Police damage car?

[Dave R]

My younger brother was pulled over last night for a random check by highway patrol and being a P Plater they did the usual checks looking for anything possible to defect him for. The car is a tidy FG XR6 with an boxed pod filter - which they had a gripe with. I'm not sure about the pod filter regulations for NSW, as far as I know they need to be boxed and secured to the chassis which this one is. If anyone can verify the regulations that would be great.

The thing I'm concerned about is, the police officer damaged the intake whilst trying (and failing) to pry off the airbox lid presumably to see the pod filter. I've done a bit of searching and couldn't find any answers to whether police have the right to pull apart and break bits of the car.

At the end of it all, the police officer said that my brother needed to have the pod filter installed by a certified mechanic with an engineers certificate. He wrote him an $88 ticket for driving with a defected vehicle.. but did not issue a defect notice.

So I'm basically a bit confused as to whether the officer was right to claim the car was defective, and secondly whether he had the right to damage the intake. Any thoughts?

Thanks

[wrongwaynorris]

Definitely has NO right to cause damage . Proving it was him though is virtually impossible .

[Iggypoppin']

Don't think the officer was right in any way to damage the car however considering it is such a small amount of money and as wrong way Norris says, hard to prove the cop did it, i'd pay up and leave it. Return the car to stock if he feels unsure about the pod and maybe look into the laws of your state. I don't think it should be necessary for a pod filter to be installed by a mechanic and then have a report provided. But I could be wrong.

[BZINGA]

What an absolute disgrace ... Not starting a police bashing post but if all that was true then god help us.

[Trevor 57]

I would take it further and report the Policeman, although the repercussions could be bad.

[66GT]

My understanding of QLD regulations is engineer certified work should result in a blue modification plate peremantly attached to the vehicle. I believe that NO P plater is legally allowed to drive a modified vehicle. Don't koow about other states, but your bro could get caught out with a car he can't drive - could be the coppers plan when mentioning an engineers certificate. I could be wrong, so suggest you check prior to getting work done.

[HEMI POWER]

I would just return it to stock,get it passed then go on with your business.You can't win we have become a flock of sheep in this country.

[cartaa100]

id leave it, if its fixed and in a box its legal, i have had about 6 policeman check my bonnet and never a comment on the pot box.

i know one of my friends witha ba fitted a pot filter into the stock airbox so maybe try that if he wants

[svo supporter]

Seeing as he DIDN'T get a defect sticker (which some posters seem to have missed), leave it in place if he wishes.

As for the damage. You could try and lodge a complaint with the police complaints authority and see how you go with that. Personally I don't hold much hope with getting too far, but worth a try.

[ratter]

Was this an aftermarket air box or some dodgy built put together air box.

Now not saying all back yard air boxes are dodgy, but we have seen some customer made things that break quite easily as they are not built correctly, but have also seen some stuff done by owners which is better than some of the stuff commercially available

[big_landau]

did he get the lid off and see the pod personaly?

[wrongwaynorris]

I would NOT lodge a formal complaint , your rego will go on the to be pulled over onsight list .

[Force006]

I'd be writing a letter to the Standards Department of your state, you will have a response with in a couple of days if you do it online, and it will tell you where you stand and what further action you can take. Victoria Police have taken my complaints seriously in the past, and have gone out of their way to have these complaints resolved in a timely manner. It may not go in your favor, but the officer will be talked to which is the point of it all anyways.

[Ben73]

Only a scumbag will damage someone else property and not care. Bet that cop is the type of person who would damage a car in a car park and not leave a note

[prydey]

if the cop wanted to look in the airbox, why wouldn't he just ask the owner to open it?

Originally Posted by ratter

Was this an aftermarket air box or some dodgy built put together air box.

fg airbox's have screws attaching the lid to the base, not clips. i think they are also torx screws. not many people would have these tools on them so there's a good chance the airbox was an aftermarket setup by the sounds of it. maybe thats what drew their attention to it in the first place, otherwise if it all looked stock, why would they even want to look.

