Raritan 911: Robocop

This happened over the weekend.
An officer had a short pursuit of a young adult. Not high speed, just refused to stop. Not drunk, not high. Kid gets arrested for the eluding, which is a second degree crime with the presumption of jail time.
Afterwards, the kid posted this video to Facebook. He's a bright one...

I like the reply from who I assume is a friend of the mother:
..., YOUR SON NEEDS PSYCHIATRIC HELP. STOP SITTING IDLY BY AND LETTING HIM EMBARRASS HIMSELF ONLINE. HE IS YOUR SON AND NEEDS TO BE COMMITTED. HE IS A DRUG ADDICT AND SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTROL WITHOUT MEDICATION! IGNORING THE PROBLEM IS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT GO AWAY!
 
I like the reply from who I assume is a friend of the mother:
..., YOUR SON NEEDS PSYCHIATRIC HELP. STOP SITTING IDLY BY AND LETTING HIM EMBARRASS HIMSELF ONLINE. HE IS YOUR SON AND NEEDS TO BE COMMITTED. HE IS A DRUG ADDICT AND SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTROL WITHOUT MEDICATION! IGNORING THE PROBLEM IS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT GO AWAY!

Yeah that's pretty telling, isn't it?
 
As much as it is stupid I feel like this could be one of those cases of a young kid doing something stupid and could be shown some leniency.
 
As much as it is stupid I feel like this could be one of those cases of a young kid doing something stupid and could be shown some leniency.

Could. Won't doe. I'm sure the judge will not find the humor in the video.
 
@Zaskar - haha, is that the FuckJerry account in Instagram?

The video was hardly...well, anything at all. Given that he was picked up with no evidence of being under any influence, I think the hysterics on the Facebook post are a little over the top. In fact, to me, it seems more telling about the poster than the target.
 
without going into any specifics, when running a plate,
is there "other information" about the owner(s)/registrant of the car - not just the DMV info?

ie - firearms permit, fishing license, registered voter, psych background?
you already know if the car is registered or not, do you already know if there is active insurance on a nj vehicle?
Last time it was inspected?

not that the owner is always driving, but you see what i'm getting at. in the world of data, you could know
when the last time the oil was changed....

---

we were pulled over by an unmarked car in ledgewood, maybe 35ish years ago - 11pm. no red lights, no siren, just flashing headlights.
we didn't pull over for a minute or so - he finally pulled up along side of us, and turned on his interior light. He was pissed.
Glad we were sober, and didn't give him a reason to get more upset after we calmly explained our reasoning. i wasn't driving for a change.
 
we were pulled over by an unmarked car in ledgewood, maybe 35ish years ago - 11pm. no red lights, no siren, just flashing headlights.
we didn't pull over for a minute or so - he finally pulled up along side of us, and turned on his interior light. He was pissed.

Not sure if things were different 35 years ago but I thought it was illegal to pull ppl over in a unmarked car...
 
What was the kids reason for not pulling over?...I was doing nothing wrong.

I didn't get to hear all of the convo about this pursuit as we were in shift briefing at the time, but the general consensus is he had no reason for doing it other than documenting it for the cool factor.


@Zaskar - haha, is that the FuckJerry account in Instagram?

The video was hardly...well, anything at all. Given that he was picked up with no evidence of being under any influence, I think the hysterics on the Facebook post are a little over the top. In fact, to me, it seems more telling about the poster than the target.

I assume the posters know more about the kid than we do. To us this is an isolated incident but to them I'm sure this fits a pattern of behavior that adds to their concern about him. I've decided that 90% of the people I deal with have some sort of mental health issue going on. It could be a small one, but it's there. I mean...who does some of the things I've posted about here without having at least a sliver of something listed in the DSM-5?


without going into any specifics, when running a plate,
is there "other information" about the owner(s)/registrant of the car - not just the DMV info?

ie - firearms permit, fishing license, registered voter, psych background?
you already know if the car is registered or not, do you already know if there is active insurance on a nj vehicle?
Last time it was inspected?

not that the owner is always driving, but you see what i'm getting at. in the world of data, you could know
when the last time the oil was changed....

