Explanation please

[Planter]

About a week and a half ago I am driving down I-25 in my work truck coming back from my run to Wyoming. I am in the middle lane, Red Expedition to the left of me, white toyota or honda behind him.

Now the white car was just a tad too close to the Expedition...BUT the Expedition had no one in front of them and no one to the right (I was to the right but well behind). It was more than apparent the white car wanted to pass but the Expedition driver decided he owned the left lane and wasnt gonna let anyone by. Signs posted on the highway that state "Keep Right Except To Pass".

Instead of just moving over and letting the white car pass. the Expedition decides to slam on its brakes trying to get the white car to hit him. He does this TWICE and it was very deliberate.

It really pissed me off so I called *277 and reported the expedition for aggressive driving and trying to intentionally cause an accident.

Dispatcher said they would try to get a unit in the area out to pull this clown over. I gave the make and model and color and license plate. I also informed the Dispatcher I run a dashcam and that I have it all on video and I will gladly sign a complaint against the driver of the Expedition if they stop him.

Dispatcher says will do and thanks me for calling it in. Unfortunately they never pulled him over that I saw before I got off at my exit.

i will post the dash cam vid later tonight or tomorrow and update the original post.

Now here's my problem. Wednesday morning I am driving up 287 towards Laramie and I see some bag of douche in a ragged out old ass pickup with colorado plates throwing a steady stream of trash out his car window littering my beautiful, gorgeous state and really making me angry. I call it in, give plates, make, model and color of the vehicle let them know I have it all on dashcam. Dispatcher says unless they catch him in the act and witness him doing it, theres nothing they can do. They wont accept video as evidence.

Why is it that you can use dashcam to prove roade rage but not littering????? :dw:

I am THOROUGHLY confused here. :shrug:

 

[cbj5259]

In most cases dispatchers are not police officers. Their job is to obtain the pertinent information, pass along any emergency information you may need to assist you and to inform the incoming police officers of the call. Depending on which one you talk to you may get different responses. As far as dash cam video goes, I'm not sure what the laws are in Colorado. In my commonwealth here, generally dash cam video from a complaining citizen is not permissible in summary traffic cases because of the fact that there is no chain of custody regarding content/editing, etc. Even our cruiser videos are uploaded to a third party server so that a defense can't be that the police department had access to the content for editing purposes. We can view the videos, but if we want copies for court/evidence we have to get the copies from the company that administers the server. There are a bunch of safeguards in place and chain of custody forms that must be completed to show that the videos are authentic and unedited. Now in cases of major crimes (assaults, murders, serious crimes, etc) the DA will make exceptions for that as smartphone camera footage or dash cam footage can be a valuable resource in an investigation...even then, defense attorneys will challenge it.

 

[jshen]

Yes, defense attorneys will challenge it and everything else- that is their job. In this case it's called the "Best Evidence Rule", authentication and foundation. As long as those requirements (admissible exceptions) are met that evidence can come in. The above poster has a very good system in his jurisdiction. I hope all PDs follow that.

Here, historically traffic violations were offenses the officer had to witness. However with the use of cellphone video and dash video, I am not sure that is still the case. Again as long as the proper foundation is laid..I don't see a reason to exclude it..

 

[Planter]

In most cases dispatchers are not police officers. Their job is to obtain the pertinent information, pass along any emergency information you may need to assist you and to inform the incoming police officers of the call. Depending on which one you talk to you may get different responses. As far as dash cam video goes, I'm not sure what the laws are in Colorado. In my commonwealth here, generally dash cam video from a complaining citizen is not permissible in summary traffic cases because of the fact that there is no chain of custody regarding content/editing, etc. Even our cruiser videos are uploaded to a third party server so that a defense can't be that the police department had access to the content for editing purposes. We can view the videos, but if we want copies for court/evidence we have to get the copies from the company that administers the server. There are a bunch of safeguards in place and chain of custody forms that must be completed to show that the videos are authentic and unedited. Now in cases of major crimes (assaults, murders, serious crimes, etc) the DA will make exceptions for that as smartphone camera footage or dash cam footage can be a valuable resource in an investigation...even then, defense attorneys will challenge it.

thanks for the insight and perspective cbj. you be safe out there while patrolling the streets.

Yes, defense attorneys will challenge it and everything else- that is their job. In this case it's called the "Best Evidence Rule", authentication and foundation. As long as those requirements (admissible exceptions) are met that evidence can come in. The above poster has a very good system in his jurisdiction. I hope all PDs follow that.

Here, historically traffic violations were offenses the officer had to witness. However with the use of cellphone video and dash video, I am not sure that is still the case. Again as long as the proper foundation is laid..I don't see a reason to exclude it..

thanks. :beer: