Rt. 4 Police this AM

Hannibal

Active Member
In my new travels up and down Rt. 4, I've noticed a lot of police presence up above Huntingtown. This isn't a bad thing IMO. However, on two separate mornings this week, I've seen the same type of behavior by police that I thought was quite off putting.

This morning, I am cruising up Rt. 4 north (around 530AM) and in my rearview I see two sets of flashing blue lights well behind me. Being in the right lane, I use my signal to indicate I am going to the shoulder (of course there isn't one) but I start to slow and pull off as much as I can to give them room to pass. Just as quickly I notice the lights are off. Odd I think but it happens.

Being that most people have moved to the right, one of the Calvert police SUV's comes flying by me quite fast. I won't speculate as I was going slower than normal/travel speed and they were obviously faster than me. A bit behind the first SUV was the second with a good bit of distance between them. As they travel up the left hand lane with blue lights off, a passenger car changes lanes from the right hand lane to the left basically getting between Cop #1 and Cop #2.

Cop #2 (who is travelling a good bit faster than the traffic on the right) flies up onto the bumper of the car and high beams them for several seconds until the car more or less panics back into the right hand lane.

Now, I get it. Sometimes they intentionally keep their blue lights off but most can flash them where they aren't seen up front but are viewable from behind. I thought maybe they were trying to "sneak" up on someone but both ultimately had pulled over into a median not too much further ahead.

I just thought it odd behavior as had it been a passenger car operating in that manner, he/she would've been called all kinds of names. Seen something similar twice this week.
 

DEEKAYPEE8569

Well-Known Member
In my new travels up and down Rt. 4, I've noticed a lot of police presence up above Huntingtown. This isn't a bad thing IMO. However, on two separate mornings this week, I've seen the same type of behavior by police that I thought was quite off putting.

This morning, I am cruising up Rt. 4 north (around 530AM) and in my rearview I see two sets of flashing blue lights well behind me. Being in the right lane, I use my signal to indicate I am going to the shoulder (of course there isn't one) but I start to slow and pull off as much as I can to give them room to pass. Just as quickly I notice the lights are off. Odd I think but it happens.

Being that most people have moved to the right, one of the Calvert police SUV's comes flying by me quite fast. I won't speculate as I was going slower than normal/travel speed and they were obviously faster than me. A bit behind the first SUV was the second with a good bit of distance between them. As they travel up the left hand lane with blue lights off, a passenger car changes lanes from the right hand lane to the left basically getting between Cop #1 and Cop #2.

Cop #2 (who is travelling a good bit faster than the traffic on the right) flies up onto the bumper of the car and high beams them for several seconds until the car more or less panics back into the right hand lane.

Now, I get it. Sometimes they intentionally keep their blue lights off but most can flash them where they aren't seen up front but are viewable from behind. I thought maybe they were trying to "sneak" up on someone but both ultimately had pulled over into a median not too much further ahead.

I just thought it odd behavior as had it been a passenger car operating in that manner, he/she would've been called all kinds of names. Seen something similar twice this week.
This is not unique to Calvert County. I've seen both marked and unmarked cruisers activate lights and sirens just to boogie through red lights, then turn them off once they're through the intersection.
Too bad you can't follow them to find out what the big hurry was.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
This is not unique to Calvert County. I've seen both marked and unmarked cruisers activate lights and sirens just to boogie through red lights, then turn them off once they're through the intersection.
Too bad you can't follow them to find out what the big hurry was.

The stock answer to what appears to us citizens to be simple "traffic clearing" is that they had a call that then got rescinded. Which of course you can never verify. Or sometimes you get the mockrage "OMFG, IF IT WERE YOUR WIFE, OR YOUR CHILD WAITING FOR THEM, WOULD YOU LIKE THEM TO BE LATE???!!! HUH!!!!!"
 

calvcopf

Well-Known Member
Not unheard of from our Calvert County Cowboys. Hoping we get a new sherriff in town next time around.
 

DEEKAYPEE8569

Well-Known Member
The stock answer to what appears to us citizens to be simple "traffic clearing" is that they had a call that then got rescinded. Which of course you can never verify. Or sometimes you get the mockrage "OMFG, IF IT WERE YOUR WIFE, OR YOUR CHILD WAITING FOR THEM, WOULD YOU LIKE THEM TO BE LATE???!!! HUH!!!!!"

I understand an emergency call being rescinded. But, you know what the proverbial 'they' say about first impressions. I've seen this happen from outside the confines of an automobile though, too. Lights and sirens are activated just long enough to maneuver through traffic and red lights only to be turned off afterward.

"Mockrage"? W'assat?

I remember Gabriel Iglesias aka "Fluffy" talking about getting pulled over after having bought doughnuts. "I put "Bad Boys" in the tape player and blasted the stereo." .....and the officer started walking to the beat. Officer:"Do you know why I pulled you over?" Fluffy: "Because you could smell it." :biggrin: Irrelevant to the conversation, but still worth a chuckle.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
Mockrage is when the opponent in the debate, while not really outraged by your point, feigns it to use it as a club to beat you with. Usually combined with the exaggeration of your debate point to silly levels to make seems that you are both an idiot and a bad person. I get this quite often in the speed camera debate..

