Needless to say, the last month or so have been trying times for officers within the Myrtle Beach Police department. They've made few friends in biker/tourists, and in that process, ticked off a few residents, as well.
Before I go any furhter, let's get this out of the way...I mean, I shouldn't HAVE to preface my blog today with this statement, but I'll put it out there, anyhow... I have immense respect for the "thin blue line."
That being said, there's "doing your job" and then there's "going too far."
A few months ago, I bought a truck, transferred my plates over, and since, it's been smooth sailing, for me. Until Sunday....and again today. Why, you ask?
Well, it turns out my little sticker on the plate expired in April. Oops. But "oops" for whom? I never got a reminder from the DMV that my time was near; nor did I get a letter from the Horry County Tax office, informing me my tag was due for renewal.
I'm told that it's quite possible that the DMV-to-Tax Office timeframe can be about six months, when it comes to processing paperwork, so it appears my information has fallen through the cracks. I
n 2009, that's right...it takes up to SIX MONTHS for the DMV on ONE side of Oak Street, to process paperwork to the county tax assessor on the OTHER side of Oak Street.
No big deal; the nice officer on Sunday wrote me a ticket, then said "take care of the tag, and the city will waive the ticket." I thought, "cool, I'll deal with it this week." Officer #1 also said to show the ticket, should I be stopped for the same reason again before I'd either dealt with it or appeared in court in late June.
So two busy weekdays later, I'm driving into work this morning, and wouldn't you know, on the same street, I'm spotted with that yet-to-be-replaced sticker, and once again, I'm pulled over. Different cop, different tone. I coughed up my license, registration, insurance and when he mentioned the tag, I showed him that only TWO DAYS AGO I'd already been ticketed for just that offense.
That didn't seem to matter to Mr. Cop #2. No, only TWO DAYS later, he wrote me the same freaking ticket. Really? I have, according to Cop #1 until June 29th to handle this, but Cop #2 didn't care what Cop #1 said, and wrote me another $133 ticket, with a closer court date than before.
Was this necessary? Really, officer, I'm not vigilante or rebel, and I DO intend to deal with this tedious process that shouldn't have been an oversight by either the DMV or the tax office to begin with - when my busy schedule permits. I don't get to spend my on-the-clock hours driving around town in a company vehicle, able to run my errands on the job, so blocking off a couple of daylight hours to stand in line at the tax office and MAYBE even the DMV on the same day, officer, isn't something that can "just happen" instantly.
What's more, Mr. Officer, knowing that I'd just been informed of this oversight by another officer of the same police department only two days ago, doesn't it now seem REALLY obvious that you need to dole out a certain number of little blue notes? Hey, good luck with that, okay?
Cop #2 says it's my responsibility to know if my tag's expired, and as I told him, had I been contacted by the DMV or the tax office that my time was near, I'd have done so. But really, Mr. Officer, do you REALLY think people get in their cars, give their license plates and registration cards a "once over" every time they get in the vehicle? Better question...do you?
Before I go any furhter, let's get this out of the way...I mean, I shouldn't HAVE to preface my blog today with this statement, but I'll put it out there, anyhow... I have immense respect for the "thin blue line."
That being said, there's "doing your job" and then there's "going too far."
A few months ago, I bought a truck, transferred my plates over, and since, it's been smooth sailing, for me. Until Sunday....and again today. Why, you ask?
Well, it turns out my little sticker on the plate expired in April. Oops. But "oops" for whom? I never got a reminder from the DMV that my time was near; nor did I get a letter from the Horry County Tax office, informing me my tag was due for renewal.
I'm told that it's quite possible that the DMV-to-Tax Office timeframe can be about six months, when it comes to processing paperwork, so it appears my information has fallen through the cracks. I
n 2009, that's right...it takes up to SIX MONTHS for the DMV on ONE side of Oak Street, to process paperwork to the county tax assessor on the OTHER side of Oak Street.
No big deal; the nice officer on Sunday wrote me a ticket, then said "take care of the tag, and the city will waive the ticket." I thought, "cool, I'll deal with it this week." Officer #1 also said to show the ticket, should I be stopped for the same reason again before I'd either dealt with it or appeared in court in late June.
So two busy weekdays later, I'm driving into work this morning, and wouldn't you know, on the same street, I'm spotted with that yet-to-be-replaced sticker, and once again, I'm pulled over. Different cop, different tone. I coughed up my license, registration, insurance and when he mentioned the tag, I showed him that only TWO DAYS AGO I'd already been ticketed for just that offense.
That didn't seem to matter to Mr. Cop #2. No, only TWO DAYS later, he wrote me the same freaking ticket. Really? I have, according to Cop #1 until June 29th to handle this, but Cop #2 didn't care what Cop #1 said, and wrote me another $133 ticket, with a closer court date than before.
Was this necessary? Really, officer, I'm not vigilante or rebel, and I DO intend to deal with this tedious process that shouldn't have been an oversight by either the DMV or the tax office to begin with - when my busy schedule permits. I don't get to spend my on-the-clock hours driving around town in a company vehicle, able to run my errands on the job, so blocking off a couple of daylight hours to stand in line at the tax office and MAYBE even the DMV on the same day, officer, isn't something that can "just happen" instantly.
What's more, Mr. Officer, knowing that I'd just been informed of this oversight by another officer of the same police department only two days ago, doesn't it now seem REALLY obvious that you need to dole out a certain number of little blue notes? Hey, good luck with that, okay?
Cop #2 says it's my responsibility to know if my tag's expired, and as I told him, had I been contacted by the DMV or the tax office that my time was near, I'd have done so. But really, Mr. Officer, do you REALLY think people get in their cars, give their license plates and registration cards a "once over" every time they get in the vehicle? Better question...do you?
I think the whole city needs some heavy duty PR work. Anybody that has power in MB is out of control right now.
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