Can an officer ask for money in lieu of sending me to jail? 57 Answers as of January 20, 2012

You should report this to the sheriff or the police chief where this officer is employed.

It is legal if that was the amount of the citation.

This is horrendous. He is trying to solicit a bribe. A BIG CRIME. Anyhow you should immediately go right to the DA office and offer to wear a wire when you talk to the cop. Probably even better is if you have a lawyer do this initial contact with the DA for you. Bust this POS. There are so many dishonest cops. It would be great if you could nail one.

Does not sound right. You should contact the court and see what they say, and also contact the police department. If not legitimate, file a complaint with police internal affairs.

No an officer cannot take money in exchange for charges or going to jail. You need to report this officer to his supervisor either the Chief of Police or the Sheriff depending on what force he is employed by. You definitely need to put an end to this bad cop routine. He will continue to do it to other people if you don't. Good Luck.

Not in Georgia. You need to contact the district attoney or hire a private attorney to do so for you.

That sounds like a police officer who is trying to get you to pay him illegally. The police do not collect fines, they write tickets and make arrests. If you have a bench warrant you must surrender to the court. retain an attorney to investigate the matter. The officer will deny that he asked for a bribe and he may even claim that it was you that offered the bribe. He can get you in more trouble than you can cause for him so let an attorney handle this.

No. It sounds like a set up to me. Don't give him a dime.

Not legal this week or next. My suggestion is to contact a different local law enforcement agency, tell them what happened, and assist them in setting up a sting operation.

It sounds like an illegal procedure. Why not just turn yourself in at the station, or better yet, hire an attorney and contact the police chief or at least, a commanding officer and register your complaint with him.

This is certainly not legal and if there was a valid warrant, the officer had a duty to arrest you.

No. That is soliciting a bribe.

NO!!!!!! it is not. Call the internal affairs unit.

What? This sounds like questionable behavior. You should speak with the officer's supervisor.

If what you are reporting is accurate, the police appear to be engaging in criminal conduct. The police are not collection agencies for the court. This appears to be shakedown. Advice; Contact the local district attorney's office and ask to speak with one of the prosecutors. They may agree to set up a sting operation to capture the rouge police officers in action.

No, that sounds like a bribe.

No, that is not at all legal, and you should report it to a supervisor at his agency immediately. I would also report it to another agency as well (probably DPS), to make sure that it does get investigated, because his behavior appears to be criminal. You would never pay an officer of any type directlyif you have an outstanding warrant, the money for it would go to the court clerk, and they fon't make house calls. The reality is also that for those two tickets, you'd owe more than $100probably several hundred dollars if you paid the full amount listed. If you have any kind of defense or hope to get out of either ticket, or even lower your fines, you need to get an attonrey to represent you on this, but in any event, you or the attorney need to contact the court and explain the situation fully. Make sure first you've got the money to pay the tickets, so you don't end up in jail. It's possible that an attorney could make a deal to get you out of one ticket with a plea to the other, or get you deferred, or a lower fine, etc. if you didn't show up for court, you should actually have two new charges for failure to appear as well, though, in addition to the two original cases. That and a number of other things about this do not sound at all right to me, and I think the situation definitely should be investigated by an outside law enforcement agency. Good luck.

No, this is not legal. This conduct constitutes a bribe. Contact an attorney immediately.

That sounds like a corrupt cop. I would contact the State Patrol ASAP and let them know about this because you can go to the court and have the warrants quashed without having to pay anything. I would keep quiet and call the state patrol.

NO! This is a scam! Call the agency which allegedly issued the warrant (get the number from the telephone book) and talk to them.

This is an absolute scam. First - get a lawyer because apparently there may be warrants out for your arrest. Once you do that, tell them what's going on so they can contact the TRUE authorities about this.

Of course its not. Call his Chief and file a complaint.

This seems very wrong to me. If an actual bench warrant exists you can verify at the criminal clerks office. If a warrant does not exist report the incident to the real police.

Uh, No! That sounds pretty illegal to me. Go to the station and make a complaint to the watch commander. But take care of your warrants first in court. Best to call a lawyer immediately.

While it is possible there is some statute where you live which allows this method of fine collection, it is highly unorthodox. You should call the court from which the warrant issued and inquire generally, and anonymously, about this. If speaking with the court does not resolve the question, speak with a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. On its face, this sounds like a scam.

No. That's called bribery or official oppression. Call the local police and ask for internal affairs department. They will set up a sting on this officer and take him down.

