Florida Highway Patrol: “He’s well over 120 and he’s not stopping for me,’’ (about Miami PD officer)

[steve2470]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/03/2486268/fhp-supervisor-hesitant-about.html

A Florida Highway Patrol supervisor can be heard on tape telling dispatchers to have state trooper Donna Watts “back off” as she followed a speeding Miami police officer on Florida’s Turnpike in Hollywood.

“He’s well over 120 and he’s not stopping for me,’’ Watts is heard saying on a recording released Thursday of communication between FHP and Watts, before she pulled over the officer with her gun drawn. The 11-minute recording was released in response to requests from the media.

The Oct. 11 traffic stop ended with a ticket for Miami police officer Fausto Lopez, but also appeared to have created a firestorm of controversy between Miami police and the FHP. Miami officers are backing their colleagues and criticizing FHP for treating him as though he was a criminal, while the FHP troopers and the public are criticizing the officer for speeding and not obeying the law.

The FHP recording is garbled and unclear at times, with different people speaking, often using law enforcement dispatch signals and codes. It begins a few minutes before 6:30 a.m., with Watts saying a car is going more than 120 mph and moving in and out of traffic.

[provis99]

1. the Miami cop was clearly a criminal.

the fact that Miami cops back him up is evidence that Miami cops are corrupt, don't care if police officers commit crimes, and aren't to be trusted.

And frankly, I'm with Cenk on this one. Had the Florida trooper been a male, he likely would have let it slide, as part of the old boys club thing that male cops have going. Only a female cop would have had the balls to stop this lawbreaking Miami cop, cause she wouldn't be part of of the old boys network.

[seabeyond]

2. rah... for watts. i watched yesterday. treats police like any other criminal. nt

[ejpoeta]

3. if he were a regular person, he would have been in jail for resisting arrest

and whatever else comes with a police chase which this apparently ended up being. the fact is that unless the cop is doing something to give him a reason to be speeding like that then he IS not following the law. It shouldn't matter that he is driving a cop car.

[Gore1FL]

4. There is video here

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/31/miami-cop-arrested-at-gunpoint-for-driving-120-mph/

[steve2470]

5. more interesting stuff here from Trooper Donna Watts

<snip>

In the audio from the trooper's dashboard camera she can be heard lecturing the police officer for endangering the public, and described his behavior as common to Miami officers in particular.

"You don't respect these people out here," the trooper told Lopez. "This is not a first-time occurrence with ya'll (Miami police). Ya'll come that way all the time. It's not excusable."

<snip>

http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/218682/19/Miami-cops-challenge-trooper39s-arrest-of-officer