NJ Police pulled over in VA

[tripytrucker]

This also happened to some New York officers on 95 but they were holding the speed limit in the left lane.IMHO I think the Augusta County Sheriff was just doing his job.I can see wanting to stay together as a convoy but I don't think this was the way to do it. Does anyone think the Deputy was out of line and if so why?
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet...=1045855934842

N.J. police object to stop of 95-mph convoy
Officers heading home from Katrina duty got warning, then got mad

BY MICHAEL L. OWENS AND ALICIA PETSKA
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE Sep 30, 2005


WAYNESBORO -- A speeding New Jersey police convoy should not have been warned to slow down here, its superiors say, despite numerous 911 calls from motorists claiming they were forced off Interstate 81.

An incensed New Jersey sheriff called an Augusta County deputy a "disgrace" for pulling over officers returning home from a Hurricane Katrina relief mission Sept. 18.

Augusta Sheriff Randy Fisher and the Virginia State Police defend the stop because the New Jersey officers were traveling 95 mph with their lights flashing.

Virginia law requires an emergency before officers can speed and activate their lightbars. Instead of a warning, the speeding officers could have gotten citations.

"It was causing a dangerous situation, and basically we had to do something," Fisher said. "People were pulling off to the left and people were pulling off to the right getting out of the way of these guys."

Virginia State Police said they logged "numerous" 911 calls early Sept. 18 from motorists complaining about marked cars from the Passaic County Sheriff's Office and Wayne Police Department driving dangerously near Weyers Cave.

With Virginia State Police troopers busy working other cases, only Augusta County Deputy Mike Roane was available to answer the call. Roane averted a potential disaster, Fisher said, after clocking the convoy's lead car at 95 mph.

"Five or six of them did not stop, they just continued northbound," the Augusta sheriff added. "I think they were in a hurry to get home."

Roane ordered the officers whom Fisher described as belligerent -- in the remaining six cars to cut off their lightbars and slow down. A Virginia trooper telephoned their New Jersey departments requesting that the homeward-bound officers slow down.

"There was no emergency situation they were responding to in Virginia that we know of," Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

That same day, Virginia troopers patrolling the state's southwestern interstate roads pulled over a roughly 80-car convoy of New York police homebound from Katrina relief, Geller said. That group stuck to the speed limit, though troopers asked them to stay out of the left lane.

The news of the Augusta County stop incensed Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale, who, in a taped telephone conversation with Roane, lambasted the deputy for stopping his officers.

"If you think that that's not a disgrace, you should take that badge off your shirt and throw it in the garbage," Speziale said. "This is unacceptable, and I'll tell you what, I hope I get the opportunity to show you the same courtesy up here in New Jersey."

Speziale told Roane that "law enforcement is all about supporting each other" and said he was reporting the Augusta County stop to the National Sheriffs' Association.

Speziale ended the call after cutting short Roane's attempt to detail the incident. "I don't talk to deputies," the New Jersey sheriff said.

Other officials from the New Jersey departments remain indignant that its officers were ordered to slow down.

"We make no excuses," Passaic County Sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer told The News Virginian on Tuesday. "They'd been working 'round the clock [in a hurricane-devastated New Orleans]. They were coming back with equipment that needed to get back. In our opinion, they acted appropriately. We take offense at the way they were treated."

A Wayne police official seemed angered when The News Virginian called about the incident last week.

"So what, we're not going to talk about the good these people are doing, you're just going to look for something bad?" Capt. Paul Ireland replied.

Fisher, instead of phoning Speziale, drafted him a letter detailing the stop, defending Roane's actions, and saying that the New Jersey officers were "unprofessional."

Passaic County, in the meantime, plans to send more volunteers to New Orleans, but not through Augusta County.

"We're going to avoid Virginia at all cost -- we're clearly not welcome there," Maer said. "Maybe Virginia should learn from our example."


Michael L. Owens and Alicia Petska are staff writers at The News Virginian in Waynesboro.

[No Name XII]

They'd been working 'round the clock [in a hurricane-devastated New Orleans]. They were coming back with equipment that needed to get back.

So if I've been working around the clock and I need to get some equipment back home I wouldn't be expected to go slower than 95? Oh, wait, the New Jersey police are above the rest of the United States.

[jcoiii]

I absolutely hate cops like that. They give the rest of us the bad image we have.

"You can't pull me over for breaking the law. I'm a cop"

And the superior is even worse. Your officers were pulled over because they were running people off the road. AND in a non-emergency situation. And to run over a Deputy doing his job by trying to keep his citizens safe? I think Augusta Co. should release the 911 tapes on these guys.

And to the Passaic County Sheriff, from one LEO to another:
You, sir, are the disgrace.

