PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Out here the county Sheriff’s are contracted to the city to act as police. Apparently quite a few cities in this area do this, I don’t know why.
The Sheriff’s department is also its own entity, and handles the unincorporated areas as well as serving/executing warrants and such.
When I lived in Texas I had heard that Sheriff’s department doesn’t do traffic violations because the Sheriff himself is elected, and that could affect re-elections. I don’t know how true that is.

 

This brings us to part two of why I am asking this...

First off, I would like to say that I contacted my attorney and got off with no points on my driver's license and a drastically reduced fine...

As I said in my other recent thread, the area where I live has dozens of different police departments and one county sheriff's department with jurisdiction over the whole county. The Bucks County Sheriff handles stuff relating to courthouse security and prisoner transport, but for example does not have the power to write traffic tickets.


Here's the story:
A friend of mine was kicked out of her apartment, and showed up at the bar where I worked at the time with all of her worldly possessions. Another friend of mine was known to open her home to those in need, so I made a call and got the first friend a place to stay. We loaded all of her stuff, including a flat screen TV and gaming console, into my Tacoma. It was about midnight, and I had worked at my other job all afternoon (I detail cars at a dealership). I am temporarily unemployed from the bar right now because the building is undergoing extensive renovations.

Basically what happened is I treated a red light like a stop sign. I was super tired, which is no excuse, but please hear me out. I was at a 3-way intersection where I was used to turning left, but I was going straight on this particular night to take my friend to another friend's house. I was tired, and I had my intoxicated friend in the shotgun seat chatting my ear off. I look both ways, found the intersection to be completely clear, and proceeded through the red light as if it were a stop sign. My dashcam footage proves that I was not driving recklessly, nor did I "blow" the red light.

The next thing I know, a Chevy Express with emergency lights is pulling me over. I found this to be weird because I knew the Central Bucks Regional PD did not have any vans in its patrol vehicle fleet.

Young guy gets out of the van and introduces himself as "Deputy so-and-so with the Bucks County Sheriff's Department" and asks if I know why he stopped me. I answer with a completely honest "no." He explains that I ran the red light, and I still didn't believe him at that point...

He asks for my license, registration, and proof of insurance. I am polite, and ask if I can go in the glovebox so I don't cause any sudden movements. He says yes. I give him my license and the papers for the Tacoma, and he disappears into his vehicle for a good 15-20 minutes.

After 10-15 minutes, a cop in a marked CBRPD Chevy Tahoe pulls up and the cop goes to the sheriff's van. Several more minutes pass and the cop walks up to my truck and says "here's your citation." I responded with a frustrated "Dammit!" and he told me to "calm down, that I was being recorded." He then proceeded to tell me that I almost caused an accident (bullshit; he didn't even witness the violation). Before leaving, I told him that I worked for a prominent local attorney and mentioned said attorney by name (attorney in question owns the bar where I worked).

My lawyer arranged court date for January 31st (I was stopped on January 2nd). He talked to both the deputy who witnessed the violation and stopped me, and the cop who wrote the ticket. Being the amazing lawyer that he is, he made a deal with them. In exchange for me getting a charge that carried a lower fine and no points on my license, they wouldn't have to show up in court. Another officer from the CBRPD who was in court that day for something else took the place of the one who ticketed me.

I guarantee you that I paid far less in lawyer fees to get this reduced than I would have paid in insurance premiums if I simply paid the ticket and by default admitted guilt. Not to mention, it would have been three points on my license.

My driving record is clean, and my job at the detail shop where I work depends on me having a good driving record. Also, the deputy who stopped me had a rather dickish attitude, so I decided to be a dick right back by fighting the ticket hard.

 

Did you take them apart first?

 

By law in GA the Sheriff is the top LE officer in each county. He is elected by the people of the county, but his salary is paid by the state, he works for the governor. We also have a city PD that handles most LE duties inside the city limits. We are only one of 8 counties in GA with a separate county PD. Our Sheriff could, if he chose to, take control of both the city and county PD, but it would be political suicide here. We also have a small city in the southern part of the county that has a 2 officer PD department. Why, I have no clue. You see this in a lot of counties but there is no need that I can see.

We have an agreement between the Sheriff's dept and the county/city PD's. The Sheriff runs the jail, provides security for the courthouse and has a warrant dept. They don't worry about traffic or investigate crimes. They CAN write traffic tickets, but only do so if they see something really dangerous. They don't have radar so they can't write tickets for speeding. They can write a ticket for driving too fast for conditions though which is hard to defend against. In reality, the only time one of our deputies will stop someone is if they suspect a drunk driver. The city and county PD take care of those duties within their jurisdictions to prevent duplication of services. If the city or county issue a warrant for someone it goes to the Sheriffs dept who send out someone to bring them in. Sheriffs deputies are also responsible for transporting prisoners to and from jail, court or even to another state if necessary to bring someone in. If there is ever a disagreement over who has authority, by law the sheriff gets the final vote. BUT... since it is an elected office he has to be careful if he wants to be re-elected.

