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Was it a female cop? wink

Actually, yes, it was a female cop.

Well, that's what I think as well, Ihab. I confess I was ignorant of the "complete stop" rule regarding a blinking red light at an unfinished intersection, and there's no defense for ignorance. But given the circumstances, and the non-existant traffic flow, isn't it a little unfair? I understand the concept of Rule Of Law, and appreciate enforcers to a great degree. But police discretion can be both dangerous and advantageous. Unfortunately compassion isn't a requisite for carrying a gun and badge, apparently.

But there's some cynical chord in me that resonates another tune..

The fact (or myth?) that they have a quota of work (tickets) to be done. And to satisfy that quota, isn't it possible they can be exceedingly particular one day, and absolutely leniant the next? Not only influenced by mood, but financial or simmilar incentives as well? I often wonder. Is justice really helped by beaurocracy, or hindered by it?

You bring up an interesting point, Deimos.
It is actually surprisng how much things like their mood can affect how they handle certain cases.
I saw a video once of police officer who was obviously having a bad day. He pulled a woman over because she was speeding or something. It took her awhile to actually stop and when she did, he ran over, gun drawn, and yanked her out of the car, breaking a rib and something else too. All because she was speeding a little bit.
That's a pretty extreme example, but it's not so uncommon. I'd like to think that our police are pretty good though. In Brazil, police officers are above the law, most of the time. Sometimes they randomly kill poor people. Especially children. One time a security guard shot and killed a friend of my girlfriends at a party she was going to go to but didn't. That was years ago though, and he wasn't really a cop.

The point I'm getting at here, is that as the enforcers of the law, they are often able to be exempt from the law. Not just in Brazil, but anywhere, really. I mean, who polices the police? What's stoping them from using their authority to do whatever they want to? Morals? Some ethical code that they may or may not have?
Unfortunately we don't all come packaged with things like that.

If a cop is off duty and they, let's say, park in a No Parking zone... would he or she get a ticket? *ponders*

You should have tried to flirt your way out of it, D. What woman could resist your roguish charms? wink And she had handcuffs, no less...

O RLY? Quite close, then. I'm on Vancouver Island.

Coming back to the police subject. Once a police car was going the opposite way in a one say street, so he "accidentally" bumped a bit into my car and left a big scratch on the side. My dad was so furious that he started chasing after the police car while trying to follow the street rules, but it was hard, since the police car wasn't even respecting a single law of the street. mad

Yep! And Ihabia's, and CiF's, and Slipkn0t's, and death-light's, and MOJO's, and Pal's, and DanceLink's, and a lot of other peoples'. ^.^ The point is, Deimos happens to be on the better our half.

Oh dear, got SO drunk last night... cottage parties rock. Puked twice there (thank God I found the bathroom in time! sweatdrop ) and twice today. Apparently my tummy didn't even like water. Or Tums. Ew. cheese_whine