South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

I recently had a meeting with 2 SC troopers to give them insurance information (my son had an accident involving a rolled truck and the proof of insurance was lost), anyway one of the officers was so verbally abusive that I called my husband on my cell phone to talk to the officer. The trooper talked to me as if I were a criminal - he was rude and obnoxious. The other trooper was quite polite and professional, but offered nothing to prevent the rude one. My son goes to court for the accident in August. I don't know whether we should mention this at the trial or not...

Depends on what the trial is for. Law enforcement's job is much easier when they are patient and polite to people; sometimes an officer's attitude creates issues that were not there to begin with.

Most police officers are in the same social class as the criminals they chase down and abuse. Statistics show that officers, especially in southern states like South Carolina, are uneducated, were raised in poor communities with little social awareness of the rights of other groups. This lack of education and social awareness explain why some officers commit crimes, like assaulting U.S. citizens with impunity.
I think a college education should be a prerequisite to obtaining jobs in the police force, but then again, state governments do not want to pay officers higher salaries, which would be required if police applicants held bachelor's degrees. So, we have a lot of uneducated, ignorant, and violent individuals policing this country. A lot of these officers should be sitting in jail along with the criminals they violently arrest.

I wholeheartedly agree that a college education should be a requirement, and that the pay should be higher, to attract and retain quality officers.

The good officers that we have are not making nearly enough money to compensate them for what they do, and the best will eventually move on to higher paying jobs.

The FBI recruits at law schools; the least local law enforcement could do is require an undergraduate degree.

an injustice was done to me last night on July 5th, 2009 by one of the highway patrol troopers, TFC Prince.
i was stopped at a red light with two vehicles in front of me on the corner of bush river and broad river road and i was in the left hand turning lane. mr. prince was parked right behind the traffic light because i saw his car sitting there.
i proceeded to turn left and mr. prince was suddenly behind me with his blue lights flashing near the racetrac gas station on broad river road. my friend, who was in the vehicle with me saw that i was wearing my seatbelt and i knew that i had my seatbelt on. i knew that i was not speeding. i quickly unbuckled my seatbelt to get my wallet out of my back pocket and i reached for my other information in the glove box (i cannot reach the glove box without unbuckling the seat belt first.). i rolled down the window and handed mr.prince my license and asked him, "did i do something wrong?" he responded, "i will let you know after i look at your license."
after he gave me my license, he said, "i stopped you for your seatbelt." i said, "i just unbuckled it".
then, mr.prince accused me of putting my seatbelt on as i was driving and then taking it off again when i was pulled over.
i never ever drive my truck without my seat belt on. in fact, that truck is almost impossible for me to drive without my seatbelt on. my friend tried to let him know that i did have it on and he would not listen. he gave me a $25.00 fine.
i called his supervisor, mr.grubb and he defended mr.prince. i asked him if he could look at the video and he said that he would, but that he knows mr.prince very well and knows that he would not make something up.
when things like this happen, it really concerns me because i feel as though mr.prince was looking for a reason to pull me over and charge me with a fine. it would be a really awful thing if the economy were affecting us so badly that police are now inventing reasons to give innocent people tickets and it is really not fair.
i understand that there is a court date in september and yes i know that my witness and myself can fight this before the judge, but that is also an inconvenience. my friend is moving to north carolina in two weeks and i have to take that day off from my job now because of this man's lie.
another thing, almost a month ago, my friend was pulled over by highway patrol officer and the reason that he gave her was that her tail light on her vehicle was out, which it turned out that it was not. it was actually a little dim. he was nice and admitted his mistake and let her go with a small warning.
why are these things happening? i am undeserving of this. can someone help us? they can make up any darn thing and we have to deal with it? if mr.prince had been telling the truth, i could understand and would accept my punishment and fine and that would be it, but if there is a way other than to go downtown, to the courthouse and wait five hours to fight a traffic ticket for $25.00, I am willing to take that route.
also, if i have to, i will contact anyone else and whoever is willing to listen to me and my case. like i said, it's one thing if i had really done what he accused me of doing, but i did not and i am innocent. to me, that is abuse of authority. the fact that nobody wants to examine the video is another thing. i contacted internal affairs and a very supportive gentleman took my complaint. i am not sure if he is going to look at the video or not. i hope that he does.
I just feel that things like this are completely unconstitutional on the highway patrol's behalf and people in a position to do something about it should be aware that things like this are going on. it may not seem like a big deal, but any time that i am accused of something that i know i did not do and then charged money for it, it is a big deal to me. god knows how many other people have had this problem.
-sincerely,
nilsa delgado

Today, Oct. 1st 2001. While on my way to work, most of my travel consist of a narrow two lane road. The traffic was in single line of about 8 vehicles. On coming was a state trooper that all of a sudden seen the urgency to whip his car around, proceed around 90 mph swerving in and out of traffic like he was going to a crime. Now keep in mind, 18 wheelers travel this road tremedously and it so happens that one was on the oncoming side. It didn't seem to bother the trooper none as he swerved in and out of traffic. When he finally reached the car he was after, he made the stop. I pulled up behind him and waited patiently as he did his duty. When he finished, I asked if I could speak with him. I asked if he realized just how many lives he just risked. He said that he didn't risk anylives and that he was doing his job. I asked was his job risking his life and all the innocent ones that were around. He said he didn't, so I asked if he wanted to see the pics because I had the camera right there. Of Course he didn't and he told me to take my complaint to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. I told him that wasn't my intentions, I just wanted him to admit he made a mistake. He said he didn't make a mistake that he was out here protecting me and keeping everyone safe. I asked how he came to the conclusion that he was keeping me and others safe by doing what he done. He then told me to have a Good Day Sir and proceeded to get in his car and leave. Well, I seen a lot of innocent lives that could have been lost that day and I intend to Report Mr. Enzor, License Plate HP3385. It may not do anygood because they protect each other.

I have a comment about our state troopers. My husband had a GRAVE injustice done to him. He had been on a highway for 1 mile and got into the left lane to pass, traffic was heavy and the right lane was going 40 the left 59. A trooper came flying up behind him with no lights on, and then turned them on to pull him over. He wrote him a ticket for going 82 in a 65. He said he'd been following for 3-4 miles. That was impossible because my husband had just gotten on the highway! It also was impossible to go over 59 as traffic was on a highway entrance / exit near a mall on a Saturday. There was no radar reading, nor video. It gets worse, we got an attorney and the jury was made up of older people who still think all cops tell the truth all the time. The man lied and the jury believed him! The judge couldn't even believe it. This has soured me to all police officers. The man was small and obviously insecure. I'm so angry but there is NOTHING I can do. Now we will have higher insurance rates and 4 points on his license. FOR NOTHING.... THis is so unfair. If you ever get pulled over by a state trooper in Spartanburg county be prepared to get a ticket so he can make his quota. I would write his name here but would be concerned about retaliation. I never used to be paranoid...