Next time you see a state trooper on the highway speeding with no lights on, be assured that they are responding to a call and just don't want to upset you with their blue lights. The Montgomery Advertiser reports this:
Officers can be responding to a call but aren't using lights and sirens because they don't want to unnerve motorists, said Col. Christopher Murphy, director of Department of Public Safety.
"Some drivers see those blue lights in the rear view mirror and get very nervous," he said. "There are times when you cause fewer problems by not running with lights and sirens."
I was given this same response by the Montgomery Police Department when I called a while back to report a cop car I tracked going 70 in a 60 MPH stretch of I-85 southbound. The cop that took my call seem non-plussed when I explained that I followed the patrol car all the way back to the police station, not an emergency call. I guess the officer was needed back at the station to brew some more coffee.
I always thought the point of having the lights and siren when responding to a call was itself a public safety measure. My understanding was the lights and siren were used to let motorists know that an emergency vehicle is approaching and to yield the right of way so that the responder ( e.g., police car, trooper, fire truck, ambulance) can safely get to where it's needed.
Are our citizens so nervous and whiney that they can't handle seeing the blue lights of a trooper. I doubt anyone has a heart attack when seeing the lights, although I can relate to being unnerved seeing the lights come on behind me. Once the trooper passes, I imagine the citizen's heart rate will return to normal and they'll feel happy that he wasn't really trying to stop them from speeding.
I wish I could get the same treatment when I speed as Millbrook gives it's police officers who speed:
Millbrook Police Chief Kenneth Bradley makes it clear to his officers that they'll be reprimanded if they're caught speeding unnecessarily.
"If you have to go fast to answer a call, then that's what you do, but you do it safely," Bradley said. "Otherwise you obey the speed limits. I've had people call and complain about the way some officers were driving. I check the complaints out and if it's true, they get a conversation with me they won't forget anytime soon."
Can I get a "conversation I won't forget anytime soon" when I go 70 in a 55? Can I pick the topic?
The bottom line, I think these guys comments show how law enforcement officers protect their own. "Speeding with the lights off? Well, we don't want you to think we are after you!" "When they speed, I give 'em engaging conversation! Like the latest development on the donut front or the best place to harass
low income workers!"