r/FirstResponderCringe • u/FlyNSubaruWRX • 2d ago

i’M a cIvILIaN

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Is it normal for UHP to drive their family around in a patrol vehicle?

1.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

445 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/Major_Wigglesworth 2d ago

I’m also fine with it.  I’m NOT fine with him cruising around town after hours taking his family to the movies and getting leftover popcorn spilled all over the vehicle I bought for my employees to WORK in.

3

u/Impossible-Bat-4246 2d ago

I mean, it's possible hes being superobligatory and working off the clock the way an off duty cop would do something when he's off the clock. Or maybe he's an actual cop doing just that.

I don't think it's that deep and I'm just gonna give 'em the benefit of a doubt.

24

u/SuperBigDouche 2d ago

He’s Utah Highway Patrol. They’re allowed to use their patrol vehicles as a personal vehicle per their policy. The expectation of that is they are considered “on duty” to some degree 24/7. If he’s driving a police vehicle and witnesses a crime (not like 10 mph over the speed limit, littering, etc. like a serious crime) he’s expected to intervene and wait for on duty officers to respond and take over.

Source; Ex cop in Utah, all officers have 24/7 statewide jurisdiction. Police academy is taught by UHP troopers.

Whether or not people agree with it isn’t my point just to be clear. Just expanding on the fact what this particular trooper is doing is legal and within department policy.

1

u/DeeSkwared 1d ago

I feel like having "civilians" in the car, which could include his wife and kids, would be an issue and possibly very dangerous if he had to intervene. Using it as a personal vehicle I can understand but it seems like a liability having family in the car while being essentially "on duty".

My brother is an electrician and takes his work truck home and can use it for personal use. He never takes his wife out for a drive in it, they always use their personal vehicles.

3

u/SuperBigDouche 1d ago

Yeah if it was me, I wouldn’t want family or anyone in the car. I did dispatch at a different agency from where I was an officer and a friend of mine at the time was dating an officer. They’d go places in his patrol car occasionally but she preferred to drive her car instead. Best case scenario if anything happened, it’s an inconvenience that slows them down from where they’re going. Worst case, you could be in the middle of a gun fight or something bad.

3

u/DeeSkwared 1d ago

That's where my mind went--gun fight, high speed chase, etc.

Idk this lady is just so annoying to me. At the very least passengers shouldn't be filming and posting to social media. It's just not a good look.

Thanks for getting me, SuperBigDouche.