[gcg2503]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

I would NOT lodge a formal complaint , your rego will go on the to be pulled over onsight list .

Wonder if such a list exists! Love to know

[chrisfpv]

I doubt it, get your tin foil hats out people!

[mik]

if your brother has the officers name on the ticket , make a note of it, if this becomes a habit by the same(think 3 or 4 times) officer he might have a harassment case.

[No.6]

if caught in a situation where a cop wants to inspect ur vehicle, would the person be allowed to make a video recording on their phone of the officer doing the inspection in case he does do damage?

[BadMax]

And that's what the Police want...You to walk away!

[Mercury 8]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

Wonder if such a list exists! Love to know

Not exactly but they do put a flag on your rego,so when they check it all your history comes up.If you give them a hard time ect it is all noted on there computer so the officer knows exactly what he is dealing with.And all within about 5 seconds of a VQ being requested.Same applies for your address.Amazing what you can hear on a police scanner.If you have an iphone you can download an app called 5-0 Radio.It doesn't cover all police communications but you can listen to some of the communication centres.

[charles_wif_xf]

Originally Posted by No.6

if caught in a situation where a cop wants to inspect ur vehicle, would the person be allowed to make a video recording on their phone of the officer doing the inspection in case he does do damage?

I would be recording that sort of thing as a matter of course.

Put it this way, if it was my car he was trying to do that to, he'd be told very nicely to stop.

I'd be reporting the s.o.b to Ethical Standards or whoever it is that has some sort of oversight over the behaviour of police (then get a fresh number plate ).

[ratter]

how a bout a pic of the box and the damage?

[falconnut]

So not only does policeman x cause hundreds of $ worth of damage to your brothers intake but then has the audacity to write him a $88 ticket for a perfectly legal car but not defect it.

Report him.

[LTDHO]

You can report the officer to the 'officer in charge' at his station. I believe this to be the correct process.
Then expect more harassment after he is slapped on the wrist.

Or let it go.

[munkky]

sorry to hear mate some cops a pigs and some are awsome. i got pulled over the otherday for a roadworthy check. in the end i dident cop anything but me and him chatted for about 30mins cos he was building a car and he loved mine.

[Full Noise]

My advice for this young bloke is to let it go.

By all means, document the conversation, take photographs of the damage that was caused and photocopy the ticket just in case something in the future arises but leave it at that.

And if anyone out there thinks this young bloke has been hard done by, ask a few people who were P platers in the 70s, 80s, and 90s about what cops used to do in those days.

I wouldn’t waste anyone’s time reporting him to the officer in charge of his station or the ethical standards department unless you plan on leaving NSW for greener pastures. Remember, the ESD up there deal with “sometimes” corrupt police who are involved in very serious “errors of judgement”, they couldn’t really care about a few broken pieces of an airbox of someone’s intake.

I’m not saying that it’s right, just pointing out the harsh reality.

So if you like pain, make a complaint.

Remember, about what’s fair and right. There are a lot of things in the world that aren’t fair and certainly are not right and realistically, this is a fairly minor issue.

If you had fallen down on the side of the road while the cop was talking to you and suffered multiple broken bones and missing teeth and they suddenly found a loaded handgun in your car that wasn’t there before, then you’d have a problem.

Rack it up to experience. It’s all part of being a P plater.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

Wonder if such a list exists! Love to know

Nah...

But some coppers have really good memories... and if they do a rego search and see that they have issued a defect / notice then they will more then likely pull you over again...

Ive never had any issues with the cops in QLD... But there is none so I guess that helps lol!

[csv8]

Dash GT.. when are the cops on the road in QLD ???? I travel Oxley to Wooloongabba, daily, rarely see a police car,,,but see Constable Kodak!!!
Christmas I drove Briz to Rockhampton and saw 2 in 700kms!!!

[Ben73]

Even if there is a flag on your rego. How often do cops drive behind you?
I reckon I get a cop car in my mirror once or twice a year.