are cops "perfect witnesses"

[dpopiz]

example:

if a cop says his meter read you at 85mph, why couldn't you just say "maybe it said 58mph and you read it backwards"? are cops considered to be always right?

 

[Yossarian]

cops suck but judges tend to believe them.

 

[Garet Jax]

Cops are seen as better witnesses than you since they (theoretically) have no personal stake in the matter.

 

[acemcmac]

in that situation, I believe there has to be a printout...

but Garet Jax hit it right on the head with his post

 

[Valkerie]

cops have authority, and they sometimes abuse it. but not all cops are bad officers.

 

[necine]

Perfect witnesses are unbiased with absolutely no hinderance (for instace glasses) to them witnessing the crime.

 

[imported_ArtVandalay]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
cops suck but judges tend to believe them.

They can. Like most people, most of them are pretty cool, but the asshats make a greater impression than the good ones. Cops especially since they have rights we don't and the bad ones tend to abuse them.

 

[zendari]

In court? Yes.

 

[Eli]

No, they're only human afterall.

 

[Linflas]

I always liked the concept of a Fair Witness as described by Robert Heinlein in "Stranger In A Strange Land" myself.

 

[thomsbrain]

no such thing as a perfect witness. in fact, eye witness testimony tends to be grossly inaccurate. it has been proved time and time again in psychology studies that people A) perceive VERY little of anything that happens around them B) can be tricked into thinking they saw something simply by implied suggestion (i.e. "Did you see the woman in the red jacket?" when there was no woman in a red jacket in the video they just watched, but they will say they saw her.)

Unfortunately, most people still trust eye witness testimony, and they'll trust cops even more.

 

[BoberFett]

I was a juror on a murder case last month, and the defense caught a couple of cops in some stretched truths. They weren't necessarily lying, but they were stretching the truth to help the prosecution.

I don't hold cops in any higher regard than any other person. We're all human.

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
no such thing as a perfect witness. in fact, eye witness testimony tends to be grossly inaccurate. it has been proved time and time again in psychology studies that people A) perceive VERY little of anything that happens around them B) can be tricked into thinking they saw something simply by implied suggestion (i.e. "Did you see the woman in the red jacket?" when there was no woman in a red jacket in the video they just watched, but they will say they saw her.)

Unfortunately, most people still trust eye witness testimony, and they'll trust cops even more.

Well said!