This website is dedicated to my experience with the Colorado State Police

It is a commonly told legend--whether it is true or not--that law enforcement officers are encouraged to write as many tickets as they can to build up the budget of whatever jurisdiction they represent.  I now believe it is true, and below are email transcriptions between me and Captain Jeremiah Sharp, OIC of the Colorado State Police's version of internal affairs.  The emails will be listed in chronological order.  I'll let the reader be the judge as to whether or not they agree.

First response from one of the elected officials I sent this to.  Not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least it was a response!:

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. I wish that I could be of more direct assistance, but as a United States Senator for Georgia, this issue is out of my jurisdiction. I recommend reaching out to your elected officials in your area for assistance. I hope this can be resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

If I can ever be of assistance to you in a matter involving a Federal agency or legislation, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 470-786-7800.

Sincerely,
Jon Ossoff
United States Senator

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Final email.  Unfortunately not the response I was hoping for, so I will go ahead and pay the ticket.  But I will also leave this website up for years.

So...after sending emails to just about everybody in the Colorado State Police chain of command and receiving no response, following is what I eventually received from Captain Sharpe.  I don't believe his information is accurate, but what the hell.  I've tried everything I could :

Mr. Martin: On the date in question, Trooper Lee had stopped a vehicle at 1712 hours on the right shoulder. At 1726 hours, Trooper Lee issued a citation to the driver. At 1740 hours, Trooper Lee was conducting his roadside administrative processes, including ticket notes, when you passed him. In the State of Colorado, failing to move over is considered to be a violation of careless driving. It is important to note that Colorado has a distinct delineation between careless and reckless driving. Should you choose to proceed with an independent verification, you will need to submit a records request through the Colorado State Patrol Central Records Unit. The portal for a request can be found at this link. I am not permitted to release records to you directly. Please be specific in your request as this will help them narrow down what you may be looking for. The Central Records Unit is busy and takes each request seriously. I have made the unit supervisor aware of this matter and she will be watching for your request. I will be closing out this inquiry and have appreciated the opportunity to engage with you. Thank you for taking the time to contact the Colorado State Patrol with your questions and concerns. 

[First email, me to Colorado State Police (CSP)]

Colorado State Patrol - CSP <no-reply@co.colorado.gov> To:  Fri, Sep 22 at 5:39 PM

Submitted on Friday, September 22, 2023 Submitted by: Anonymous Submitted values are: 

 Incident Information
CSP OfficerName : Last name: Lee
Badge ID Number : 0163
County in Which Incident Occurred: Kit Carson
Location of Incident: I-70 MM 419 EB
Date and Time of Incident: Thu, 09/21/2023 - 17:30
 Details of the Complaint:

I am sending this complaint via numerous avenues, since I live in Georgia and have no way to follow up on the complaint to make sure it doesn’t go to a discontinued mailbox.

On 21 Sep 23 I was driving on a Colorado thoroughfare in Kit Carson County when I noticed a police car in the distance with its lights on. The car was pulled over to the side of the road, almost on the grass. There was no other vehicle anywhere near the police car, and I thought it odd that it would just be sitting there.

After I passed the car, it proceeded to pull me over. The reason…that I had not moved to the opposite lane. If I had seen anyone outside of the vehicle, or if there was another vehicle pulled over, I would surely have thought to give way to ensure the safety of the officer as well as whoever was pulled over.

It wasn’t until I returned home to Georgia when my son noticed that not only was I cited for failure to yield, I was cited for careless driving. Not only is this citation going to cost me $169.50, but points are going to be assessed against my license given that it was a moving violation.

Speed traps are bad enough, but at least drivers know they are exceeding the speed limit and have no excuse. In this instance the state trooper was engaged in what I feel—and reasonable man theory would suggest—was subterfuge and served no purpose other than collecting revenue. To add insult to injury, another vehicle passed both the patrol car as well as the vehicle I was driving in what was very obviously excessive speed.

