As someone who lives in Fairfield County and routinely travels to Milford, I can attest to this being the norm for Milford cops.
I've witnessed them drag-racing each other at night, and blowing through red lights while doing so. I've seen this in Bridgeport as well, and they currently have a case/investigation involving a drunk officer who smashed into a parked car- which the supervising lieutenant tried to cover-up.
Accidents like this is why, even when the roads are empty I'm always careful to keep my speeds fairly close to the limit. On the freeway it's a totally different story, but with cross streets and the like it can be really hard to judge a car's speed.
One year when had a summer job I had to be at a work site around six in the morning. Just about every morning the sheriff’s patrol would pass me with his lights flashing going way over the speed limit and driving like a madman. He would tailgate and hit some kind of horn if you didn’t give the right away immediately. Several miles down the road I would see his car parked at a restaurant. I was amazed that that restaurant had that much trouble at 5:45 AM just about every morning.
Being a LawEnforcement Officer I can attest to only the policys of the various responders in my area. On most calls you are only told to get there ASAP but no "code blue" or w/o lights unless to clear and intersection. During peek traffic hours there is no code blues at all unless eminent threat. Of course if it an "in progress (robbery, burglary, shooting etc" call or "Officer in need of assistance/down" all lights will be running and non-marked detective vehicles will be in close behind a lit car.
As I see the video, the thing I can't figure out is why one officer passes the other, unless the lead car said he was unfamilar with their destination and told the other to go around and lead. This radio traffic would have led to some distraction.
I am not saying this Officer is in the clear b/c it does appear something was amiss and he does need to be tried by peers to determine how much at fault he was.
@S2.2K: No one is blaming all cops for this incident, and no one is seriously asserting that all cops everywhere do this. Those that do are full of hyperbole, and are half-joking.
We're just debating whether or not the actions taken against the officer in question are justified. While I personally believe that they are, I'm still not applying any blanket statements to cops.
Thanks for sharing the rules on it in your department.
@S2.2K: As per the accompanying article from 'The Connecticut Post':
Mello (the chief of police) confirmed that neither Milford cruiser had its light bar or siren on, and that neither officer was being dispatched to another call at the time of the crash.
State law requires police officers traveling without lights and sirens, and not dispatched on a call, to obey prevailing speed limits, the chief said.
They were returning from a call at which they had both been present-and, at least to me, the phrase "...neither officer was being dispatched to another call at the time of the crash" speaks volumes.
Hard to believe they haven't grounded the camera-car pilot who was going 'only' 65-70 with no light bar-in a 40.
From the evidence here, it's pretty obvious that the two cops were either racing to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts, or just having some good old we-can-do-this-'cause-we're-cops fun. Sad.
As with any death (that happens every day) it reminds us of our own mortality, and that our lives can be taken away at any moment. So naturally I compare myself to that situation upon hearing the news and go yikes. But then my little counter-side kicks in, always pushing me to think about the point of view of all the others (if there are any involved) involved. And for a short moment I felt sorry for the cop, that a careless mistake will now cost him his life in the sense he'll be sent to prison, possibly divorced if he has a wife (plus not see his children if he has any), and will have the hardest time getting a job when he gets out. But my brain never gives up arguing with itself and then realized something. Pretty much any town I go I see officers (mostly at night) driving very fast in low speed areas, (I've seen them go 80 in a 40 in my town) while they dare hand out speeding tickets in the name of safety. They need to realize that they are just equivalent to us civilians, and that the law only allows them to speed in due regard, no more. There are plenty of other good people who make bad choices in a split second that costs lives, but like them this officer must face the consequences. If he really believes in the system then he better plea guilty, and fast.
