Article: West Island Man Outraged That Police Use Unmarked Van To Pull Someone Over

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DannyITR

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http://www.montrealracing.com/wp/wp...unmarked-vehicles-in-traffic-stops-of-course/


There is an article in the Montreal Gazette which tells the story of a West Island driver named Jesse Fagen who is outraged that the police used an unmarked Dodge Caravan to pull a motorist over.There are some problems, however.

Contrary to what the article states, unmarked police vehicles have been around forever and are not a new thing. Furthermore, the SPVM has always used Dodge Caravans as far back as I can remember (both marked and unmarked).

It’s customary for higher ranking police officers to drive the unmarked ones and should they encounter a motorist breaking the law I would expect them to be able to pull that motorist over.

Here are some of the quotes that article attributes to Mr. Fagen:

“It’s underhanded – trying to fool people,”

“Think about it,” he said. “Like this, the public is nevergoing to know when there are police officers around them.”

“We’re going to start being pulled over by Kias now?”

Mr. Fagen apparently believes it is ok to drive dangerously as long as you don’t see a police car. That’s ridiculous. I’m also troubled by something the author herself wrote in the article:

But it’s tough when you’re rushing around, trying to get through your day.

When one is in a rush, the rules of the road are a tough thing to obey? The rules of the road apply to everyone weather they are “in a rush” or not.

There are no laws governing the use of a specific vehicle by police officers. If you're caught breaking the law by one on foot, on a bicycle, on a horse or driving a Kia, it’s your own actions that you should be worried about, not the brand of the car the police officer was driving.

A little confused as to what this guy's problem is. It wasn't even him who got pulled over but his arguments are just awful. Are there any MR members that agree with him?
 
OP = MontrealMatante. On le sais tous que ca fait chier les unmarked et quand il y en a un qui chialle finalement par rapport a ca on se met contre lui ? matante please.
 
Attitudes displayed by motorists like Mr. Fagen demonstrate the very need for unmarked vehicles like the Caravan. This also why I support stricter measures like infractions for GEVs and other speeding, especially near schools and parks in residential areas. It's well known that some motorists tend to take advantage of the lack of visible police presence to drive faster when they're in a hurry. The other day I observed a motorist in a Sante Fe driving at least 50% over the posted limit past a school and he did not slow down despite the fact a police cruiser was in pursuit with overhead lights. It was once they used the siren and both officers exited their vehicle to confront him that he finally got a clue he was driving too fast.
 
Police are here to serve and PROTECT. Not serve and punish and trap and collect . Yes you should always follow the law but the police should always make their presence known .

The idea is to prevent a crime/infraction/accident , if the person does not see the police because the vehicule is unmarked and keeps is intention of doing an infraction and then causes an accident , what gain did we get from a unmarked police vehicule.

In that scenario if the police vehicule was visible the person would of abstain from doing the infraction and an accident would of been avoided. That's what protect and serve is.
 
unmarked cars ahave been around forever, but they seem to use more and more of them....i just think if its legal for cops to do that, we should legally be alowed to use radar detectors and jammers!!!

my 0.02$!!
 
Was this guy born yesterday? I don't get it? What I reallllly don't get it why the Montreal Gazette thought this was worthy of an article.
 
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It should be completely illegal for cops to do such a thing. First off as we learn through the years most cops find themselves to be scum and corrupt. Second off, cops are supposed to be visible to deter violations and crimes. Finally, most people good or bad feel rather unsafe around police, maybe try and fix that problem before creating 50 new ones.
 
to be fair, sources in a 50 zone, but people do much faster than that... That could have been driving a florescent pink crown victoria with its lights still on, and he could have caught someone.

If it was florescent pink people would still complain "cop cars are supposed to be black and white".
 
there's a fag cop in a black charger screwing people on a daily basis around Place Vertu area...i guess they need to give out so many tickets that the regular police car are not enough anymore.
 
Unmarked cop cars have their place for undercover work. That's 100% legit. Using them for daily traffic enforcement on the other hand, is nothing but revenue generation.

