sdsnocop

[PJ-Hunter]

Sounds like Duane is a real douche bucket. You can tell by watching that footage that the rider wasn't going WOT the whole way and wasn't being reckless. I'd be taking that footage into the courtroom.

And Mr. SNOCOP, NMFH!!!

 

[BoondockinDragon]

Ticket

The last time I checked those tickets have court dates set on them if you don't agree with them. How about we keep this a snowest forum on the conditions in the Dakotas and keep the Judicial System out of it!! Thanks

 

[cpittsy]

Obviously he isnt gonna comment on a Public Forum about this ticket. He has a job where he really has to watch his public image as would a: teacher, judge, mayor etc. Fact is we should be thankful that he even posts on here, as it could be a conflict of interest for his job.

I have read Duane explain different laws on here when people ask and he seems like a level headed, fair guy to me. Looked like a busy day on the trails and his adrenaline got the best of him.

Fact is calling him out on a message board is not the way to go about things. "Catch more bears with honey than ****." He doesnt hide behind a screen name like me and many others.

If you think you are helping your buddy out by calling the cop a "Dbag" etc your not helping. Quite the opposite. The way to go about it is the rider shouldve contacted Duane the next day and said "Hey I may have been riding a little hard yesterday but if you look at my GoPro video I think you will see a different angle." Keep it professional and you'll be surprised what people will do.

 

[Firetrail]

Duane

I do not know why Duane gave you a ticket and I really do not care. I would be quite disappointed in Duane if he posted a response to the garbage in this thread. He does not need to justify why he gave you a ticket on a SNOWMOBILE forum and he should not. I am sure he told you when he gave you the ticket why you got it. If you do not like it, take it to court and fight it there. Perhaps you will win. That is what courts are for. Just do not drag Duane through the muck for doing his job even if you do not like the way he did it.
For all you people who have chosen to trash this guy you surely do not know him very well. Duane and I have butted heads here a number of times over issues that we disagree on but I do have a lot of respect for him. I worked grooming trails in the Hills for 5 years and lived at Hardy for 3 winters. If you are having trouble in the Hills he is the best friend you will find. I have seen him out on -20 degree nights looking for stranded sledders, pull rentals out of the trees, respond to serious injuries and fatalities, and do numerous other thankless jobs just because he likes sledders and the sport. He even got out of his warm bed and came out in the middle of the night and helped me dig a Sno Cat out of a stuck hole. Duane really likes snowmobiling and snowmobilers and he does a whole lot more things than issue an occasional ticket. In all the time I have known him, I never saw or heard of Duane giving a ticket that he did not think was deserved. I do know that the Hills has an increasing problem with speeders and reckless driving and I am sure Duane gets an ear full about this almost every day. There are fatalities and serious injury accidents in the Hills every year and most are due to careless driving and excessive speed. If your ticket and this thread cause some people to slow down and be more responsible then it has not been a waste of time. Am I going to agree with everything Duane does and posts here from now on?? Of course not but then I believe respectful dialoge and discussuin about things is a good thing even if we disagree. But for those of you who are trashing him here without knowing him, you are being grossly unfair and you should offer him an apology, although you may not be man enough to do so. One thing I do know for sure is that if you pile your sled into a tree and get banged up Duane will be one of the first people there. Thanks for the good work you do, Duane.

 

[moonshiner]

The object is to slow down the rider and make him more cautious. Judging by the riders reaction to being stopped a simple warning would have been sufficient. He was not riding reckless and I saw 2 other sleds that were engaging in more dangerous riding than Mr GoPro. Nothing worse than people parking on the wrong side of the trail or in the middle.

Instead the rider gets a mark on his driving record, insurance goes up, and a $240 fine(TAX). Also the rider leaves with a bad impression of sled cops and so will every person who hears his story/watches the video.

Fact is this ticket will be thrown out by the county attorney or whoever handles forrest service tickets once they see this video. But to do that Mr Gopro will have to hire an attorney to make the phone call and forward the video because they wont talk to your average everyday citizen. This will run him $500.

In many cases a cop will throw out a ticket if you call him in time. Writing a complaint on a public forum usually has the opposite effect.

So is a reckless driving ticket on a sled the same as a reckless driving ticket in a car? Wow, it took me 5 years to get that off my record back in the days of the ol' Camaro.

