Run in with local Forestry Police officer

[Guest Rando]

Hello,

I am sending this on a suggestion of a friend. I have no idea if this would intrest you or not or if you could reprimand the offender or not, but I am in the need to vent to someone about the failure of an officer to use courtesy and common sense. The event I am refering to happened on the border of the Cherokee National forest and private land our hunting club has leased. My brother and I were on street legal trail bikes and were checking on the property as per our lease we are expected to watch over the land we are using and be it's care takers. We had stopped on a logging road that goe around and through the property when an official from the Forestry police drove up and told us we had croosed the forestry line and passed signs that stated no motorized vehicles past this point. We tried to explain the reason we were there and that we had instead came straight through the property we had leased and not around the road that he came in on, but that we had been given permission by three TWRA officers to use that road if need be as it dead ended on our leased property and only crossed a few hundred yards of Forestry property anyway as it zigzaged back and forth across the road. He proceeded to get very smart with us and told us he knew how we had come in and that we had crossed the line and this was not the time to talk or argue about it if we did'nt like it we could come talk to him in court.We told him reapetedly that we were on private property and had the permission of three TWRA officers to use the road and thought we were covered as it is a WMA and under thier jurisdiction as well, he would not even reply just took our licenses and wrote us tickets. My brother and I have all of the respect in the world for our officers of all branches as we have relatives and many friends on the county, city and THP all of who would vouch for us and some that tried to get me on the force with them but of course politics and the fact that I was'nt related to the right person's shot me down more than once. We how ever can not have any respect for such officers as one William Weldon the afore mentioned Forestry police officer that talked to us in such a direspectful manner and treated us as idiots. 1 we turned up hill still on private property where the sign he talked about USED to be but is no longer as it was torn off of the tree years ago. 2 We were on private property when he came up on us. 3 He put down that we were on West Meyers road which we were no where near but was the nearest road we could not legaly ride on. 4 He could have called the lead officer for that area from the TWRA and taken care of everything in a matter of seconds. 5 My Dad met him on another local mountain and asked about which roads were legal and he said they had to be well marked and posted or have a gate to be illegal but if he saw someone on an off limits road he would figure they were turned around and let them off with a warning for the first time, we heard nothing about a warning. I think that he could have taken in the circumstances and used hid judgement a lot better and if nothing else told us that he thought he had the higher ranking jurisdiction and asked us not to use the road and to let others know for him and he would have shown us an officer worth the badge on his chest and not some smart-$$ with a badge that wanted to show himself period. My Uncle a local reserve Deputy talked to our Judge John Bell who himself admitted to riding on these roads as he did not know they were supposedly off limits and since they were not marked if such a case came before him he would drop the charges instantly and reprimand the officer for taking up valuable court time. I have talked to many people in this area about officer Weldon and no one could tell me anything good he has done, no one has any respect for him what so ever and the more people he does wrong makes things worse on us that live on these mountains( Rocky Top and Halls Top in Cocke County) because some of these rednecks try to get back at them by burning the mountain and that cost the state and county a lot of money not to mention the homes and lives risked to fight these fires but they know of no other way to get back at the ones they believe wronged them. I will be paying the fines as my brother and I can not afford to miss work to go to Greenville and end up missing work, paying court costs and the fines them selves as we know there is no way to win in front of thier judge as we would be found guilty before we even stood before the judge. I am highly disgusted and hurt by the actions of this officer both to us and to many others he has wronged just to write a ticket and try to look good in front of his peers who would do nothing for us either as I have already contacted them and was blown off by Patrol Captain Cadle who seems to care less.

OK whats your two cents on the subject:popcorn:

[chipperi]

There are some cops and cop wanabees (forestry service) who's heads are bigger than their brains. Sorry bout the run in.

Now I am going to go pop an aspirin as you didn't break the story into paragraphs.

[TripleDigitRide]

Holy long-a$$-paragraph, Batman!

[Guest Rando]

Sorry was kinda perturbed and just kept punchin:wall:

[Guest JHatmaker]

Sorry was kinda perturbed and just kept punchin:wall:

Next time punch the period button as well

But I'm sorry about your run in, it's good to vent though!

[Mike.357]

Venting is good. So is spell check and punctuation.

Oof that was hard to read.

