Dallas Deputy Sheriff

[gomowdude]

Got pulled over in Dallas tonight on the way home from some friends wedding festivities around 9:45 with my wife in tow. Leaving a nice neighborhood I quickly found myself in a bad neighborhood with confusing street layouts which is the usual for me when I am navigating Dallas (its not like this in Fort Worth by the way!) After going back and forth under the freeway about 3 times, I finally find an entrance ramp and slowed to a roll before hitting it to get on the freeway. Apparently it was a stop sign and not a yield, but I couldn't see it because there was a tricked out Suburban stopped at the corner with the passengers talking to some friends and obstructing the sign. None the less I was in the wrong and the Deputy Sheriff waiting about a block ahead thought so too and pulled me over. I rolled down the window, turned off the car, turned on the dome light and took the keys out of the ignition. He came to the door stated his name, told me why he pulled me over asked for the credentials, I handed over both ID's and insurance, he asked where we were going, and asked if I had my weapon. I said "yes", and he asked where it was and I told him it was in the door pocket (with both hands on the wheel), he tried to peer in to see it but couldn't and then walked back to the car. He returned and gave me a "warning", and was walking back to his car before I could even thank him, or apologize. I can't complain, but it wouldn't hurt if he was a bit more polite. I guess he may have expected someone different when he pulled us over considering the neighborhood we were in, so I guess he didn't exactly plan on flipping on the nice cop switch. Oh well, thankfully no ticket, and I will feel much more comfortable should I be pulled over again while carrying.

[stevie_d_64]

Textbook...

And you'd have been just fine if you had gotten a ticket anyway, right???

[ninemm]

You must have been near Fair Park and Baylor Hospital on East R.L. Thornton (I30).

When I was in high school, the person exiting the freeway had to yield to traffic on the service road in Fort Worth. It was the only place in the area that was like that. Thank goodness they changed it to having service road traffic yield to traffic exiting the freeway like it is everywhere else. I was involved in several near misses (or actually, near hits, as George Carlin would say).

When did they change "Right on Red After Stop" to simply "Right on Red"? I would have thought such a change would have been in the news more but somehow I missed it.

[gomowdude]

Yeah, I would have been fine with a ticket, although it would have been the first ticket that I would have received because I really did overlook the sign. All my other tickets I knew I was either knowingly speeding, or not obeying traffic laws so I really deserved it. ninemm, I think I was right by Fair Park actually!

[ls6tt]

if he was in a hurry he might have got a call.

[ironsights]

You have to remember that our police deal with the worst of the worst on a regular basis and then go home and deal with the wife and kids, try to get some rest and start again... and I bet there last thought before they fall asleep is, "In the blink of an eye i'll be right back in that patrol car"!

I am very polite to my LEO's. .....

I turn on the lights
Have my paperwork ready
keys on the dash
hands open and on the wheel @ 11:00 & 1:00
Greet the officer after he greets me first
answer questions
Sign something, (or hopefully not!)
say ,"Thank you officer, stay safe".
Go home
Let the wife put the gavel down as i try to look innocent

[lws380]

Are you required to answer, "Where are you going?" What does that have to do with running a stop sign?

[jbirds1210]

Are you required to answer, "Where are you going?" What does that have to do with running a stop sign?

"to the emergency room because of chest pains" might have alot to do with why someone would run a stop sign.

Jason

[Keith B]

My BIL's Dad got out of a speeding ticket by answering the question of where he was going in such a hurry. He advised the trooper he was heading home to go to the bathroom due to a severe case of diarrhea. He was about 1/2 a mile from his house on the highway. The gurgling sounds coming from his stomach may have also played into the troopers decision to release him quickly.

[Rex B]

When did they change "Right on Red After Stop" to simply "Right on Red"? I would have thought such a change would have been in the news more but somehow I missed it.

Wondered that myself. sure ticks me off.

[tfrazier]

I used to hear the "call of nature" excuse a lot when I was a cop. Some folks think that offering up a somewhat embarrassing personal excuse is going to get them out of a ticket. Most of the time, they were lying, IMO. Of course, I hated writing tickets and used nearly all my traffic stops as excuses to check for warrants, anyway, so I generally just issued warnings.

If someone was driving so horribly they were endangering others, I took 'em to jail on a reckless driving charge.

There were plenty of 'traffic' cops in our department to take care of ticket writing and revenue generation. I was busy enough putting people in jail for DWI, robbery, burglary, assault, and various other 'real' crimes.

Traffic enforcement was just a good excuse for me to execute some felony warrants during the down times between those calls.

[The Annoyed Man]

I remember when I first moved to Dallas 3 years ago and was living in a cheap hotel near my work (near Inwood + 35E) until my family moved out here and we bought our home in Grapevine. I actually switched cellular phone service providers to Verizon so I could get VZ Navigator on my phone because the streets were just impossible to figure out. I finally decided that Dallas was originally laid out by a drunk. It's the only possible explanation.

One of the few upsides to living in the Los Angeles basin is that there is a range of mountains to the north with 6,000 to 10,000 foot peaks. You can always find north, without having to figure out the time and the sun's position in the sky. No such luck in north Texas!

Maybe the officer who stopped you was nervous about being outside the protection of his cruiser in that particular neighborhood, and that's why he was in a businesslike hurry to get it over with?

[tfrazier]

...I finally decided that Dallas was originally laid out by a drunk. It's the only possible explanation...

And his descendants are still in the city planning department, and still imbibing!

[CHL/LEO]

if he was in a hurry he might have got a call.

He probably wasn't writing traffic tickets - unless they were "aggravated". He was set up on that location for a reason and was using PC to stop vehicles.

By the way, the DSO now handles all traffic enforcement for the majority of all the freeways in Dallas due to an inter-local agreement with DPD. DPD traffic enforcement officers now work the Dallas streets and all you should see on the freeways now are DSO, DART, Dallas Constables, and the occasional DPS unit. If you do see DPD elements on the freeways it's probably because they're working a wreck due to a request by DSO, or a DFD unit arrived and requested cover.

[lws380]

Are you required to answer, "Where are you going?" What does that have to do with running a stop sign?

"to the emergency room because of chest pains" might have alot to do with why someone would run a stop sign.

Jason

Or, "I'm on my way to go buy some more guns."