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CPA Blog: How to get out of a ticket



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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 11:09 am
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CPA Blog: How to get out of a ticket | CPA, City, Crime, MPD, Traffic

MPD Sgt. Don Fanning demonstrates a wrist lock on a Citizens Police Academy student. TMP/M. Willard
A few weeks ago I started the Citizens Police Academy with the Murfreesboro Police Department.

And, no, that doesn’t mean they're going to give me a badge and a gun.

CPA is a program to educate and familiarize the public with the primary operations and training of MPD.

The first couple of weeks we were introduced to the inner workings of the department and how it’s structured, but this week we learned how officers protect themselves from danger and, more importantly, how to get out of a traffic ticket.

Sgt. Don Fanning, a supervisor on the midnight shift, who has spent nearly 20 years patrolling the streets of Murfreesboro, said motorists who have been pulled over must think from the officers' point of view.

“Whatever the officer wants you to do, just cooperate and everything will be fine,” he said.

First, when you see those blue, flashing lights, pull over and don’t try to run.

When you’re successfully on the side of the road, turn off the radio, hang up the phone, roll down the window and wait patiently with your hands on the steering wheel in plain view.

Fanning said it alarms officers when drivers reach around the car when they are walking toward it, because the officer never knows what you are reaching for. It could be your registration or it could be a gun.

He said to know where your registration and proof of insurance are, but don’t reach for it without letting the officer know where you're reaching and what you are reaching for.

“Be nice and you might get a warning or one ticket instead of four,” he said.

Fanning also explained how MPD officers use force with interactions with the public, ranging, at the least, from physical presence and verbal commands to collapsable batons and deadly force.

He called pepper spray “hell in a can. When you use this it feels like someone has set your face on fire.”

He also called it one of best tools he’s been given in all his years as a police officer because it allows him to subdue a subject without getting too close or causing severe harm.

Tune in next week, when I learn about domestic violence and get a tour of MPD’s Vaughn Street precinct.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.
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Tags: City, CPA, Crime, MPD, Traffic
Member Opinions:
By: shotgun on 9/16/09
“Be nice and you might get a warning or one ticket instead of four,” he said.

If that officer is really doing his/her job, you will get all four tickets. You may not like it, but you will be better for it.

Being polite to an officer should be standard and not some way to get out of a ticket.

By: Trvlace on 9/16/09
I guess sexual favors would get you freed from a ticket to eh?

By: Trvlace on 9/16/09
Umm, not that I would offer any...just to make that perfectly clear!

By: Fitzcomm on 9/16/09
Better! Paragraph five: Officers should be possessive. It still should be "you're" in paragraph 10. I don't have time to fix all the commas -- think introductory phrases and compound sentences. Finally, thanks for eliminating "telling." I figured it should be "tailing," but I was too mortified to think that a journalist made that mistake.

By: TheHandymanDave on 9/16/09
I believe if your nice to them, they will be nice to you, and should. I also believe if an officer gives you a warning and not 4 tickets, he is giving you a break, tickets are very expensive and 4 tickets compared to 1 could make a difference of putting food on the table or not. Yes you may deserve all 4, but a warning will save lives just as well as a ticket. I am sure some of you will disagree with this, and to them I say "oh well". If we all pay a little more attention to what we're doing, and hang up that darn phone, we may never be in this predicament.

By: Fitzcomm on 9/16/09
Oh, and is Citizens possessive or plural? There's an apostrophe in your lead but not in your cutline.

By: Boo on 9/16/09
I liked this article. It contained some good advice which, for most of us, would be plain common sense. Will look forward to next weeks post.

By: citizenjim on 9/16/09
While the threat of fines may have a deterrent effect on driving the primary truth of the matter is: It generates REVENUE. This was proven by the traffic light cameras in Murfreesboro that didn't affect our driving record, only our pocketbooks. I tend to look at fines as another tax by a hungry government who is very busy "sincerely collecting and spending someone elses money" and a lack of courage to stand up and cut spending in all areas, even if the pet projects get canned.

By: Boo on 9/17/09
I look at fines as a punishment because I was fool enough to break the law! It's SO simple, folks. Don't break the law, you won't be fined!


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