real cop or fake cop - weekend incident

[steve.zissou]

Ok, I was riding my bike on a main sydney road on saturday.

I took off from the lights pretty quick as I had 2 other bike behind me who had lane split to the front but i was there first.

Came over the crest of a hill to see red traffic lights and slowed down and pulled up to the one car that was stop at these lights.

I wasn’t looking at my speed but it was an 80 zone and if i was ove the limit it would have been by no more than 10-15 kms a hour. Most cars travel 10-15 over on this road every day (I do and have never been pulled over)

the guy in the commodore at the lights winds down his window and gives me a hard time about speeding - I basically fob him off. There is no way he could tell from his revision mirror what speed i was doing and I was slowing down for the lights any way. I am thinking this guys and idiot and am getting ready to tell him to go fornicate himself. he then tells me to stop being a smart **** and that he is a cop.

So I immediately pull my head in - lots of respect for cops and I am smart enough to know not to argue with them.

So Off i ride - then i start thinking. Most cops that have been off duty when they get involved, always flash their badge first up - just so there is no issue. - I have had friends that are police and when out on the town - if someone is being a jerk, all they do is flash a badge and that's it. I have also had police hold their badge up to me while driving - if i was not driving in the "spirit of the law" one or twice in my younger days.

So this got me thinking and I caught up to him in few kms down the road - knocked on his window and asked if he was a police man - he said yes.

I asked to see his warrant card which he said he didnt have it on him - also strange as most police i know carry it with them at most times (even just to get discounts).

He told me not to worry as he wasn't going to charge me - just slow down. I was going to take it further but traffic was banking up (a few horns beeping) So after telling him that its would be remiss of me to not ask for ID if someone identifies themselves as a police office - but then i decided to head off as if he was a cop - best not to poke the bear too much.
So what do you think - impersonator or real deal. Should I make a formal enquiry (I have most of his licence plate).
And I want to emphasis, if I was speeding it would have been bugger all and no more than every other car on the road

[GTP owner]

To impersonate a police officer is a criminal offence, with jail time a possibility if found guilty. They look upon this far more seriously than a speeding fine. I say persue it a bit further.

[robbyj]

I wouldn't bother.

[STINKY NINJA]

I had a guy run a red light and very nearly clean me up,i pulled up next to him down the road and fully abused him,he pulled a badge and reckons he was going to fine me,for what i dont know,i abused him some more and drove home and rang up and reported him as impersonating a copper then went and did a report at the copshop.Turns out he was a probationery constable and i got a heap of calls from perth cib or something similar,basically persuading me not to persue it further and was told he would be spoken to and given a slap on the wrist...
Wish id have taken him to court and got him prosecuted but i dont need any unwanted attention from the boys in blue.
If in doubt call up the coppers and report it,they take it very seriously.
Thats my story.

[Trevor 57]

Ask the question, in the interest of others safety, if he was a cop, nothing is lost, but if he wasn't . . . . . . . . . . . .

[buggo]

I don't think you'll be better off taking it further.
If he is a cop, nothing will happen to him but they might put your rego on the register and you'll be watched very close and just have a bad time finding freedom.

If he's not a cop, its your word against his as to if he said he was a cop or not.
The most they can do is say don't ever do it.

Won't get anywhere really.

[Geez Louise]

I have a few friends that are cops. Now if you ask to see their badge, they MUST show it to you. Every single cop I know says this is the case.

At the end of the day, you didn't get a fine, just a safety warning to slow down. Cop or just good citizen, the message was for your own good and for the safety of other road users.

Let it go, there are more important things in life.

Cheers
Col

[flappist]

Originally Posted by GTP owner

To impersonate a police officer is a criminal offence, with jail time a possibility if found guilty. They look upon this far more seriously than a speeding fine. I say persue it a bit further.

Understand that impersonating a Police officer is saying "I am Sgt Fred Nurk of NSWPOL Badge 1234567" not "I am a cop" and that the above Sgt Nurk must actually exist.

