Policia Nacional = Scam Artists

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bigbird

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May 1, 2005
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I was pulled over by the Policia Nacional on 27 de febreo after making a left turn off of maximo gomez. The officer claims I made a left turn with my right turn signal on. The officer explains to me I have to go tomorrow morning to pay the ticket, bear in mind tomorrow is a Saturday. His next words were I could pay the ticket right there on the spot. The only English the officer knows is enough to scam you. The ticket is $100 USD if I pay it now.

I tell the officer I don't have $100 USD. No problem the officer says, I can pay in pesos. Pay 2000 pesos and I can me on my merry way. I explain I do not have 2000 pesos. Now the cost of the ticket is "How much money do I have". I opened the storage box between the two front seats and there is a 100 pesos bill and some change. The officer says to me OK, I say to the officer NO OK, give me the ticket and I will go pay it tomorrow morning. With a disgusted look he gave me my license back and told me to go.

What a bunch of crooks...............
 
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Black Dog

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May 29, 2009
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Someone correct me I'm wrong but I thought only the AMET could stop you for a traffic violation, although I'm sure you didn't really commit one!
 
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bigbird

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Black Dog said:
Someone correct me I'm wrong but I thought only the AMET could stop you for a traffic violation, although I'm sure you didn't really commit one!
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I believe you are 100% right and I believe AMET is the only one who can write you a ticket.

I think the real reason for being pulled over was the vehicle I was driving. I rented from thrifty car rental this trip because of the cheaper rate. On the rear of the car are two "thrifty.com" decals. Rent a car = dumb tourist = money,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
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Black Dog

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Bigbird, don't be too hard on yourself as you weren't the first and you wont be the last and hats off to you for calling his bluff!!!!!!
 
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Ricardo900

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Jul 12, 2004
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Black Dog said:
Someone correct me I'm wrong but I thought only the AMET could stop you for a traffic violation, although I'm sure you didn't really commit one!
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PN can pull vehicles over for what ever reason they want, they set up check points and are the national police. AMET are traffic cops, do they pull people over for moving violations(DWI, Speeding)? I doubt it, never seen it. They usually get people for seatbelts and no helmuts.
 
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bigbird

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Ricardo900 said:
PN can pull vehicles over for what ever reason they want, they set up check points and are the national police..........
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I know about getting pulled over by the PN now. I actually got pulled over three times so far this trip.

First time I got pulled over was on Avenida Las Americas near the entrance to the new highway. It was a check point for whatever reason. The officer asked for my drivers license. I need to unbuckle my seat belt to get my wallet out of my pant's pocket. The officer checks out my license and now he tells me my seat belt is not buckled. I am like WTF. The officer lets me know he is thirsty. I asked if he wanted a cerveza. He now has a big smile. I go in the storage box to give him 55 pesos and I was on my way. As I drove off I thought to myself I should not have given him anything.

Second time I got pulled over was just before the floating bridge. Again, it was a normal check point. The officers just shined their flashlights in the car to check what was inside my vehicle. A few kind words from the officer and I was on my way.

Third time I got pulled over was as mentioned in my original post.
 
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Black Dog

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I've been stopped at check points several times by PN but I have never been asked for money and have always been treated politely, maybe I'm just lucky!
 
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bigbird

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Black Dog said:
I've been stopped at check points several times by PN but I have never been asked for money and have always been treated politely, maybe I'm just lucky!
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I don't doubt what you are saying.

For the most part the officers were very polite. The asking for money starts as soon as I say "no hablo espanol".
 
Robert

Robert

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jggm1971 said:
AMET-INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Hello
Im the Lt. Colonel Juan Gautreaux, im the head of Internal Affairs from AMET, if you send me an email to gautreaux@amet.gov.do i can take care of this case
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What would be great, is if you posted exactly what people should do in this situation, apart from don't pay these scumbags.

I personally never stop, unless the cop is willing to risk his life to stop me :)
Actually, I forgot the last time a cop actually tried to stop me here and I do a lot of driving all over the country.
 
