ELI5: What is the "official" reason for PBA cards/shields?
We've all seen the Police Benevolent Society or Fraternal Order of Police badges suction-cupped to cars, or know someone that carries a PBA card in their wallet.
A friend of mine has one, given to him by his retired cop father. He's a TERRIBLE driver and it's gotten him out of dozens of tickets. When I asked him about it, he had no "official" explanation for it, just the explanation that everyone knows - his dad is a cop, and the family/friends of cops don't have to follow traffic laws.
My question is, while everyone knows what these cards and shields are REALLY for - flash the card and get out of the ticket - what is the stated, official, "on the books" reason for the cards? How are they justified?
Posted Jul 29, 2014, 1:07 AM UTC
11
So show you are a member of an organization that supports police officers, not different than say a Jesus fish or a save the whales bumper sticker.
Cops have the discretion to give warnings instead of tickets, so there is no way to prove any one incident had anything to do with a sticker on your car.