[Rob P.]

I believe that the AG of the State of Virginia needs to start an investigation.

Something to the order of failing to stop for a police officer and/or felony evading against the officers who failed to stop. The State AG can gain access to the list of the New Jersey officers who were in the "convoy" and develop the list of names of those individuals who failed to stop after deposing the officers.

Let Sheriff Speziale get pissy about that and see what happens.

[Massan]

"Speziale told Roane that "law enforcement is all about supporting each other" and said he was reporting the Augusta County stop to the National Sheriffs' Association."

AKA, dont rat out on your corrupt cop buddies or let them do whatever they want even if they are breaking the law. No one is above the law, LEO or not.

[Mike Irwin]

"Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale"

Retard from one of the nation's most corrupt police states.

New Jersey has a serious history of hassling police officers from out of state who are passing through.

[Wildcard]

Some animals are more equal than others.


Another black eye.

Virginia law requires an emergency before officers can speed and activate their lightbars. Instead of a warning, the speeding officers could have gotten citations.

They should have been ticketed. A citizen would have been.

"Five or six of them did not stop, they just continued northbound," the Augusta sheriff added. "I think they were in a hurry to get home."

Hmm, if I did not stop for police, I wonder what would happen?

[srfl]

I've had a few NYPD and PAPD (Port Authority of NY and NJ Police Dept) acquaintances of mine complain over the lack of "professional courtesy" they experienced at the hands of different NJ LE agencies....especially the NJSP.

Although I can't recall what their specific beefs were, I'm sure they likely dealt with traffic enforcement issues.

[tanksoldier]

Cops don't get to roll code 3 just because they want to. There has to be a reason... and the fact threy're headed home to the wife/ girlfriend isn't one.

[MRex21]

I absolutely hate cops like that. They give the rest of us the bad image we have.

"You can't pull me over for breaking the law. I'm a cop"

And the superior is even worse. Your officers were pulled over because they were running people off the road. AND in a non-emergency situation. And to run over a Deputy doing his job by trying to keep his citizens safe? I think Augusta Co. should release the 911 tapes on these guys.

And to the Passaic County Sheriff, from one LEO to another:
You, sir, are the disgrace.

I concur. Bad form Passaic County.

[SAXD9]

Yankee cops vs. Southern cops.

Two completely different animals.
They believe the 'thin blue line' means not ratting on another cop EVER. To me it means not telling your partners wife that he's cheating on her (for example) but I will not cover for a brother that breaks the law.

I agree with the Va. officer's actions. All the good deeds in the world don't make up for flying up the highway, running people off the road. Outside their jurisdiction they have no business running blue or red lights.

There was a HUGE argument on a LEO forum I belonged to a few years ago about drunk driving. A Northern cop though us Southern guys were the worst kind of traitors because we would arrest a fellow officer if he was driving drunk. Up there they are allowed to have a drink during mealtimes, while down here taking a drink on duty will cost you your job, your certification, and your career. Hell, most agencies around here put it in their policy that if you drink, do it at home. They don't want us seen in bars and clubs.

[jburtonpdx]

Up there they are allowed to have a drink during mealtimes, while down here taking a drink on duty will cost you your job, your certification, and your career.

Most peoples jobs period... If I was to drink at lunch and come back to work I would be walked out in a heart beat, the worst damage I could do from the effects of alcohol at work would be to send out an email or two telling some folks how I really feel about them... Maybe throw up on my desk if I drank to much or something like that also.

As a non leo citizen, if I heard about an elected official of my community acting in this way I would be embarrassed. The Sheriff that made the comment "I don't talk to deputies" is an elitist snob, along the lines of dark ages royalty. I would hope that the next elections in that area are soon. Though likely the local press will spin it in support of the "Local Boys that did good"

I hate stuff like this - those guys went down there to help, they are to be commended for that. They screwed up on there way home, in my mind understandably( I would hurry home also). Those that stopped for the officer in Virginia should be slapped on the hand told not to do that and be on there way. Those that did not stop, well I dont know what to say, isn't that a felony, even in Virginia?

Its easy for me to talk though, I am sitting in my house, never having got off my butt to go down there and help. Instead I wrote a check, well did not even do that, just typed in my card number on the Red Cross web site.

I dunno, I guess that the guys that were driving back screwed up, they should be yelled at for messing up. That Sheriff though, he should be fired, his true colors have shown and they are not good.

[Dead]

You should see how the Passaic Police act at home if you think this is bad... NJ is the most corrupt in the nation, not just cops but in every way you can imagine.

[JR47]

The actions of the officers is unacceptable, period. The actions of the Sheriff are grounds for removal due to dereliction.