 

[sdsnocop]

I am not going to comment on the specifics of this case as it will probably be heard in court. I appologize for causing 2 sledders from Madison to have a bad day. That was not my intention. My only intention is make sure everyone has an enjoyable time and make it home safe. I will not appologize for doing my job because your dammed if you do and dammed if you dont and I will rather be remembered for doing my job. The statute I cited has 2 main components, prohibition on reckless snowmobile operation and the requirement to operate at a speed that is reasonable and prudent for the conditions. The manner of operation I saw was not reckless but was beyond what was reasonable and prudent for the conditions. That decision is based on the trail layout, snow conditions and what the usual customary speed I have seen and experienced based on my 20 years and 80000 miles patrolling the Black Hills. I usually only write 1-2 of these tickets a season (these 2 make 3 this season). It usually takes operation that really grabs my attention to resort to issuing the citation and this one did. I saw the video several times and the video does not give the full picture of what I wittnessed that led to my actions. The citation is a snowmobile statute and does not affect drivers license or driving record. I do not expect every one to agree with all of my decisions and that is OK, if you have a question on why I do something just ask. It is amazing how a Law Enforcement Officer cannot be remembered for countless good deeds and handling situations no one else would touch but can always be remembered for a ticket issued to someone they believe they did not deserve. However after 26 years I have come to expect and live with it. I do expect to deal with criticism and being demeaned while at work but I do not have to deal with it at home in my off time. I post updates on snowest because enjoy helping other snowmobilers. I am not required to do this and spend my off time posting. However if this has become a bash-fest then I will do to snowest like I do to the TV when all I can find negative junk - turn it off.

All you snowesters have a enjoyable and safe end to the snowmobile season:

SDSNOCOP 10-7

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Here's what I saw after watching that entire video. And if the victim (I say that because he was wronged, by you) takes it to court and enters it as evidence you will get your as$ handed to you, as it should be.

First, he was in complete and total control. Only at WOT for short bursts, anybody with half a brain can hear that.

Second, he did not have any near misses. Maybe the conditions weren't ideal for an average rider. You can cite that. He and his buddy obviously had the skills to ride at that level.

Third, I saw several other S.P.O.Rs ( Stupid People On Rentals) parked in the trail, not wearing proper safety gear and putting themselves in harms way.

Fourth, How fast and out of control were you operating your sled in order to catch up? Obviously much faster than they were going because you caught them. Which brings up another point, if you caught them that fast means they OBVIOUSLY were not at full throttle but you were. No Trail Cop 600 will catch an 800 if both are at WOT. You should know that, given all of the miles you put on a year.

Fifth, after pulling them over (they parked on the side of the trail, out of danger) you left your sled in the MIDDLE of the trail, in the line of fire and thus, putting them in the line of fire with you.

Sixth, instead of just being a professional and issuing a written warning, you cite them? Did they have prior offenses on the trail system that we are unaware of? If not, 9 out of 10 cops would have issued a verbal, just asking the riders to slow down. In my book, that makes you the cop that everybody b*tches about.

I imagine (one would hope anyways) that you watched the video. And now you feel like a complete toolbag. They were in control, they pulled over as soon as you signaled them to, they were polite and cooperative. Did you clock them at an exact speed and note how fast they were going over the speed limit on the trail, if any? No, you used your own personal judgement and if I took that GoPro footage to court I could beat that citation 6 ways from Sunday.

That's how I see it. And my wife is a cop, as are a good handful of my friends.

 

[SDPowderRider]

Moderators please shut down this thread!

It has turned into a bashfest with arm chair q'backs who where not present. Only three people need to have their say, and that will be in western SD court.

Time to move on for the betterment of snowmobiling in SOUTH DAKOTA.

ps. my wife is not a LEO, I am.

 

[skibreeze]

Moderators please shut down this thread!

It has turned into a bashfest with arm chair q'backs who where not present. Only three people need to have their say, and that will be in western SD court.

Time to move on for the betterment of snowmobiling in SOUTH DAKOTA.

ps. my wife is not a LEO, I am.

Shut it down to cover up for your LEO buddy? Go pound sand. The video doesn't show the rider doing a damn thing wrong. You only want the truth suppressed, pretty pathetic response.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Nice post SB!

 

[polaris dude]

why should this thread stay open? The courts will decide who is right and who is wrong. Gotta love when people who have never been to this section before suddenly come in and start bashing cops. I realize your entitled to your opinions, but please shut up before you chase off our best and most reliable source of trail updates. I realize you 2 Colorado folk don't give a chit but some of us enjoy knowing how the conditions are.

Again, I'm not saying Duane is right or wrong in issuing citations- that is for the court to decide. I just think that having the argument here is stupid and pointless especially when people who haven't ever ridden the trails here decide to start chiming in.

 

[srx_600]

Im guessing Duane is gone from the 10-7 (out of service) he put on his post.

If you did decide to leave snowest, i appreciate all your updates as they were spot on and reliable.

 

[wag13]

Shut it down to cover up for your LEO buddy? Go pound sand. The video doesn't show the rider doing a damn thing wrong. You only want the truth suppressed, pretty pathetic response.

First things first, they probably aren't buddies, They probably haven't even met eachother before, and even if they are both LEO why would he even care about "suppressing" what was seen in the video. At this point in time the decision on the ticket was made and it'll stay that way until and even if the court says otherwise.....people who agree or disagree aren't going to change anything about that....And I hate to resort to this because your both pretty stand up guys from what i've seee on the forum, but neither of you have rode the Black Hills trail system, or probably even been to SD before in you life. So your view on it and the circumstances inwhich the ticket was given means absolutely 0 to me....But thats just me

 

[ironworker40]

Im guessing Duane is gone from the 10-7 (out of service) he put on his post.

