If I report a police officer for reckless driving?

A statement will be taken, and the situation will be investigated. The outcome will depend on how many complaints this Officer has received for the same infraction, and if there are any other witnesses.

1

If this Officer was tailgating people and weaving in and out of traffic while cutting people off for a couple of miles, how were you able to keep up? Were you doing the same?

If you feel it was that bad, sure, give the department a call. But keep this in mind, just because it can seem that an Officer is not on his way to a call, doesn't mean that he isn't. It could be that he was on his way when he was cancelled. It could me that he was on his way to help other Officers but this wasn't a situation that called for lights/siren. He could have been searching for a stolen car that was supposed to be in the area, etc. There are a ton of reasons why he could have been doing what he was doing. Then again, maybe he was just being stupid.

If you deem it was bad enough to report him, then go for it.

This may constitute as an emergency situation which would absolve you from the law. So long as you just made the call to 911 and then hung up, you'd probably be ok. You just have to realize that if you crash due to talking on the phone, even to 911, you're still liable. The police are liable when they crash running with lights and a siren, so you're not going to be any less liable.

I agree with the others. That policy is not right, If he was in fact just being "careless" you should call and report his car number or whatever information you have on him.

WHile he will not receive a ticket, because you can not GIVE a ticket, and they did not SEE him committ the offense you are talking about, he will possibly be verbally warned, or maybe even get a written warning in his personnel file.

And as it was said, you have no 100% way to know if he was NOT going to a emergency call unless you were riding in the car with him, or had personal knowledge of his intentions.

We obviously cannot drive with blue lights and sirens everywhere we go.

One more thing.. If you were FOLLOWING him for Couple of miles and he was weaving in and out of traffic so bad.. how did you manage to keep up? You must have had to fight against traffic pretty hard huh? :P

If you have an issue with the officer's driving, get the officer's vehicle number and call it in.

Maybe he was going to a call, maybe he was trying to catch up with a vehicle that matched the description of a wanted party. The fact is neither you nor I know.

As for Sensei's (back at you/watching ya/wanda/chief troll) latest BS: No cop I know backs away from a criminal just because of a BS IA complaint.

You are not wasting your time.

If the officer was driving recklessly, there may be others that file a complaint also.

There is strength in numbers. You alone may not convince his boss he was driving reckless... but if there are several unrelated persons complaining about the same thing, that adds credibility.

First of all, we do NOT have to turn our lights on to quickly get to a call. You have no clue what you are talking about. And secondly, if he was driving so "recklessly", how on earth did YOU manage to keep up? YOU must have been too, but here's a clue-you're not a police officer trying to get to a call. Don't ASSume.

SENSEI-BACK AT YA-WATCHINGYA-WANDA-MORON-I

I NEVER BACK DOWN TO ANYONE, FYI.

EDIT: Above the law? No. Smarter than you? Yes.

ALWAYS report a cop when you have a concern.

Don't listen to anyone telling you he'll find you sometime, you'll be in trouble... blah blah blah. I have done it, and in my experience, if that cop ever sees you again, he walks the straight and narrow so you do not file another complaint. If he picks on you, you can claim harassment...

Yup, it's your word against theirs and the court and higher police Department is going to take their word over yours any day of the week.

Been there done that.