A lot depends on attitude, at least with me. Lately there have been two kinds of people I've dealt with. It's been one extreme or the other, no middle ground. There have been the, "I'm so sorry" crowd and the, "You're not even a real cop" drivers.
One sure way to get a ticket is to tell me I'm not even a real cop. If I'm not a real cop then this isn't a real ticket, so why are you so upset? And when you go to fake court to contest it, be sure to point out to the judge that they're not a real judge either. That should go over well.
Another way to almost guarantee a citation is to roll your eyes and sigh dramatically when I ask you to put your hands on the steering wheel. Just do it, there's no need for theatrics.
Now if you'd rather get a verbal warning, be honest. Be contrite. As I told one girl who immediately started to argue, "Are you trying to talk yourself into a ticket? How about starting over with, 'I'm sorry, Officer, I didn't see the stop sign.' Or something along those lines." She looked startled, but then amazingly, took my advice and what do you know? I didn't write her a ticket.
These words of advice won't work with all officers all the time. And sometimes I write perfectly nice people citations just to be fair to all the other people I've given tickets to for the same thing. But attitude goes a long way.
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2 comments:
Ahhh, the attitude test. One of the greatest tools we have in Law Enforcement. Why do people fail it so often though?
I got my first ticket in 10 years the other day. And I deserved it. When the officer asked for my license and registration I handed them over with a smile. No sense arguing or being a pest - I got what was coming to me. He wrote my ticket quickly and as he handed it over I smiled, apologized and bid him 'great Tuesday'.
Maybe it comes with maturity and age.
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