ID Badges

Can the police give tickets in plain clothes showing only a badge and refusing to show further id?

I was pulled over by a policeman in plain clothes in a minivan, with, I think, his wife in the passenger seat. Story goes, He wouldn't allow me to get into his lane. I would speed up so would he. I would slow down so would he. So i flipped him the bird. He then lets me in. I had no idea he was RCMP. He pulls me over gets out with a jacket and jeans and flashes his badge yelling he is RCMP. I ask for more ID and he says no. I ask why I was pulled over and what I am being charged for and he says " you gave me the finger" He comes back and gives me a $402 fine for stunting. I said to him that this is wrong and it is bullshi* he then smiles and says have a good day. In my proffesion I work with the police in investigating Methlabs, terrorist attacks, ect I have the utmost respect for them, I would never in a thousand years flip a policeman the finger. How can they take advantage of us when they have a bad day? A Note: the traffic act in no way says that you can't flip someone the bird.

Public Comments

1. No I think that I wouldn't pull over if it was someone in a minivan. I would fight it. I think that I would go to court and explain the situation fully.
2. I am not sure what Canadian law is, however, in The States, Plain Clothes Officers in unmarked cars issue Tickets daily. Make a mental note, if The RCMP are like Police in the States, if you see a vehicle with tinted windows or a huge SUV with tinted windows, then more than likely it is an unmarked Police vehicle If it is light out, and you look closely enough, you can see the led lights in the back window, on the dash, and the led lights in the grill before they turn them to flash.
3. They can but its highly suspiscous ! you could report him for fraud... But maybe he was if he had a badge & fines. He might have been a previous policeman that was demoted and wanted to get back in the spotlight.
4. I think the officer is totally in the wrong, and what he did was roadrage. But, theres not much you can do unless you were taping the incident. If someone else was with you, you can try to plead your case in court, but you may not get anywhere. Even in plain clothes, an officer can pull you and give you a ticket. But his actions were rude and go against everything an officer is supposed to be. Things like this is why officers have such a bad rep
5. The first thing I would do is to call or take your ticket in to the police station and ask if anyone there recognizes the signature on the bottom of the ticket. If no one recognizes the name I would start the paperwork to file a complaint. Next I would check with city and state ordinances to see if an off duty officer who refuses to show identification when asked is allowed to issue tickets. Good luck.
6. Did the van have the flashing lights? I once read somewhere if your getting pulled over by an unmarked car to pull over somewhere safe where other people are around like a grocery store parking lot. And if dont want to pull over, to call 911 from your cell phone and report that a suspicious car is following you and your afraid to pull over.
7. that was not a cop, I hope you didn't give him your address or phone number.
8. There was an episode on Rescue 911 where a woman was driving and a man in a car flashed a badge at her when he pulled up beside her. She was concerned and had a car phone or cell phone or whatever. So she called 911 and started to report him. He fled and she followed and tracked him allowing the police to catch him He was not a cop at all and they did not know where he got the badge. Just because someone flashes a badge, there is no gaurantee in that situation that he/ she is a cop. Be very careful, alert the RCMP and if he does turn out to really be a cop, stand up for yourself in court. You had no way of knowing he was a cop so you treated him like any other person, you didn't disrespect his authority because he didn't have anything indicating his authority when you flipped him off until he flashed his badge after the fact. He shouldn't be treated any better than anyone else, just because he is a cop, unless he is in the process of talking to you and you know he is a cop. Then you must respect his authority.