Mt Letter to the Sheriff

[Jeff Higgins]

April 7, 2009
Dear Sheriff XXXXX:

I am writing today as a concerned citizen who would like to bring a very serious matter to your attention. I would like to lodge a formal complaint against two of your deputies whom I feel acted in a very unprofessional and, in my opinion, a very dishonest manner. Let me also ask, that while I would certainly be willing to meet with you or any internal investigations staff regarding this matter, that my identity remain confidential at this time, and not circulated within the Sheriff’s Office.

My concerns stem from my interaction with these two deputies in the course of receiving a speeding citation. The citation was issued at a speed trap they were operating on XXXX at approximately 12:41pm. at XXXX XXXX Road. On this citation, the deputies allege I was travelling (northbound) at 51 mph in a 35 mph zone. The citation number is XXXXX. While I am sure it would be helpful at this point to provide the names and/or badge numbers of the two deputies, I must apologize in that I did not think to record their names at the time. I found the circumstances surrounding their issuance of this citation upsetting enough to where I simply forgot to record them. I trust your own internal records will identify the two deputies from the citation number, time and place I have provided. The signature of the one deputy who signed the citation is illegible, but it looks like his badge number might be XXXX.

Please allow me to explain the circumstances I found to be so upsetting. First and foremost, let me state this as clearly as possible – I was not speeding. I was doing precisely 35 mph, as nearly as I can tell from my own speedometer, and by pacing the vehicles ahead of me on XXXX Road at the time. This group of vehicles which I was following consisted of roughly three to four automobiles and SUV’s preceded by a similar number of motorcycles. I was approximately fifty yards behind them, and had been following at about that distance for some miles. We were all doing precisely 35 mph.

To be perfectly candid, we had fallen in as this erstwhile “ducks in a row” procession due in large part to the warnings coming from a steady stream of oncoming motorists. As I am sure you are well aware, motorists do indeed warn one another of upcoming speed traps, both by flashing their headlights and (on nice days, anyway) sticking their arms out the driver’s window and giving the universal “slow down” gesture. In the two miles preceding this particular speed trap, our little procession passed at least a half dozen oncoming motorists frantically giving us this warning. Whether it is necessarily legal or not for these motorists to have warned us in this manner is really irrelevant at this point - the point is, we had gotten the message and were well aware there was a speed trap ahead. We were all doing the posted 35 mph, and not one mph more.

Imagine my surprise when one of the deputies stepped out onto the road (after having let the other vehicles directly in front of me pass) and flagged me to pull over. Imagine my disbelief when both deputies claimed to have clocked me at 51 mph. I quite honestly had no idea how to respond, other than to say there must have been some kind of a mistake. It is painfully obvious that if I was, indeed, travelling some 16 mph faster than the rest of this group, I should have been closing rapidly on, or even passing them. I was doing neither. The gap between us had been constant for at least two miles, and remained constant the entire time we were in view of the deputies.

So why did they choose me? My first guess that they had made an honest mistake quickly evaporated in the course of the ensuing conversation. Neither deputy was even remotely interested in entertaining such a notion. It became increasingly clear in the course of what was rapidly becoming a heated conversation that they were simply going to write a citation – no if’s, ands, or buts. “Tell it to the judge” was one’s rather flippant response.

It was clear that by the time I had happened upon it, the speed trap set up by these two deputies had well and truly run its course. A steady stream of traffic in both directions was providing ample warning for any motorists approaching their site. While they had done an admirable job of slowing traffic on XXXX Road, they were clearly no longer getting any “customers”. In the twenty minutes I stood on the side of the road with them, the one deputy that continued to use his SMD to check traffic recorded no more speeders. This, in spite of the relatively constant stream of passing vehicles. The motorist initiated “warning system” was that effective. The very same system that had provided warning for me and the vehicles in front of me in our little group.

