Entrapment?

texas*princess · #1 03-10-2003, 06:38 PM

I have a question for you legal folks out there and anyone else who wants to reply

Police officers in my area are taking a new approach on catching speeders.. they are set up in road construction areas and instead of having on a police uniform, they are wearing what all the other construction workers are wearing, all the same down to the hard hat.

They are dressed in these 'outfits' (i guess?) and stationed in road construction areas armed with a radar gun to let fellow police officers know who is speeding.

I noticed this last week when I was on my way to the store.. I could see the person from far away and thought it was some news person reporting on the traffic in the area and all I could think was "Woohoo I'm gonna be on TV!"

But as I got closer I noticed what the guy was holding wasn't a camera, but instead a radar gun, and about half a mile farther down the freeway, there were SIX POLICE CARS GIVING OUT TICKETS.

Good thing I was going the speed limit!

Anyway.. is this a form of entrapment? It was on the news earlier.. a friend of mine says it is? I can understand you shouldn't be speeding in the first place (ESPECIALLY in constuction zones!!!) but should they be dressing up like construction workers?

greeklawgirl · #2 03-10-2003, 06:45 PM

Courtesy of lectlaw.com:

ENTRAPMENT - A person is 'entrapped' when he is induced or persuaded by lawenforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case.

However, there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the Government agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime. For example, it is not entrapment for a Government agent to pretend to be someone else and to offer, either directly or through an informer or other decoy, to engage in an unlawful transaction with the person. So, a person would not be a victim of entrapment if the person was ready, willing and able to commit the crime charged in the indictment whenever opportunity was afforded, and that Government officers or their agents did no more than offer an opportunity.

In slightly different words, government agents entrapped a person if three things occurred:

- First, the idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.

- Second, the government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving him the opportunity to commit the crime is not the same as persuading him to commit the crime.

- And third, the person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before the government agents spoke with him.

On the issue of entrapment the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not entrapped by government agents.

Sorry!

DeltaSigStan · #3 03-10-2003, 06:50 PM

ONCE AGAIN, to quote the brilliant minds of NWA:

FUCK THE POLICE

I don't know about your town, but here in San Diego, the pigs hide behind their badges and are complete assholes. They know NOTHING about spirit of the law and will do anything to nail someone for something SO trivial.

smiley21 · #4 03-10-2003, 07:13 PM

i saw that on one of the wildest police videos shows. officers dress up like mechanics and hide behind the open hood of a car. they even have cardboard figures of themselves holding radar guns to throw off drivers. there are also officers that dress up as electricity guys and hide up in those lifts that take you near the power lines. they catch speeders from way up there!!!!!!

although it isnt 100% infalliable, i am glad for my radar detector. it sure has saved me from a few tickets

AlphaSigOU · #5 03-10-2003, 07:16 PM

Cops LOVE bagging people at construction and school zones. In many states the enforcement is active only when workers are present; there are a few states (I don't know exactly which ones, but Oklahoma is one of 'em) where the wording of the work zone speed limit sign can be interpreted to mean 24/7 enforcement as long as the barricades and work zone speed limits are up.

I remember one time driving down I-44 (Will Rogers Turnpike) from St. Louis to Tulsa and noticed an OHP (Oklahoma Highway Patrol) 'road roach' hiding in the construction zone ready to bag speeders.

For T*P: Plano and Richardson are notorious for setting up ambushes to catch red light runners; most major intersections in Plano, especially where there's a high number of red light tickets written, have signs posted reading: "7291 RED LIGHT CITATIONS WERE ISSUED IN PLANO LAST YEAR - DON'T BE NEXT!" And the bastards have LIDAR 'gun turrets' on some of their cruisers.

Kevin · #6 03-10-2003, 07:37 PM

In many states you can get a laser jammer for around $149 at your local Radioshack...

Yes, Oklahoma is VERY bad when it comes to speed traps. A local community here generates about 90% of their revenue from speeding tickets. There are MANY towns in this state that get 50+% from speeding tickets.

A bill just got shot down in the state legislature that would have limited small towns to the amount of money they could collect from speeding citations -- everything after that would have gone to the state. I thought that would have been a great idea.

But the legislature is rural controlled...

cuaphi · #7 03-10-2003, 07:37 PM

Thanks Greeklawgirl, I always wondered about that. I guess entrapment is one of those overused and abused words... like irony.

texas*princess · #8 03-10-2003, 08:03 PM

Thank you greeklawgirl!

Thanks also for the posts! I think this subject is interesting.. i didn't know it happened so much!

AlphaSigOU · #9 03-11-2003, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ktsnake
In many states you can get a laser jammer for around $149 at your local Radioshack...

Just make sure you don't use it in Virginia, D.C. and Connecticut - radar detectors and jammers are illegal there. Reportedly the state police has detection units cruising the interstate looking for detectors.

[quote]Yes, Oklahoma is VERY bad when it comes to speed traps. A local community here generates about 90% of their revenue from speeding tickets. There are MANY towns in this state that get 50+% from speeding tickets.[quote]

Tell me about it! One case in point... the little town of Coweta, about 15 miles SE of Tulsa where I used to work. The local gendarmes LOVE to cruise up and down SH 51 waiting for speeders to get caught in their traps. I got bagged one day by one of Coweta's finest who tried to nail me with 80 in a 55 (NFW!) as he was driving the opposite way on 51. Sumbitch turned around and intercepted me. So I hand him my license, registration and proof of insurance. Cursory check for wants and warrants and I got off with a caution to watch my speed. A few days later I visited Coweta Masonic Lodge and noticed a very familiar face on the Past Masters' wall of honor -- the very same guy who pulled me over was a PM of the lodge. He must have taken notice of my Masonic emblem on the back of my car.

Quote:

A bill just got shot down in the state legislature that would have limited small towns to the amount of money they could collect from speeding citations -- everything after that would have gone to the state. I thought that would have been a great idea.

But the legislature is rural controlled...

Oklahoma... ain't it great? They finally voted to outlaw cockfighting and now they're gearing up for a fight on a proposed state lottery. (The 'Babtists' haven't forgotten the humiliating loss on the liqour by the drink referendun in '84 -- they're gonna fight that one tooth and nail.)