My friend got dragged out of bed, cuffed and arrested over a left turn.

[EFerrari]

I've told you guys about my friend the grocer across the street. He and his wife Betty are huge but quiet community people. Well, last Friday while Rolando was here at the store, the San Mateo Country Sheriff's Department went into his house on a warrant for his wife. She had missed a Traffic Court appearance for a bad left turn.

She happened to be sick in bed at the time. They took her away in her PJs, bare foot and cuffed. Betty is 5'1" and 90 lbs soaking wet after a big Thanksgiving Dinner. She says the cop did about 90 driving the 35 miles back to the jail, weaving all over the freeway, and that she was afraid she wouldn't even make it there in one piece.

Now, Rolando and Betty live in the hills and their address was changed by the county about 6 weeks ago. Their hill is always under construction, it keeps losing part of itself and the country decided to change the numbers on most of the streets on that one hill. They've been having trouble getting their mail. And since Rolando can't drive because of his vision, Betty has been going into town every day to try and see if she can retrieve their mail before it goes out into the big black hole that is their mail route. She never got the notice that told her to show up to a hearing, let alone on what date and at what time. But somehow Rambo and his buddies found their house easy enough and apparently they had no problem going through the front door.

Rolando can't drive. So last Friday he went nuts for 9 hours trying to figure out where Betty was until the SMC Sheriff's Dept called him because they didn't let her make a call but instead called the contact number they got from her once she was interviewed. I guess she was lucky it was a quiet Friday night. Rolando had to take a $200 cab ride to go to the jail, get a bondsman and wait until Betty was released. Another $200 to get home, about $1,000 for the bondsman. Quite a Friday night spree.

Betty will probably never make a left turn again.

And I guess the residents of San Mateo County should be happy that their crime rate is so low that the sheriff is out rounding up middle aged matrons on "no show to traffic court" warrants who have no priors. Something I'm sure doesn't happen to middle aged matrons in the whiter section of the county.

:shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

1. State-sponsored domestic terrorists strike again.

Fucking cops.

[EFerrari]

14. I could NOT believe it.

:shrug:

[tom_paine]

93. Now that is has been Bushified, ESPECIALLY Law Enforcement,

there is nothing and I mean NO-THING that would suprise me in this Bushified-Nazified nation, now on it's way to FULL Bushification/Nazification and corruption.

NO-THING.

Read up on how the Nazi law Enforcement System worked, and pay special attention the the years 1933-1935, which can be said the be THEIR tranisition period before Bushification set FULLY in.

I hate to be an alarmist, bu the simpel fact is, the Bushies, when it all comes down to it, and their cruel propagandists and gullible, murdering followers, in the long-run are capable of EVERYTHING the Nazis did.

They probably won't do it like the Nazis, becuase that would be bad marketing and rebranding strategy to do so.

[EFerrari]

123. I've been waiting to hear where Obama is on the "fusion" centers.

And remember, Mueller is still at FBI for two more years. . . .

[tom_paine]

146. No word whatsoever on any of the Patriot Act shit. But we've got to be patient on that.

If Obama has not begun working on rversing Patriot Act and MCA, etc., by next year, I will start to get concerned.

perhaps that's what Cheney's mafia-style threat of having his al-Qaeda Pals hit us again, was actually a veiled mafia-therat to Obama that if he does that, Cheney will have his al-Qaeda pals nuke an American city.

You think Cheney would care?

[EFerrari]

He acts like his grandchildren will not have to deal with living on this planet.n/t

[tom_paine]

148. LOL. Maybe the Alien Overords (like in "They Live") have told all the Congress

that they will be taken away with the "They Live" fleet when the Earth is exhausted.

What a surprise they'll get when they find out the Alien Overlords do to them what THEY do to US.

Love to see the look on Bushler's face THEN.

Priceless.

:rofl:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. There is massive and violent unrest on the horizon.

The point of sufficiency will soon be reached. 2 years. Tops.

[razors edge]

9. That may be optimistic.

Two months wouldn't surprise me.

Europe seems about to pop.

[EFerrari]

54. I'm glad I don't have little kids around here any more.

This is not a good situation.

[Xenotime]

129. I hope not. Obama needs to work brining peace back to the US>

[boobooday]

3. Thank goodness everyone is safe from Betty's left turns

And our law enforcement has their priorities straight.