Absolutely not. You should contact the local news and have a reporter on standby at your house. Try and catch the cop in the act.

Your fact situation sounds unusual. The only way his statement can be true is if the warrants specified that you could be released upon payment of the amount cited. If that amount is the same as the total fine, you could clear the files by making the payment. Be aware that payment of a "payable" fine is a plea of guilty. Both offenses would show up on your record as convictions.

Other than an illegal bribe I have not come across any situation where an officer would take any form of payment on an infraction. The fact that he gave you his cell phone number and not an office number is also suspicion. You need to contact the court clerk and see if you have any warrants. Then deal only with the cashier at the court for money payments. You should report the contact of this officer to the police.

Such procedure as you have described is not followed in any jurisdiction that I have seen or heard of. In some areas it is possible to pay a ticket at the court even if a warrant has been issued and that may satisfy all requirements of the court and clear the warrant. I am not aware of any jurisdiction that permits officers to come personally to the home demanding cash be paid to them to take care of tickets. Call the court where the tickets are pending and check with them about this activity. If the officers are engaged in some sort of shakedown or improper activity please be willing to assist in bringing it to light. You may want to find an attorney to work with you just to make sure you don't fall between the cracks.

An officer cannot ask you for money in exchange for going to jail unless the money is for your bond.

In Wyoming, and officer can accept bond money from you in place of arresting you, but, i have never seen this done before. Take your ticket to the nearest criminal defense attorney, have that attorney call the court and the officer to determine the status. If there is already a warrant, it is better to pay the ticket directly to the court. the court can vacate te warrant. Do not give the money to the officer directly unless advised by an attorney to do so after consultation. This is a complicated scenario.

Absolutely not. This officer is likely committing a crime and you would be well served to contact your local Law Enforcement Agency (but not the same this officer belongs to) and advise them of the situation and cooperate with a sting to have this officer arrested. Not only will your payment to this officer not be legal, but it also probably would not serve to relieve you of the warrants if they actually exist. This officer needs to be taken down.

I would report this officer to his supervisor. What he/she is doing is absolutely wrong. What he/she is doing is extortion. This officer needs to be reprimanded or fired.

No; it is a scam; call the cops.

This sounds very fishy! I have never heard of officers coming to your house to demand money or take you to jail instead. You likely have a small warrant for not showing up to court or paying your ticket but it is highly improper for officers to threaten arrest if you don't pay on the spot. I would call the police department and ask to speak with a supervisor. Also, call the court to inquire about a warrant. You may also want to contact a bail bonds agent who can check the status of any warrants.

No! This is not legal at all! Please call me immediately. If this is what it sounds like, the officers need to be exposed so they don't get away with things like this.

This is not a normal procedure in Virginia and I would be reluctant to give the officer any money! There may be a bench warrant for you if you were charged with driving on a suspended OL and failed to appear on your court date. F

Call the local police office is my advice. Something sounds suspicious, but I do not know if that is a legal procedure where your at based on your facts or not. A Bench warrant is a warrant issued typically due to a failure to appear in court, and it is an arrest warrant directing officers in Washington to arrest you and bring you before the judge (bench) that issued it. You may also want to contact the court where the supposed bench warrant has been issued to schedule a motion to quash the warrant.

Either the officer is acting completely unethically, or something else is happening which you have not properly communicated. If there are charges against you on file, you need an attorney to defend them. It is a crime to give money to an officer or promise to do so, in order to obtain something of benefit.

No it is not. Check with the court to see if there is actually a warrant out for your arrest.

It sounds quite fishy to me. If the person is indeed an officer, it sounds like he was asking for a bribe. I would call the court and verify if there are bench warrants and, if so, what you can do to take care of it.

A bench warrant may be issued and a bail can be set when a party fails to appear or pay a citation. Whether that is what occurred in your case would require a review . It is extremely unusual for a person to pay the officer in order to remain free on bail. I am highly suspicious of the procedure described.

I've never heard of police officers collecting fines themselves. That task is done by court clerks and cashiers and the DMV. Moreover, if a judge issued a warrant for your failure to appear, you would need a judge to vacate that warrant, which the police officer cannot do. Report this officer and check out his story with his superiors.

That is not legal. The officer would probably be arrested if his superiors found out.

Sounds fishy. I would call the department and check on this to see if legitimate.

Not a legal procedure. Call your local cops or state patrol if the local cop is the one asking for money and report it. At the very least you want a receipt and I would copy the money so it can be traced to the cop.