"WTH, man??!!!!! You think going 90 through school zones killing children is OKAY??????!!!!" And slavishly devoted supporters of law enforcement being allowed to do what they want whenever they want have refined this to an art form. No matter how egregious the offense, if you question it you are a cop hater.
 

DEEKAYPEE8569

Well-Known Member
Mockrage is when the opponent in the debate, while not really outraged by your point, feigns it to use it as a club to beat you with. Usually combined with the exaggeration of your debate point to silly levels to make seems that you are both an idiot and a bad person. I get this quite often in the speed camera debate..

"WTH, man??!!!!! You think going 90 through school zones killing children is OKAY??????!!!!" And slavishly devoted supporters of law enforcement being allowed to do what they want whenever they want have refined this to an art form. No matter how egregious the offense, if you question it you are a cop hater.
WHO said anything about 'going 90 through school zones killing children...'?? Who's the one going 90?
 

glhs837

Power with Control
Oh, I don't know, been so many discussions about them these last four years. No one making that point here, I showing an example of mockrage, not making pointe relative to this specific discussion.
 

DEEKAYPEE8569

Well-Known Member
Oh, I don't know, been so many discussions about them these last four years. No one making that point here, I showing an example of mockrage, not making pointe relative to this specific discussion.

Guess I'm a bad influence, huh? :smirk:
 

Freefaller

Active Member
This is not unique to Calvert County. I've seen both marked and unmarked cruisers activate lights and sirens just to boogie through red lights, then turn them off once they're through the intersection.
Too bad you can't follow them to find out what the big hurry was.

My suggestion to you is to go to the Sheriffs office and sign up for a ride-along. You'll be amazed what you can learn and how your view of a real cops job will change. I did several ride-a longs in St Marys and I learned a lot. In one instance we were responding to a call where a girlfriend was being beaten up by a boyfriend. We were on Great Mills Road at the time and had to go south on 235 past the base. The officer turned on his lights/siren to get through the crowded area around the base. After clearing the crowded area, he turned off his siren but left the lights on. He explained that with very light traffic, he didn't need the siren anymore and also he did not want to warn the boyfriend that he was on the way. He wanted to catch him at the site if he could (He did, and arrested him as the woman was beaten pretty badly). From the outside, I guess it looked and sounded like the cops just wanted to blow through the intersection as he turned off his siren after getting through. I knew better. After doing some research, I also learned that the leading cause of death for LEO's in this country is traffic. They take their driving very seriously because they know how inherently dangerous it is. Not only for the public but for themselves as well. You can believe what you want. I realize that there is NOTHING anyone can do to change a cop-haters mind. Cop-haters always find something to bit** about, even when they are ignorant of what is really going on. I took the time to educate myself, you should try it.
 

Hannibal

Active Member
I don't think the above was directed at me but just the same ......

I am far from a cop-hater. Several close friends of mine are police. My closest/best friend is a DC Police officer (Sgt.) and I have done ride alongs with him. I do not envy him. That being said, while cops switching on lights to avoid sitting a red light is an annoying thing, I don't care all that much.

What was odd to me was that the cops in my original post had cut their lights off and continued on. And when a civilian car pulled into the left lane (not realizing it was a cop) and forced the speeding officer to slow down and tailgate, the cop high-beamed the car. I mean, you can't get mad at the car for getting in the left lane because he has no reason to. And if it wasn't for the fact that the cop was rolling down the left lane (unimpeded by traffic), he would've never effectively cut the cop off. And because the cop got "cut off" - he felt the need to high beam the car.

It was a d!ck move really. You can't have it both ways.
 

calvcopf

Well-Known Member
What was odd to me was that the cops in my original post had cut their lights off and continued on. And when a civilian car pulled into the left lane (not realizing it was a cop) and forced the speeding officer to slow down and tailgate, the cop high-beamed the car. I mean, you can't get mad at the car for getting in the left lane because he has no reason to. And if it wasn't for the fact that the cop was rolling down the left lane (unimpeded by traffic), he would've never effectively cut the cop off. And because the cop got "cut off" - he felt the need to high beam the car.

It was a d!ck move really. You can't have it both ways.
:yeahthat:
 
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glhs837

Power with Control
I don't think the above was directed at me but just the same ......

I am far from a cop-hater. Several close friends of mine are police. My closest/best friend is a DC Police officer (Sgt.) and I have done ride alongs with him. I do not envy him. That being said, while cops switching on lights to avoid sitting a red light is an annoying thing, I don't care all that much.

What was odd to me was that the cops in my original post had cut their lights off and continued on. And when a civilian car pulled into the left lane (not realizing it was a cop) and forced the speeding officer to slow down and tailgate, the cop high-beamed the car. I mean, you can't get mad at the car for getting in the left lane because he has no reason to. And if it wasn't for the fact that the cop was rolling down the left lane (unimpeded by traffic), he would've never effectively cut the cop off. And because the cop got "cut off" - he felt the need to high beam the car.