[EFerrari]

29. I'm never going to turn left again, either, just to be safe!

:shrug:

[roody]

49. You can't in San Francisco anyway.

[EFerrari]

51. That's right. And I have lobbied to change our city seal to a "no left turn" sign.

:)

[eppur_se_muova]

139. The edict against left turns came from the very top...

In November 1959 {J. Edgar} Hoover and Tolson decided to visit Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, whose presidential aspirations Hoover looked upon favorably. Schott's account of Fort Worth's preparations for this historic event, the event itself and its aftermath occupies some 30 pages and is the highest spot in a book that has many high ones. It begins with a long briefing by Fort Worth's SAC (special agent in charge) in which the route the guests would be driven from Love Field airport in Dallas to the Stephen F. Austin Hotel in Austin was traced inch by inch. "No sweat," Schott said, to which the SAC responded: "There's one catch. . . . There will be no left turns." That, as Schott says, "startled everybody," until "a good explanation" was put forth:

"In California several months before, {Hoover's} chauffeur-driven car, while making a left turn, had been struck by another car from behind. The Director had been shaken up. He had been sitting on the left side behind the driver. Now he refused to sit on the left rear seat any more and had forbidden all left turns on auto trips."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7055-2004Jun25.html

[EFerrari]

145. You can't make this stuff up!

lol

[patrice]

4. .

:grr: :grr: :grr:

Doesn't make up for this bullshit, but Give Rolando and Betty DU's best wishes, anyway.

[EFerrari]

15. Thank you. They're the sweetest people ever. WTF!

:grr:

[LisaL]

5. Why was she even supposed to go to court?

Did she not get a ticket she could have paid?

[EFerrari]

She had to wait to get the notice to know what to pay.

They live in an unincorporated part of the county and that's how it's done there.

/oops

[villager]

6. I hope this is in the press, and they're going to sue the shit out of these uniformed thugs

n/t

[One_Life_To_Give]

7. Bench Warrant is automatic

Failure to appear in traffic court will automatically earn you a bench warrant. But I think you have to be Served your papers for the court appearance not just thru the mail. And depending on the prosecutor it can be preatty easy to get a court date moved for something like a really bad cold. At least in traffic court as I recall anyway.

[EFerrari]

19. You'd think. And you'd think the County Sherrif would have something better to do

on a Friday night. :shrug:

[WillieW]

23. That is what I did. My new court date was today. Got probation (no points on driving records)

plus the fee was reduced by 1/2.

[SmileyRose]

35. In Georgia if they say they mailed it then legally you got it.

Because, you know, in Georgia the mail never gets lost. :crazy:

[EFerrari]

44. And that's how it's been here. But I've never heard of someone being dragged

out of bed because ONE attempted "service" got no response. A bench warrant for a traffic violation against a clean record and on a Friday night? That's just crazy.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

113. Yes, it is pretty much unheard of for here.

I have lived in SF my entire life, and frankly, the cops here generally have more important things to do than running down someone for an unpaid ticket. It just doesn't happen.

Once you hit the 'burbs, the wanna-be cops get bored and have nothing better to make themselves feel like they are real cops than flexing their muscles over an unpaid parking ticket. :eyes:

And yes, it is crazy.

And we can thank the current economic crisis her in CA for the current out-of-control ticket Nazis.

[WVRICK13]

86. Bench Warrant May be Automatic

but the fascist way of dealing with the warrant are a sign of what this country has become. I realize she was a vicious criminal, what with a left turn and all. However, maybe a knock on the door and a notice served would have been sufficient.

[One_Life_To_Give]

87. Cops attitudes have been going downhill for some time

Probably multiple causes from Training to Overload. But they are not as friendly and helpfull as in years past and are becoming downright rude. A couple cases in point involve a suspicious vehical in the neighborhood the dispatcher being, Why are you bothering us us. To a stolen car that the police didn't want to be bothered with.

[NikRik]

95. Never heard of police serving traffic warrants ?

A big city p WTF is going on , NikRik

[bunkerbuster1]

99. .

self-delete. sorry.

[Nevernose]

8. Is it because CA's revenue are so short?

I've noticed here in Las Vegas that the Highway patrol and the local police are out on the streets looking for traffic violators WAY more than they usually do. I didn't even know we HAD this many cops...

[Wednesdays]

13. I noticed that around here, too. nt

[8 track mind]

21. man you ought to see what they are doing in Texas

It's unreal. My wife got nailed for $150 for failing to yeild to a police officer. He was sitting on the shoulder of Interstate 35 with his lights on. he had no one pulled over. She thought this might have been a freak thing, but she's seen this little prick pulling the same stunt every day after that incident.

Not very many people know about this law, so it's rather easy to pop people for it.

Extortion, pure and simple.

In Euless and Bedford they have taken to flying an airplane over the freeway looking for speeders. These assholes also hide in ditches so they can catch people going 5mph over on the same freeway.

Fuck pigs.

[Ilsa]

30. It's really bad here in Texas. Check out what I just posted:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5020269&mesg_id=5020269

Two weeks ago I was driving back into town and the city police had someone pulled over at the outskirts. They hurried up and finished that ticket and threw their lights on for some one speeding through the edge of town not even five seconds later. They are hustling for tickets. Drive safely and carefully everyone. They are looking for any reason to write out a revenue ticket.

[8 track mind]

37. You know i heard rumors of this

But i didn't give them much merit at the time. I do now. East Texas is a very scary place.

[Ilsa]

108. An OU friend of mind living in OK City said that far east OK is a frightening

place to travel through. He said that even as an adult white male he wouldn't travel wearing a suit or polo shirt. Jeans and shirt, nothing too fancy, or your car could be broken into or you could be personally harassed by "the good ol' boys".

[Luna_C_06]

62. No kidding.

I live in the northeastern part of Texas and I had no idea that my town had so many cops. Could you explain the law you're talking about more, 'cause I didn't know you could get a ticket for that.

[8 track mind]

157. all i know about the law is

That you have to change lanes or slow down to 45 MPH if you cant change lanes. My wife today called me and said that the same exact cop was pulling the same stunt out on the interstate today. It's an easy way to make money.

[pruple]

105. doing the same here in Michigan

My husband got a $250 ticket for the same thing. He went to
court to appeal it, but the judge said it's necessary to
protect the police. My husband pointed out the cop was in his
car and as there was no one pulled over he had no need to get
out of the car. The judge said cop might have wanted to for
any reason or no reason. So there you go. Cops around here are
getting terrible.

[EFerrari]

27. You may be onto something. Maybe some of the guys are detailed

to bring in money every night. :shrug:

[merh]

39. Most departments have "warrant officers"

there job is to serve warrants and round up the desperados that didn't pay their traffic tickets.

And yes, because the economy is in the crapper, because of the long term impact of GWB's tax cuts (cut revenue to the feds they in turn cut the grants to the state/county/municipal agencies, LEO being one of the first to take the hit).

Traffic violations, stopping mules and seizing their vehicles (and the money they make), both are used to supplement the budgets of LEO.

[razors edge]

10. To protect and serve,

their own interests.

Sorry to hear that story, I fear it will only get more common.

[1]

11. i do not believe one word of this story. sorry...

warrants for traffic violations are not enforced in this way.

[glitch]

17. They didn't used to be, but we're a third world country now.

You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss, this sort of thing varies from jurisdiction to jusrisdiction.

[readmoreoften]

18. And I believe you're a two-foot tall martian. No proof you can provide will ever be enough.

Actual thinking human beings simply don't think like you. Sorry. It's quite obvious you're a martian and there's nothing you can do to prove it.

[EFerrari]

20. They are in San Mateo Co. And frankly, I don't care what you believe.

[BlooInBloo]

22. BWAHAHAHAAH!!!!!

[LostinVA]

40. I totally believe that -- they do stuff like that here in NJ

My wife had almost the same thing happen to her for not paying a FIFTEEN DOLLAR PARKING TICKET. Two cops led her away in cuffs about 1am. For ONE TICKET. And, she's 5'2" and about 100 lbs. But, I guess we're lying, too,

[EFerrari]

41. Maybe this is unbelievable. Unfortunately, it's also happening. n/t

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

45. The irony of the whole situation was

It all happened because my friend didn't want me to get a parking ticket. I had a beater car at the time, and it died. So, my friend called the police, letting them know the car was disabled and was going to on the street overnight (no overnight parking). I started walking home, and before I got half a block, two cop cars came around the corner, stopped me, cuffed me and brought me down to the station. With the added fees, the ticket was about $130. Fortunately, I had cash on me. They offered me a ride home, but I chose to just walk home. I lived about a half mile away from the police station, and didn't feel like being dropped off by the cops at my apartment.

There were also numerous displays of incompetence during this whole thing, but that's another story.

[EFerrari]

46. That's insane. It makes you wonder what they do to actual criminals.

[Rhythm]

76. Yes, they are, 1... and not just in California

About 2 months ago, i was awakened at 2am by simultaneous pounding on my front and back doors. The county Sheriff's Department had dispatched 4 deputies to round me up. I was taken from my home in my PJs and socks (but no coat on a 20 degree night), handcuffed, and wedged into the back of a squad car.

The crime? I'd forgotten to go to the courthouse in a local suburb a few days before to pay a traffic ticket i'd received for an expired inspection sticker. The reason i'd forgotten was that i was in the midst of finals week at my university (i'm a non-trad student), and my Biology final was at the same time as the court time.

[EFerrari]

135. Oh, no. I'm so sorry. n/t

[eShirl]

89. and America doesn't torture

[rwheeler31]

12. It happens every where.

[tularetom]

16. San Mateo County- biggest asshole courts in NorCal

I got a $400 ticket for making an illegal turn coming out of the Cow Palace. In fucking 1986 or 87 for chrissakes. $400 was a hell of a lot of money then.

I think they looked at my drivers license and saw my address and charged me a high fine because they knew it would cost me a lot of money to come back.

Hope Betty is OK.

[EFerrari]

25. I used to monitor for Sonitrol Security and the biggest @ssholes I dealt with

were the San Mateo Co. sheriffs. I'd call them that there was a break in at one of the schools and they'd call me back, it's all clear. Meanwhile on my speaker, I'd be hearing all kinds of breaking glass and bad things. They didn't respond to the "black" schools but they sure said they did. Ugly, ugly @ssholes.

She's okay now. But, it's pretty scary to have these guys just come into your home when your partner is gone and haul you off like that. Damn.

[glitch]

24. Hugs to Betty and Roland.

And a reminder to check my mailbox more frequently. Fucking fascists and their apologists (anticipating responses). :grr:

[EFerrari]

26. Thank you, I will pass it on.

[Ilsa]

28. Yikes. CA counties looking for $$$$ any way they can get it. I hope

Betty and Rolando are okay. I hope she is recovering from her cold.

[EFerrari]

31. Thank you, Ilsa. Poor little Betty, you can practically put her in your pocket

and she's SHY. I can't even imagine what she felt, alone at home, to hear these guys breaking in like that. :scared:

[Ilsa]

34. I probably would have shit my pants and fainted. Poor lady. No one

deserves to be treated like that for a traffic citation. 20 years ago people would have stacks of traffic citations written up against them and the worst thing that happened to them was getting their car booted by the city.

[EFerrari]

36. It must be about the money. San Mateo has some really rich neighborhoods

some very poor ones and upper middle class in between, though. If they're hurting for money, the rest of this state is seriously screwed.

[Parker CA]

38. They're hurting quite badly for money. The State situation will cause the current hurt to

become even worse when the budget is finally approved and $$ is allocated. Things are not good right now.

This is no defense for the way your friends were treated, but rather confirmation that the financial/budget situation for SMC is a mess right now, especially on the law enforcement/courts side of things.

[EFerrari]

47. The "rules" seem to be very unstable right now and it probably will get worse

before it gets better.

[Parker CA]

56. Things will definitely get worse before they get better. The budget deficit in the County is

already looming, and when the State finally gets the budget together, there are sure to be more cuts especially to criminal justice/police/courts etc. Sad state of affairs for sure.

[CreekDog]

151. Our assessor managed to lose 6 million in property tax revenue

to Genentech.

they never responded to the appeal, so the amount Genentech claimed became the assessed amount...so the county loses 6 million without a fight.

[EFerrari]

154. Oh, geeze. That is a lot of shifts.

:(

[Coyote_Bandit]

32. It happens everywhere

I once witnessed a pretty bond blue eyed young woman placed in handcuffs at her very public place of employment and carried away for non-payment/non-appearance in traffic court. Thanks to the idiot cops she lost her job on the spot.

[EFerrari]

33. You'd think the Court would at least get proof of service before going there.

Such a waste of everything.

[Coyote_Bandit]

100. Ummmm......

Many traffic citations contain notice of a date and time to appear. Service is made in person when the citation is issued. In much the same way as a process server in a civil trial.

That's was what happened to this woman I observed being arrested at work. She got a ticket which notified her where and when to appear in court or to pay the fine. She did neither. A week or so later an arrest warrant was issued. It was several weeks after that when the cops came and arrested her and carted her off to jail. I may not care for how the cops handled the matter but I cannot defend how this woman handled the matter either. She didn't pay the ticket, she didn't appear in court, she made no effort to contact the court to obtain an extension of the time to pay. She ignored the matter - and it came back to bite her.

It's not at all uncommon for unpaid traffic tickets to result in arrest warrants being issued and enforced. And if that didn't happen then folks would not pay their tickets.

[LostinVA]

103. Tax Refunds could be garnished

It seems like such a waste of resources to arrest parking and traffic ticket people.

[EFerrari]

114. Yes, I understand that warrants are issued automatically for failure to appear.

The difference is, before they used to no be enforced in this way. You'd get a notice in the mail and some choices about how to get into compliance.

[devilgrrl]

42. I feel safer already

:wtf:

I'm sorry for your friends - how insane! :crazy:

[EFerrari]

50. The only reason Rolando even told me the story was because he was looking

at a business card with his magnifying glass when I went in to the store this morning. And I offered to read it for him. He says, is that a bondsman's card? And it wasn't but, I asked him if he was planning to be arrested. So he told me that Betty was arrested last Friday. Bastards.

[leftofthedial]

43. the whole country lost the entire 4th Amendment,

half the 1st Amendment

and a host of other rights over a right turn...

[bertman]

48. The state's broke. The county's broke. They need the fine money. And think of the

deterrent factor.

[EFerrari]

52. Right! Who knows how many of us will never turn left again, ever,

because of this example!

[bertman]

58. Not me for sure. Especially not in San Mateo county. You betcha.

[AlCzervik]

53. $$$$ has got to be a factor and the state is going to do whatever to whoever

to ge more of it.

My husband got a ticket a month ago, $200 for rolling through a stop sign, his faulkt but i already told him he better pay up like today.

[EFerrari]

57. Better make sure he does. This is getting really ugly.

Unless he has that kind of special Zen that can accept being moved around like a salt shaker and eating room temperature baloney sandwiches. :scared:

[Starry Messenger]

55. I grew up in San Mateo.

I believe this story. The cops are famous for being "underbusy" in San Mateo County. Evidently the sherriff will actually show up to get people who don't show up for jury duty, either. And Foster City is notorious for its extremely over-enforcing LEO. Was this in Belmont?

[EFerrari]

59. No. They live at the northern tip of the country near Pacifica.

And it wasn't the PD, it was the SMC Sheriffs. They're little brown people living in a pretty well off neighborhood and in that area, there's the added extra special bonus of having to deal with that. I grew up in Santa Clara County and this whole part of the state was segregated as late at the 60s. It's not over, that part.

[1]

60. yep. this whole thread is just a bunch of "friend of a friend", and "i heard this"...

anecdotal stories about how traffic warrants are handled in america.

isn't it amazing that our rights are being violated so, and yet no one can produce one single link to one single news story about these abuses? just personal "stories?"

color me surprised.

i know you all want to believe that an "illegal left turn" will get you a swat team at your door and a handcuffed perp walk to a police car that will zoom 90+ mph down the road to your jail. but that is just hyperbole and melodrama.

as we say on du... link?

do you have any proof of these outrageous accusations? accusations that would have any local newspaper or tv reporter covering with incredible zeal?

or is it just that friend of yours... that know this guy... who once heard...

[EFerrari]

61. I'm a notorious liar here at DU and thanks for your support!

[1]

63. i didn't say that. your friend told you a tale. you believed that tale...

i know a bit about these minor $20 traffic warrants.

i don't believe your friend's story.

[EFerrari]

64. And I have already told you very plainly, I don't care what you believe.

The DU is ALL around you. There are many threads you can inhabit besides this one that you don't believe. :)

[1]

66. cool. and i don't care that you don't care. can i have an opinion here?

thank you for the :) that was sweet.

that just means that we can disagree. ok?

[EFerrari]

73. Whatever ups your pleasure.

[leftstreet]

65. Wow. You know nothing about law enforcement

These "stories" that irritate you are very true in impoverished areas. Don't know if that's the type of area the op was describing, but I can assure you this shit happens all the time within the right demographic.

Not surprising to me when 'good liberals' want to pretend it's all made up.

:eyes:

[1]

67. san mateo is an "impoverished area???" are you for real???

it is one of the richest areas in america.

duh...

[leftstreet]

68. So you're saying wealthy people generally aren't harassed by law enforcement?

[1]

70. ha, ha, ha! as a general fucking rule of life, i would say that is so fucking totally true...

it is beyond reproach.

do you have any other evidence?

ha, ha, ha!

[leftstreet]

71. So we agree. Well then, how about non-white people?

Go back and read the OP.

:eyes:

You're popping off without first exercising a little reading comprehension.

[EFerrari]

72. San Mateo Co. has some very poor areas. Are you for real?

When I was working as a security dispatcher, I couldn't get the sheriffs to go out to black or hispanic schools for love or money. And yes, there are poor black and hispanic areas in San Mateo County.

[CreekDog]

152. there are pockets of poverty

and income levels can be deceiving.

a two income family earning 50k per year here is essentially in poverty since their rent would be at least 1500 per month in even a bad neighborhood, leaving them not much to live on and not a great area to live in.

[EFerrari]

69. Not to mention, I wouldn't know how to make this up if I wanted to.

I've posted about Rolando and Betty before. They have the only store on our block. Rolando and I are sort of the dad and mom for some of the homeless folks that live out here between the beach and the park. He gives them the "credit" he can at his store and I sit out front and make phone calls to wring city services out of the city.

Since his cataracts got really bad and he can't drive, I got to know his wife Betty a little more. She's charming. She drives him to the store and back every day and when there's a lot of paperwork to do, she comes in and does it with him. They're the first friends I made here when I moved in about five years ago and I'd trust them with my last dime.

It's sort of horrendous that this happened to Betty. She and Rolando live in a very upscale area but they are out of the norm for that area because they are immigrants from El Salvador and have thick accents, brown skin and funny names. You'd never know to talk to them that their hard work has resulted in a lot of material success because they wear it so lightly and they'd never be so impolite as to tell you that they got their citizenship decades ago. And as I said up thread, San Mateo Co. was segregated well into the 60s and some parts of it are probably still red-lined.

As I told my mom tonight, if this can happen to Betty, it can happen to any of us. The rules have changed around here.

[1]

74. how exactly does not believing rolando and betty reflect on you?

this is not about you. so stop that.

its about rolando and betty and a $20 moving violation (or so rolando and betty say) that leads to this entire "swat team, handcuffs, 90+ mile and hour road to jail" tale.

that story is such horsecrap it is beyond believable.



* and i know, i know, you don't care what i think. *

[EFerrari]

75. Please go find someone that will take orders from you

and that has more patience with your bad reading of text and of people than I do. Thanks.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

83. You really are a pip. nt

[LostinVA]

80. You also have the fucking nerve to call me and my wife a liar

As well as Rhythm.

