slamkeys

Haha - yeah, those cameras seem to have that effect on people. Whenever a delivery person or solicitor comes to my front door they always look directly into the camera mounted by the door. It's almost comical because sometimes it completely changes the countenance of the person when they realize they are being filmed.

For myself, I tend to look at the cameras out of concern for operational status. I live in a pretty rough neighborhood, which is why I had them installed in the first place. I came home late (2:45am) from work on July 3rd, 2013 to find 2 thugs breaking into my neighbor's work truck, trying to steal his GPS gear. I put on my bright lights and honked my horn to try and scare them off, but before they drove off the taller one pulled out a .40 cal handgun and fired off 4 rounds in my direction.

The police never did catch those guys, but we did find all 4 brass casings in front of my driveway. I had the surveillance system installed a week later.

The funny thing is: if those thugs hadn't shot at me that night, I wouldn't have installed the cameras that prove I use my seat belt every time I leave my house. Still, it's B.S. that we are all so vulnerable to cops who don't play by the rules.

For example, Pham's statement on the ticket, which incidentally you don't get to see on the actual ticket - it's on a copy I received as part of my FOIA request, says I drove by him at 20mph and he saw a buckle against the seat and no strap across my chest. That is a complete fabrication and very dishonest. The speed limit on Jones Rd. is 45mph, and I was doing every bit of that when I passed him. He lowered his speed estimate to make it more plausible that he could actually see verifiable details inside a moving vehicle with factory window tint, and on a very sunny day at 1:06pm when the sun is high in the sky and glare is an issue.

Furthermore, when the driver's seat belt on a 2002 GMC Yukon is in the unused position, the buckle stop is at the waist position, and cannot be seen from car level outside the vehicle. Couple that with the fact that the belt protrudes from the front of the seat and not the pillar, and there is even less of a chance that you could make a positive assessment without viewing the cabin from the driver's side of the vehicle.

I have also gone back to the location where Pham's car was parked and made my own HD videos of my truck passing by at 45mph and 20mph and you can see the huge difference between those speeds. Any veteran traffic cop who doesn't know the difference between 20mph and 45mph really needs to find another career. Have you ever slowed down for a school zone, or for that matter your sub-division (usually 20mph)? That is a snail's pace for a big truck like a Yukon.

We watched our drive-by videos multiple times and couldn't actually tell whether I was wearing a seatbelt or not until we used my daughter's iPhone 6 which has a super-smooth slow-motion capability, and then we could clearly see the belt fastened when I drove by. Maybe the cops should start mounting iPhone 6 cameras to the dash.

The worst part of all this is now I am considering options for installing video cameras in all my vehicles to protect myself from the police because nobody is taken at their word anymore. The winner is the one with the most proof, because in a battle between a citizen and an official, the citizen isn't to be believed.

Pham quotes of the day:

"It's not OK to put it on after you see me." (you see? He's covered all the bases)
"Tell it to the judge." (I will)
"I don't have to show you anything." (when asked to show me his video proof, but thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, I now have that video for all the world to see)

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (25)

Them thugs sound like they were messing with the right guy. Many I know would have been up and ready to fire back. But, this is assuming you were facing dead in and utilizing your headlights to blind them and make things easier for you.

slamkeys

It was a strange night when I came across those "kids." I say kids, but they looked to me like kids in the sense that Treyvon was a kid - 6' tall with facial hair kids. I think now that they were older but still dressing like kids.

When I got to my subdivision that morning at 2:45 am, I wanted to see if I could hear a rattling that my Yukon started making that sounded like a loose catalytic converter, so I slowed down to about 5 mph as I drove next to a long fence in hopes it would amplify the sound, which it did. It turned out to be the passenger-side converter that was rattling, and I have since replaced it.

Long story short, I think the slow driving along that fence was what allowed me to drive up right on those boys before they knew I was coming. The stupid thing for them was they parked their getaway car right in the middle of the street where my neighbor's 1 ton Dodge dually work truck was parked along the curb. This completely blocked any traffic from passing through that part of the road, so I was not even able to pull in to my driveway on the other side of their car.

I was basically stopped with no weapon, no cell phone (don't use one), and no route to drive except maybe backwards. Now, thinking these were just juveniles out playing "midnight auto" my first instinct was to scare them away.