If you did decide to leave snowest, i appreciate all your updates as they were spot on and reliable.

That goes for me to. Thanks dwane

 

[polarisedge]

Let me start off by saying I happened to witness this "chase" first hand... I was one of the 3 sleds that was parked on the side of the trail at about the "42" second mark of the video. When the 2 snowmobiles came around the corner and went by us they were not pushing it hard and didnt seem like they were out of control at all. I do however fell the trail cop was completely out of control and damn near clipped us! I damn near had to leap out of the way... and thank god my kid had just walked around to the other side of the sleds to lay down or he probaly would of been clipped!! Then there would of been a problem. Just my honest take on the situation so dont flame me

 

[skibreeze]

why should this thread stay open? The courts will decide who is right and who is wrong. Gotta love when people who have never been to this section before suddenly come in and start bashing cops. I realize your entitled to your opinions, but please shut up before you chase off our best and most reliable source of trail updates. I realize you 2 Colorado folk don't give a chit but some of us enjoy knowing how the conditions are.

Again, I'm not saying Duane is right or wrong in issuing citations- that is for the court to decide. I just think that having the argument here is stupid and pointless especially when people who haven't ever ridden the trails here decide to start chiming in.

Why should it stay open, the same reason every other thread is on here, for people to post their opinions. Whether valid or not, it's the same reason SRM isn't banned from here...yet.

As far as bashing cops, all I see is a video that does not justify a ticket. I'm gonna believe the video before somebodies word and now there is another poster that says the cop was the one out of control. Seems pretty damning to the cop and all the more bash worthy. How many videos are on youtube that show police doing stupid and unjustified crap, lots and the OP feels that this is just another incidence of the same crap. You are right, I haven't ridden in SD and probably never will, but I'm gonna call it as I see it in any situation regardless of somebodies feelings.

 

[jeffxc700]

Cop guy

Pretty sad....the snows a meltin and no more trail report. What is there to look forward to? This site has been very informative to the trail conditions but will very be different without Sdcop. Right or wrong...Hopefully time will heal and he will be back next season.

 

[vdo1948]

Im guessing Duane is gone from the 10-7 (out of service) he put on his post.

If you did decide to leave snowest, i appreciate all your updates as they were spot on and reliable.

I second that emotion!

 

[rlt504]

Whenever you watch a video things always look slower than they are in real life. I put go pros on my sportbike when I do track days and 160 mph in a straightaway looks slow on a go pro, but trust me its way faster when your on the bike. It doesn't look like they were riding reckless to me but the video makes them look like their riding way slower than in real life. Then you figure Duane has to stop what he's doing and get on his sled and catch up to them. Its not super easy catching up to someone if they probably had a 10 second head start. I'm sure Duane had to really work hard to make up the head start they had to catch them. So in Duane defense its hard for him to judge that they weren't driving reckless. I'm sure Duane had to ride reckless to catch them which made him think they were being reckless. So don't go on this forum bad mouthing Duane when you don't know how he saw it in his own eyes. I'm just glad I'm not a cop and have to make judgement calls on if somebody should get a ticket or not. Plus trails are boring what are you doing with that mountain sled on the trail anyways.

 

[vdo1948]

Why should it stay open, the same reason every other thread is on here, for people to post their opinions. Whether valid or not, it's the same reason SRM isn't banned from here...yet.

As far as bashing cops, all I see is a video that does not justify a ticket. I'm gonna believe the video before somebodies word and now there is another poster that says the cop was the one out of control. Seems pretty damning to the cop and all the more bash worthy. How many videos are on youtube that show police doing stupid and unjustified crap, lots and the OP feels that this is just another incidence of the same crap. You are right, I haven't ridden in SD and probably never will, but I'm gonna call it as I see it in any situation regardless of somebodies feelings.

I'm not going to argue your opinion. My gripe is that we now have a bunch of low posters and outsiders who have come on here and turned it into a personal bash based on one incident. What you don't know - and probably don't care to know - is that for every incident like this, there are 20, 50 or 100 of Duane going out of his way to help sledders when he didn't have to. I was personally involved in an incident where a friend got lost in the dark on a four stroke, got very stuck and had to leave the sled over night. When we went out the next morning to rescue the sled Duane came out and helped. I don't know why he rode out to help but I appreciated it as did my friend. He has been invaluable on this forum, providing us with snow reports and giving us advice on the law. He very clearly cares about snowmobiling and snowmobilers. He gets paid squat to do his job. He's not perfect. Neither are you. Neither am I. I know enough of him that I'm willing to give him a pass. However, you and those like you have very likely chased him off this forum leaving those like me with a serious loss of information. And for doing that I will always think less of you.