[MadBadger]

77. Dude, whats your fuckin deal? You have some sort of personal vandetta against the OP

You made it clear in the first post that you dindt believe the OP, now your just being a complete jackass.

[LostinVA]

79. NO, IT HAPPENED TO MY WIFE WHO POSTED IN THIS THREAD

And, to Rhythm, a longtime DUer.

You are the only one who think poeple are LYING about this. I guess you live in one of the few places in the country where the cops are perfect.

And, why the hell would there by LINKS to news stories? How often do you see news stories on people getting tickets or warraants served? NEVER, unless it's for something unusual. This stuff ISN'T unusual -- it's SOP.

But, thanks for calling lots of DUers liars so that you can get all puffed up about it.

:eyes:

Your agenda on this thread is very clear.

[malaise]

82. I believe them n/t

[Hell Hath No Fury]

112. It happened to my nephew in Texas.

He had a speeding ticket that wasn't taken care of properly (he had paid it, but it had not shown up as clear in the system). Several carfuls of cops showed up at his Mabank home (a tiny, speck of snot of a town), handcuffed and arrested him in front of his family, and hauled him off to jail, where he stayed until his mother posted his bail.

May I say this is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE in Texas.

Do I have a link to a story in the local paper about how someone was arrested for not paying a ticket? No, because in Texas this is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURE -- it is not a newsworthy story.

Fuck, my sister's shrink ended up in jail for an unpaid ticket. She was arrested at her place of business and hauled off.

Tickets and and ticket related warrants are big money in Texas.

[Oak2004]

134. So it's not real if the major media don't think it's real?

Then I guess a whole lot of antiwar protests didn't happen either.

Not to mention most of Bush's abuses of power.

[1]

78. this indelicate dialog is getting tiresome. can someone, anyone, provide a LINK?

anyone?



i didn't think so...

[LostinVA]

81. I need links for people getting a speeding ticket -- why don't you have any???

LIAR!!!!!!!

I can't believe the paper didn't print a story about your speeding ticket -- and yet, yoyu expect us to believe you got one? LIAR! Wait, your car failed inspection because of abad wiper? I didn't see that on the local news. LIAR.

Of course you don't see this in the media, BECAUSE IT'S SOP in many, many areas.

I know people dragged from their beds and arrested for overdue library books.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

84. Not every story gets a link.

But you know that. You are just reveling in being a jerk.

[varkam]

85. Stop being a jerk. eom

[ogneopasno]

88. Frankly, no newspaper would pick this up.

At least, no newspaper that would satisfy you, I'm sure.

[conscious evolution]

90. IBTS

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

136. I suppose that's a fair question.

There should be a police report.

[EFerrari]

142. It's probably on the blotter in the paper.

And, I'd never do that. Ever.

[JohnyCanuck]

91. Well I guess that they should be pleased that at least

their pets weren't shot for resisting arrest.

Johnson, a private on the local police force, was making his accustomed rounds in the neighborhood when he saw a swarm of heavily armed men laying siege to the Calvo home. Inside, Cheye and his mother-in-law, Georgia Porter, were being held face-down at gunpoint with their hands tied behind their backs. The Calvo family's two black Labradors, Chase and Payton, were dead from gunshot wounds. The assailants who killed the dogs were leaving bloody bootprints throughout the home.


This home invasion was, of course, a law enforcement operation, typical of "no-knock" drug raids conducted practically every day across the country. The most significant difference wasn't that Cheye Calvo was completely innocent of involvement with narcotics; innocent people are terrorized and killed by drug raiders all the time. The key distinction here is that Mr. Calvo is Mayor of Berywn Heights. That's one reason why Officer Johnson intervened to help.


"That guy in there is crazy," one of the stormtroopers complained to Johnson as he emerged from the crime scene (that is, the scene of a crime committed under color of state "authority"). "He says he's the Mayor of Berwyn Heights."


"That is the Mayor of Berwyn Heights," Johnson told assailant, a member of the Prince George's County police department (which has overlapping jurisdiction with the town police). Johnson quickly contacted Berywn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy to tell him that a SWAT team had just laid waste the the Mayor's home and killed the family's dogs. Glancing around, he couldn't see any evidence of a search warrant. Inquiries about this omission were greeted with the assurance that the document was "en route."

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2009/02/police-state-keynesianism-stimulating.html

[EFerrari]

116. I remember that story. Rolando's dog died about a year ago.

He was an ancient Rottie. TG, he wasn't there during the home invasion. :grr:

[K Gardner]

92. Why are people posting they don't BELIEVE this?? While working in California, I was asked to

help "clear" a prisoner brought in (pajamas, middle of the night) to go to jail. The lovely woman in her 30s had just been released from the hospital where she had been hospitalized for numerous blood clots in her lungs. She had, ergo, missed a court date for driving through a stop sign - even though she had called the court and notified them she was hospitalized - they waited until she was released, handcuffed her in front of her screaming toddlers, and hauled her to my ER for clearance to go spend the weekend in jail until she could be arraigned on Monday.

