Volusia County, FL — In case after infuriating case, the Free Thought Project has reported on cops who abuse their authority to break the law or do things that would get normal citizens ticketed or arrested. So, when we see a cop who doesn’t pretend to be above the law they enforce, we think it is a good idea to report on it — to set the bar for police across America. A Florida sheriff has done just that and demanded he be given a ticket for speeding.
Known as blue privilege, there is an unwritten law among police officers: when they catch their fellow cop, or even their fellow cop’s family member, breaking the law, they are let go without consequence.
Just two months ago, dashcam video was released showing preferential treatment of an Arkansas police chief who was let off — without so much as a warning — after speeding to an off-duty job as a referee at a football game.
The examples are unlimited.
In one case, in particular, an entire caravan of cops was given a pass for needless and dangerously speeding through town. An audio tape and video were published online of a conversation between a Washington State Patrol aircraft and a patrol car on the ground.
The aircraft kept identifying speeders while the ground unit would let them all go by since they were LEOs.
The cars were both marked and unmarked. There was also a dangerously driving motorcycle in the mix as well, weaving in and out of cars, who was actually stopped and then let go after realizing he was an LEO. Nothing happened to any of the officers for speeding.
However, there is a new sheriff in town in Florida, who is setting out to reverse this trend.
As the News Journal reports, after a deputy’s radar clocked Volusia County’s new sheriff going 78 mph in a 55-mph zone, Mike Chitwood said he asked for a ticket “to set an example” for the agency.
“I ordered him to write a ticket to send a message,” Chitwood said of his own violation. “I was as wrong as could be, especially when we are paying out money in lawsuits for not operating vehicles in a safe manner.”
Chitwood is referring to a lawsuit settled this week in which the county paid out money for a deputy-related crash. According to the Journal, the county last week paid $200,000 in a lawsuit settlement to a motorist who was seriously injured after a deputy caused a chain-reaction crash in September 2014.
There is also a current internal investigation underway after another deputy was caught speeding and then crashed his vehicle into three other vehicles last month. Deputy Cory Freeburn, 30, was driving 81 mph in a posted 45-mph zone on his way to a non-emergency call, an Edgewater police accident report states.
The sheriff’s stop was untraditional as he was pulled over in his personal vehicle. However, the sergeant who pulled Chitwood over quickly applied the blue privilege and told the sheriff to be on his way. But the sheriff realized this was wrong and called the sergeant back.
“I told him to write me a ticket,” Chitwood said, adding that the deputy was initially hesitant. “I shouldn’t be given a professional courtesy. I’m the sheriff for Christ’s sake.”
When cops refuse to act above the law and hold themselves accountable, this is most certainly a good thing. The Free Thought Project applauds Sheriff Chitwood and hopes his example spreads to others.
“I have to set the example,” Chitwood said. “If I’m going to discipline these guys (for speeding), I have to discipline myself.”
Please share this story to show the world what being a good cop means.
#1: Vicomte13 To: Deckard (#0)
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-01-24 15:07:14 Reply Private Reply
#2: Pinguinite To: Deckard (#0)
Pinguinite posted on 2017-01-24 15:08:24 Reply Private Reply
#3: Gatlin To: Vicomte13 (#1)
This is just another yellow journalism article coming out of the Free Thought Project.
It is yellow journalism because the intent is to show that cops seldom ticket other cops.
That is simply not the case, as the following links prove.
Notice that the cop in the first link ticketed himself.
Gatlin posted on 2017-01-24 17:26:45 Reply Private Reply
#4: Vicomte13 To: Gatlin (#3)
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-01-24 17:31:16 Reply Private Reply
#5: Gatlin To: Vicomte13 (#4)
At all?
I would like you to make a good case for driving as fast as you want to in a school zone.
Gatlin posted on 2017-01-24 17:46:18 Reply Private Reply
#6: Vicomte13 To: Gatlin (#5)
The people who don't do it now, would not do it. Just by putting up the sign, you inform people of the danger and they react to it, whether or not a cop is there, and 999 times out a thousand there is no cop there. People drive by common sense, not fear.
The people who do it now, already do it. People who don't drive by common sense end up in accidents.
The speed limits are a revenue-gaining thing.
The police can always stop people for reckless driving.
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-01-24 22:03:31 Reply Private Reply
#7: Gatlin To: Vicomte13 (#6)
Oh, the police can simply use “reckless driving” as a metonymy for “speeding” when stopping people for “driving as fast as they want to in a school zone.”
So, what changes….other than the name?
Gatlin posted on 2017-01-25 07:16:42 Reply Private Reply
#8: Vicomte13 To: Gatlin (#7)
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-01-25 09:10:48 Reply Private Reply
#9: Gatlin To: Vicomte13 (#8)
What I fail to understand is the difference in charging someone for speeding or reckless driving when driving through a school zone at a high speed. You are changing the name of the charge but not the reason for the charge.
This is true in many cases. In others it is not. There are some states which have a drop-down lead in off a cloverleaf of from 30 to 50 yards to bleed into high speed inter-urban superhighways. While other states have a quarter to a half mile lead in to build up speed. You can see the danger in the first case with all lanes traveling a 80 mph when someone tries to bleed in to get from 40 mph to 80 mph in 30 to 50 yards.
I can see your point if you are saying that superhighways generally have too slow a speed limit. I can also see you point if you say that even in cities, many of the speed limits are conservatively too low and traffic could move more quickly and even safer at higher speeds. But I fail to see that all speed laws should be voided and people be allowed to drive any speed they want to anywhere and at any time.
Gatlin posted on 2017-01-25 12:27:12 Reply Private Reply
#10: Vicomte13 To: Gatlin (#9)
Vicomte13 posted on 2017-01-25 13:49:27 Reply Private Reply