Clifton NJ cop brake checks driver then writes him tickets. Driver had a dash camera.

[EOM]

Speaking from experience or speculation?

I'd hope that there's some accountability for cops when they do things like this. It can't hurt to drop by the PD and file a complaint as well as contest the ticket.

Allowing cops to have free rein over civilians with no possible recourse really encourages anti social behavior like this. The fact that they sit in patrol cars by themselves for most of the day also doesn't make things better.

I actually LOL'd.

 

[jlee]

not all states require them either

This is true, but if he was cited for no front plate he lives in a place that requires it (I'd hope so, anyway).

 

[Svnla]

The cop is being investigated for the incident = http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/0...investigated-for-brake-checking-motorist.html

Good. He is a cop. He should know better than behaved that way.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I would say the guys was tailgating or at least close to it. This excuses none of the cop's actions. It's very easy to stop the driver and ticket for following too closely with none of the drama.

 

[Darwin333]

this guy really can't win in any traditional sense of the word. At best he goes to court, wastes 3 hours of his life, and ultimately gets the tailgating ticket thrown out (but still has to pay the other tickets). Cop doesn't give a shit if ticket gets thrown out. Not like that hurts him at all.

The cop even gets paid for sitting in court while said tailgating ticket gets thrown out.

FFS the cop slammed on his brakes and came to a complete stop and the guy still had enough time to see, react and stop with a decent distance between the two cars. Isn't that the very definition of "safe distance"? Then to give the guy 3 tickets, that's just a plain dick move but like you said, no skin off the cops ass.

 

[Ichinisan]

I would say the guys was tailgating or at least close to it. This excuses none of the cop's actions. It's very easy to stop the driver and ticket for following too closely with none of the drama.

The measure of "too close" is really "impact or no impact?" He stopped in time, so he was not following too closely considering the factors of road conditions, weather conditions, and the capabilities of the car + driver.

 

[Crusty]

yeah, me too. If front plate is the law, then he already got the cop's attention. Now the cop is focused on him and not really driving.
If he wanted to follow up on that he should pull over, let the car pass, then pull them over. He was probably pissed that he was prevented from running the plate from looking in his mirror and too lazy to do it right.
It looked like he reeled him in with a throttle drop before the brake check and that got him a little too close. All in all it was some really shitty driving by the cop.

Don't most patrol cars have license plate readers on them nowadays? At least they do in all the urban areas I've lived in.

Not that it would have helped in this case though...

 

[3chordcharlie]

The measure of "too close" is really "impact or no impact?" He stopped in time, so he was not following too closely considering the factors of road conditions, weather conditions, and the capabilities of the car + driver.

That was too close for comfort, and awfully close to an impact.

If you apply your standard then the cop's actions are actually commendable - how else would he know if the other driver was tailgating?

Cop is an asshole and I have no time for assholes with badges.

 

[CZroe]

That was too close for comfort, and awfully close to an impact.



If you apply your standard then the cop's actions are actually commendable - how else would he know if the other driver was tailgating?



Cop is an asshole and I have no time for assholes with badges.

That's why it's usually a secondary infraction or one issued at the scene of an accident. It's not usually given without an incident. For instance: a cop sees me tailgating another car and he might not bat an eye, but if he gets sent to write an accident report and determines that I was at fault for following too closely, I get a ticket.

 

[Darwin333]

I'm not saying this to offset or excuse the officer's actions in this case btw:

I'm just wondering if the guy with the dash cam is trolling for cops to do something stupid.

1 - No front number plate
2 - Tinted windows (they're illegal in the US? I had no idea. How/why do people get their windows tinted then?)
3 - If you subscribe to the belief that black people are disproportionately targeted by the US police, his skin colour

The main thing that I find a bit weird though is if someone brake-checked me in as extreme a fashion as the officer did, I'd say there was a 95% chance I would have verbalised some kind of reaction like, "What the f***?". The driver on the other hand seems as cool as a cucumber.

Btw, I'm not asserting that this was his motive, I just found it a little odd and my reasons are not that compelling an argument. Furthermore, if I was him and that was my motive, I'd have someone else in the car (preferably white), to reduce the possibility of things going out of control (ie. an extra witness), because at the end of the day it won't be much consolation that if I was unjustly killed, there's video evidence of it that's likely to be tidied away out of sight.

I don't know a single rash and sane human being that would "troll a cop" by driving roughly two car lengths behind them in the insane hope that somehow they picked the idiot that would slam on their brakes in the middle of the road and then they stop with a decent margin of error before hitting said cop they were "trolling". I damn sure don't know any black folk that would intentionally do that for the exact reasons you listed above.