Tell me, what's safer, parking a cruiser on the side of the street in a school zone, and everyone slowing down... Or sitting a unmarked car somewhere and waiting for someone to come by doing 30-over, & THEN turning on lights...

Now tell me, which one is better for revenue generation (in a city which is so damn broke it demanded the cops reimburse ticket revenue from their strike)? Also, in the event of a citizen needing help, how do they know someone's a "peace officer" on patrol if they're sitting in an unmarked car? 99% of people won't pick up on tints, hubcaps, extra antenna & F-plate which scream "fleet vehicle".

I don't blame the cops on patrol personally, since the ones I've dealt with have all been polite, professional, and pretty awesome (save for one cranky guy while in my swapped MR2); I blame the beancounters & higher-ups who started treating ticket revenue as both dependable income & a method of performance evaluation, however.

IMO, if they're permitted to use unmarked cars, we should be permitted to use "The Police" liveries & radar detectors/jammers in our vehicles. Theoretically speaking though, a truly passive radar/laser detector should be undetectable by their equipment anyhow.
 
Gothmog3VZ said:
Unmarked cop cars have their place for undercover work. That's 100% legit. Using them for daily traffic enforcement on the other hand, is nothing but revenue generation.

Tell me, what's safer, parking a cruiser on the side of the street in a school zone, and everyone slowing down... Or sitting a unmarked car somewhere and waiting for someone to come by doing 30-over, & THEN turning on lights...
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you and I see it in the same way. Unmarked cars that fine traffic violators are there for one simple reason: revenue generation. They should be worried about our security but that is not profitable.

A great example is happening on Pie-IX boulevard. There are assigned bus lanes and I often see an unmarked white or black van pulling overs cars in that lane. I also see an actual cop car stopped in a parking lot and the officer is pulling over everyone who drives in that reserved lane.
If people saw the cop car there more often, they would eventually learn the lesson to not drive in the reserved lane... however, no one really sees an unmarked car and people think :there are never cops here anyways". In the end, it's better to use an unmarked car to earn a few bucks then to use a real cop car and try to change people's mentality.
 
Hahah I read this a couple of days ago.. he did act like he was one for the first time in his life.
I've seen people getting pulled over in purple impalas or grey caravans in my town, nothing new.

There are some interesting things on youtube where one of those (freeman on the land) type of dude was citing specific laws/clauses that forbids police to use an unidenfiable vehicle to pull people over.

And then there's this possible scenario
 
There's nothing wrong with undercover cop cars. People who get ticketed don't see fully decorated cop cars until it's too late anyway; it's just more tax-payer money to paste all the colorful vinyl on it. And seriously, a black charger is parked at the end of a street. Are you really gonna think it's just gramma going to get groceries?

ber0ff19-2 said:
Attitudes displayed by motorists like Mr. Fagen demonstrate the very need for unmarked vehicles like the Caravan. This also why I support stricter measures like infractions for GEVs and other speeding, especially near schools and parks in residential areas. It's well known that some motorists tend to take advantage of the lack of visible police presence to drive faster when they're in a hurry. The other day I observed a motorist in a Sante Fe driving at least 50% over the posted limit past a school and he did not slow down despite the fact a police cruiser was in pursuit with overhead lights. It was once they used the siren and both officers exited their vehicle to confront him that he finally got a clue he was driving too fast.
Click to expand...

Of course, I'm not going to side with Fagen, but 50% over the limit in a school zone is 45 km/h, which is incredibly slow. Even at 50-55 km/h, it gives drivers ample time to stop if there were to be a child running across the street. Would you believe the local law enforcement parks a cruiser next to parks and schools where there aren't any children (or any pedestrians for that matter) and stop people going 45 km/h?

This is coming from someone who will gladly support law enforcement; stop ticketing safe drivers and use your heads. You're only creating more resistance between an already suppressed population, especially younger drivers. Our laws in Québec are far too strict, especially when the speed limit in concerned. Too add to that, law enforcement have absolutely ZERO leniency on this matter. Please fix these issues. Until then, don't expect to find much respect from your population.
 
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