Out of a misguided sense of goodwill, Rancho Cordova police officers will be pulling over citizens who aren’t doing anything wrong and reward their good driving with $5 Starbucks. While nice in theory, it would be a pain in the butt if you were running late for work. I wonder if, just like when you get pulled over for speeding, they’re going to make you wait in your car for 10 minutes first. I also wonder why they couldn’t just take people’s license numbers down and mail them the gift cards. I also also wonder if it’s legal for a police officer to detain someone who isn’t breaking the law. N doubt such irritating questions will disappear the moment the free Mocha Frappacino hits your brain nerves.
Police Reward Good Drivers With Coffee [AP] (Thanks To Moss Media!)
(Photo: Tengaport)
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Great, a “Cheer Chain” with flashing lights and sirens.
I am not a lawyer (yet), I am certainly not your lawyer, and I am not giving anyone legal advice,
Necessary disclaimer aside (pesky legal ethics that apply to law students!
), I don’t see how it can possibly be constitutional to pull people over for driving well! That sort of detention is a seizure that requires, at the very minimum, reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, if not probable cause. You can’t pull someone over for driving well!
People are right to think the idea is retarded. Cops should be seen and not heard. Ideally not seen either.
@comopuedeser: There you go. To serve coffee and protect donuts.
@Shadowfire: I’m with you. Complain when the world eats balls then complain even louder when someone tries to do something, however seemingly misguided, about it.
There’s gotta be a negative angle somewhere. If nothing else they’re wasting your precious time. Like you were doing anything important with it anyway. Probably just sitting in your steaming pile of a car at a red light being pissed off it for it not turning fast enough for you (that and those fucking retarded old people from the nursing home taking their GOTTDAMN time crossing the Jesus Christing stupid effing street. Sheesh!).
C’mon. Take the stupid Starbucks card, be grateful, or give it to someone who will be, then breathe a sigh of relief that you weren’t actually doing something wrong and maybe chuckle about it. Failing that, stay the hell out of my beloved Rancho Cordova with that bad attitude of yours.
Happy Holidays, haters.
I would stop, because is required by law.
I would accept the card, because I am grateful person.
I would not change my mind about the police/authority and their past errors and mishandleing of my persona.
I would quietly complain for it here
@Jackasimov: Wow, somebody didn’t get a free latte on his drive home.
I hate my local cops, they are all twofaced hypocrites. If they were to pull any kind of shinagins like this, my blood pressure would shoot through the roof, which in turn would cause me to seriously consider suing them… My time, stress and mental being are worth more that a crappy 5 dollar gift card.
what a waste of gas and resources.
I’d like to hear a write up of the cost and traffic congestion these random acts of kindness produce.
To move from frankly gas friendly highway or driving speeds to stop, then idle, than rejoin traffic, ect, ect. Sounds like a little at first but add it up and we’re taking loads of un-needed waste.
What they should do is gather funds for something like this and then mail a donation in your name to a local charity. The only acknowledgement of your good driving would be a letter thanking you for your donation via the local police or highway patrol for being a good citizen.
But then they wouldn’t have a loophole way to pull people over for no good reason.
Sound like a good idea to me. If you were late for work, you would probably be pulled over for speeding, not good driving…
p.s. anyone notice the missing o? N doubt…
WHether if this stunt is grounds for an illegal stop…. it doesnt matter. A savvy cop knows that he can literally FIND a reason to pull someone over. Especially if they follow you for a while.
I grew up in a small town with a bunch of bored redneck cops. SO naturally anytime I see a cop car behind me… I always expect to be pulled over & am suprised when it doesnt happen.
If you REALLY want to reward drivers…. have the cop note the plate #, put it on file so that the next time they pull you over for a REAL reason (incorrect lane change, rolling stop, failure to yield, speeding… etc. etc.) …. let them off & let them know that is why.
A kind of “get out of a ticket card”. I WOULD appreciate THAT kind of reward!
*headdesk*
Someone does something bad, people bitch.
Someone writes in a complaint, people bitch and blame the victim.
Someone tries to say “thanks for doing a great job”, people bitch.
People … just bitch.
Pathetic.
I also think this isn’t a great idea, although probably for the reverse reason of most commenters. I’m not worried about me as much as the cop. Everytime a cop makes a “routine” traffic stop he has to wonder – is this guy going to run? Is he going to pull out a gun and shoot at me when I get to the window?
Everytime a cop pulls someone over he puts his own life in jeopardy. I would hate to hear a story about a cop that got shot b/c he went to give someone a Starbuck’s coupon and it turns out that someone is on the lam, wanted for murder and thinks he’s just been spotted.
@Buran:
I wouldnt bitch if I got $5 in the mail saying it was a reward for driving well.
But anymore these days…. when cops stop you …. people dont look at it as a good experience. Whether you did something wrong or did something right. Cops have basically become something to fear. Long gone are the days of officer friendly.
Ask yourself something… how easily are you apt to walk up to a cop (you dont know) to shoot the shit, kindly say hello, or just ask a simple question about the neighborhood? Heck even when I had a real need to talk to a cop, I have been treated with suspicion, annoyance & had my plate run.
Pulling me over to give me a Phuking discount ticket for a sucky cup of coffee should be grounds for using my Mac-10 on a bullet proof vest …. if you get my drift.
This whole scheme goes beyond commom sense. I see flashing lights on my arse I know one of two things is about to happen:
1) Some entry level cop is going to have to defend his poor job performance to my family member whom is his supervisor
2) I was doing 93 in a 35 and actually deserve the ticket.
Anything else is dangerous and utterly stupid.
I would thank the officer, after asking if I had done anything wrong, for looking out for all drivers on the road. There are too many impaired or just plain bad drivers out there, like Chris from Canada’s Worst Driver 1, Michael and Henrietta from CWD2, and Shelby from CWD3. Jason, from CWD3, has reportedly hung up his license for good.
[www.discovery.ca]
Just in case no one’s figured this out yet, this, and the “cheer chain” are viral marketing stunts. There will be more.
/Oh yes, there will be more.
Terrible idea! I think this is just a backwards way for them to catch criminals who happen to be smart enough not to drive like maniacs. This gives them an excuse to pull over anyone, regardless of whether they are visibly breaking the law. Seriously, do you think if they see a driver they want to scrutinize, they aren’t going to pull him over under the guise of giving him a good driving prize? If they happen to see something suspicious while handing them the reward, well, then they can search the vehicle.
I predict the proportion of these cards presented to Hispanic and black people will be far greater than the proportion of the driving population those demographics represent. In other words, cops will target those particular races. I suspect this is just another violation of our civil rights dressed up to look nice. (I’m Caucasian, for purposes of disclosure.)
But aside from that, I would be furious (well, annoyed) if a cop pulled me over to give me a gift card to any store, let alone a coffee place I would never buy anything from.
@Troy F.: That is a really good point. Cops pulling someone over to give them a reward might be in a less aroused mental state thereby putting themselves in danger as well as the people they stop since any surprises might catch the cop off guard. When a cop hovers over behind your shoulder during a traffic stop, it is for everyone’s safety. Being in a strategically advantageous position makes the officer less likely to respond inappropriately to anything the occupant does that might be misconstrued as a threat.
Plus, there is always the danger of being hit by a wayward vehicle.
This is pretty much the equivalent of running at your dog, yelling at him while raising a hand to hit him….. then handing him a dog treat.
@StevieD: You’re a dick.
@forgottenpassword: Maybe if people weren’t so grouchy and were willing to actually *GASP* talk to strangers, they wouldn’t go “OMG! Someone I don’t know wants to talk to me! AAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!”
In other words, we as a collective society need to loosen the hell up.
@ancientsociety: i was thinking the exact same thing. Suck to get pulled over for not doing anything wrong and they smell my weed
How the hell can they afford to give out gift cards to…. oh, wait… kickbacks courtesy of Starbucks. At least I hope that is the case and not taxpayer dollars.
Stay out of government all you mega-corporations. Ugh.
Yeah right…
Just wait for the racial profiling to kick in and it’ll be “Well, I stopped this black guy in a Cadillac to give him a Starbucks voucher for good driving and then I smelt something funny when he wound down the window so we searched the car and just look what we found…”
I have been thinking hard on this one, I would like to think “oh how nice rewarding people for good driving”. But the realist in me keeps overriding the happy thoughts with “this is a great way to stop people with no probable cause”.
This is going to be used as a wide cast net. I wonder how many cases will be dropped when the constitutional lawyers get involved.
Like others have said they could easily mail the reward to you.
@Bruce Bayliss:
Arrrggg, forget racial profiling, let’s just deal with profiling. Just like everybody else cops learn to look for common elements. So profiling does happen and it can be a good thing. Profiling is only bad when you fit the common elements and you have done nothing wrong.
@spinachdip:
Thanks for that comment, you had me laughing so hard I almost spit out my coffee (made at home BTW, not Starbucks)
As for the article, I too, would be upset for getting pulled over only to be told I was driving good and given $5 gift card for a store I would never shop at. Even if the whole stop only took 10 minutes, 10 minutes of my free time is worth much more than $5.