It was a d!ck move really. You can't have it both ways.


Maybe you can't, but that's because you drive the wrong kind of car. It's not common, but I do see officers "bully"other drivers once in a while. Had one (St Marys) do it to me a couple years back when he felt that slowing to only 5 over approaching the Spring Ridge school zone was slowing him down too much. He didnt get on the lights, but he did get about three feet off my bumper. At which point I just pulled over and let him pass.
 

Freefaller

Active Member
Maybe you can't, but that's because you drive the wrong kind of car. It's not common, but I do see officers "bully"other drivers once in a while. Had one (St Marys) do it to me a couple years back when he felt that slowing to only 5 over approaching the Spring Ridge school zone was slowing him down too much. He didnt get on the lights, but he did get about three feet off my bumper. At which point I just pulled over and let him pass.


Maybe you can't, but that's because you drive the wrong kind of car. It's not common, but I do see officers "bully"other drivers once in a while. Had one (St Marys) do it to me a couple years back when he felt that slowing to only 5 over approaching the Spring Ridge school zone was slowing him down too much. So, you knew how someone in another vehicle "felt?" Wow, you must be clairvoyant I just love it when people like you tell your anti-cop stories unchallenged by anyone and we're just supposed to believe your BS story.

I remember when you blew through a stop sign near the school and almost t-boned a bus full of handicapped kids! See how that works!
!


He didnt get on the lights, but he did get about three feet off my bumper. At which point I just pulled over and let him pass.[/
 

glhs837

Power with Control
I judge how he felt by the fact that he was far closer than a safe distance and that he didnt pull me over even though I was 5 over. And once I pulled over, he proceeded through the school zone at 10 over or better. IDon't let your bias inform your opinion. When I think officers are in the right, I support them. When I don't. I do not. It's called judgement. I do't make stuff up. But think what you want. I know what happened. In fact, I might even have told that story here, just waiting for that time three years in the future whn it would bolster my position.
 

Freefaller

Active Member
I don't think the above was directed at me but just the same ......

I am far from a cop-hater. Several close friends of mine are police. My closest/best friend is a DC Police officer (Sgt.) and I have done ride alongs with him. I do not envy him. That being said, while cops switching on lights to avoid sitting a red light is an annoying thing, I don't care all that much.

What was odd to me was that the cops in my original post had cut their lights off and continued on. And when a civilian car pulled into the left lane (not realizing it was a cop) and forced the speeding officer to slow down and tailgate, the cop high-beamed the car. I mean, you can't get mad at the car for getting in the left lane because he has no reason to. And if it wasn't for the fact that the cop was rolling down the left lane (unimpeded by traffic), he would've never effectively cut the cop off. And because the cop got "cut off" - he felt the need to high beam the car.

It was a d!ck move really. You can't have it both ways.


I don't think the above was directed at me but just the same ...... You're correct, that response was not directed at you. However, this one will be.[/COLOR]

I am far from a cop-hater. Several close friends of mine are police. My closest/best friend is a DC Police officer (Sgt.) I guess by using this tactic you think you're immune from criticism? I, for one, do not believe that statement. I believe it's an effort to cover yourself![/ and I have done ride alongs with him. I do not envy him. That being said, while cops switching on lights to avoid sitting a red light is an annoying thing, I don't care all that much. [B]If that's true, then why do you come on a public website to bitch about it?[/[/B]

What was odd to me was that the cops in my original post had cut their lights off and continued on.Just because they turned off the overheads, does not necessarily mean that they were not still responding to a call. There may have been a tactical reason to turn off their lights. I don't know. I'm just guessing.[/ And when a civilian car pulled into the left lane (not realizing it was a cop) and forced the speeding officer to slow down and tailgate, the cop high-beamed the car. This statement amazes me. How many posts do we read on this site about all the slow drivers who mess up traffic for the morning and evening commutes? Lots and lots. Obviously, here we have a driver who pulls in front of faster moving traffic and causes the problem. If they do that to me, I flash my lights at them. I'll bet you've done it too as well as many, many others that read this site. If you claim you haven't done it, I would guess you're the slow mover who drives without a clue as to what is going on behind her. I mean, you can't get mad at the car for getting in the left lane because he has no reason to.Yea, no one ever gets mad at "that" driver. Sure! And if it wasn't for the fact that the cop was rolling down the left lane (unimpeded by traffic), he would've never effectively cut the cop off. And because the cop got "cut off" - he felt the need to high beam the car. When one of those clueless drivers changes lanes and pulls in front of faster traffic (Cop or Civilian) and causes them to hit their brakes, I would be flashing my lights as well, as do many many others. Also, how would you know how someone else felt? You couldn't of course. You're just making an assumption based on ignorance. ( maybe he felt mad because he was on the way to a call with a choking child? ) That is just as likely as your scenario, isn't it?.

It was a d!ck move really.I'm sorry but the only dick move here is yours. You, posting on a public website, when you really have no idea what was going on shows your anti-cop bias! You OWN the dick move, admit it. You can't have it both ways.Let's hope the officers got to where they were going to in time.
 
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