What can off-duty cop do?

[dopey915]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Virginia

I was driving home from work on the interstate after dark with one carpool buddy. We were not aware of having cut anyone off, or any other infraction. When I got into the exit ramp for my normal exit, a vehicle pulled in right behind me and tailgated. Looked like a normal civilian vehicle (no police lights, no siren, not flashing headlights, not beeping horn). Both lanes of the off ramp had vehicles, I'm in the right lane. The other vehicle at one point moved onto the right shoulder, looking like he wanted to pass. I was able to change lanes (with turn signal) to the left lane, figuring he wanted to get by. He veered back into the right lane and then immediately behind me. I merged onto the main road (no traffic was coming), stayed to the left, and made a normal left turn (with turn signal). I did my usual turn-around in a parking lot, and then pulled up next to my carpool buddy's car. The other vehicle was tailing me very close the whole time, even through the parking lot. I called 911, and reported an aggressive driver following me for no apparent reason. The 911 dispatcher said that an off-duty cop (from another county-Arlington to be exact) said he had reported a traffic violation on my car to 911. When I stopped by my buddy's car, the other vehicle cut in front of me and stopped, blocking my ability to proceed on. The guy in the other vehicle got out of his car, and showed a star-shaped badge, but he didn't make any attempt to come over to my vehicle, show photo id, etc. So although I'm pretty sure he was a real cop, he never showed anything to prove it. The local Fairfax city cops arrived, and of course they were buddy-buddy with the other guy. One of the local cops asked for my license and registration, which I gave him. He came back several minutes later and asked for my side of the story, which I gave him. He said that the off-duty cop told him that I cut him off several times on the interstate (I didn't; I signaled every lane change and made sure there was safe space), and that I gave him the finger (I didn't at all). I could see in my rear view mirror that all the cops (including the off-duty cop) were chatting, and I think writing something down; I thought I would be getting a ticket for something. After several more minutes, the other guy left, and I heard him say "thanks, guys" to the city cops. Then a few more minutes later, the city cop came over, returned my license and registration, and said that since there was no traffic violation in their jurisdiction, they weren't going to do anything, and simply said to "be more careful". The parting comment by the city cop was that they didn't have any control over the original off-duty cop, and that he could get a warrant. So my question after this long-winded story is, what can the off-duty cop do, and if he can get a warrant issued, what will happen...arrest? Simple mail notification? Is there anything I should do now before a warrant is issued? Do I have grounds for police harassment or unlawful detainment (since he was off-duty, and never showed picture identification)? Thanks for your advice.

 

[Bravo8]

**Sigh**

Harassment, like "entrapment", seems to be one of the most misunderstood legal terms on this forum.

Harassment generally requires repeated acts which serve no legitimate purpose. His following you to help identify you to responding officers is certainly a legitimate purpose, even if you deny the accusations he has lodged against you.

Secondly, what do you call a badge? I call it identification. A picture ID is little more than a badge of another kind. I made the ID cards for my department on our computer in about 10 minutes, and anyone else could do the same, so picture ID proves nothing. It's immaterial anyway, since his "detainment" of you seems minimal, if at all. And the fact that he was off-duty doesn't matter.

From reading your account, what seems to have happened was you committed a traffic offense (or he claims you did) in a jurisdiction other than the one where you finally stopped. The responding officers had no jurisdiction, but the off-duty officer does (provided the location of the alleged offense was within his jurisdiction).

 

[dopey915]

Follow-up What can off-duty cop do?

Virginia.

I'm not asking about harassment. I'm asking about process. What happens (or is likely to happen) next? Is there anything I can do to find out if the off-duty cop is going to (or has) taken any action (like writing a ticket, sought a warrant, etc.)?

As for id, we have had several recent cases in this area where an individual pulled a car over, displayed a badge, even had emergency lights on his vehicle, and ended up robbing the person they pulled over. The authorities around here are preaching that if you are ever pulled over like that to insist on seeing a picture id, and if unsure, continue driving safely to a public area or police station. In my case, the individual had no emergency lights displayed, and I would have proceeded (since he didn't show me a picture id) except that his car blocked me in.

 

[kevinnc]

Almost the exact same thing happened to me a few weeks ago, also in VA. I talked to a lawyer and he said that if they were going to do anything, they most likely would have done it then. They are probably just trying to make an impression on you.

 

[tipdrill]

File a complaint stating you thought you were a victim of road rage and were in fear of your safety.