When I had a marked take home, I would drive faster than the flow of traffic just so I didn't ruin their morning commute. There were a few times when I would drive the exact speed limit for my 30 mile freeway stint. I looked like the pied piper with an empty freeway in front of me, and a sea of cars behind me. Who isn't relieved to see the marked car get off the freeway?

[ak_in_ca]

Whats funny is how people always bring up cops driving in these situations. What people fail to realize is how dangerous the Code 3 driving of CDF (CAL FIRE) and AMR (American Medical Response) their policy has them rolling C3 to every call, even if it is to just check a paper cut. I have seen them run reds, go into wrongway traffic etc for the most minor of incidents. That giant fire engine will kill people a whole lot faster than a black and white speeding a little.

Yes BWs tend to speed from time to time but they are responding to something that may or may not be Code Authorized but rest assured they have a reason! And to beat a dead horse, people do the DUMBEST THINGS ON EARTH when they see lights behind them. Its much easier and safer to just speed and hit your lights at the intersections. Go on a ride along someday and see first hand the things your everyday officer sees.

[Notorious]

I don't get annoyed when people slow down around me, but I might get a little non-plussed when they slow below the speed limit when I am behind them. When I had a marked take home, I would drive faster than the flow of traffic just so I didn't ruin their morning commute. There were a few times when I would drive the exact speed limit for my 30 mile freeway stint. I looked like the pied piper with an empty freeway in front of me, and a sea of cars behind me. Who isn't relieved to see the marked car get off the freeway?

When I am in my marked and on the freeway, I go the speed limit unless I am expediting a response or going code 3. Not to do it to be a jerk and lead a rolling blockade, but I am setting the example. If I am flying down the freeway, how do I pull over people who are also exceeding the speed limit? Where do I draw the line then?

I am going 70-75mph and then I pull over someone for going 80mph? Or do I add 15mph to what I was doing? Or do I go 75mph but pull over somone doing 70mph?

I follow the law and go 65mph. If some idiot decides it is a good idea to pass a MARKED patrol car that is going the speed limit, then he will get a nice chat with me at the next exit as to which planet did that sound like a good idea.

[alex00]

When I am in my marked and on the freeway, I go the speed limit unless I am expediting a response or going code 3. Not to do it to be a jerk and lead a rolling blockade, but I am setting the example. If I am flying down the freeway, how do I pull over people who are also exceeding the speed limit? Where do I draw the line then?

I am going 70-75mph and then I pull over someone for going 80mph? Or do I add 15mph to what I was doing? Or do I go 75mph but pull over somone doing 70mph?

I follow the law and go 65mph. If some idiot decides it is a good idea to pass a MARKED patrol car that is going the speed limit, then he will get a nice chat with me at the next exit as to which planet did that sound like a good idea.

I get what you are saying, and when working my patrol district that only has 6 freeway offramps, going the speed limit doesn't create the backlog. 30-40 minutes of creating a backlog with everyone tailgaiting and trying to get to the front of the pack to see what the holdup was seemed more unsafe to me than rolling the speed limit.