Originally Posted by
WhyFi
I generally dislike them, but I understand that they've got really tough jobs. Somehow fell in to a youtube rabbit hole recently and ended up seeing a video of cops dealing with some of those Sovereign Citizen jackholes. If that doesn't make you cut cops a little slack, nothing will.
(sorry, Im playing catch up) Ive been wanting to share this with you guys, and since the discussion has turned to law enforcement.
I too am generally not a fan. Around here they kinda tend to be a bit too gung ho.
For instance, 4/29/17 guess who received a ticket for interfering with traffic? (same as impeding)........ That's right, good ole ls01.
Cops have a tough job to do, I hear it all the time. Then why do they go out and pick on a soft target like me? Pulled over, for riding my bicycle in a traffic lane. one cop, two cops, three cops, the third the watch commander all with their lights on. Crime of the century!
But, conveniently for me , all 3, yes 3 officers, one of them a lieutenant , failed to notice my knock off go pro that was recording every word. the part I like best is when the Lt. reads me some printed cycling law and his explanation that meant I had to ride in the parallel parking lane, and weave in and out of the cars. But it also recorded where and how I was riding prior to being pulled over and every idiotic word if his explanation.
was I co operative? Hell no, why would I be? I wasn't breaking any law, he had no probable cause to stop me. but here we are. To be honest, I was livid.
So I ended up with a lawyer who is a bike law Attorney, cyclist, and cycling advocate, who took my case pro bono. His Father, who is also an attorney and cyclist and cycling advocate, came to court twice to argue with the prosecutor that I was right and the cops were wrong. The prosecutor actually said, " I cant believe the legislature expects me to slow down for someone riding a bike". ffs.
2 years earlier my attorney set a pretty large precedent. He defended another cyclist against a pretty crabby state trooper. They ended up having to appeal the lower courts decision to circuit court to get the law defined. He won the case. we used my video and the rulings made in his previous case to get the charges against me dismissed. If you google cyclist verses Mi. state police. you can find his case. It took 2 trips to court, and the explanation that we fully expected to appeal the decision to a higher court. And that he would end up with a monetary fine (its what happened in the previous case), to change his mind and dismiss the charges.
So the day after I won my court case I went out on a celebratory ride through Grosse Point Shores, out to Belle Isle, and back. Its a 62 mile round trip. at mile 61.1 I met a Buick. on the bike path.