Thursday, February 21, 2008

What if I Refuse to Sign the Citation?

Out of 19 car stops, I had three people today who refused to sign their respective citations. All three eventually saw the light,when informed they would likely spend the weekend in jail, and decided to sign the cites.

Usually I get one of these every month or two. I've never had three in one day.

Quite the trying day.

9 comments:

Mrs. "Smith" said...

But I don't wanna sign it! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! *sniffle, sniffle*

Kojak said...

Hey, that usually does the trick when they get the option to take a ride to the slide bar hotel! I had an old man one time that sat down in the middle of the road, because he thought he wasn't at fault in the crash. Gotta love it ! Be Safe!

Joe Allen said...

Okay... this ties right in to a goofy train of thought the other day.

Say Officer Smith tickets me for failing to signal a turn and I refuse to sign the citation.

We've established that I'll be carted off to jail.

What would happen if I refused to post bail and continued to refuse to acknowledge the citation? Would I be held until my court date?

And, once the Judge handed down the $50 fine, if I refused to pay it would I continue to be held?

Could one be thick enought to be incarcerated for life over a traffic infringement?

This is what happens when your car radio goes out and you think too much while driving around.

Cheers,
Joe

Officer "Smith" said...

Well Joe, in California it goes something like this:

Officer Smith writes you a ticket.

You refuse to sign the citation.

You sit in jail until you go before a judge, or until you decide to sign the citation.

If you wait for the judge, and he hands down your $50 fine, you will have approximately 60 days to pay said fine.

You will be released from custody, and 60 days later, when you have not paid the fine, a $300 penalty will be added to your fine.

A failure to pay fine record will be added to your driver's license, and if you wait long enough your driver's license will be suspended until you pay the fine.

So, basically no, there's not really any possibility of spending your life in jail for an infraction. Your life just becomes more difficult because the next time you get stopped, and we find out your license is suspended, we just tow your ride and stub you for driving with a suspended license.

I have yet to actually take someone to jail for refusing to sign a citation. Somehow I always manage to convince them that I am serious about arresting them, and they see the light.

Joe Allen said...

I think I'll just take that $350 and get my radio fixed.

Be safe!
Joe

ccpdfsd said...

I woulda tazed them. "Don't taze me, bro!"
Lol...
19 stops in one day? Holy cow, man, you're really earning your paycheck. They should give you a cut of that, or at least give you some nice equipment: unmarked black Dodge Charger (red-blue led bar in the back, red-blue lights mounted in the grill on the rearview mirror in the rear passenger windows etc), panasonic pdt, AR-15 or tactical Mossberg, maybe even one of those new plate reading camera systems (CPD is experimenting with them, but it's not very covert). Then you'd really be ruling the road. No stolen vehicles or ticket scofflaws would escape your sight. See a vehicle reported stolen? Lights on and curb that mofo! Call for backup, let's see those hands! See a parked car with twenty unpaid parking tickets? Call in for a boot! You could do the work of three squads.
Officer Smith, Road Warrior!

Officer "Smith" said...

Joe:

Yeah, $350 to get your radio fixed, AND you get to keep your license. What a deal huh?

Justus:

19 stops in a ten hour shift is average for me. I don't necessarily cite all of them, but most of them I do.

As for equipment, I already have the AR-15, and we have the LED light bars on the cars and the motors, but the Charger would be friggin' SWEET!

And I really don't need the stolen car cameras. I do just fine finding 10851's on my own. Those camera things require two officers in the car to work them properly, and they're known to misread plates. CHP has been testing them for a while here, and they're giving mixed reviews.

Front Porch Society said...

Ever have one wad up the citation and throw it back at you?

Officer "Smith" said...

Heh, no, I can't say that I have. I've had 'em wad it up and throw it on the floor in the car, but never at me.