I did manage to catch them before they loaded anything into their car, so my neighbor was only out a driver's side window this time (the thieves seem to like work trucks I guess because they've hit his work trucks at least 5 times over the years since I've lived there).

But, when the tall one stuck his arm out of the getaway car and began firing I had a slow-motion moment because he had already fired 3 shots before I got the notion to duck. If he knew what he was doing with a gun I'd be a dead man for sure. It was almost like when you see a bad car wreck - for some reason you just have to look, and when I saw the orange flames coming out of his gun I was in such disbelief that I couldn't stop watching.

I did manage to get 5 of the letters on the license plate, but the police never figured out a match.

Also, these guys were caught on somebody else's home surveillance system a couple of months before my encounter, and actually shot a homeowner in the shoulder when he confronted them. The shooter must have been aiming at his head because the homeowner was on the ground and rolled over and put his arm up when he saw the gun aiming at him, and the bullet hit his shoulder instead.

I can't believe these newscasts are still posted, but here they are:

This is the other guy's story:
http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Cypre...213588621.html


This is my story, but I'll say up front that I never even knew my wife agreed to be interviewed here because I was at work. I would never have agreed to it because all they wanted to do was sensationalize it and make me out to be some kind of vigilante who "took the law into his own hands" and "chased the bad guys" which is completely false. Like I said, all I wanted to do was go home and go to bed, and these idiots blocked the roadway so I couldn't pass. There was no chasing of any kind - just stopping and honking. At any rate, you can see my wife and neighbors in this laughable news clip:
http://www.khou.com/news/local/Burgl...214096601.html

Still Kickin

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (25)

Well, I've seen things of that nature cause people to familiarize themselves with firearms and purchase them. Not everyone is the same, but when crap hits the fan, maybe because of training and personal experiences, my body goes to full alert and things change. The "on" switch is surely engaged. I hope I never have to shoot anyone, but if I had to, their chances of not being hit are little to none if they don't catch me by surprise.

Glad you are not the one with the gunshot wound or worse. Feel bad for your neighbor.

codyvette

iTrader: (24)

This is the exact reason it is up to each individual to realize owning a gun responsibly is a good thing. These guys hit more than once. It could be someone else's child that gets it next by these same people. I would feel somewhat responsible if I let someone walk in this situation and later they got someone else. If they are shot and killed in self defense that can't happen to someone's child in the future, at least not by that dead ****.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (25)

I Like the way you think. Wish more Americans were like you.

slamkeys

Does anybody know what happened to al? It looks like he hasn't posted here for about 8 months now.

slamkeys

BTW - just a heads up, now is Click It or Ticket time, and I'm thinking about buying one of those big furry seat belt pads (maybe in bright pink) so Pham can't get me again.

The campaign started on Monday and lasts through the end of the month:

AUSTIN –The Texas Department of Transportation reminds drivers that law enforcement officers across the state will be out in full force May 18-31 issuing tickets to drivers and passengers who are not wearing seat belts. Widely known as TxDOT’s annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign, the two-week enforcement period reminds all vehicle occupants that non-compliance with statewide seat belt and child safety seat laws can result in fines up to $250.

I guess Pham targeted me before the actual campaign kicked off as a kind of head start on all his buddies. What the news clip doesn't tell you is:

"... officers across the state will be out in full force May 18-31 issuing seat belt tickets to anybody they please, because drivers have no defense against an officer who says they put the belt on after they got caught."

scout2000

The great thing about driving an older LS powered vehicle is not having to worry about crap like this. Not that it completely lets me off the hook. But I can add modern updates and safety items as I see fit, vs someone else.

slamkeys

I really think this might be the answer:



Anti-Pham pad.

You know, that ruffled blouse is another good example of how the belt could be completely hidden by your clothing if you were looking from the passenger side. She is wise to wear the anti-Pham pad.

al

Hahaha. Good one. LOL. But that's my favorite BK. I haven't been on LS1Tech in a while but I got a PM from Slamkeys today about my seatbelt ticket. I ended up paying the ticket so I didn't fight the law and the law won. The job I had at the time made a big deal for me taking off work just to go down to the court house so I decided just to pay it. Still want to thank everyone who took time to read my post and offer help. That reminds me........I need to put the battery in the Camaro this weekend and take it for a cruise. I haven't drove it in two years but I do start it once a month. The fuel in it is atleast two years old

audacious nick

Looks like I'll be driving around with my camera facing me.

slamkeys

Check this out guys. I started thinking about how I could prove Pham was embellishing his speed estimate (20 mph? It wasn't a school zone folks), because I have an excellent video source to use for my calculations.