[Bloodbought1]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.....I must be good at run on sentences..I had no problem reading it...LOL

[Tobashadow]

Really can the grammar nazi's lay of a bit?

[Punisher84]

Really can the grammar nazi's lay of a bit?

I hate to say it man, but it is a text based forum. Venting or not if the OP wants us to read his issue he needs to make it readable.

[Mike]

...

F**k...

Paragraphs.

All that for a trail bike on a logging road?

[G27]

Really can the grammar nazi's lay of a bit?

Yah, how DARE anyone expect someone to actually use basic grammar when conveying their thoughts on a forum!

Edited March 29, 2009 by crimsonaudio

[Guest Spuds]

Seems like folks want to discuss anything but the situation you asked about. Is it a big inconvenience to defend yourself in court? Go back and get GPS coordinates of where you were when the officer cited you, photos too. Show them to the judge, hard evidence is difficult to ignore.

You might also right a letter of complaint to his commanding officer. Since it's the Cherokee National Forest, does TWRA have any standing at all there? Was the guy with TWRA, or a fed? I'd write your state representative and senator as well if he was a state guy, your congressman and senators if federal. Don't get mad, get even. The guy won't like it at all that he is getting negative attention from higher ups.

[Guest Rando]

Thank you Spuds, yes I have sent a letter to our congressman and senators as well as to the Governors office. I talked to his boss on the phone twice and was told he could not do anything about it as he did not mess with what his officers did. He said he would talk to him about it and to the TWRA officer and get back to me. I don't think he had time to talk to anyone as he called back very quickly to tell me he thought I had a good case if I wanted to pursue it.

The Cherokee National forest at least here is also a WMA and the TWRA patrol it pretty often when hunting seasons are open.I am going to send a letter to the TWRA to see what they think about it and have already sent one to the main forestry HQ. I would not care a bit to go to court over it but don't see it going well going to Greenville in front of thier judge. I am sure I could get a letter from the land owner as well as he is a well known lawyer in these parts.

The same guy wrote up a guy that was in one of the park picnic areas for driving about 100 yards or so so his small daughter could play in the creek, they did'nt have on seat belts. He also stopped a friend of mine and his daughter as possible bear poachers, said they were having a lot of poaching problems in NC. and my friend told him dude were in TN. They were on a main hwy. and had been visiting a friend wha had just lost a family member, he still stripped out the truck to try and find a gun.

The guy is a total BUTT head, he seems to have a problem with the whole world and sooner or later he is going to push the wrong button and the gun community is going to gain another black eye. I hope it does'nt come to something like that.

again sorry so long but I hope the PRISSYS can read this better:rolleyes:

[poak]

Really can the grammar nazi's lay of a bit?

I suppose you mean "lay off", not "lay of", correct?

[mhm2a]

I think I have heard stories about this guy before on Thumpertalk.com or another dirt bike forum. It was relating to some dual sport/enduro guys who were on a trail that was previously fine to ride and then this guy basically threatened to arrest them and impound their bikes. The trail was only marked on one end and that happened to be the way they were coming out. They took their lumps paid the fine and moved on. Hopefully, his employer is taking notes and the more people that complain they may realize this guy is a liability for them and let him go.

On a side note. They are shutting down most of the Nat'l Forrest in NC to motorized traffic and this problem is going to become worse when they have to enforce it. The locals are already in a stir.

[Punisher84]

again sorry so long but I hope the PRISSYS can read this better:rolleyes:

You stay classy San Diego.

[Guest JavaGuy]

Since the topic has been broached in this thread, let me toss in my two cents worth on using basic grammar, spell-check, periods, commas, paragraphs. It makes your comments easier to read. I don't have to try to interpret the comment or try to figure out what word you thought you were using.

We all misspell words from time to time... that's what spell-check is for. We all toss in typos (hitting the wrong key.. making gun turn into gum or gym) from time to time. Proof-reading your comment before hitting the submit button will help a bit.

Breaking comments into logical paragraphs helps to make it readable so the reader can follow your train of thought. Each paragraph should be built around one thought, one point of interest.