---

we were pulled over by an unmarked car in ledgewood, maybe 35ish years ago - 11pm. no red lights, no siren, just flashing headlights.
we didn't pull over for a minute or so - he finally pulled up along side of us, and turned on his interior light. He was pissed.
Glad we were sober, and didn't give him a reason to get more upset after we calmly explained our reasoning. i wasn't driving for a change.

Firearms. No. Fishing license. No. Voter. No. Mental health info. No. Insurance. No. Well, in some states yes but not NJ. Inspection. No.

I can tell if they have an unpaid traffic warrant, a restraining order against them, or are a wanted person in the US. Oh and recently if they are suspected of being a terrorist or on a terrorist watch list.

It's a primitive database and that's by design. Judges have prevented us from having all that information in one fell swoop. I'm not even allowed to run a full registration inquiry unless I have a reasonable suspicion that a motor vehicle offense has occurred or I can articulate why I need the info for a criminal justice purpose (suspicious vehicle investigation for example). Otherwise, I have to run a limited plate inquiry that only tells me year, make, model, color, and if the registration is valid. If it's not valid then I get the full look up information instead. In 49 other states, the police get the full look up information on every vehicle because you are driving on public roadways. Gotta love NJ!


Not sure if things were different 35 years ago but I thought it was illegal to pull ppl over in a unmarked car...

This is untrue. I have stopped people in unmarked cars, parks department vehicles, and bicycle. All legal. I just need a red or red/blue light and an audible device to be involved in a pursuit.
 
I assume the posters know more about the kid than we do. To us this is an isolated incident but to them I'm sure this fits a pattern of behavior that adds to their concern about him. I've decided that 90% of the people I deal with have some sort of mental health issue going on. It could be a small one, but it's there. I mean...who does some of the things I've posted about here without having at least a sliver of something listed in the DSM-5?

This was essentially a kid, right? I mean he looked like he was 17. And to me it looked like he was really just showing off for friends/facebook. In the end, an idiot, to be sure. I have done some pretty f'ing dumb things in my history. The vast majority I got away with. But not all of them. The reality was this. I truly did not give 2 fucks about anything at the time. BUt I was smart enough not to videotape myself doing them. Though back then, the video cameras were still like 40 pounds.

I think your 90% estimate is low. I think every human is fucked up in some way. Teenagers especially.

Really, I don't know anyone who would post all caps on someone's Facebook page like that. Can you ever see yourself doing that?
 
This was essentially a kid, right? I mean he looked like he was 17. And to me it looked like he was really just showing off for friends/facebook. In the end, an idiot, to be sure. I have done some pretty f'ing dumb things in my history. The vast majority I got away with. But not all of them. The reality was this. I truly did not give 2 fucks about anything at the time. BUt I was smart enough not to videotape myself doing them. Though back then, the video cameras were still like 40 pounds.

I think your 90% estimate is low. I think every human is fucked up in some way. Teenagers especially.

Really, I don't know anyone who would post all caps on someone's Facebook page like that. Can you ever see yourself doing that?

90% probably is low. And when they reach that crisis level of fuckedupness, they usually come in contact with law enforcement. Sometimes with tragic outcomes.

Essentially a kid. But over 18 so you can go to the big boy slammer since legally you are an adult. I hear what you are saying and understand your position. But this was a second degree crime and there's a good chance he is going to pay dearly for it. If I was the arresting officer and thought there was a legitimate mental health issue here (if I had firsthand knowledge he was screwed up), I would contact the prosecutor's office, request he be indicted on the third degree eluding charge instead of second degree (if you violate any motor vehicle statutes during the pursuit it bumps it up to a second; who doesn't roll a stop sign, not signal a lane change, or speed during a pursuit?). If indicted on the third degree, they could enter him into a diversionary program and mandate counseling/treatment/probation/something which is really what this kid (I mean young adult) needs. Hopefully this will be the outcome of this incident.

I thought the use of caps in this context was not horrible.

I read it the same way. Genuine concern. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS, MOM, BEFORE YOUR KIDS KILLS HIMSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE.
 
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