It is now my opinion that these two deputies, seeing their ticket stream drying (or already dried) up, picked me out of the crowd as the most “plausible” candidate available, riding as I was a Ducati sport bike. Believe me, I fully understand the seriousness of what I am implying here, so let me bring this well beyond innuendo or implication. In my opinion, your deputies conspired to fabricate a speeding citation against an innocent motorist. Me. I believe that they are, in no uncertain terms, lying, and have clearly conspired to do so. This is the only conclusion I can draw, as these two deputies have themselves ruled out (quite emphatically, I must say) any possibility whatsoever of either of them having made even slightest mistake or misjudgement. They were both quite sure about that.

It is with a great deal of trepidation that I write this letter. To be quite honest, I have never before written a public official in any position about anything at all. This is the first time in my 48 years I have felt strongly enough about anything to take the time, much less to make such strong accusations about any of our public servants. Let me emphasize right now that I admire your department and the tough job it performs for us every day; my respect for your department leaves me all the more disappointed and shocked by the behavior of these two deputies.

I must also mention just how helpless this situation has left me feeling. There were three guys on the side of a rural XXXX County road – two of them, one of me. No witnesses; no way to ever really verify what happened. Certainly a “he said/she said” situation where, once again, the deputies have the upper hand. Who is to say this will not happen again? Who is to say it has not happened to countless other motorists (who are too timid to come forward) at the hands of these two deputies? These two have, with their behavior, quite seriously undermined any respect I have for the deputies of XXXX County. We trust these deputies with a great deal; these two have squandered that trust, at least in my eyes.

I guess I’m not entirely sure where I expect you to go with this. I realize your deputies operate under a microscope, and probably endure more than their fair share of unwarranted citizen complaints. I’m sure a good number of your deputies’ “customers” dearly love to cry “police harassment”, and as a result any such complaints must be taken with a large grain of salt. On the other hand, however, if enough of these complaints are registered against these two – together or individually – maybe you will detect a pattern. I can only hope.

In closing, let me emphasize that this is not about the citation itself. I have retained the services of an attorney and will deal with the citation in court. It is about principles of right and wrong. Nor is this about the money. In my 32 years of driving, I have managed to earn only two speeding tickets, and I certainly deserved those two. I simply paid them without a fight; I’m not afraid to take my lumps when deserved. This citation will have no affect on my insurance rates, as I have also driven accident-free for 31 of those 32 years (I had one of those dumb kid fender-benders at the ripe old age of 16). So again, this is not about the money; nor is it about the citation. It is about two apparently dishonest deputies writing an undeserved citation, for whatever reason, to an honest, law-abiding citizen. One who is a lifetime Washington resident, and one who has been a resident of XXXX County for over twenty years. It’s about two deputies taking advantage of what they know to be a virtually uncontestable situation for that citizen in an underhanded effort to fill their ticket books. And lastly, it is about making you aware of a couple of bad apples on your force that I fervently hope will some day be exposed for what they are and dealt with accordingly.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey A. Higgins

I received a cursory "I got your letter..." phone call the day this landed in the Sheriff's office. Interestingly, that call was made mid-day to my home phone, even though I clearly listed my work/cell phone number. I returned the call immediately the next morning, hopeful that someone may actually like to discuss this with me. All I got was the typical "thank you for your letter; we will be in touch if we have any questions" response. Two weeks later, crickets chirping...

This has gotten out of control. No due process, no evidence of any kind required, and a couple of cocky deputies that well know the score. It's long past time we restore due process and remove the profit motive from traffic enforcement.

[m21sniper]

Tyranny, it's what's for dinner.

Come to Pennsylvania, only our state troopers are allowed to use radar. City and local cops- no right under the law, for EXACTLY this reason.

You're lucky they didn't beat you up and take you to jail for arguing with them, quite frankly.

As long as you don't live in one of the big scum infested cities Pennsylvania is still quite free in most ways. The weather's sucky, but the (brush) hunting is pretty good.

