My First Bribe

[LocutusEstBorg]

So yesterday I got busted for diving down the wrong way on a one way street, in heavy traffic. There was no indication that it was one way and the traffic didn't really hint at it because people drive on both sides of the road if there's no divider. And it's right outside a mall's exit, so it's like they're just waiting for someone to turn the wrong way out of the gate.

The officer urged me NOT to pay the regular fine, and collected ~$9.86 in cash & and handed me a _blank_ spot fine receipt which he obviously undervalued.

 

[KezraPlanes]

For real?

Isn't usually the person who was at fault that should approach with a bribe, and not the officer asking to be bribed? That is kind of unreal to even think of :|

 

[LocutusEstBorg]

Why? How would he make any money if I paid the fine? It'd just go to the government.

 

[KezraPlanes]

Why? How would he make any money if I paid the fine?

Hm... Doesn't he get a salary? It is it that crappy of a salary they have to ask for bribes?
(remember I have almost no knowledge of your country except for what you tell us)

 

[LocutusEstBorg]

It is it that crappy of a salary they have to ask for bribes?

YES! They only pull over people to extract money. Maybe 1/10 people are made to pay the regular fine in court and get a filled out charge sheet.

I assume you would have to bribe an officer MORE than the official fine so that YOU don't get a black mark on your permanent record. Over here we pay much LESS than the official fine so the officer can keep the money.

This website documents user submitted bribery experiences in India: http://www.ipaidabribe.com/
You can view all the bribes paid by city and by government department.

 

[Abe Froeman]

I would love it if I get offered a bribe the next time I get pulled over. Cops in my area would never do that though. They all remind me of Farva from Super Troopers.

 

[ultimakillz]

Cops in my area would never do that though. They all remind me of Farva from Super Troopers.

haha, same here. local cops here would never go for a bribe. although i was in mexico and a bus i was on was stopped by police and everyone on the bus had to shell out like $30 a piece or they said our bus driver would go to jail and we would all have to go in for questioning.

im not saying police in the u.s. dont take bribes, but i think they do it more discretely than in other countries (i.e., not in front of the general public).

 

[Zx30]

haha, same here. local cops here would never go for a bribe. although i was in mexico and a bus i was on was stopped by police and everyone on the bus had to shell out like $30 a piece or they said our bus driver would go to jail and we would all have to go in for questioning.

im not saying police in the u.s. dont take bribes, but i think they do it more discretely than in other countries (i.e., not in front of the general public).

Exactly. Same thing happened to my cousin and I while we were driving.

 

[LocutusEstBorg]

How much would you have to bribe to say, have him overlook a speeding ticket?

 

[january39]

In the UK there is zero chance of a bribe, even if there was i would suspect it would be thousands more than the official amount.

 

[ultimakillz]

How much would you have to bribe to say, have him overlook a speeding ticket?

im not sure. like i said, that incident in mexico was the only time ive bribed police, and im pretty sure it was a racket with the bus driver in on it since it didnt seem like he was breaking any laws other than driving shitty xD

 

[El Diablo]

Yeah I'm pretty sure you're not going to get away with bribing anyone here. Sorry but that's fucked up and I'm glad I live in a place where the police don't go around pulling people over then trying to make money off of it themselves.

 

[Freshmilk]

So yesterday I got busted for diving down the wrong way on a one way street, in heavy traffic. There was no indication that it was one way and the traffic didn't really hint at it because people drive on both sides of the road if there's no divider. And it's right outside a mall's exit, so it's like they're just waiting for someone to turn the wrong way out of the gate.

The officer urged me NOT to pay the regular fine, and collected ~$9.86 in cash & and handed me a _blank_ spot fine receipt which he obviously undervalued.

This really doesn't sound right to me. I don't think you got lucky; I think you've been tricked. Maybe its just me, since I too live in the UK and second that there is no chance of bribing police here, but it still just doesn't sound right that someone would pull you over and then request that you bribe them. Did this 'officer' show you any form of identification, or happen to be wearing anything that would suggest he was a local police officer? And I'm not just talking about something like a high-visibility jacket; was he wearing any sort of badge or police uniform?

