Don't Know What To Do
 

Okay, so yesterday me and my cousin were driving home from the gym and i stupidly decided to go 80 in a 50 zone because I thought there were no cops around. Well it turns out an off duty cop followed me home even though the incident of speeding only last at most ~10 seconds. He said he couldn't do anything about it because he was off duty but he would send over a couple of units to "deal" with me. He immediately left and I've waited until now and no one has come to my house so I was just wondering can he still issue me a ticket? Can he mail me a ticket? How long does he have to issue me a ticket? I only have my N if that matters at all.

From what I've read in this forum... which you could also find, just use the Search function ;)

You can be served the ticket in person at any time... but not mailed.

Don't worry about it. If you get one, you get one. If not, the guy was bluffing.

In any case, you've learned your lesson and gotten a good scare, which is probably what the cop wanted to do anyways. All good. :)

I'll be the first to admit though, they really shouldn't be tagging people on empty roads at night. Everyone goes a bit faster when there's no traffic or pedestrians.

Well I'm not really worried about a fine but how likely would it be for me to get a reckless driving charge instead of just plain speeding, wouldn't that be enough points to suspend my license? Also can anyone second jlenko's comment on not being able to mail me a ticket?

Officers must actually serve the tickets. They cannot be mailed.

In all likelihood, the officer may have told some on-duty police to come but knowing that this is such a trivial matter, they most likely didn't attend to it since they probably have better/more important things to deal with.

As for how long can they issue you a ticket? Up to one year is the general rule.

And rather unlikely you would get anything more if you were only speeding. Unless you were trying to be a drifter or swerving all over the road.

side question:
do off-duty cops have every authority that an on-duty cop has?
eg. OP can't tell him to fuck off?

i always thought off-duty cops were just regular citizens so have no right to tell you what to do

The off duty cop didn't tell him to do anything, he just followed him home and told him cops are on his way to give him a ticket.

Technically never off-duty, as the Criminal Code doesn't distinguish between on-duty or off-duty. Outside of our paid, scheduled shifts, our level of response is determined by our own risk assessment. Smarter and safer to call 911 ourselves and be good witnesses, or ....

When outside of paid, scheduled shifts, we don't have near the tools etc that we do on shift. Most importantly is our radio/communication with our dispatcher to let them and everyone else know where we are and what we're dealing with.

If we see a crime in progress and do NOTHING about it, we can be held accountable for that, depending on many things. (example: watching someone pull out a knife and start stabbing their friend to death, and walking away pretending it didn't happen vs. seeing someone jay-walk)

As for the ticket, 1 year is correct. Did he ID you at all? (ask for id?) Chances are it was to "scare" some sense into you....

Here's a thought: Maybe it wasn't a cop at all. Maybe it was a concerned citizen who decided to follow you, after you went speeding through his neighborhood. Give you a little scare perhaps?

Too bad there aren't more people out there like that... but then again... others might just take the law into their own hands and kick your ass...

Just a sacre tactic

I would not put too much thought into it and hell even if you get a ticket dispute it cause you will most likely win in this case
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Okay, thanks for all of your input and no he did not ID me.

A few years back RCMP Members had to take their "leave pass" and report into the nearest detachment when on holidays. That way you could be recalled if needed. Now you just fill out your address when on leave, vehicle info and a cell number if you have one. You may be "not working" but you are never not a Cop until you retire.

Why?

Because that's his answer to everything in here.

Well the police officer that give him the ticket would be an on duty officer is what I get from his story there.

When going to court its the police officer that gives you the ticket that would show up and when asked about the details of the ticket he would say an off duty policer officer told me he was speeding.

Where is the evidence? The off duty "cop" didn't have have a radar gun saying how fast he was going and he was never pulled over the "cop" just followed him home and told him.

So unless they are gonna waste money on getting the cop that wrote the ticket and the one that saw the speeding come to court instead of doing something productive I can't see him losing if he did dispute.

My comment was just based on how I think it would play out if it did go to court.

I don't think I have said to dispute it in many of the other threads in here.

Didn't know expressing opinions was view down upon

Everyone goes a bit faster when they THINK there's no traffic or pedestrians. If I had a dollar for all the times that someone THOUGHT that and then screwed up because something WAS there....

Actually, it would just be like the same situation as a citizen reporting you in. The off-duty officer would have to show up to court as witnesses since it was the off duty officer who called you in. If a citizen called police to report someone speeding and an officer actually went to his house to serve the ticket and he disputed it, the citizen I believe would also have to show up to court as the witness.

I have personally issued tickets for offences I noted while off duty and in my own vehicle. A couple involved speeding. You don't need a certified speedo if you are doing a limit and somebody blasts past you so fast that your headlights stopped working...I know, an exageration, but you know what I mean. In the case mentioned here, the Officer who witnessed the offence would get the other Member to issue the ticket if he wanted. When it came to court the issuing member would say that he served the VT on the driver/owner, based on a statement from the witnessing Member, and produce the copy of the VT. The witnessing Member would then testify to what he saw and that he asked the issuing Member to serve the ticket. It would be much easier for the witnessing member to serve the owner a VT next time he got back on shift. Saves a lot of paperwork and hassles & only 1 Cop ends up in court.

okay, so thanks for clearing that up. Its good to know what actually happens when cases like these go thru to the courts.

I figured the hassle would be more than its worth to give the ticket since both officers would have to attend the trail.

So OP did you end up gettin a ticket or was it just a scare tactic?