They did not get their clearance, as the doc succinctly told them, her clotting levels were low and she had to be monitored on the Coumadin she took to prevent her from dying from further blood clots. The officers were outraged; pulled the doc aside and tried to strong-arm him to sign the release for her to be jailed anyway. This was a small community in California, everyone knew this woman and knew her story - they shackled her in the middle of the night anyway.

This story is TOTALLY believable and outrageous to me.

[LostinVA]

94. I don't know why they don't believe it, either

It's not the least abnormal, although it should be.

IN NJ, they suspend your license and can arrest you if you fail to pay ONE $10 parking ticket. I kid you not.

[Zodiak]

96. In fairness...

It is not "people" not believing the story, but one lone contrarian.

[Lilith Velkor]

107. Probably a cop.

Or a cop-worshipper.

[truebrit71]

125. Sounds like it doesn't it?

...

[EFerrari]

128. A cop would know better. n/t

[truebrit71]

132. Not necessarily.....

... ;-)

[Lilith Velkor]

138. Not necessarily.

Cops wouldn't get away with terrorizing people nearly as much without the "cops are always right" mentality.

If this "one" ain't a cop, he's surely a cop wannabe.

[8 track mind]

158. or a Freeper with good typing skills.... n/t

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

97. Some people thrive on being contrarian.

And some change their names in hopes we forget who they are.

[LostinVA]

104. I noticed that, too

[Hassin Bin Sober]

106. A douche-bag by any other name.............

[stuntcat]

102. I feel like this happens way more than we know

I hear a story here, a story there.. so outrageous. But this stuff never gets really covered.
The innocent people in MD who had a SWAT team break in and shoot their dogs got covered because they were rich politicians.

But people like this, who have to pay thousands of hard-earned dollars for a misunderstanding.. their story will go nowhere, I'm afraid no one cares.

[EFerrari]

122. I don't think Betty and Rolando would want to get press -- they're still

dealing with the incident. Maybe after it's over but, even so, it would be risky to publicly complain. They have to live there and they have to drive to work. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

117. Omg. That's an awful story. And, it's even worse! n/t

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

98. Absolutely disgusting.

Make sure he gets unseated in the next election. This power-crazed fearmonger doesn't deserve the public trust.

[librechik]

101. I'd love to see this happen to Rove when he doesn't show up to Congress

[Hell Hath No Fury]

109. The local municipalities are on a ticket warpath --

I just posted last week that I have been stopped four times in the last two weeks for minor fix-it tickets (a broken taillight lens), all in Colma and Pacifica. When I went to pay for the tickets there were very long lines of others who had been caught up in the same ticketing madness. One guy who ticketed me has been repeatedly positioning hismelf in a particular area and just about anyone who passes him for anything he can. Having law enforment in the family and generally having good experiences with SFPD over the years I am no police hater. But DAMN, I am really getting hostile -- I feel I am being harrassed right now.

This is about our State/local coffers, plain and simple. These "cops" don't want to lose their jobs, so they are cranking up the output.

San Mateo will made a nice sum off of hauling in your friend. :mad: Fuck bastards.

[EFerrari]

115. See? The poster up thread was right. I'm sorry you're being harrassed

in this way. God, I'm so happy I work at home now and don't commute any more. But Betty drives Rolando in from Pacifica to Ocean Beach every morning. It's like being bait. :mad:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

124. The Pacifica cop ---

is the one who was literally hiding behind a tall hedge at an intersection, pouncing on anyone who drove by! By the fourth time I was stopped, I just flat out told the officer they must be desperate for money. :eyes: A few more stops like that and my mouth may get me arrested! :D

Tell Betty her cops are on the warpath, and go extra careful for awhile. :hi:

[EFerrari]

126. Definitely will! Is that four fix its? Wow. I'd have to have a muzzle in the glove box.

:)

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

137. Four stops, two tickets.

I flashed the tickets twice and told them I had already been "gifted" with tickets, thank-you-very-much.

[WI_DEM]

110. of course the lady made a mistake my not calling the court to say she was sick, but the cop

really overreacted.

[EFerrari]

118. She didn't get the notice so she didn't know they'd given her a date.

The County switched allthe street numbers on their hill and their mail is all over the place right now. It's one of those hills in this area that should probably never have been developed -- close to a fault line and subject to dangerous slides. There's always work going on there.

[Greyhound]

111. For God's sake, if anybody ask about me, you've never met me.

I'm probably on Beverly Hill's most wanted list since I have unpaid traffic tickets going back 7 or 8 years.:scared:

[EFerrari]

119. Yikes! I called my mom and brother (he lives in San Mateo) and exhorted them

to clean up their act. They always have at least one speeding ticket somewhere. Mom needs tags -- that's just asking for trouble.