SantiagoDR

SantiagoDR

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Jan 12, 2006
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bigbird said:
........ I think the real reason for being pulled over was the vehicle I was driving. I rented from thrifty car rental this trip because of the cheaper rate. On the rear of the car are two "thrifty.com" decals. Rent a car = dumb tourist = money,,,,,,,,,,,,
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Things have sure changed in this country.

My first motorbike (Back in early 90's) was one I bought from a rental agent and it had a large Rental decal on the front.

The police tried to stop me several times, but as soon as I got close enough for them to read the Rental decal, they would wave me on. My Dominican brother-in-law dressed up the bike once when I was out of the country and removed the Rental decal, I was really upset about that. Now the police would actually stop me.


Don
 
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Black Dog

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The first time I got stopped was when I'd been here about a month. They were stopping cars on the highway opposite supermercado sosua and they seemed to be looking for someone. I said to the officer "no hablo espanol" he smiled and said in very good english "you just did" He then shon his torch in the back of the car, waved me off and told me to have a goof evening!
 
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PeterInBrat

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May 29, 2006
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This is why I only use taxis. You can also hire a private driver for the day for not much more than it costs to rent a car and while it may be pretty beat up, you will not attract the police for shake downs. Along with cops, you have to worry about getting into accidents with Dominicans. I knew someone who was at a stoplight and got rear ended. The cops came and arrested her, because she was the one with the money. She ended up having to $200 to keep herself out of jail.

My understanding is that most cops get their education and school clothes paid for in exchange for being a cop for a few years at very low pay. They make most of their money from shakedowns. It is very saddening to see cops chase after shine boys so they can get 200-500 pesos out of them while there are some people that really need to arrested and kicked out of town. I had a run in with someone and I was told that if I wanted them arrested, I had to pay the cops to have it done, otherwise they couldn't be bothered. I had gone as far as going to the town district attorney(?) where I made a statement and the person was well known to them. Did a arrest ever happen though? Nope.
 
waytogo

waytogo

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Apr 3, 2009
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That's exactly why I haven't purchased a car. I have 1 taxi driver with a car that's like new and for 120 DP he'll take me pretty much anywhere in Santiago...within reason. If I took a taxi somewhere 2 times a day roundtrip and the Metro whenever, it's still way cheaper and less nerve rattling than owning my own.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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I just act dumb when stopped (an easy task!:cheeky:). 99% of the time their English is very limited.

I'll repeatedly say something like "sandwich, si" while rapidly nodding my head.

Eventually, when the traffic backs up, they'll wave me through...
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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JDJones said:
We've gone over this subject many times before. If you get stopped by the national police, just tell them you don't have any money. End of story.

Do NOT do that with the AMET guys, they won't think it's funny.
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Never been stopped by AMET (well, once 3 years ago for going through a yellow @ Sadhala Estrella and Argentina in Santiago; we played dumb tourists and they let us pass.)

It's always been the military and PN.
 
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jggm1971

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no stop?

well
no stop can be dangerous
what you have to do is not give money
because no stop can be dangerous, you dont know if the police is searching for a vehicle like yours or similar that has done something wrong and you can pay the consequences of that.
in my point of view is not a responsable way of act not to stop
because you can end bad depending on the situation that makes the police to stop you

and if you are stop and the police watn money dont give them money, and if you give them money, take the license plate of the vehicle, take their names, location, all the info and put the complaint in internal affairs and they will be investigate
;)
 
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ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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Robert said:
What would be great, is if you posted exactly what people should do in this situation, apart from don't pay these scumbags.

I personally never stop, unless the cop is willing to risk his life to stop me :)
Actually, I forgot the last time a cop actually tried to stop me here and I do a lot of driving all over the country.
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Robert, with you living several years in the DR you should know better, that's the most dangerous thing you can do for your wellbeing and your passengers. I personally just give them 50 pesos when they stop me, even though I have close family which have serious power in the Judicial Branch. I prefer to be in my way 1 minutes after they stop me than be there intimidating the guy for 15 minutes and getting upset.
 
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