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http://www.ktrv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9990412
The video is great, can't find a link for it but caught it on the news last night. The look on the cops faces as they are being video taped cracks me up! About time! Talk about being a marked man though...
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Nampa, Idaho--- Use your signal before turning in traffic -- it's a basic rule of the road. The average Idaho driver can expect to be pulled over, even ticketed for a moving violation, but who's enforcing the rules when it comes to police and other public employees?
One Nampa man says he has proof they're breaking the law and often getting away with it. Mark Steven's has it all on tape.
"I just feel like I as a citizen am being held at a higher standard than the police officer," explained Stevens.
He admits his passion for taping traffic on the streets of Nampa started after he got a ticket for failing to signal during a turn. That's not what's bugging him, though -- this is. Stevens' video shows a different Nampa officer repeatedly breaking the same rule Stevens was ticketed for.
"Oh, it looks like he's willing to give tickets for something he's willing to do himself," joked Stevens.
Stevens showed us all the video he shot during his research. He documented a fire truck failing to signal and confronted a city officer.
"When you turned off the street onto the parking lot, you didn't use your blinker," he told the surprised worker.
Stevens says it took two weeks to get an audience with Nampa's mayor and police chief. And after two days, we were unable to get either the mayor or police chief on camera, but they both did send out memo's to employees stating that "when someone follows any city vehicle, that person should be seeing an exact example of what is required by the state driving rules."
We were also able to get an e-mailed response from Nampa Police Chief Augsburger saying, "I have referred the complaint in which our officer was seen making an 'unsignaled lane change' to my deputy chief of operations for corrective action on that officer."
What exactly that corrective action is, we don't know, and neither does Stevens.
"I think it's the first step. It's minimal," he said.
As for the drivers of public vehicles, we are still not able to get a response regarding that from the city. But not to worry, Stevens isn't putting away the video camera, yet. He still has one more big goal to reach.
"I'd like to see tickets given out freely and equally," he said.
Stevens is also documenting what he calls a lack of crosswalks in downtown Nampa, especially right around city hall. He says city leaders need to make more of an effort to insure public safety, by funding better sidewalks and signage for pedestrians and by making sure all drivers are held accountable for their behavior on the road.
The video is great, can't find a link for it but caught it on the news last night. The look on the cops faces as they are being video taped cracks me up! About time! Talk about being a marked man though...
_____________________________________________________________
Nampa, Idaho--- Use your signal before turning in traffic -- it's a basic rule of the road. The average Idaho driver can expect to be pulled over, even ticketed for a moving violation, but who's enforcing the rules when it comes to police and other public employees?
One Nampa man says he has proof they're breaking the law and often getting away with it. Mark Steven's has it all on tape.
"I just feel like I as a citizen am being held at a higher standard than the police officer," explained Stevens.
He admits his passion for taping traffic on the streets of Nampa started after he got a ticket for failing to signal during a turn. That's not what's bugging him, though -- this is. Stevens' video shows a different Nampa officer repeatedly breaking the same rule Stevens was ticketed for.
"Oh, it looks like he's willing to give tickets for something he's willing to do himself," joked Stevens.
Stevens showed us all the video he shot during his research. He documented a fire truck failing to signal and confronted a city officer.
"When you turned off the street onto the parking lot, you didn't use your blinker," he told the surprised worker.
Stevens says it took two weeks to get an audience with Nampa's mayor and police chief. And after two days, we were unable to get either the mayor or police chief on camera, but they both did send out memo's to employees stating that "when someone follows any city vehicle, that person should be seeing an exact example of what is required by the state driving rules."
We were also able to get an e-mailed response from Nampa Police Chief Augsburger saying, "I have referred the complaint in which our officer was seen making an 'unsignaled lane change' to my deputy chief of operations for corrective action on that officer."
What exactly that corrective action is, we don't know, and neither does Stevens.
"I think it's the first step. It's minimal," he said.
As for the drivers of public vehicles, we are still not able to get a response regarding that from the city. But not to worry, Stevens isn't putting away the video camera, yet. He still has one more big goal to reach.
"I'd like to see tickets given out freely and equally," he said.
Stevens is also documenting what he calls a lack of crosswalks in downtown Nampa, especially right around city hall. He says city leaders need to make more of an effort to insure public safety, by funding better sidewalks and signage for pedestrians and by making sure all drivers are held accountable for their behavior on the road.