[jwhcars]

Perhaps we need to install video camers in our own cars and show them how they are really behaving.. It is about time that we revolt againt these revenue building tickets. I have no problem with having to pay for getting caught doing something wrong .......but posting a 25mph zone on a rural 2 lane road going down hill just so they can set a speed trap......and I can go on and on...is just wrong.

[NICKG]

this is why those cheap sd card battery cameras are invaluable..i am thinking if wiring up a coppiolet camera in my car to protect myself from this kind of crap

[Heel n Toe]

Dear Sheriff XXXXX,

Due to your dismissive response to my letter and in our phone call, I will be sending a copy of my letter to the chairman of County Council and will attend their next meeting and speak to this matter during "public comments."

I am also composing a shorter version of my letter which I will submit to Letters to the Editor of the Skunk and Possum Tribune in which I will ask other citizens who have encountered this problem to show up at that next County Council meeting also.

If I don't get any satisfaction from that, I will contact my state legislator and after that, my Congressman will hear about this.

You have been warned.

Sincerely,
Jeffery A. Higgins, aka Your Worst Nightmare

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Dear Sheriff XXXXX,

Due to your dismissive response to my letter and in our phone call, I will be sending a copy of my letter to the chairman of County Council and will attend their next meeting and speak to this matter during "public comments."

I am also composing a shorter version of my letter which I will submit to Letters to the Editor of the Skunk and Possum Tribune in which I will ask other citizens who have encountered this problem to show up at that next County Council meeting also.

If I don't get any satisfaction from that, I will contact my state legislator and after that, my Congressman will hear about this.

You have been warned.

Sincerely,
Jeffery A. Higgins, aka Your Worst Nightmare

I cc'd our County Executive on this letter. Haven't heard squat from him.

I'll give it another couple of weeks (I'm heading to our 10th annual R Gruppe Treffen on Monday, and will be on the road for a week) and see if anything comes of this. If not, I will forward to both of my State Representatives and my State Senator in Olympia. I had originally meant to cc them as well, but I thought that might have been overkill.

[dhoward]

"What ever happened to that nice Jeff Higgins fellow? Haven't heard from in in weeks...."

[stomachmonkey]

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for your correspondence.

Please be advised that due to the hostility that you have displayed against local law enforcement we will be placing you under full time surveillance as is our right under Homeland Security guidelines.

Please note that we will be contacting you to set a date for us to install GPS monitoring devices on all of your vehicles.

It has also come to our attention that you are a licensed pilot. Please be advised from this point on you are on the no fly list. This prohibits you from traveling on commercial as well as private flights including flights in your own planes without prior written permission from the FAA.

For an indeterminate amount of time you may be approached by various law enforcement officials, both local and Federal. It would be in your best interest to treat them respectfully. Due to your ownership of numerous firearms we have designated you as potentially armed and obviously due to your aggressive nature, dangerous.

Sincerly,
The Man

[Jim Bremner]

I got cited for parking greater than 18"from the curb. I took a photo of it with measuring tape and the car was 16 3/4" at the wheel 17" at the fender and 16" at the bumber. I sent the photos

Response? POUND SAND AND PAY UP! sent another letter asking how that they couldn't follow the law...pay up or face a court date!

$40 was cheaper than my time

[Jeff Higgins]

I am, quite honestly, now afraid to ride my (very distinctive) motorcycle in my own county. Those two petty bastards are out there somewhere, hiding behind their badges like little girls, wielding their RADAR or Laser guns. They can (and already demonstrated they will) make anything up they so desire. No accountability, no oversight, no need to present evidence, no due process. We have absolutely no defense against them whatsoever. It's pretty damn intimidating, really, knowing those two are out there.

[Heel n Toe]

Ahhhh... a local TV station might like to do a "we are on your side" story on it. Most, if not all of our local stations do those.

I don't remember any like yours... they're usually about potholes or some storm sewer is backing up into some guy's yard 24/7 because a water main nearby has a crack in it and the guy has been calling the city about it for a year and they've sent a coupla guys to look at it 4 times, but they never do anything.

Until it runs on TV, then boom... they're out there with a backhoe in less than a week and fix it.

Jeff, you could appear in silhouette telling your story. Don't give specifics that could be traced to you.

Might wanna call any local radio talk shows too.

[KaptKaos]

If I were your Attorney (I'm not, and I am not an Attorney and this shouldn't be construed as legal advice) I wouldn't have let you send that letter.

There are ways to win at court with this kind of thing.

[Dottore]

Great letter Jeff. Very professional and very measured. I wish you luck with it.

FWIW I have had my own share of run ins with the Washington State Highway Patrol. I have posted one or two of those experiences here.

I have no axe to grind with law enforcement—on the contrary they normally have my full respect for the difficult and important job they do.

But my experiences with law enforcement on the I-5 in Washington have been consistently bizarre, petty, arbitrary, malicious and unfair.

Then, last fall, three of these guys sat at the table next to us at the little Japanese diner just outside the casino in Marysville. Throughout lunch they laughed about the arseholes they had issued citations to, how they were going to "ramp things up" after lunch, and then wished each other "happy hunting". I was very close to having words with them, but my wife just managed to restrain me.

So good luck with this...

[berettafan]

i once told a judge the cop was full of ****.

he asked why i would say that.

i told him my radar detector told me his radar wasn't on.

he laughed and told me to pay up.

the truth is you can thank the local politicians for creating that environment. what gets me the most is these tax collectors have the nerve to act like they are doing the public a service.

i know everybody deserves to make a living but i just can't see selling out your fellow man to be a traffic cop being the best choice.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I am, quite honestly, now afraid to ride my (very distinctive) motorcycle in my own county. Those two petty bastards are out there somewhere, hiding behind their badges like little girls, wielding their RADAR or Laser guns. They can (and already demonstrated they will) make anything up they so desire. No accountability, no oversight, no need to present evidence, no due process. We have absolutely no defense against them whatsoever. It's pretty damn intimidating, really, knowing those two are out there.

But we're "free," didn't you know?

[m21sniper]

If you REALLY want to prove a point to yourself, go to court, when the judge finds you guilty give him a speech about not submitting to tyranny and refuse to pay.

Then work the fine off in Jail. It will probably only be a few days and could make you a local celebrity.

We need someone to rally behind. We need martyrs. Feel like being our inspiration Jeff?

PS: No, this is not a sarcasm. Someone needs to take a stand, we just all keep hoping it will be someone else.

[the]

Be careful with that crack cocaine under your seat at the next traffic stop.

[sammyg2]

Jeff, I've contacted my state representatives and congressional reps many, many time over the years. Some times just to rant, other times when I wanted their help.
Every single solitary time I asked for help from them I got it.

Take that letter, do the reader's digest condensing thing with it and forward it to your elected officials and ask them to start an invesigation.

My guess is that they'll have one of their staff call the sherriff and threaten him with a full investigation, FBI, all kinds of stuff that he won't like. He'll call you and offer to kiss your butt in public and he'll get the bad guys in tyrouble one way or the other. if nothing else they'll get chewed on and get a letter in their files.

I had a great big insurance company call me up once and tell me I had a blank check, anything I wanted or needed was authorized and would be paid for in full.
That was after Rep. Bill Danemeyer had someone on his staff call them and remind them that he was on the state insurance committee or something like that.
it works.
We should all have our elected reps on speed dial or at least saved in our address books.

[Jeff Higgins]

Great advice, Sammy. I had originally cc'd my state Reps and Senator on this letter, but decided it would have been overkill to start off like that. If I don't hear anything from the Sheriff or my County Exec by the time I am back from vacation in a couple of weeks, I plan to forward this to my Reps and Senator. Maybe even Governor.

[Schrup]

Unless someone else happens to get caught up in their little web & comes forward, your just pissing in the wind IMO. That was a great letter & served it's purpose if they put something in the deputies' personnel files. I hope you get a measure of justice, but I wouldn't hold your breath.