You are a new officer, just having cleared your probationary period, and you want to impress you supervisor with your aggressiveness. You spot a vehicle going 10 miles over the speed limit. It is 2 a.m. on a quiet street. You make a traffic stop and when you approach the vehicle after it stops; you realize you have pulled over your Operations Captain. What would you do and why? Explain your thought process and back-up your decision.
Sample Solution
Sample Solution
- It is not worth the risk. Even if I were to cite my Operations Captain for speeding, there is a good chance that he would not receive a ticket. He could simply write himself a warning, or he could have the ticket dismissed. In either case, I would have risked my career for nothing.
- It would be disrespectful. My Operations Captain is my superior officer. He is the one who is responsible for my training and development. It would be disrespectful to pull him over and cite him for a minor traffic violation.
- It would be hypocritical. If I am going to be aggressive in enforcing the law, I need to be consistent. I cannot pick and choose who I enforce the law against. If I pull over my Operations Captain for speeding, then I need to be willing to pull over anyone for speeding, regardless of their rank or position.
Instead of pulling over my Operations Captain, I would simply follow him at a safe distance and make a mental note of his license plate number. I would then report the incident to my supervisor and let them decide how to proceed.
My thought process is as follows:
- It is not worth the risk. The risk of pulling over my Operations Captain and citing him for speeding is too high. There is a good chance that he would not receive a ticket, and even if he did, it would be easy for him to get it dismissed.
- It would be disrespectful. My Operations Captain is my superior officer. He is the one who is responsible for my training and development. It would be disrespectful to pull him over and cite him for a minor traffic violation.
- It would be hypocritical. If I am going to be aggressive in enforcing the law, I need to be consistent. I cannot pick and choose who I enforce the law against. If I pull over my Operations Captain for speeding, then I need to be willing to pull over anyone for speeding, regardless of their rank or position.
