Cop Blocked

[Shane Adams]

I always stop and turn around if I'm told to. However, on one occasion a media chaser ahead of me was allowed to go while we were not. The cop was walking car-to-car asking for credentials, so once he got about 3-4 cars away I just took off. Not sorry.

 

[Lou Ruh]

No one is "blowing by" we stop by them wave and go around and almost every time they wave back.

As someone who does traffic control at emergency scenes (as a Fire Police officer in PA), I can tell you that "smile and wave" is generally not a good approach. Roll down the window and have a quick chat ... if I can let people past a traffic control point with a legitimate need, I will. Otherwise, without communication, there is a good chance I will report the incident for follow-up action (they don't let us use firearms). A few second of conversation is all that is needed.

 

[Jesse Risley]

While I don't always like it, and sometimes deeply resent it, I obey those types of directives. The legal consequences can be pretty severe, especially if you directly disobey a LEO. If I were to be convicted of a criminal misdemeanor (in some cases in certain states it might even rise to being felonious), I'd most likely lose my teaching job. A number of departments now have equipment to electronically record license plates, be it video or ALPRs (automatic license plate readers). Furthermore, even if in the end they are somehow not legally found to have been in the right, a lot of states give police the immediate power to have wide latitude to control a situation in an emergency, assuming they are acting in good faith, i.e., on the side of the road the officer can do what s/he needs to control the situation and gets treated as being in the right. As an addendum, in a rare case where I was placed in a situation where I felt the emergency services personnel had blocked a road out of ignorance in a manner that might be putting my life at risk, I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six. That's about the only exception, and that's never actually happened yet.