Cop pulls over cop

[the1fromgeorgia]

So I was going down Highway 138/92 in Union City near South Fulton Parkway, a while ago and a Union City police officer shoots pass me and pulls over a Ford Explorer. As I get closer I notice the Explorer is a Marta K9 officer in a Marta police vehicle. The Marta officer jumps out of the Explorer and starts walking toward the Union City officer's car. The Union City officer gets on his PA and yells at the officer to return to his vehicle. The light changed and I got the heck out of dodge because it appeared that the fireworks were about to start flying. I was really shocked that the Union City officer pulled over the Marta officer. I will point out that while Marta has multiple jurisdictions he was at least 5 miles from the nearest bus stop and at least 10 miles from a Marta station.

[leesrt]

I can think of a lot of reasons why one cop would pull another over so what alarms me more is not that he got pulled over but that he jumped out of his vehicle like that. If he's a cop he should know better so him jumping out like that kinda tells me where his head is. That may be why he was stopped.

[ryker]

My pure guess is speeding and/or a citizens called in a complaint. Or there could be some local us verse them problems with the agencies.

Explorer SUV is not and should not be speeding on public roads. Marta was stupid for getting out of his vehicle like that.

[the1fromgeorgia]

I agree that Marta was stupid for his actions. I cant think of a lot of reasons that a cop would pull over another cop if both are on duty in emergency vehicles, but then again I am not a cop. Can cops who share jurisdictions, both on duty, both in uniform and both driving an emergency vehicle (police car) pull each other over? If so seems like a good way to start a turf war.

[RoadKingTrooper]

Whew! Glad this wasn't in Ask A Cop, these replies are MUCH more entertaining!

[DAL]

First, I attach no significance to the fact that the MARTA vehicle was far from MARTA property. Transit police have to use roads that they do not patrol to get from one station to another. On the other hand, perhaps he was on personal business (such as going to work) and had no justification for what he did.

Second, if I were driving a marked vehicle and were pulled over while in route to another call, I probably would get out of my vehicle, too. I would expect that the officer had some important message to communicate, and my getting out of the vehicle would save time. If he told me to get back in my vehicle while I was responding to an urgent call, I would do so, but I might drive away with my emergency equipment activated. I would also advise my agency and ask the dispatcher to contact the watch commander for the agency trying to pull me over.

You just don't do this where I live. If you are in an unmarked unit and another agency is pulling you over, you activate your emergency equipment and they leave you alone. If there is a problem, you communicate it between departments, not by starting personal squabbles.

[SHU]

If the car that was pulled was marked and the car that pulled him treated him like a perp, that cop is a POS.

[Bearcat357]

If I was in a marked vehicle and another marked vehicle tried to stop me....I wouldn't stop.... as I would have activated my lights and kept on going.....

But thats just me....

[kckpd756]

I had started to type what my initial response to this would be if this were to happen to myself or one of my officers and decided to refrain from doing so.
I already know that Officers are not above the law and are required to follow all traffic ordinances and laws of the road unless responding to an emergency call in emergency mode so save it.
With that said we don't know if the guy was speeding or if in fact any infraction was commited.
Like DA said there is a way to handle this. Unless the officer poses a severe danger to the public, and I mean severe then I would contact either his shift supervisor or night commander. You could do a follow up with your higher ups and maybe have an e-mail or memo sent to that Depts Chief.
And further more if I was pulled over by an officer from another agency, especially in my jurisdiction (we have multiple agencies with jurisdiction in our city) you can bet a month of paychecks i'm getting out of my vehicle to find out what in the H is going on.
As a Sergeant I sometimes field complaints from citizens about an officers driving. They almost always have the vehicle number because we have it in big black numbers in at least 4 places on our cars. I then call that officer in talk to him find out what the situation was and if further administrative warranted is taken I dole it out.

[leesrt]

If I'm in my patrol car in another jurisdiction I pull over like any other citizen. A lot of the replies here show some serious arrogance.
The other cop might by trying to tell you something and doesn't have your frequency.

Not stopping or turning on your blue lights to avoid being stopped in another jurisdiction is a good way to get fired.

Consider what it would take to make you initiate a traffic stop on another agency. There's a lot more to that stop than meets the eye and the fact that the other cop stormed out of his car is very revealing.

[DAL]

There's a lot more to that stop than meets the eye and the fact that the other cop stormed out of his car is very revealing.

The post states the he "started walking toward the Union City officer's car," not that he "stormed out of his car." What is wrong with that? Would the Union City officer feel threatened because another police officer walked up to him?

[az4code23]

I'd pull over and IMMEDIATELY dispatch my sergeant.

[the1fromgeorgia]

I would say that his body movements were probably closer to storming than a casual walk. And the officer on the PA sounded ****ed. I did not see what happened prior to the stop.

[Bearcat357]

And the officer on the PA sounded ****ed. I did not see what happened prior to the stop.

If one has an issue about my driving...or someone I am supervising.....they need to note time, date, location, incident, and pedigree info about the vehicle.....and then call a supervisor....

Stopping road-side is horse poo......

[DAL]

If one has an issue about my driving...or someone I am supervising.....they need to note time, date, location, incident, and pedigree info about the vehicle.....and then call a supervisor....

Stopping road-side is horse poo......

It also may delay response to an important call that does not quite merit a Code 3 response, and is likely to provoke a confrontation if enforcement activity is attempted. That is why I would assume that the officer needed to contact me for some other reason.

I have heard of this happening in California with officers who had take-home cars, but the way it has always been handled is to call their supervisors.