Lodi police chief orders officer to ticket his wife

**Buttercup** · 09-30-11, 09:13 AM

LODI — The police chief recently proved that no one who double parks is safe from a ticket.

Chief Vincent Caruso ordered an officer to give his wife a ticket after she double parked while dropping off their 5-year-old son at the Washington School on Tuesday. And it’s not the first time: He ordered another officer to ticket her car two years ago after she forgot to move it for street cleaning.

“She’s not above the law,” he said on Thursday. “I didn’t want her to get any special treatment because of who she is.”

More at link:

Lodi police chief orders officer to ticket his wife - NorthJersey.com

**Cidp24** · 09-30-11, 09:17 AM

So, Chief... how comfortable is that dog house??

**jcsdscott** · 09-30-11, 11:08 AM

I'm sure that man is well acquainted with his couch as well

**deputysykes** · 09-30-11, 12:00 PM

OR you could call and say, "Hey honey, move your car..."

**irishmick** · 09-30-11, 01:22 PM

Being a woman and having a completely different perspective, this d-bag just strikes me as the type of guy to go out and look for crap his wife is doing wrong and use it as a way to control her. Now, I may be WAY off base, but seriously, any other guy would just do what deputysykes said and call...say hey, babe, you're double parked and you should move it or you will get a ticket. Strikes me as the type of guy who doesn't let his wife "get out of line".

**Xiphos** · 09-30-11, 01:53 PM

OR member Darin made a t-stop on a car for a minor traffic violation and got to the window to see his district court judge (small town.) When they recognized each other he tried to break contact but the judge insisted he issue the ticket. They argued back and forth, Darin was understandably mortified, but the judge convinced him the appearance of him getting a break could cause negative perceptions. He issued his judge the ticket and the guy promptly prepaid the fine. That is integrity.

**deputysykes** · 09-30-11, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by Xiphos

That is integrity.

Agreed...but, still not totally necessary. Personally, it is not uncommon to issue someone, anyone a written warning for a "minor traffic violation." Props to the judge, but I still think the chief here is crazy.

**irishmick** · 09-30-11, 03:08 PM

Yes, it absolutely is integrity. But it still rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

**ChesCopPodz** · 09-30-11, 03:16 PM

Is it intergrity? Probably. Irishmick might be right, or it might be a small place and the officer who found the car called him.

Back in 2005, my wife pulled out in front of a car and got hit. The officer recognized her, and while fairly and correctly making her the at fault vehicle, he did not ticket her. In my view, this was fine because it did not affect the insurance outcome of our insurance fixing everything.

About a year and a half later, the daughter of the officer who took my wife's accident also got into a crash and was at faul. So I did the same thing for him.

**jmur5074** · 09-30-11, 09:42 PM

I think the posters above my be blowing this out of proportion a bit.

He's taking a very minor incident (a parking ticket x2) that doesn't affect a persons criminal history, driving record, or insurance rates, and using it to show his small community that no one is above the law, regardless of who they are. I highly doubt he ran home to chew his wife out for parking where she did, or rub her face in it. The money that paid the ticket probably came out of a joint banking account.

Good for him, and his wife for going along with it.

A couple years ago our county sheriff pulled out in front of another car in his squad and got hit. He demanded the municipal officer that responded write him a ticket for FTY. He got it and took it straight to the court house to pay it. He earned it, he knew it, and he wanted to send the same message this chief is.

**Jks9199** · 09-30-11, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by deputysykes

Agreed...but, still not totally necessary. Personally, it is not uncommon to issue someone, anyone a written warning for a "minor traffic violation." Props to the judge, but I still think the chief here is crazy.

I agree, on both counts.

I hate writing parking tickets. Typically, it means I can't find the owner and tell them to move (fire lanes, for example), or they're parked in a handicapped space illegally. So, since I routinely tell people to move along -- I could certainly tell the chief's wife to move along. Same thing for a judge; I probably cite about 1 in 3 or so on t-stops.

**ChesCopPodz** · 09-30-11, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by Jks9199

I agree, on both counts.

I hate writing parking tickets. Typically, it means I can't find the owner and tell them to move (fire lanes, for example), or they're parked in a handicapped space illegally. So, since I routinely tell people to move along -- I could certainly tell the chief's wife to move along. Same thing for a judge; I probably cite about 1 in 3 or so on t-stops.

This. I don't even write for fire lane. I only write for parking in front of a hydrant and handicap violations. Hydrant violations for the obvious safety issue, and a non-handicapped person parking in a handicap space personally makes me mad.

**lewisipso** · 09-30-11, 11:19 PM

Maybe it's my locale but I think I would have just called my wife and let her know she's about to pay a ticket if the car ain't moved. I would have thanked the officer and let the cards fall where they may. She doesn't move the car post haste (like yesterday) slap a ticket on it.

**Bjohnson63** · 10-01-11, 05:02 AM

Originally Posted by jmur5074

I think the posters above my be blowing this out of proportion a bit.

He's taking a very minor incident (a parking ticket x2) that doesn't affect a persons criminal history, driving record, or insurance rates, and using it to show his small community that no one is above the law, regardless of who they are. I highly doubt he ran home to chew his wife out for parking where she did, or rub her face in it. The money that paid the ticket probably came out of a joint banking account.

Good for him, and his wife for going along with it.

A couple years ago our county sheriff pulled out in front of another car in his squad and got hit. He demanded the municipal officer that responded write him a ticket for FTY. He got it and took it straight to the court house to pay it. He earned it, he knew it, and he wanted to send the same message this chief is.

Agree 100%

**IMGreat101** · 10-01-11, 07:28 AM

I was going to go with it was no big deal until I read this.

She has three kids under the age of 5

The chief said "she" not "we"?

She had actually just dropped her son off and was walking back to the car

The officer let everyone else off with a warning. It sounds like the city needs to address the need for a drop off/pick-up area.

She is a saint.

**copboy** · 10-02-11, 02:48 PM

As we know there are far to many cases of impropriety at all levels of law enforcement. However how many times have we heard about an other wise good cop, sheriff, or chief get hung up for something minor and it gets blown out of proportion. Or they get a complaint and the media, city/town council, or internal affairs digs up everything related to them and their family leading to more trouble for them. Ya this is not a drug bust , murder, or even a moving violation but it is still an offense. It seems to me that the Chief wants to avoid any chance impropriety that could harm him or his officers in the future. I'm not saying that I don't believe in professional curtsy but do feel that rank and other factors have to be looked at as well to protect all involved, especially the officer / department.

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