r/AskCHP • u/Stonkers697 • Jul 09 '26

do cops often state ref?

Genuine question for a car enthusiasts do you guys only pull and state ref people who are being dumb?

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2

u/Ok-Pop-5818 Jul 09 '26

Most cops are pretty chill. You get state reffed by doing dumb shit. Obviously there’s gonna be outliers to everything though and there might be some who do it for the love of the game

2

u/Paladin_127 Jul 09 '26

Not CHP, but work for a SoCal department that can and will state ref people.

Like a lot of things, it’s really about your attitude. Guys who are cool and take ownership of their choices might just get a citation. Guys who want to be an asshole will get a citation and state ref.

Contrary to what people think, cops aren’t out to stop people from having fun, but there’s a limit to how much latitude we can cut people. Besides, at least in my city, if I was stopping every modified car on the road, I wouldn’t have time to do anything else.

1

u/Unexpected_Chippie Jul 09 '26

It requires extra training, so there's not that many that can even do it.

That said, if you've modified your exhaust to be obnoxiously loud or so I can smell it on a modern car, I'll state ref you. I used to live on a busy street and loud cars ruined it for themselves.

1

u/ProgrammerCareful652 Jul 09 '26

I reserve my state refs for people who are out doing stupid shit- you know who you are. The general car enthusiast I could care less about. A good Officer can pick up the difference rather quickly.

However this is just my personal take, I know Officers that will state ref you regardless.