[MercurySilver]

been spoken to buy an off duty copper
she pulled me aside after i came out of a deli from grabbing a drink on the way to work
first thing she did was flash her badge

if they dont show you a badge...walk away and ignore them

[Shonky.]

life is short...... let it go

[Vesper Martini]

He's not a smart *** by giving friendly advice to slow down... nobody likes getting advice these days. But probably said he was a cop to try and diffuse a situation & move on

[greenfoam]

One of my best mates is a senior cop and he certainly doesn't carry his badge around when he's going around his daily life. Doesn't mean he cant advise some knob to slow down on his day off. My mate wouldn't bother though, he'd just remember your rego and unroadworthy you next time he sees you out and about or fine you next time he's on duty. That's the way they normally work it. Don't think just because you don't obviously see a cop they aren't watching. For every one you see on duty, there's 2 off duty that have seen you, they still watch everything like a on duty cop while off duty, just don't act on it.. Till later... You'll find kids that speed everywhere are the ones that get pulled over and harassed all the time even when they think a cop has not ever seen them and wonder why they are being picked on.

[Itsme]

Water under the bridge, no harm done.

Move on.

[Dave R]

I wouldn't worry about it, morons do it all the time. I had a bloke try it on me after I merged in front of him, he pulled up and flashed a closed wallet at me saying he was a police officer and that his car was unmarked/undercover- because police use 15 year old Lexus IS250s as unmarked cars. I just told him how much of a w*nker he was and moved on. It's not worth pursuing unless you have it on video.

[ratter]

Police can charge you even when they are off duty, if you were doing the wrong thing, cop it on the chin and move on, ringing up and starting something may start something coming your way.

If you really believe it was somebody impersonating a policemen, feel free to follow it up as it is frowned upon, but as I said it could start something towards you also if you were in the wrong.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Who knows maybe he didn't have his badge on him.

You should be able to tell if it was a cop car, was it new with pretty standard accessories on it and no number plate frames. Most of the QLD ones have an antenna on the back window, they stand out!

Least it slowed you down.

[steve.zissou]

yeah - I might just ask a local policeman I know.

Give him the details - if its a local cop they would probably know the car straight away - if not they can sus out at their discretion.

definitely wasn't a cop car - would have been his own car (VE ss commodore though).


I noticed that the stretch of road is covered very well by rta cameras so there would be a record of it.

I need to remember to use the go pro more often.

Just annoyed me that I wasn't even doing anything wrong - then again this road is packed with bikes on a good weekend so i can see how someone might become super sensitive (cop or not)

[STINKY NINJA]

The guy who flashed his badge to me was driving his girlfriends pulsar,the coppers told me this.

[Geez Louise]

Originally Posted by steve.zissou

Just annoyed me that I wasn't even doing anything wrong - then again this road is packed with bikes on a good weekend so i can see how someone might become super sensitive (cop or not)

You have admitted you were over the speed limit...Even if just by a little bit, so you were doing something wrong.

[Brazen]

Welcome to modern Australia where we are all self-righteous and pretend to be traffic police officers...

Personally I would have made a report, just to teach that guy to pull his head in.

If he was a real cop, he really shouldnt be identifying himself if he has no identification - they know how serious impersonating an officer is.

[blackf6]

Take it on the chin.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by steve.zissou

yeah - I might just ask a local policeman I know.

Give him the details - if its a local cop they would probably know the car straight away - if not they can sus out at their discretion.

definitely wasn't a cop car - would have been his own car (VE ss commodore though).


I noticed that the stretch of road is covered very well by rta cameras so there would be a record of it.

I need to remember to use the go pro more often.

Just annoyed me that I wasn't even doing anything wrong - then again this road is packed with bikes on a good weekend so i can see how someone might become super sensitive (cop or not)

You didn't get fined, so I'd leave it there and forget asking questions.

Even though impersonating a copper is a serious offense, in this instance, there was no harm done to anyone, other than to give you a scare...

The cameras don't mean alot....so I'd be forgetting about them too

[flappist]

I wonder if anyone else can see the irony in complaints on AFF about someone who may be pretending to be something they are not.

The question has been answered and it is now turning into a 2GB vs ACA style mass debate.

closed.