 

We were typing at the same time. Nothing unusual about what happened to you. An officer saw you run the light and under the circumstances that is a good indicator of a drunk driver. You were detained by a cop who had no means of writing you a ticket until someone else could get there and write the ticket. They determined you were not a drunk and issued a ticket for running a red light. It could have been a lot worse. A LOT worse, and they could have justified it. You could have been sitting there for hours while they did breathalizer tests and brought in drug dogs. All the stuff in the truck sure could have looked like stolen merchandise

I don't know if you saved any money or not. I blew through a stop sign a few years ago. It was on a road I'd driven over a million times, but not within the last 2 years. The intersection used to open to through traffic going north/south and west bound traffic had to stop. Westbound the road dead ends into a T. They turned it into a 3 way stop and I simply didn't see the new sign. I was southbound, no other cars in sight and I slowed and made the left turn without stopping. After getting the ticket I had to go back and check. I literally never saw the stop sign, nor did my wife, but it was there. I think I paid $65 and it had no effect on my insurance. Not worried about points. That was 5 years ago and I average about 1 ticket every 10 years.

 

I was never even asked if I'd been drinking.

 

My uncle is a police officer, and a couple other relatives are as well. I respect the police, but I've had some unpleasant experiences with law enforcement in Doylestown Borough. The first and most notable of these incidents occurred in March 2014, and I wasn't even driving! I love photography, and don't care what people think of my typical subject matter (I like taking pictures of trucks). I went to a residential part of Doylestown, and unknowingly started taking pictures on a street where four different houses had been burglarized in less than a month and a half. I go to the same barber as the cop who initially stopped me, and this is how I was able to get the whole story.

Apparently some woman thought I was on her property taking pictures through her window (BULLSHIT) and called 911. As I was walking back to my truck to go home, the sergeant of what was then the Doylestown Borough Police (now Central Bucks Regional Police)pulled up curbside, got out, and asked to see my ID.

Before long, two more police vehicles and three more cops (including a plainclothes detective) showed up, and they held me there for like 20 minutes. I was asked the same questions over and over had to show them the pictures on my camera.

I would also like to point out, before you criticize me, that I have Aspergers Syndrome, which is a high functioning form of autism. I do not deal well with those type of situations, but I handled myself well enough to not be handcuffed, searched, and/or put in the back of a police car.

It is because of the 2013 photography incident that I placed police officers in the same category as nazis for more than two years and had a great disdain for law enforcement as a whole.

 

That right there is why I'm weary of police, even though I've never been arrested and don't have any kind of "record".

 

I've said it before and I will say it again; I've got nothing no problems with law enforcement. I respect police and appreciate all the work they do, as well as the fact that they put their lives in danger on a daily basis to keep us regular Joes and Janes safe.

However, what irritates me to no end is that cops pull people over based on their appearance or the appearance of their vehicle. My cousin's boyfriend was pulled over by a Maryland Trooper in a company work truck for speeding or something, and the trooper said he smelled weed.

My uncle was pulled over by two North Carolina troopers for being a shirtless guy with tattoos, and driving a beat up Toyota pickup with Pennsylvania plates and a Pit Bull-type dog in the front seat. They claimed he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt but let him go without even a warning after finding no drugs or weapons among the boxes of car parts in the bed of his truck. The aforementioned Pit Bull-type dog, normally friendly and docile but very protective of his master's truck, wouldn't let the troopers anywhere near the cab so they just gave up.

I'm just jaded...

What else is there to say?

 

@ABA180

You should see (and hear) what I've done to my stereo system!

• Pioneer AVH-1330NEX head unit
• JBL GTO 609C component speakers
• $270 Kicker 11HS8 Kicker Hideaway Powered Enclosure HS8 - Used Acceptable
  Kicker 11HS8 Hideaway 8" sub
• Rockford Fosgate R150X2 Prime 2-channel amplifier

 

I like it man..are you running another amplifier besides the Prime?

 

The sub has it's own built-in amp, but no other external amplifiers...

 

@ABA180

Installation of subwoofer and amp HERE.

 

@ABA180

Installation of Pioneer head unit HERE.

 

Nice work man! I managed to not remove my seat but it was about a day's work installing mine..

 

Six hours for my neighbor and me; We ran the wiring under the carpet...

 

Good stuff..bet the Misfits would sound good on that thing!

 

Yup about the same. I had a guy help me who is a professional though..

 

I've cranked One Last Caress before!

 

@ABA180

Did you put a backup camera in your truck?