It's ironic that literally yesterday I had to take a safety driver's class to reduce insurance cost and I had a retired officer try telling me that officers are not dangerous ever. I'm just sorry to say that now, I can say "told you so." :(
having driven an ambulance as an EMT i can tell you that regardless of training received, everyone who can legally exceed the speed limit must do so with "code equipment on" this means lights and siren (though you will often see lights without siren because the siren gets annoying, but thats still illegal) and regardless of the circumstances, if ANY emergency vehicle is involved in an accident while "going code" the emergency vehicle is at fault because they arent showing "due regard"
keep in mind that this is when there is a verifiable emergency AND when lights and siren are on. in these conditions here, there is NO excuse that any LEO can possibly have for traveling at that speed without lights on. even if they DID have lights on it would still be their fault.
this particular issue really chaps my ass, as there are too many officers that show willful disregard for the law they swear to uphold. the officers where i live speed and tailgate egregiously and often use their lights to blow red lights or make illegal left hand turns.
@meatbag_pussrocket: As a former Police Officer, I completely agree with your statement. I always cringed when I saw some of my fellow officers disregard the very same vehicular laws we were enforcing. Even, in Code-3 an officer has to be cautious and justified in disregarding traffic laws.
@that ain't the way to have fun, son: In CT it is illegal. I have been ticketed for it. Also, I know this road, drive on it all the time. It may be a "40" but its usually so busy you cant break 30.
@Darrone: So, if some dumb-ass is going say, 25 in the left lane of a 40 MPH road, it's illegal to pass them.
Genius.
NW Oregon freeways are jammed at least in part because of the locals getting on, getting up to 45 while heading directly for the left lane, then sitting there.
This was a tragedy, that would have been prevented if only one link in the chain were broken. The cop's speeding or the badly timed left turn. The suggestion that the kids in the Mazda were drunk is speculation, based on the newspaper story in the link. Who knows if they were wasted, or buzzed, or just not paying attention?To me, it's more likely the driver misjudged the speed of the oncoming cop car (easy to do at night) and made a bad call. What's beyond argument is the cop's excessive speed - 94mph while not responding to an emergency (no lights) is the larger contributing factor to the two deaths. Take away the speed factor, and the accident either doesn't occur (more time to react) or the severity of impact is greatly lessened. Milford is two towns away from me, and I suspect this has triggered massive wrongful death suits.
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Edited by Turbineguy - now with reheat!! at 11/20/09 3:02 PM
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I noticed that a lot of the guys on here are saying that the teenagers were at fault cause they made the turn when it wasn't their turn to go. However if you look at the video carefully you will notice that the traffic lights are blinking. Which means that the lights act as a stop sign. The police cruiser should have stopped at the intersection. The teenagers probably assumed that and went ahead and made the turn. Little did they know that the officer completely ignored the blinking traffic light and decided to run it anyways. Also it seems that he may have been preoccupied with something else, since he did not see the car turn and did not at any point apply his brakes. My verdict... 100% the officers fault!!
We have a similar situation here in the midwest, an Illinois State Trooper killed two girls on his way to a non emergency traffic accident. He was traveling 109 mph while on his cell phone. This happened 2 years ago and still no trial for this piece of s@*t
A cop broadsided my sister's friend back in the eighties, before dash cams. That girl was a different person after she came out of the coma.
All the pig did was swear up and down that he had his lights on and it was his word against hers. She never got a cent.
If these CT pigs don't get convicted, I hope they choke.
Police generally aren't very well trained in driving, much less high speed pursuit. There are an awful lot of accidents, injuries and deaths that have resulted by inappropriate chases and collisions. Most of these could have been easily avoided, and most of the crimes being pursued did not merit these results. However, it is generally rare that police or police departments are held to account for their reckless behavior and the damage caused.
Patrol car shouldn't have been speeding and shouldn't have passed on the right, and should have had it's light bar going. Police car also did not slow or brake prior to the collision.
The turning car should have yielded to the oncoming traffic (unless it had a green arrow). But they should have had an expectation that oncoming traffic was traveling at approximately the speed limit - in which case they could have completed their turn without a collision.
Looks like the town's insurance premium just went up.
So sad for the families of those killed unnecessarily.
"The power control module from the police vehicle indicated that for the nearly nine seconds leading up to the crash, Anderson "was at 100 percent of the accelerator pedal and 99.5 of the engine throttle.""
Either he was going to a call and forgot to put his lights on (negligence) or he was not going to a call (manslaughter).
The court will figure that out pretty quick with dispatch records, I imagine that's why he's listed with 2 counts of manslaughter.
