Traffic fine in the US - can I simply ignore it as I am leaving the country soon or will that come back to me somehow?
Bravo Ben Your appeal certainly made me chuckle. Hope it works for you, and now for a new/ old joke Why did the chicken cross the road? To Pi** of the traffic Cop!
Reply to this Caught this cop jaywalking in Atlanta on camera - pricesless!
Reply to this Ha! Re: msg 42: Another crime Ben! Tut tut! 😉
Apparently, photographing police on duty is now forbidden in the US.
In at least three states, it is now illegal to record any on-duty police officer.
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The legal justification for arresting the "shooter" rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited.
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Quote from
Are Cameras the New Guns
Reply to this Mel - Seriously! That story has been getting coverage here as well (it was on the local nightly news yesterday), and it is certainly not the usual way of things around here. Here is
local news coverage of the incident.
I feel I must point out (and
not to excuse the action, which I think could be considered excessive use of force, but for clarity) this was not in reaction to jaywalking, but instead to physically resisting and disobeying the officer after he requested she remain on the scene. I would also not recommend MLK Jr. Way (the street this took place on) or the surrounding part of town as a place to hang around in general. It's always important to know the neighborhood you are in, and in this case, it is the sad truth that officers and law enforcement are quicker to react in this part of town than in others due to the increased prevalence in violent incidents that occur there.
In regards to cameras - take note! Many stoplights in the U.S are equipped with cameras and you can, indeed, get a traffic ticket sent to you in the mail if one of these cameras captures you running a red light.
Reply to this Good news! I just got a letter from the District Court of Hawaii saying that the case was "dismissed with prejudice". It took some research on the Internet what that exactly means (why can't they just say what they actually mean?), but as I gather it they have accepted my appeal and thrown the whole thing out for good.
So all the effort was worth it in the end - and 130 $ is certainly enough motivation to write a short letter. I hope that my letter brought some amusement to the court employee dealing with it.
@ Mel: That is very worrying news! I haven't read much about the subject, but if the police is trying to ban people from filming them at work, I can't help but think that something really fishy is going on. How do you spell transparent? And why doesn't such a move cause more of an uproar??? Have governments weakened civil rights so much over the last 9 years that now they can do whatever they like? Would it be exaggerated to say: Only in the US? I can't imagine for a second that such a move would have even a faint chance in European countries...
Reply to this Well done Ben...so any trip to hawai soon? Kidding, congratulations!
Reply to this ...why can't they just say what they actually mean?...
Yeah, I sometimes wonder that too. I used to work in a lawyers office, and couldnt understand most of the letters the lawyer dictated for me to type.
Contgratulations, on your efforts paying off!
How do you spell transparent?
I think you spelled it correctly, but spelling is certainly not my talent, so it could actully be spelled wrongly.
Only in the US?
Yeah, I was surprised there is such a law too.
Reply to this Great going, Ben. Glad the system worked for you 😊
I actually think there is a
similar law (about no photographs of officers on duty) in the UK too, but that might have been repealed. Most of these rules were passed when "counter-terrorism" edicts were all the rage.
It's only the law in three out of 50 states, so best not to apply it carte blanche to the entire U.S. I'm often surprised what residents of other states vote for and approve willingly. I had no idea it was illegal to take photographs of officers anywhere other than security check-points, but then again I've never tried to photograph a cop in Boston. Have plenty of photos of the ones in NYC though.
Reply to this Glad you got out of this. Sorry you had to go through the hassle. My apologies for the way my fellow countrymen treated you.
Reply to this Just found out about this Ben . BRILLIANT!
And that Seattle cop thing is DISGUSTING - if that guy wasn´t wearing a cop uniform what would one think of his reaction - the fact that he is a cop should make it worse, not justify it!
Reply to this Belated congrats from me too Ben!
Btw, I've always used 'jaywalking' as just meaning walking down the middle of the road - now I know it is used in a much wider sense in North America.
Reply to this OMG, Ben, the letter you posted to the Hawaian cops is the funniest "official document" I've ever read. Actually, it was so funny that for a split second I even considered applying for job at that specific police station. You never know these days, with so many foreigners crossing and recrossing the same street over and over, an extra jaywalker's ranger might come handy.
Anyway, now that
I learn good lesson, and promise will not recross street in United States America is finally a safer place to be...
Thanks again, and -though is not needed anymore- my vote would have gone to: IGNORE IT; DON'T PAY!
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