I think she walked up and handed them her business card. She’s unrelated to the driver, so the charges weren’t any of her business, and her position as a commissioner was irrelevant. The way she handled the situation was unethical, and I think she’s under investigation and could face jail time if charged and convicted. The police may have just been gathering evidence by allowing her to blather on.
Would you be ok if an officer shared your personal information with another person - relative or not??
I commend them that they didn’t flinch and give in to her persistent demands. Way to go.
I agree with @Sue22 the police are very likely not at liberty to discuss tickets with people not directly involved. This woman wasn’t even the driver’s parent, she was the parent of an adult passenger. You don’t want cops going around randomly blabbing the details on infractions to anybody that asks.
“I think she walked up and handed them her business card.”
She presented them with her commissioner badge as well which one officer made clear they didn’t need and handed back to her and then she dropped it.
They could have easily asked the driver, who was over 18 for permission to discuss it with her. He can give consent. He was right there. It’s not like the cops were tattling on someone who wasn’t right within earshot. They were hardly “randomly blabbering to anyone who asks”. Really now.
No way. Her attitude was coercive with the cops. Had they gotten permission from the driver to discuss it (which would have been a waste of their time), he could have later said he was being pressured by this woman who could have refused to give a ride had he said no. The police could have been in trouble in that way. It was much better for them not to explain the charges of an unrelated 30 year old who was not her client.
Oh please. If she had been polite and asked more deferentially, or asked if the driver could come over, the driver could ask the office to repeat the reason for the citation.
Seriously though, why should they jump through hoops for her? She was smug and condescending from the get go.
The police chief seems quite supportive of their approach and I’ve even read comments by law enforcement specialists that say it could be used as an effective example of how to handle an incident like this. These cops should be praised for their demeanor and patience not criticized.
Answering a question is hardly jumping though hoops. She set a wrong tone initially, but he answered in a smug tone too, IMO. Two wrongs don’t make a right. No excusing her behavior for sure, but there are ways to defuse, not escalate the power struggle that seemed to ensue.
This was silly. I do like how he just says “OK Ma’am” after she tells him to shut the f up…I wonder if the cops were mad or about to burst out laughing.
They didn’t escalate and they didn’t engage in a power struggle either. To me, they behaved like adults dealing with a petulant toddler. You don’t give in. You just explain calmly, rationally, which is what the LEO officers did. Frankly, she’s lucky she didn’t get a citation as well. If anything, they cut her some slack.
I disagree. He could have suggested that the driver come over and join them and give permission to discuss. Not saying it would have satisfied her. But he could have done that. They both dug in their heels.
^^YES.
I’ll bet she falls in the category of helicopter parent. Cause she sure still has it going in this video with a good dose of arrogance and entitlement.
We don’t know how these police officers have been coached or trained to react in a situation like this. Perhaps they were giving her a degree of courtesy because of her title. Perhaps not. Bottom line: the car occupants were adults, it’s their problem to deal with and/or to ask for help - on their own, not instead of themselves.
Right. But he didn’t have to say “no you don’t need to know” or “thats all you need to know” in response to her. He perhaps should have said nothing. But responding with”no you don’t need to know”, while perhaps technically true, was, IMO, not the best response. JMO.
I CAN’T EVEN that we are questioning the officers in this scenario - as seen on the 16 minute video - when they had 16 minutes of that woman to deal with.
One is on the side of proper procedure. The other is an entitled jerk who was just a bystander to the event with no need to know. We don’t need to meet busybody entitled jerks halfway.
It’s hard for me to believe this is being discussed as “jerky behavior” on the part of the officers. There are some bad cops out there and we’ve seen real breaches of authority in the past few years. This does not resemble anything remotely worthy of criticism of the LEOs.
Because then she would have said “Thank you sir, I understand now. I’ll drive the “kids” home”? :-?
She wanted an excuse to argue the citation and wisely they didn’t give her one.
If you watch the full tape you’ll see that the officer spent considerable time explaining the charges to the driver, including the reason for the stop (obscured license plate and tinted glass) and the fact that if the car had been registered he would have let them go with a warning. He also spend a long time discussing with them what they had to do to get the car out of the impound lot. He was about as accommodating as he could be.
I am referring to the interaction in the first minute or so of the first link with the interaction between the commissioner and the officer. Perhaps there wouldnt have been 16 minutes of video and perhaps they could have wound this down sooner if they responded differently at the outset. No doubt the commissioner was wrong. Dead wrong. But IMO the officer’s response could have been more diplomatic.
The full stop was over an hour.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/04/port_authority_slams_caren_turner_over_ethics_afte.html
Some here are questioning why the car was towed for expired tags. If the tags are expired so is the insurance. Driving without insurance is a criminal offense in many states. In CT it is a felony. The police obviously are not going to let an uninsured vehicle drive down the road. I really question the judgement of this woman’s kid. Knowing her mother is unstable, why did she call her to pick them up?