I wonder what the Passaic Sheriff's Department needed that was being transported in those cars? Common sense in the trunk? It's interesting that they were in such a hurry, while the New York LEOs were able to travel at the speed limit, without lights, and had further to go.

While not an LEO, I have had to deal with the NJ LEO while transporting Emergency vehicles from my department through the state. As a rule, they tended to be a bit surly. Being pulled over headed South on I-95, in a 33' long, 44,000 pound heavy Rescue Squad, with the name of the department emblazoned in all four sides, we were told that the vehicle had temp tags on it, and to wait while they ran it for stolen!! Now, there were three of us, all wearing identification, and with department identification cards, drivers licenses, and the department on the phone at the time! We weren't even speeding. Ten minutes later, we were back on the road, with the statement that they were watching us. We told him that this was good, as we didn't want to break down in NJ without armed rent-a-cops and got the heck out of there.

[Lee Lapin]

Prolly they just wanted to get home before the carryout shrimp etouffe got cold...

lpl/nc

================
edited to add:

Gonna report this to the National Sheriff's Assn, hmmm? Hope he does exactly that...

http://www.sheriffs.org/about.shtml

A Message From the Executive Director, Thomas N. Faust
Welcome to the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA). Chartered in 1940, NSA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among sheriffs, their deputies, and others in the field of criminal justice and public safety so that they may perform their jobs in the best possible manner, in service to the people of their communities.
In support of that mission, NSA provides to sheriffs and other criminal justice practitioners resources, technical assistance, opportunities for professional development, information and congressional advocacy. And through its annual conferences, NSA also provides valuable opportunities for networking and interacting with fellow criminal justice professionals. We believe that the Office of Sheriff is one of our nation's most vital institutions, and we will never cease in our efforts to both preserve and strengthen it.

As NSA's executive director, I am committed -- as are all NSA's staff members -- to the quest of continually enhancing the services NSA provides to the public safety community. We will continue to be the voice of local law enforcement at the national level.

1450 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314-3490 (703) 836-7827

[jrklaus]

I'm not an LEO, but I did live in Augusta Co., VA, for a number of years. My impression of the LEOs there, and especially the Augusta County Sheriff's Office, was a very favorable one. As for the actions of the NJ officers as reported...not very impressive in Virginia, anyway.

[shaggy]

Geez, those poor New Jersey troopers. It must really suck to be pulled over for doing 95mph and treated much better than an average citizen. (Because if they caught any non-LEO doing it we'd have a pricey ticket and a few points on the license to show for it)

Perhaps Sheriff Jerry Speziale was expecting the VA police to roll out the red carpet for the NJ police and have coffee and donuts waiting at the border?

[wayneinFL]

"We're going to avoid Virginia at all cost -- we're clearly not welcome there," Maer said. "Maybe Virginia should learn from our example."

Thanks. Please avoid my state as well.

[wayneinFL]

Does anyone know what newspaper covers Wayne and Passaic County, New Jersey? I'd like to know if they've run this story.

[Blackwater OPS]

I personally stopped a fellow MP from my own unit for DUI during a checkpoint. He was 3x the limit and continued to say, "stop messing around guys" even as he was being cuffed and helped into the duty SGTs vehicle. He honestly did not believe we were busting him. No one is above the law even a good cop who we could not afford to have taken off the road. I KNOW what would happen to me if my CO had found out I was doing 95 with overheads with no emergency. Id get my a$$ chewed by everyone in my coc. Those cops were out of line period. Also VA cops have been great guys to work with as an LEO, IMHO. Not like the those DC cops.....

[molonlabe]

Just when you thought you heard it all. I'm speechless. This guy is actually for real? +1 on being corrupt.

[N.H. Yankee]

SAXD9, just exactly what do you mean, Yankees have no moral's or professionalism?I guess all the cops being investigated in N.O. for theft were Yankee's, I guess BILL BUBBA CLINTON was a Yankee!!!!! I see Robert Byrd as a fine honest moral man also. Your statement is plain IGNORANT! I'd be willing to bet you've got a picture of Archie Bunker tacked up on the outhouse wall! Anyone who thinks like that should not be in law enforcement as it shows a very bias personnality, I'll be sure to avoid North carolina, because according to your theory all Yankees are losers so I must assume all in N.C. think like you!

[k_dawg]

Too bad they did not public the names and addresses of these violent criminals.. Opps.. "officers of the law".

[Wildalaska]

Yankees have no moral's or professionalism

Im a Mets fan myslef, looks like you go with the Red Sox?


WildbethedoesntrememberbullconnorAlaska

[butch50]

What is one of the most natural of cop attributes? Abusing power. It happens everywhere, not just NJ.