Cops are our heroes, but they are trusted with so much power and responsibility, when they make a mistake of this magnitude, they cannot get away with it, or it hurts the credibility of every officer.
11/22/09
I've witnessed them drag-racing each other at night, and blowing through red lights while doing so. I've seen this in Bridgeport as well, and they currently have a case/investigation involving a drunk officer who smashed into a parked car- which the supervising lieutenant tried to cover-up.
11/21/09
11/20/09
The freedom of information act should be added to the Constitution if you ask me.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
As I see the video, the thing I can't figure out is why one officer passes the other, unless the lead car said he was unfamilar with their destination and told the other to go around and lead. This radio traffic would have led to some distraction.
I am not saying this Officer is in the clear b/c it does appear something was amiss and he does need to be tried by peers to determine how much at fault he was.
11/20/09
We're just debating whether or not the actions taken against the officer in question are justified. While I personally believe that they are, I'm still not applying any blanket statements to cops.
Thanks for sharing the rules on it in your department.
11/20/09
Mello (the chief of police) confirmed that neither Milford cruiser had its light bar or siren on, and that neither officer was being dispatched to another call at the time of the crash.
State law requires police officers traveling without lights and sirens, and not dispatched on a call, to obey prevailing speed limits, the chief said.
They were returning from a call at which they had both been present-and, at least to me, the phrase "...neither officer was being dispatched to another call at the time of the crash" speaks volumes.
11/20/09
From the evidence here, it's pretty obvious that the two cops were either racing to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts, or just having some good old we-can-do-this-'cause-we're-cops fun. Sad.
11/20/09
It's ironic that literally yesterday I had to take a safety driver's class to reduce insurance cost and I had a retired officer try telling me that officers are not dangerous ever. I'm just sorry to say that now, I can say "told you so." :(
11/20/09
keep in mind that this is when there is a verifiable emergency AND when lights and siren are on. in these conditions here, there is NO excuse that any LEO can possibly have for traveling at that speed without lights on. even if they DID have lights on it would still be their fault.
this particular issue really chaps my ass, as there are too many officers that show willful disregard for the law they swear to uphold. the officers where i live speed and tailgate egregiously and often use their lights to blow red lights or make illegal left hand turns.
11/20/09
11/20/09
A bad idea, yeah. I try my best to avoid it, but if there were citations for this, every state debt would be paid for by the people within three days.
Left. Lane. Squatters. Suck.
More than double-posted + no lights = guilty of stupidity and reckless endangerment.
Had this been a "civilian", they'd have been hung, roadside.
For the record, change the Miata to a motorcycle, and this is one of, if not the most common accident which affects those on two-wheels.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Genius.
NW Oregon freeways are jammed at least in part because of the locals getting on, getting up to 45 while heading directly for the left lane, then sitting there.
11/23/09
11/23/09
Dude...my sympathies.
I'd not be able to move from the area quickly enough, even if I were driving a moving truck at the time.
So, the person squatting was not ticketed for obstruction of traffic. What peoples state was this???
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Yea, it was blinking yellow. In many towns, after a certain hour, the lights will turn into flashing yellows on the main streets.
You can "run" blinking yellows.
11/20/09
11/20/09
All the pig did was swear up and down that he had his lights on and it was his word against hers. She never got a cent.
If these CT pigs don't get convicted, I hope they choke.
11/20/09
Patrol car shouldn't have been speeding and shouldn't have passed on the right, and should have had it's light bar going. Police car also did not slow or brake prior to the collision.
The turning car should have yielded to the oncoming traffic (unless it had a green arrow). But they should have had an expectation that oncoming traffic was traveling at approximately the speed limit - in which case they could have completed their turn without a collision.
Looks like the town's insurance premium just went up.
So sad for the families of those killed unnecessarily.
11/20/09
Either he was going to a call and forgot to put his lights on (negligence) or he was not going to a call (manslaughter).
The court will figure that out pretty quick with dispatch records, I imagine that's why he's listed with 2 counts of manslaughter.
Cops are our heroes, but they are trusted with so much power and responsibility, when they make a mistake of this magnitude, they cannot get away with it, or it hurts the credibility of every officer.