Police tailgating. ?

[JWilliams]

Jurisdiction

Florida

Several years ago, I had the police tailgated me for ~7 minutes before pulling me over (bad taillight). Last week, the police tailgated me for several minutes at 55 mph. I slowed gradually to 45. they tailgated me still for a short time before pulling me over (expired tag).

A few days ago, another cop tailgated me at 55 MPH for several miles -- I slowed gradually slowed to 45 and he continued tailgating me another 5 minutes. Finally, he turned off to go to the police station (I was not stopped).

When I say tailgating, I mean they were following me at perhaps 1 or 1.5 seconds. I consider that reckless driving. Tailgating. All three of these incidents have occurred with the Sheriffs Dept in a N. Florida County nationally known for fubar law enforcement. That's no exaggeration.

I've got camera equipment coming that will allow me to document this behavior with day/date/gps/speed and I'll be able to calculate following distance with no problem. It's obvious these cops are defectively trained -- how much protection will they have if a lawsuit is filed? My position is that there is zero legitimate reason for police to tailgate for extended periods.

What are your thoughts? Criticism, pointers and ideas appreciated.

 

[adjusterjack]

Poor baby. You got a ticket and now you want to take on the whole police department.

Good luck with that.

 

[zddoodah]

a N. Florida County nationally known for fubar law enforcement.

Nationally? LOL! I live on the west coast, and I'm confident that pretty much no one out here knows about your county's law enforcement, and most folks couldn't even name any county in Florida other than Dade and Orange.

What are your thoughts? Criticism

Since 2/3 of your examples involve you breaking the law, I'd suggest not breaking the law. Otherwise, I generally don't think poking the bear is a good idea.

 

[army judge]

What are your thoughts? Criticism, pointers and ideas appreciated

My thoughts might be helpful.

I suggest you stop freaking out, by TAKING CARE OF YOUR BUSINESS IN A TIMELY MANNER.

IE... If a tail light, headlamp, or turn signal is kaput, fix it rapidly, don't delay. Handle your business in a timely manner. If your registration is expired, RENEW IT ON TIME, otherwise you're risking a traffic citation.

The police handle their business in a timely manner, mate. I suggest you do the same, otherwise park/store your vehicle until you've handled your money business.

 

[Tax Counsel]

What are your thoughts? Criticism, pointers and ideas appreciated.

My thoughts are when driving any vehicle in the U.S. make sure that (1) the car is properly registered, you have the proper sticker on the license plate for it, and that you have a copy of the current registration with you; (2) you have current driver's license from your state of residence and have the driver's license in your possession; (3) that your vehicle has a sticker proving you've met the requirements of any law in your state that mandates emission or safety inspection standards; and (4) the vehicle has the minimum insurance coverage in effect, and you have proof of that insurance with you.

Doing all of the above will reduce your risk of getting pulled over and, if pulled over, will reduce the risk of being cited for non moving violations. You'll also want to follow the driving laws of your state, which means slow down if you have the habit of speeding.

The reason the cops follow you for a little distance before pulling you over is usually because the cop is running your plate number through the state's computer system to find out if there are warrants out for your arrest or if you have a criminal background that may indicate a higher risk you'll attack the cop. It is not a violation of the law in any state for a cop to follow you on the roads for any amount of time.

As for your complaint about the cops following you at a unsafe distance, your sole remedy for that is to provide your complaint to the police chief or sheriff of the department that employs the cop.