Cops and Women
Readers Discuss Special Treatment: Part 3
By Daniel Muniz

After the article Cops and Women - Is There Preferential Treatment: Part 1 was published, quite a number of our readers were incensed about the perception of law enforcement giving women preferential treatment for traffic violations.

After all, it is men who have to pay the outrageous traffic fines and skyrocketing insurance premiums while it appears that women get way with a friendly warning.

Below is what many of our readers felt this special treatment:

COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS

I think that law enforcement has many flaws and women getting preferential treatment is simply a byproduct of how many men/boys are raised. Maybe some are enticed by their sexuality, but many are just doing the courteous thing. I know a few people who have flashed skin or worn small amounts of clothing and shown a smile and gotten away with speeding or other violations, but it's not a normal occurrence.

It's just funny to me how some of these officers can go through school and be trained pretty decently, yet not be able to put their personal feelings aside and treat one the same as all the others. I swear though, being honest is about the best way out of a ticket and I really also believe that it's not much more than coincidence how some women can get out of a ticket and men can't. I know people who yell at police and if the officer is young enough usually they will get scared or just give up on the idea that they want to give a ticket.

Yet intimidation doesn't always suit most people because of how they view police - as trigger happy adrenaline pushing [cops].
-Bri

I've gotten out of several tickets (both speeding and more serious things like bumping the car in front of me at a light and not stopping to exchange insurance cards) just by looking like I might cry if I got a ticket. On the other hand, if I'm unlucky enough to get stopped by a woman, she'll have no mercy.
-Unsigned

I live in a small town and sooner or later you get to know just about everyone. Several years ago I bought a car from my father-in-law who lived several miles outside our town. You have to have your car inspected before you can get it tagged in Missouri and I was headed to do that and had to go to several inspection stations for one reason or another; one didn't have an opening and another didn't have any more stickers.

I was headed for a third place when I was pulled over by a police officer who pointed out the tags on the car was expired. I pulled out the paper work including the signed title indicating I had just bought the car hours before. The officer shook his head and said "That's a shame, if this were still your father-in-laws car I could just give you a ticket for expired tags but since you bought it I'll have to arrest you for borrowed or stolen tags." I had to put up a $200 cash bond to get out of jail.

Over the years I've gotten to know the officer pretty well and I don't hold it against him because I've found him to be one of the most consistent in how he enforces the law. I honestly believe he would ticket his own wife if she did something wrong. The officer is a safety instructor and has his own gun range and I've been out to it to fire my pistols and found him to be a LOT more relaxed when he is off duty.
-Steve

I am a (male) nurse, was wearing scrubs, and received tickets both times I was pulled over in the last five years. I have a "multi-gallon blood donor" sticker on the left rear window that didn't help cut any slack either. Maybe both female cops didn't like my back window NRA sticker. Maybe being an obviously conservative white male in Boulder, Colorado ruined my chances for a break. Of course, the police could not actually live in Boulder as their pay is not enough for rent in that town.
-Gerard

Um... I would like to think that my pretty face gets me places, however I have been stopped 3 times by the police, and all three times I got tickets. And they NEVER apologized. 2x for speeding, and one time for jaywalking. And honestly, the jaywalking ticket hurt the most. And I really thought I could get out of it, but nope. So even though women might be able to get off easily, I have yet to have benefited from it. Although I know that my father has gotten off easily a few times. So I don't know what I am doing wrong.
Cali Valley Girl

Well, that's such an obvious answer. Yes, women get preferential treatment in almost everything. I watched a dash cam from a cruiser that was in pursuit with a DWI suspect trying to evade. Serious crimes. She drove straight out into a field and the chase ended. Well, once the cop saw the woman as a pretty blonde, what would've been a rough and forceful arrest for the males turned into a cute little stroll back to the cruiser smothered in kind-tone mannerisms. Women have used their sexuality for years as a way of getting attention and special treatment... this is so old news. As long as men are stupid dogs, women will use every advantage they have to make men look like the fools. Men are so stupid. Here's a tip for the men, stop gawking, hooting and hollering and show some integrity.
-Chris

The increasing use of photo enforcement against red light runners and speeders demonstrates that women are treated more leniently than men by traffic patrol officers. The Guardian reports "Convictions of women are up by almost a quarter over the past five years" and this is attributed to traffic cameras failing to "discriminate between the sexes."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,1645386,00.html
-Michael

NOTE:
After our original article was published, we received numerous comments from law enforcement and from a number of our readers. We separated the responses from the police into a separate page. Their comments are very interesting and insightful:

Cops and Women - Police Discuss Special Treatment: Part 2

And we still want to know what you feel about this issue. Tell us how you feel about it.

Any opinions or views expressed herein belong solely to the author and does not represent any employer, organization, political party, governmental agency, or any other entity and do not necessarily reflect the views of the site owner or its participants.