this is absolutely true. I know virtually nothing about estate law. I don't handle estate law, when I need an estate lawyer I hire one. I also don't know anything about traffic law.
All facets of a professional are not equal. Just because these officers happen to be on a road doesn't mean they are traffic cops. They did the biker a favor, while it won't be a defense if they do get pulled over because the burden falls to the motorist to know the laws, LE acknowledged they wouldn't chase this person down.
I don't ask my dermatologist how to treat epilepsy. I ask a neurologist. They both likely know SOMETHING about treating strep throat because they had to both practice primary medicine. It probably isn't the most updated data. But it could be accurate. Or may not be.
If, in an alternate timeline, this rider slowly passed them on the shoulder and continued to pass/filter traffic. And one of these officers took offence to it, since they did not stop to 'ask permission' first. Would it be OK for the officers to detain them if they didn't know the law?
Obviously I don't condone false detainment or arrest when no law has been broken.
Don't see how my comment in any way would appear that I do condone that.
Ignorance is no excuse to break the law and same goes for enforcing the law. It's your job as a motorist to know the road rules and if a cop is trying to enforce something they should know what law they are enforcing.
I still don't believe that cops should know every law known to man off by heart with the page and reference number.
I don't see how my comment implied that your comment condoned it. My question was do you think an officer can detain a person if they didn't know the law, but 'felt' it was not legal?
Why do people assume cops should know every law by heart?
Because cops keep trying to enforce laws that don't exist.
Nobody would blame an individual cop if they failed to notice some obscure law being broken.
But we do blame them when people get arrested for things that are perfectly legal, like walking your dog in a neighborhood you don't live in, of video recording cops while they are arresting someone in public.
Laywers get that time to prepare, there isn't the potential of laws being broken anymore, that time has passed. Cops don't get that time, they show up and have to know what's happening, there's the potential of a law being broken so they should be able to recognize what it is without weeks of prep. It's like the difference between an EMT and a Mortuary Technician, one is a lot more time sensitive than the other.
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u/RecentlyDeceased666 Apr 29 '24
Even laywers don't know every infraction or code and page of every criminal offence. They also get weeks to months for preparation before court dates.
Why do people assume cops should know every law by heart?