Fla. State Trooper fired for offering lawmaker break on speeding ticket

[Blue_Tires]

In a rarity among modern American jurisprudence, a state highway trooper has lost his job over a traffic ticket he didn't write — and now his fight has sparked a wider dispute over who gets preferential treatment for enforcing the law on the road. Does anyone need to guess that this happened in Florida?

The tale starts last November, when Florida Highway Patrol trooper Charles Swindle stopped state Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, for doing 87 mph in a 70 mph zone. McBurney was driving a Toyota with a license plate identifying him as a state lawmaker; after checking with his sergeant, Swindle told McBurney "I'm cutting you a break" and cited him only for lacking proof of insurance — a $10 ticket rather than a $280 one that McBurney could have faced.

According to Florida state investigators, Swindle did the same for another driver he pulled over at the same time, telling his dispatcher “I’m going to write (McBurney) a warning and be nice; I’m going to stroke him ’cause I didn’t see his insurance card."

But the episode bothered McBurney (who denied going 87 mph) so much that he wrote to Swindle's superiors on legislature letterhead, complaining that Swindle was favoring state officials. "If those who enforce our laws fail to meet the highest ethical standards, there is erosion of that confidence," McBurney wrote. "I am concerned that as Trooper Swindle acted in such fashion to me, that he would do so to any law-abiding citizen of our state."

That letter launched an internal investigation, and two weeks ago, Swindle was fired for "conduct unbecoming a public employee." And now Swindle and his attorney have appealed his dismissal, contending the Florida Highway Patrol has an unwritten policy of letting state lawmakers off easy at traffic stops to avoid trouble come budget-writing time. The FHP denies that's the case, and has speeding tickets written to several lawmakers over the past few years to show it.

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/trooper-fired-offering-florida-lawmaker-break-speeding-ticket-182456916.html

McBurney should eat a bag of dicks for this fuckwittery...

[Gravitycollapse]

1. Why are you complaining about McBurney? He did the right thing.

[Blue_Tires]

5. The trooper tried to cut him a break and loses his job for it?

If McBurney was such a stickler for the rules (and I'm guessing he's been stopped for speeding before, so he KNOWS how the conversation goes when it starts trending towards "I'll let you off with a warning&quot ...He could have just offered to pay the full amount outright...If McBurney is making an honest-to-god case that he was NOT speeding, and the officer was just trying to shake him and other drivers down for a few bucks, then that is a different story...

Would have been nice to know exactly how the conversation went...Maybe there is a history of state lawmakers who get cited for speeding making life 'tough' on troopers, and there was the good old "Do you know who I am?" implied??


I know nothing about McBurney whatsoever, but I bet *ANY* amount of money this conversation has happened in his home at some point:

McBurney: "Honey, kids, I'm home!"

McBurney's Wife/kids: "Dear husband/Dad!! -- I got stopped by FHP on the interstate today doing 87 in a 70!"

McBurney: "Holy shit! As if our auto insurance isn't high enough already!!"

McBurney's Wife/kids: "Don't worry, once I 'explained' things to the trooper, he just let me off with a warning..."

McBurney: "*WHEW* Thank you sweet lord jesus merciful god!"

[Gravitycollapse]

7. The trooper is a cronyist. He deserved to be canned.

[Blue_Tires]

9. So remove McBurney from office for his refusal to pay the full $280 then...

better yet, as I said earlier, let the state review the records of Jacksonville Police/Duval Co./FHP to find every record of McBurney, his wife and kids getting a traffic violation and *not* having to pay the full citation amount...Total it up plus interest and penalties and send McBurney a bill...

If you're going down this road, I seriously hope that you yourself have always rejected a cop's traffic stop warning and insisted on paying the full fine...

[Gravitycollapse]

12. The warning is not the issue. It's letting him off the hook for being a state official.

Which is a breach of public trust and an implementation of the law in such a manner that favors those in power.

If they find that the McBurney family got off the hook at other times, they should investigate, make them pay for the difference and charge them with any applicable crimes.

[Blue_Tires]

15. So why hasn't that fine, upstanding Rep. McBurney paid the difference yet?

And out of all his years in politics and previous traffic stops, why is he *just* making an issue of it now?

Like another poster said, it's looking more and more like he was pissed off the state trooper didn't completely kiss his ass and let him go scot free...You've bought in way too much into McBurney's "official" story...Just like if I'm a businessman negotiating with a corrupt politician over a kickback, and he turns me in to the feds out of spite because we have a falling out...

[Gravitycollapse]

16. Is there any evidence of a feud? Otherwise it's just rampant speculation.

I do not doubt the possibility. But we are casting judgements based on the story here, not what we feel in our guts.

[Ian David]

2. I bet the real reason is because McBurney is mad he had to pay a $10 ticket. n/t

[BlueJazz]

3. THis is totally unfair to the officer...plus McBurney is a super-asshole.

I heard tons of stories about how the Florida Highway Patrol has given my friends and associates "A Break"

I've been stopped twice in 12 years and have gotten a stern talking to and a warning...but that's ALL I got.

This lawmaker is a first-class prick.

[renate]

4. What? Lacking proof of insurance costs just $10?

As the daughter-in-law of someone who was T-boned by an uninsured driver and who has suffered YEARS of really serious financial and physical pain as a result (despite having insurance herself... her insurance didn't cover the pain, and it didn't cover her inability to work at the same job any more), I am pretty upset by that.

Unless there's a way for a trooper to call in and verify that a person has insurance, and the $10 is just for not carrying the card, this minuscule fine means there is basically nothing keeping people from driving around uninsured, at least in Florida. I hope I'm wrong about that.

[The Straight Story]

8. It is very common - as an ex cop I know I have been given some breaks

I had a bad brake light and my current insurance card was at home (got new ones in mail and forgot to take with me).

Not even a written warning, just a 'well, get that light fixed and don't forget your insurance card' - no call in, etc.

OTOH I know many cops who have done that for many folks who were not previously in the field.

Cops are fickle, and yeah they do give breaks to folks (especially when close to shift change - have to get the cruiser back for others to use, etc).

Not all cops are jack asses (but there are certainly too many out there that abuse others and the system) and while they often extend 'professional courtesy' they also are sometimes just nice to folks and give them a stern warning.

[darkangel218]

13. The $10 dollars is the administrative fee. You need to bring proof that you had insurence

at the time of the traffic stop and the citation gets dismissed. The penalty for being actually uninsured is a lot higher than $10.

[Kingofalldems]

6. Republicans are snakes who hate working people

[COLGATE4]

10. No good deed goes unpunished...

[darkangel218]

11. Thats BS.

Cops give breaks to a lot of people, all the time. He didn't deserve to get fired for giving someone a warning instead of a speeding ticket. God!

[Earth_First]

14. I feel like there may be history between these two...

or the families.

Something is awry and doesn't add up really...

It seems like this is retribution for some deeply seated pre-existing feud that exists.