I analyzed his dash-cam video and found that it was recording at a steady 29.97 frames per second, so for my math I rounded to 30fps. The length of the non-XL 2002 Yukon is just under 17' (about 18 1/2' for the XL), so 17' for the math. Finally, I opened the video in an editor and stepped through it 1 frame at a time until my truck had traveled its full length - 17'. That's all I need to figure out how fast I zoomed by Pham when he said I was doing 20 mph. This won't be as accurate as a radar gun, but it will be in the ball park because Pham's dash-cam was in the perfect position.

Here's the calculation:

1. There are 30 frames every second.
2. It takes 9 frames to travel 17 feet.
3. 30 frames / 9 frames = 3.33
4. I traveled 17 feet 3.33 times in 1 second.
5. 17 feet * 3.33 = 56.66 feet in 1 second.
6. The conversion for feet to mph is: feet * 0.681818
7. 56.66 feet * 0.681818 = 38.68180788
8. That's 39 mph Pham! Almost double your "expert" opinion!



This is exactly what I expected because I was "going with the flow" at 45 mph in the center lane until just before this and I started moving over to the right lane and slowing down at the same time just before I came into view in the video. And yes, I did use my turn signal to switch lanes because that's another one of my pet peeves.

I believe this is the kind of thing that gets tickets dismissed on "technicality" in the same way you can argue that a radar gun had not been calibrated recently enough and is therefore not accurate. At any rate, I intend to focus my entire case on Pham's credibility because I now have overwhelming evidence that he is either incompetent, dishonest, or both.

White90GT

I've used Sprecher, Kubosh, and most recently Barfield.

Sprecher got me out of a racing ticket for $150.

Kubosh got me out of a speeding ticket in Pasadena, but at first he just wanted to get me deferred adjudication (ie probation for 90 days then dismiss). I had to tell him that is not what I hired him for and that I could get that by myself considering it was written on the chalk board at the front of the courtroom LOL. He went back to talk to the DA, came back a couple minutes later and said ticket dismissed your free to go ha ha.

Barfield is my current representation on one in Baytown (that for some reason hasn't shown up in Baytown's online or court system yet that I got like in September). He also represented me on one in Deer Park a few months ago and unfortunately just had to deal with probation for 3 months on that one and a reduced court cost.

Seatbelt tickets aren't that expensive and not a moving violation. So unless you just feel like spending your time and money to fight it and make a point, then IMO I would just pay it. My time is worth more than a $75 seat belt ticket to me. Of course that is what they (the court and cop) count on is that it isn't worth your time and they'll collect their tax on you.

J-Rod

For tickets, etc... I use

Byron Kirkpatrick
713-862-3131

slamkeys

Justice prevails.

I just got back from the DA's office. She offered to reduce my fine by $5.00, but I told her I was not there to pay a fine because I was innocent. She asked if I had photos or something, to which I replied, "Oh -I have video!"

When she saw the surveillance portion of the video and its time-stamp, she immediately moved for dismissal and gave me a formal apology. I didn't stop there, and continued to play the entire video (after all, I paid $3.00 for the dash-cam video). She acknowledged that I did indeed take the seat belt off after being pulled over.

It was a short meeting, but I did manage to express my concern for other drivers who are not so lucky as to be able to provide the kind of evidence that I was able to acquire.

I'm still wearing a bright orange wrap around my seat belt because I've lost a measure of trust in law enforcement officers, but hopefully it's just this one guy who is terrorizing drivers with his methods. I can only pray that this dramatic loss will somehow get enough attention from his department to prevent him from doling out traffic tickets without abandon (and without proof) in the future. This aggression will not stand, man!

One thing I found interesting when I was reviewing his dash-cam audio the other night was that he was in his squad car making personal phone calls to a girl, possibly his wife. Have you ever been pulled over and wondered why it takes so long for them to write a simple ticket so you can be on your way? Incidentally, since he had the speakerphone on, the phone numbers he was dialing are decipherable by simply matching the number tones. You gotta love technology.