I know... another grammar nazi beating up on you good ol' boys.. well, consider that the lack of coherent paragraphs, run-on sentences, misspellings, misused words and other writing mistakes is, to me, kind of like you might feel if you watched someone walk onto a gun range and totally disregard any safety precautions. Obviously, that's a poor comparison - words versus a real safety problem - but you wouldn't treat your pistol or rifle carelessly, would you? No. You've learned how to load it, shoot it, clean it, break it down... in the proper order, in the proper way.

Writing is no different. You wouldn't try to load .45 ACP cartridges into a 9mm magazine. Learn the difference between there, they're and their... between your and you're... between right and write... between site, cite and sight... There are a lot of words that sound alike, are spelled differently and mean different things. When you use the wrong word, it's like watching someone try to load that .45 ACP into a 9mm magazine.

/Rant off.... and I hope I haven't offended anyone.

[DRM]

Not trying to be rude, but I had to break it down a bit so I could even read the entire thing:

Hello,

I am sending this on a suggestion of a friend. I have no idea if this would interest you or not or if you could reprimand the offender or not, but I am in the need to vent to someone about the failure of an officer to use courtesy and common sense.

The event I am referring to happened on the border of the Cherokee National forest and private land our hunting club has leased. My brother and I were on street legal trail bikes and were checking on the property as per our lease we are expected to watch over the land we are using and be it's care takers.

We had stopped on a logging road that goes around and through the property when an official from the Forestry police drove up and told us we had crossed the forestry line and passed signs that stated no motorized vehicles past this point. We tried to explain the reason we were there and that we had instead came straight through the property we had leased and not around the road that he came in on, but that we had been given permission by three TWRA officers to use that road if need be as it dead ended on our leased property and only crossed a few hundred yards of Forestry property anyway as it zigzagged back and forth across the road.

He proceeded to get very smart with us and told us he knew how we had come in and that we had crossed the line and this was not the time to talk or argue about it if we didn’t like it we could come talk to him in court. We told him repeatedly that we were on private property and had the permission of three TWRA officers to use the road and thought we were covered as it is a WMA and under their jurisdiction as well, he would not even reply just took our licenses and wrote us tickets.

My brother and I have all of the respect in the world for our officers of all branches as we have relatives and many friends on the county, city and THP all of who would vouch for us and some that tried to get me on the force with them but of course politics and the fact that I wasn’t related to the right person's shot me down more than once.

We how ever can not have any respect for such officers as one William Weldon the afore mentioned Forestry police officer that talked to us in such a disrespectful manner and treated us as idiots.

1. we turned up hill still on private property where the sign he talked about USED to be but is no longer as it was torn off of the tree years ago.

2. We were on private property when he came up on us.

3. He put down that we were on West Meyers road which we were no where near but was the nearest road we could not legally ride on.

4. He could have called the lead officer for that area from the TWRA and taken care of everything in a matter of seconds.

5. My Dad met him on another local mountain and asked about which roads were legal and he said they had to be well marked and posted or have a gate to be illegal but if he saw someone on an off limits road he would figure they were turned around and let them off with a warning for the first time, we heard nothing about a warning.

I think that he could have taken in the circumstances and used his judgment a lot better and if nothing else told us that he thought he had the higher ranking jurisdiction and asked us not to use the road and to let others know for him and he would have shown us an officer worth the badge on his chest and not some smart-$$ with a badge that wanted to show himself period. My Uncle a local reserve Deputy talked to our Judge John Bell who himself admitted to riding on these roads as he did not know they were supposedly off limits and since they were not marked if such a case came before him he would drop the charges instantly and reprimand the officer for taking up valuable court time. I have talked to many people in this area about officer Weldon and no one could tell me anything good he has done, no one has any respect for him what so ever and the more people he does wrong makes things worse on us that live on these mountains( Rocky Top and Halls Top in Cocke County) because some of these rednecks try to get back at them by burning the mountain and that cost the state and county a lot of money not to mention the homes and lives risked to fight these fires but they know of no other way to get back at the ones they believe wronged them.

I will be paying the fines as my brother and I can not afford to miss work to go to Greenville and end up missing work, paying court costs and the fines them selves as we know there is no way to win in front of their judge as we would be found guilty before we even stood before the judge.

I am highly disgusted and hurt by the actions of this officer both to us and to many others he has wronged just to write a ticket and try to look good in front of his peers who would do nothing for us either as I have already contacted them and was blown off by Patrol Captain Cadle who seems to care less.