Maybe your venue has some kind of payment plan dealie, Greyhound. Or, maybe you sold your car 7 or 8 years ago. :scared:

[Greyhound]

147. No, I'm an interstate fugitive.

:rofl:
BH/LA has the most obscenely corrupt, blatantly fraudulent parking ticket scam I've ever seen. I knew I was leaving the state anyway, so I just refused to pay.

There was a local news story where they recorded parking enforcement people rolling through parking lots, randomly writing down tag numbers then taking a nap and writing tickets for the cars they took the plate numbers down for, and LA did nothing because they need the revenue.

I had one ticket, issued downtown, when I had proof that my car was locked in my garage and I was out of town. They still made me pay.

It's just one of the "I live in LA" taxes.:shrug:

[wroberts189]

120. Once upon a time these stories were unheard of.

Now you have SWAT teams sitting around with nothing to do.

[EFerrari]

121. In CA, LEO are probably working in fear of cutbacks and layoffs.

But even so, this is no way to solve the problem. It just creates bad blood in the community.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

127. The cops must be transplants from the LAPD. At least she didn't get tased.

[EFerrari]

130. The police departments in that county are more professional than the sheriffs.

Maybe that's true everywhere. It is in San Mateo and in Santa Clara Co. That friend of mine who eventually produced "Cops" spent six months with the Santa Clara Co. Sherrif's Dept, riding along. He later told me that he couldn't figure out why so many of them were "sick" all the time with "colds" and "flu". He said he felt pretty silly when he figured it out, months later.

[crispini]

131. A friend of mine got arrested on a case of mistaken identity.

It's not quite the horror story you relate, but it's pretty uncool nevertheless. Apparently someone was out signing her name on bad checks all over west Texas. One of these little municipalities asked the Dallas county folks to go get her, so they did. So, she SPENT THE WEEKEND in lockup because she had nobody to bail her out and she had no way to prove it wasn't her writing the bad checks all over the place. She seemed quite mellow about it all, though. Sounds like it was quite the experience.

[EFerrari]

133. When Doug's meds changes went wrong and he became paranoid,

there would frequently be police contact. It was a real trick to keep both of us out of jail. He could become violent or he'd be accusing me of stuff that I had done in his imagination. It's not an experience I'd recommend.

I eventually found out that the more affluent the venue, the better the response was. When we lived in a blue collar neighborhood here in the city, the cops had no clue about people in psychotic episodes. On the other hand, when we were in Santa Monica, they all seemed to know or have been trained and handled the whole situation much more successfully for everyone.

[rvablue]

140. Please urge Betty and Rolando to contact the SJ Mercury News with thier plight

from experience I know that the editors/reporters will fall over themselves to do this story.

Sounds like a ruthless effort to drive up revenues since the state is going broke. And newspaper people LOVE to find a good anecdote to help them in explaining these circumstances to people.

Plus, maybe your pals can get some vindication and reimbursement of some sort once the spotlight is shone on this.

[EFerrari]

141. I know people at the Chronicle but am thinking Rolando and Betty

won't want to talk about this until the problem is cleared -- if ever. They live in a pretty small place. :shrug:

[madamesilverspurs]

143. Creepy.

Way back in the 1960s I got a ticket for the deteriorated plastic rear window in my convertible; it was usually unzipped and open, but I'd zipped it up because of a pelting rainstorm. The officer provided scissors and told me to remove the window if I wanted to avoid arrest. I took the ticket and drove home with rain coming in through the window. If memory serves, this was in Torrance, CA, and it was a JP system. I went to court and paid the fine. Six months later I was living in Utah and got a letter from the court stating that a bench warrant had been issued for my arrest for failure to appear. A copy of the paid court receipt, sent registered mail, was ignored; they did note my out-of-state address in their response, though, and affirmed that I would be arrested if I ever returned to the city. And, no, I've never gone back.

[EFerrari]

144. Those were the days when cops had scissors!

LOL. My first three cars were drop tops and even when the top was new, I could never see out of the damn thing. They might as well come pre-cut.

[pacalo]

149. K&R for E.

I'm so sorry this happened to your friends.

:hug:

[EFerrari]

153. Thank you.

:pals:

[Joe Chi Minh]

150. "Something I'm sure doesn't happen to middle aged matrons in the whiter section of the county."

Or elsewhere in the world?

Are there any totalitarian states anywhere else in the world that would employ cretins? Or ever have done? Frankly, I can't imagine it. To any non-American, to anyone anywhere else in the world, no matter how repressive the society, it would seem totally surreal. You have a major problem with so many cretins employed in law enforcement. And that must include at managerial levels.

[DailyGrind51]

155. Nothing would have happened had she turned "right".

[EFerrari]

156. We kid each other here that 3 right turns are a "San Francisco left".

Sound familiar? :)