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To add to the stupidity of my attempt to fight a wrongly issued ticket, I received a letter the AZ Department of Public Safety last night.

I filed a complaint with DPS due to the ticketing officer’s (that would be Officer Gamboa) conduct NOT because I got a ticket.  As he handed me the ticket, and I quote “Don’t even think of challenging this ticket.  If you do, I’ll up it (passing in a no passing zone) to criminal wreckless driving, you’ll lose your license, and you could go to jail.”  Bullshit.  Just as it is any officers perogative to issue a ticket, its my right to challenge its issuance.  Of course, as linked above, the cards are stacked against you to challenge an officer’s word in court.

After the complaint was filed, I received a phone call from a Sergeant Wander with the DPS.  He interviewed me regarding my incident and gave me the impression that Officer Gamboa was in the wrong.  His quote to me was “I tell my officers to either lecture and don’t give a ticket or give a ticket and don’t lecture.”  Sage words actually, and I agree 100%.

Without further suspense, here is the letter I received:

Dear Angrybob,
The Arizona Department of Public Safety has received your complain alleging misconduct on the part of one of our officers. Your allegation was the result of acontact you had with Officer Gamboa on November 5th, 2007.

Based on your conversation with Sergeant Wander this complaint will be closed. We have determined Officer Gamboa was performing his duties in a manner which was consistent with department policies and protocols.

In conclusion, we thank youfor bringing this matter to our attention and allowing us to respond. We regret any inconvenience this incident may have caused but now consider this matter closed.

Again, we have the result of my word versus his.  No cop lies to cover their ass.  Ever.  EVER, in the eyes of the law enforcement brotherhood.  This, again, is total crap.  It doesn’t matter how many times I swear that it happened as I said.  There is a pattern of CYA and its not going to change.  This matter is closed.

As a public service, I will offer advice on what to do if you truly have a complaint to file on an officer.  Sergeant Wander asked me a question for which I was not prepared.  He asked me “What do you want out of this?  What do you want me to do?”  I never thought it was up to me. I thought I file the complaint, and they in turn do something.

ADVICE:  Tell the interviewing officer that you want your complaint filed in the offending officer’s permanent file.  Period.  In my case, it obviously would not have mattered.