Tint isn't generally illegal it's the amount of tint (percentage of light it blocks) and it usually only applies to the front windows. States vary by how much tint you can have on the front (perhaps the back too?) windows as well as having a license on the front of the vehicle. In my state there is no law requiring a license on the front and I see very few vehicles that even have the brackets to install them.

 

[3chordcharlie]

That's why it's usually a secondary infraction or one issued at the scene of an accident. It's not usually given without an incident. For instance: a cop sees me tailgating another car and he might not bat an eye, but if he gets sent to write an accident report and determines that I was at fault for following too closely, I get a ticket.

I've never brake-checked anyone - I frankly can't think of too many more ridiculous actions a driver can take. I do slow to exactly the speed limit when someone follows me like this though. It's the (only) most passive aggressive thing I ever do on the road.

I'm not really surprised that the internet thinks this driver who barely avoided impact in a panic stop situation is some sort of saint. One little oil spot on the road or a pothole could have been the difference in braking distance here, and the lead car could have been stopping for a pedestrian or any other reason.

I see two idiots in this video, though the greater issue is with the one with the badge.

 

[jhansman]

I had a local sheriff's deputy riding my ass for a good 3 miles; then he lit me up, and of course (being a good, law abiding citizen), I pulled over. As soon as I was out of the lane, he then took off in a mad dash for God knows what. Asshole...

 

[DrPizza]

yeah, me too. If front plate is the law, then he already got the cop's attention. Now the cop is focused on him and not really driving.
If he wanted to follow up on that he should pull over, let the car pass, then pull them over. He was probably pissed that he was prevented from running the plate from looking in his mirror and too lazy to do it right.
It looked like he reeled him in with a throttle drop before the brake check and that got him a little too close. All in all it was some really shitty driving by the cop.

There's a flaw in your logic. If there's no front plate, the cop doesn't necessarily know that it isn't an out of state vehicle from a state that doesn't require front plates.

 

[skyking]

not really a flaw either. Out of state vehicles receive special attention, just look at all the complaints about that

 

[tcsenter]

Reminds me a little of this case in Redondo Beach, where they put a guy through the ringer and tried to prosecute because a cop with a history of bad driving (and workman compensation/disability claims) was following too close and rear-ended someone, tried to blame it on the motorist (and the cop subsequently filed more disability claims):

Officer Down in Redondo

Probably will get recycled to a different department or hired back after a 'time-out' period.

 

[tcsenter]

Guy says the cop later confronted him outside a restaurant, tried to start some shit and called him a coward.

http://nj1015.com/nj-man-says-clifton-brake-check-cop-later-confronted-him-and-called-him-coward/

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Doesn't look like tailgating to me.

That's basically the instant he hits his breaks; notice that the cop's rear bumper is nearly aligned with the front of the parked car to the right. You could easily fit one more parked car between that first one and the driver with the dashcam. Two cars' distance, ~20mph, not tailgating.

 

[waggy]

Doesn't look like tailgating to me.

That's basically the instant he hits his breaks; notice that the cop's rear bumper is nearly aligned with the front of the parked car to the right. You could easily fit one more parked car between that first one and the driver with the dashcam. Two cars' distance, ~20mph, not tailgating.

I don't even care about the distance. What stands out to me is WHEN the fuckface did it. A car on the right and a car on the left in incoming traffic. The guy behind him IF he was tailgating had NO way out. he would have hit something.

The cop not only put his life in danger, the guy behind him but the person in the oncoming lane. totally innocent of the situation.

 

[smackababy]

You guys understand that even if someone is an asshole and brake checks you, if you hit them, you're at fault. You have to be in control of you vehicle 100% of the time you're driving it.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Guy says the cop later confronted him outside a restaurant, tried to start some shit and called him a coward.

http://nj1015.com/nj-man-says-clifton-brake-check-cop-later-confronted-him-and-called-him-coward/

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO want that to be true and for there to be security cam footage of it.

 

[IEC]

I don't even care about the distance. What stands out to me is WHEN the fuckface did it. A car on the right and a car on the left in incoming traffic. The guy behind him IF he was tailgating had NO way out. he would have hit something.

The cop not only put his life in danger, the guy behind him but the person in the oncoming lane. totally innocent of the situation.

I'd like to see the cop try that with a MBT on the road behind him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuUXYSleM_4