OK whats your two cents on the subject

That said, I think if you aren't man enough to stand up for yourself in court - then you need to just pay the fines and stop wasting everyone's time asking what we think you should do. Obviously - you NEED to go to court with clear facts of how the man was in error. If not - then by paying the files you are admitting you are in the wrong and the officer is right.

And that's my 2 cents.

[Farman]

Since the topic has been broached in this thread, let me toss in my two cents worth on using basic grammar, spell-check, periods, commas, paragraphs. It makes your comments easier to read. I don't have to try to interpret the comment or try to figure out what word you thought you were using.

We all misspell words from time to time... that's what spell-check is for. We all toss in typos (hitting the wrong key.. making gun turn into gum or gym) from time to time. Proof-reading your comment before hitting the submit button will help a bit.

Breaking comments into logical paragraphs helps to make it readable so the reader can follow your train of thought. Each paragraph should be built around one thought, one point of interest.

I know... another grammar nazi beating up on you good ol' boys.. well, consider that the lack of coherent paragraphs, run-on sentences, misspellings, misused words and other writing mistakes is, to me, kind of like you might feel if you watched someone walk onto a gun range and totally disregard any safety precautions. Obviously, that's a poor comparison - words versus a real safety problem - but you wouldn't treat your pistol or rifle carelessly, would you? No. You've learned how to load it, shoot it, clean it, break it down... in the proper order, in the proper way.

Writing is no different. You wouldn't try to load .45 ACP cartridges into a 9mm magazine. Learn the difference between there, they're and their... between your and you're... between right and write... between site, cite and sight... There are a lot of words that sound alike, are spelled differently and mean different things. When you use the wrong word, it's like watching someone try to load that .45 ACP into a 9mm magazine.

/Rant off.... and I hope I haven't offended anyone.

+1

[Guest Rando]

DRM, Javaguy and Farman BITE ME. I did not ask for any opinions I just posted it to get it out to others what kind of butt heads we had to put up with. I was also hoping that some of the higher ups in the Forestry or other Gov. would see it and ask a few questions. I am trying to lay heat for that dude any where I can.

I do have spell check on here, it shows up with red underlines if it is wrong, in fact the red lines are under the names DRM and Farman right now, must be some thing wrong with you:p. I have to admit it was kind of a mess and I apologize, as I said I just punched it out and hit the button without really looking it over as my bosses sere rushing me to get to ball practice.

We all need to raise cain about the brainless people they put behind these badges. I even heard of one of the TWRA agents writing a guy a ticket for going less than 100 yards on a backroad on his atv to get to some of his property from his house. The guy is a double amputee the atv is his only way to get around on his farm, is he supposed to sit on the porch and hire someone to do it for him with no income.

Yeah I had to vent some more but if it bothered you so bad all you had to do is go to the next post, dang get a life.

[DRM]

DRM, Javaguy and Farman BITE ME. I did not ask for any opinions

See, now you are a liar.

OK whats your two cents on the subject

[mhm2a]

Nickel and Dime.....that is my 2 cents

[Guest JavaGuy]

I was also hoping that some of the higher ups in the Forestry or other Gov. would see it and ask a few questions.

And you seriously believe that the "higher ups" in a government agency have the time to try to unravel that rat's nest of a post?

I have to admit it was kind of a mess and I apologize, as I said I just punched it out and hit the button without really looking it over .

Whose mistake was that?

Yeah I had to vent some more but if it bothered you so bad all you had to do is go to the next post, dang get a life.

DRM, Farman and I were all trying to point out that if you want to convey your situation in a clear manner, then write clearly. Would you go to the range and start blazing away without checking to be sure the range was clear to shoot? I'd hope that even if you were upset, you'd still take some care... If you saw me doing something wrong with a pistol, I'd hope that you'd take the time to show me what I was doing wrong.

Never mind.. justjumbleitalltogetherandexpectpeopletobreakitoutintocomprehensiblesentences.

[DRM]

Shoot, I was even nice enough to copy it over to Word and break it into paragraphs as best as I could. Mainly - it was for my own benefit, so I could actually read the text and respond accordingly, I just thought it might helps others the way it helped me.

Don't worry, I won't cry too much over it

[Metalhead]

Holy thread de-rail batman!