I’m no grinch, but if I got pulled over for this nonsense, I would advise the offier to shove the starschmucks giftcard up his arse, and contact the offending PD to tell them to stay the F*** away from me if I haven’t broken any laws.
Bull Crap, Consumerist.
I mean, do you know anyone who obeys every single rule of the road when they’re running late for work? I don’t. That’s why it’s called “running” late for work, not “moseying” late for work.
And OMG I just realized! They’re giving out starbucks gift cards so that the drivers can get caffeinated… and then their deluded sense of time and hyperactive awakened state will cause them to speed… and allow officers to give them tickets, making back the money spent on the cards about twenty-four-fold!
It’s bulletproof!
And no, I guess I rarely believe in true human kindness without ulterior motives… as much as I’d like to…
Y
The best gift to me and society would be if another car plowed into the officer as he approached my car.
@bbbici: Jesus, what’s wrong with you?
Good grief. Like this is going to be an issue… If the drivers is Rancho Whatever are like the ones in my city, I’d wager the cop bought one gift card two years ago and is still waiting for that mythical “good driver” to pull over.
Still, nice thought, Officer Diogenes.
C’mon ~ ~ ~ how often is it police do something other than harass people over minor infractions?
It’s a rare about-face for our “finest,” who are usually more interested in sticking it to you to make their ticket quotas than helping fight serious crime.
Ten years ago I lived (and I use that term loosely) in North Dakota. A friend of mine was pulled over for speeding. The officer gave him a warning, and after seeing him, and his four family members wearing their seatbelts, gave my friend for coupons for $5 each for McDonalds as a reward for caring about their lives.
But one has to wonder, what’s more dangerous, not wearing your seatbelt or eating at McDonalds?
If an officer were to pull me over and give me a starbucks card, his entire city police force is going to be in serious trouble.
The supreme court has ruled on this several times, and you can’t pull over/stop someone without cause.
I’d be polite because I understand the officer is trying to be nice, but come on, I’m sure even most of the officers being told to do this, I kind of annoyed that they are bugging drivers.
This does seem a little sketchy – no doubt Johnny Law will bend down to your window (or not bend down for SUV people) and take a good look at you and the interior of your car as he/she hands out the coupon.
Additionally, as someone who has been pulled over a few times for “responsible” speeding, no matter what the circumstance it’s always a little embarrassing to be seen on the side of the road parked in front of anything with flashing lights.
And what about the danger of merging back into the traffic flow, etc?
By the way, I think some of you need to get pulled over a few more times, for you know, practice. It’s really not that bad if you keep your hands on the wheel and greet the officer politely. Police are people too and I’ve never encountered a rude one – despite my penchant for occasionally exceeding the suggested speed limits.
@Coder4Life: our starbucks already do give cops free donuts and coffee. When I worked at a Mexican fast food place we commped all cops, EMS, Fire fighters, and military guys in uniform. Our owner had a thing rewarding those who dedicate their lives to helping others. Having a bunch of cops who know you give them free food aint so bad either.
In other news: Police officer is shot while pulling over a car this afternoon to reward the driver for good driving. Unknown to the officer at the time, the driver was a wanted felon with outstanding warrants. It is believed he shot the police officer out of fear of being arrested.
Actually, I heard of a study where something similar actually resulted in better driving and lower fatalities all around, much more so than punishing BAD driving.
I think rewarding good behavior is a good idea, if there is the proper advertisement of the program so nobody gets all freaked out.
As for everybody believing the cops are all up to something and just want to catch you with your drugs…well, I suppose it could happen. I just don’t believe it.
Though I do agree the better option would be writing down the license number and mailing the card instead. Then less people would be so damn cranky about the idea.
@swalve: Wait, what’s wrong with “cop”?
@joemono & @xtc46: Yeah, aren’t traffic stops supposed to be really dangerous to do? The police chase videos always show at least one that began when the officer didn’t suspect any wrongdoing. It’s something like a tail light being out.
This is seriously the scariest thing I’ve read or heard in a long while (assuming it is true).
a $5 gift card, officer? i’ve got a better idea. i’ll take a couple hits off the bong you were smoking when you came up with this idea.
@Japheaux:
Now THAT’s pretty damn cool!
@swalve: I don’t think your suggestion not to call police “cops or pigs” was directed at me, but I worked with cops for years and they all call themselves cops. As does my brother in law, another cop.
@inkhead: Any cop can find a more or less legitimate reason to pull any motorist over after a few minutes’ following them.
@swalve: Why did the police name their television show “COPS” if they didn’t want us to use it? Or is it like the name of god and only they’re allowed to say it?
Yeah I would be pissed if I got pulled over for something like this. I would be scared enough as is and this would just make me blow up, knowing I did nothing wrong..