There are plenty of scams that operate in and around my area, in which people that are in no way related to the police dish out fines to people for parking violations and such, often to people that have actually committed a traffic violation but who have not been caught by the police. The unwitting victim admits they've done wrong and pays the fine, lining the pockets of someone who is in no way associated with the police. It's happened several times to members of my family, whereas they have recieved a very authentic looking parking ticket for things such as overstaying in car parks or parking on double-yellow lines, which on closer inspection has turned out to be fake. From the sounds of it, I'm pretty sure thats what's happened here.

 

[Andy]

This really doesn't sound right to me. I don't think you got lucky; I think you've been tricked. Maybe its just me, since I too live in the UK and second that there is no chance of bribing police here, but it still just doesn't sound right that someone would pull you over and then request that you bribe them. Did this 'officer' show you any form of identification, or happen to be wearing anything that would suggest he was a local police officer? And I'm not just talking about something like a high-visibility jacket; was he wearing any sort of badge or police uniform?

There are plenty of scams that operate in and around my area, in which people that are in no way related to the police dish out fines to people for parking violations and such, often to people that have actually committed a traffic violation but who have not been caught by the police. The unwitting victim admits they've done wrong and pays the fine, lining the pockets of someone who is in no way associated with the police. It's happened several times to members of my family, whereas they have recieved a very authentic looking parking ticket for things such as overstaying in car parks or parking on double-yellow lines, which on closer inspection has turned out to be fake. From the sounds of it, I'm pretty sure thats what's happened here.

Bro this is India, corrupt as fuck.

 

[LocutusEstBorg]

This really doesn't sound right to me. I don't think you got lucky; I think you've been tricked. Maybe its just me, since I too live in the UK and second that there is no chance of bribing police here, but it still just doesn't sound right that someone would pull you over and then request that you bribe them. Did this 'officer' show you any form of identification, or happen to be wearing anything that would suggest he was a local police officer? And I'm not just talking about something like a high-visibility jacket; was he wearing any sort of badge or police uniform?

There are plenty of scams that operate in and around my area, in which people that are in no way related to the police dish out fines to people for parking violations and such, often to people that have actually committed a traffic violation but who have not been caught by the police. The unwitting victim admits they've done wrong and pays the fine, lining the pockets of someone who is in no way associated with the police. It's happened several times to members of my family, whereas they have recieved a very authentic looking parking ticket for things such as overstaying in car parks or parking on double-yellow lines, which on closer inspection has turned out to be fake. From the sounds of it, I'm pretty sure thats what's happened here.

No they're real cops. It happens all the time. You see them doing this at every major junction, every highway where people can speed, etc. It's just the first time I've been caught. It was a regular patrol group or whatever you call it. 3 or 4 cops, bikes, squad car etc. They're all it on it together.

You won't believe the level of corruption. This was the latest ($40 billion) scam that was revealed couple of months ago, practically involving the entire governenment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G_spectrum_scam

Yesterday a new scam was discovered. If $40 billion sounded like a lot, this one is deemed "unquantifiable" : http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2103829.ece

 

[Freshmilk]

Bro this is India, corrupt as fuck.

I didn't know he was in India, my bad. Reading up on the articles Kurian posted, I gather things are a lot different over there. :scared:

 

[MenaceInc]

I didn't know he was in India, my bad. Reading up on the articles Kurian posted, I gather things are a lot different over there. :scared:

He used to have the username Torch. He's posted quite a number of times on the corruption over there but never something like this which is really out in the open

 

[ilyace]

you shouldn't have been driving down the wrong way of a one-way street in the first place Torch.

 

[LocutusEstBorg]

It's not a one way unless there's a one way sign. The guy told me that he only pulled me over because of the volume of traffic on the street at the time; meaning he wouldn't even have cared otherwise if someone was violating the law!