Police officer having a bad day?
 

Hello,

So, the other day, my friend's mother was driving home from Vancouver, and then apparently she cut off a police officer while driving. My question isn't regarding the act itself (as she probably did cut him off), but rather the conduct of the officer.

I just have a question: Is it appropriate to file complaints for police officers being extremely rude/yelling or even frightening (as she was pretty scared while he was giving her the ticket), so long as you are not obstructing justice?

After he gave her the ticket, and after she drove away, the cop somehow managed to get in front of her, and when they reached a 2-way street (one lane in either direction), he stopped right in the middle of the road for close to 5 minutes! While he was doing this, she was too scared to pass him, so she just waited behind him.

So then he drives off, and then a few minutes later, does it again! Eventually, he did a u-turn (and then pulled someone else over, btw).

Of course, since he just gave her a ticket, she did not want to pass him on the solid line and get another ticket...

So my other question is, what could you do in this situation, or any other situation where a cop is acting questionably? Call the police (911), and say that a cop is really frightening you?

Or, is it within the law to give the cop in front of you a honk, or a highbeam? Also, isn't it illegal to just stop in the middle of a one lane road?

Thanks for your comments!




And yes, obviously it is a case of he said/she said, but I think most people on here should be sensible/intelligent enough to realize that this is the case with the majority of advice posts on here.

Yes, obstructing traffic IS illegal. Personally, I think I would have pulled off the road (because, you know...), whipped out the cel, and called 911, tell them there's a cop trying to road-rage me.

And yes, she should definitely file a complaint.

If the cop was infront of her, she should have just turned off and gone another way.

I wouldn't have even bothered but word of mouth is often victim to hyperboles and creative additives to make the story seem more outrageous than it is.

Hearing third hand information from someone who was under a stressful (to her) situation is hardly a way to get the actual facts of what happened. Everybody tends to colour the circumstances of an incident and you are the third person to relate it to us. There has to be WAY more to this than has been told here. As Soundy said, if the lady ( and nobody else, because you were not there ) has a complaint, there are ways to do that. Most PC's have dash cams these days and that footage can be part of an investrigation. No point in anybody speculating on what happened. Not productive.

That's not always possible. Lotta stretches of narrow two-lane roads in Richmond with a half-mile between cross-streets.

Thanks for the responses.

Not everybody exacerbates these types of situations but merely tell it as it is. For you to speculate that most victims are creating "additives to make the story seem more outrageous than it is" clearly shows you how close minded you are.

- Eric

^ It clearly shows what human nature is. The vast majority will exaggerate a story like this, how intentional the exaggeration is will vary of course. But I would be willing to bet the situation was not nearly as bad as she makes it sound.