Question for the LEOs

[tvc184]

.... and in my department officer's have all legal discretion on citations except for accidents where they will issue all citations. By policy there is no leeway in not taking action.

[DFWPI]

If you're luck you have a hungry assistant da they may could still show him the error of his ways!! Good luck.

Not too hungry here in DFW area. Unless you are a father that takes away his 12-year-old daughter's cell phone as punishment for sending inappropriate text messages. That, you wind up in a jury trial.

[Texastaxi]

I work midnights, and i run across probably an average of 5 DWLI every night. Our jail would be clogged up with em if I arrested them all. DWLI gets a ticket and on their way ...

So, you give them a ticket for driving without a license, and then let them get back behind the wheel?

[PSD Ryan]

Yep. Not enough room to jail them all, and arrests/reports eat up manpower. You can't fix everything. I wish we could take every drunk off the road too, but if we all got a drunk on Friday night, we'd all be off the street for 3 hours, and there'd be nobody to handle calls. You have to prioritize and find a balance in enforcement.

Society has decided the seriousness of dwli is class c. Stealing under $100 in value is class c, and everyone hates a thief.

Nobody gets a warning from me for dwli or FMFR. That's the best i can do to enforce that stuff and still be available to handle "real crime"

[Tower43]

My son was hit by a non-English speaking driver with no driver's license at all who blew through a yield sign.
He was driving his sister's truck, which was insured, and I've already gotten a check for a new Ranchhand replacement bumper to replace the one he bent. No other damage on my truck, but his had substantial damage.

Long story short, the cop said that no citation could be given because the vehicles had been moved from the scene and he didn't witness the unlicensed driver actually driving.

I received what was owed to me, so I'm good on my part, but I think it's total BS that unlicensed drivers are basically not punished.
I was concerned that the insurance was not going to be valid, so the cop checked it twice with dispatch.
Off to the side, he told me that "those people" usually don't get driver's license because the penalty isn't very harsh, but "they" will keep insurance because the vehicle gets towed if the insurance isn't valid.

He was just being lazy, you issue the citation and use the other driver as the witness otherwise no one would ever get a ticket for a crash unless the Leo saw it. If the other driver is a no show in court the case is dropped

Sorry cop was lazy or just told you that was the reason to cover for something else he didn't want to tell you

Blocking cars on minor accidents bothers me, move them the police don't care what happened and do t need to see it

[trailboss]

Don't be surprised if the girlfriend's insurance doesn't pay for the accident as he was not licensed to drive and most insurance clauses state licensed drivers...

Not true. Unless he was named specifically as an excluded driver - the policy will pay same as if the policy owner was driving, assuming he was driving with owner's permission.

Trailboss

[denowt]

He was just being lazy, you issue the citation and use the other driver as the witness otherwise no one would ever get a ticket for a crash unless the Leo saw it. If the other driver is a no show in court the case is dropped



Sorry cop was lazy or just told you that was the reason to cover for something else he didn't want to tell you



Blocking cars on minor accidents bothers me, move them the police don't care what happened and do t need to see it

Kind of what I thought, but I wasn't going to allow my son to miss school to go to court as a witness for a non-licensed driver.

I got what i needed from their insurance company.
I just thought it was funny that someone without a license admitted to a cop that they were driving, but nothing was done to them.

[tvc184]

He was just being lazy, you issue the citation and use the other driver as the witness otherwise no one would ever get a ticket for a crash unless the Leo saw it. If the other driver is a no show in court the case is dropped

Sorry cop was lazy or just told you that was the reason to cover for something else he didn't want to tell you

Blocking cars on minor accidents bothers me, move them the police don't care what happened and do t need to see it

.... or make a DWI arrest at an accident scene.



I have heard officers try to fall back on Chapter 14 of the CCP under:

CHAPTER 14. ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT

Art. 14.01. OFFENSE WITHIN VIEW.
(b) A peace officer may arrest an offender without a warrant for any offense committed in his presence or within his view.



Of course in that same chapter if a person reads down a little further, it other offenses that do not have to be "in view".



But.........



Go over to the Transportation Code and in the very first sections it says:



SUBTITLE C. RULES OF THE ROAD

CHAPTER 543. ARREST AND PROSECUTION OF VIOLATORS

SUBCHAPTER A. ARREST AND CHARGING PROCEDURES; NOTICES AND PROMISES TO APPEAR

Sec. 543.001. ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT AUTHORIZED. Any peace officer may arrest without warrant a person found committing a violation of this subtitle.

It does not say "within view" but only "found committing" the violation. That is where the witnesses come in.


Chapter 14 CCP is a general rule to apply in all situations not specifically mentioned in other chapters. There are many such situations in the law where something means one thing in one chapter but the definition or circumstance changes in another. As an example is the definition of "premises" as often discussed under weapons laws. In Chapter 46 of the Penal Code will be found a phrase like "in this chapter" meaning that the following definition is to only be used in that specific law.

There is a Latin term and principle in the law, lex specialis derogat generali, that translates to "the specific over the general". This is such a case where the general law says the officers should be within view or presence of an offense but a different law states that under those specific laws it must only be "found" that the person was in violation.