I have no other reason to return to Colorado, and it is too far from my home to address this issue in court. Rather, I would hope that what the patrolman did was neither common nor acceptable practice. I will pay the fine. But even though I won’t be able to present myself in court, I will most certainly use every means possible to obtain redress. 

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[Second email, me to Captain Jeremiah Sharp, Colorado State Police (CSP)] 
Captain Sharp, I regret that the person in charge of the professional standards section of the Colorado State Police wouldn't even respond to an email about a situation that I consider (and would hope you would consider) egregious.

I want to add to the information I provided below that in my 46 years of driving, the only reason I've seen a police car on the side of the road with its lights on and no other obvious reason for having them on is to warn drivers of a dangerous situation further down the road, such as an accident. My attention was focused much more on looking for some kind of hazard instead of considering that a police officer was lying in wait to see if a driver would pass them without going into the opposite lane.

Also as stated below, I am now taking additional means to seek redress. Especially since now I'm not just angry, I'm insulted by being dismissed. I have purchased the domain name http://dishonestcoloradostatepolicepractice.com. On that page, I will put the email I sent previously, along with this email and any further emails.

I will pay to have that site come up high on any search engine return about any search having to do with the Colorado State Police.

I will forward this email to Colorado's governor, Colorado's two senators, and the state representatives whose constituents are from Kit Carson Country. I will also sent it to those same government officials from my own state. Whereas previously I might have been satisfied that the professional standards section of the Colorado State Police at least took my complaint seriously, now I won't be satisfied until the ticket is dismissed.

I will send another email when the website is populated and I have forwarded this email to the individuals stated above.

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[email from Captain Jeremiah Sharp, CSP, to me]

I am in receipt of your email and wanted to personally touch base with you as it seems you have concerns regarding how we perceive your complaint. Is there a time we could talk today?

Respectfully, --

Captain Jerry Sharp
Colorado State Patrol Professional Standards Section
15285 S. Golden Road, Building 45,
Golden, CO 80401
O: 303-273-1703 C: 719-588-0388

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Captain Sharp and I were eventually able to discuss my complaint.  Below is the email I sent to Captain Sharp summarizing our conversation.]

Captain Sharp,

Thank you for taking the time to discuss my complaint with me.  I look forward to our next conversation on October 10th, when you told me you would have the time that Officer Lee wrote the previous ticket you mentioned, and was working on the approximately 30 minutes it apparently takes to document each citation written.

In order to have a written documentation of our conversation for both my records and for my website, I am summarizing our conversation below:

*  You told me that Officer Lee is new on the job, and in fact was in your class when you were an instructor at the academy.

*  You told me that most states, if not all states, had a similar move over law requiring drivers to move over when passing any vehicle with emergency lights flashing.

*  You told me the Colorado State Police is constantly trying to improve things.

*  You told me 5 officers have been killed alongside of the road within a very short period of time, that officers alongside the road on freeways are at a very tactical disadvantage.

*  You told me Officer Lee was performing all the documentation required...an approximate 30 minute task...for a citation he had written previously, although officers are told to find a safe place to do that documentation.

*  You said words to the effect that you supported Officer Lee in this situation, and that the citation would stand.

*  You were unable to tell me the exact time that previous citation was written so I could compare it to the time my citation was written to verify your statement just above.  You said we would set up a meeting on October 10th, when you would be able to provide me that time.

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My questions, which I hope we will be able to discuss and clarify on our next meeting, are:

1.  If Officer Lee was in your class at the academy, was he instructed to find a safe place to finish documentation after writing a citation?

2.  If Officer Lee was instructed to find that safe place, and if he did in fact just write a previous citation, wasn't he in violation of his instructions?

3.  Isn't adding "driving carelessly" to the citation a little excessive which in my opinion was added solely to increase the fine?

Again, thank you for taking the time to discuss my complaint with me, and I look forward to our next meeting.

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So there you have it.  If you've read this far, you probably have a strong opinion about the situation, be it in support or otherwise.  I will continue to add documentation of any emails or discussions as they occur.