"Plates have to be one in front of the other, you can't have them on the sides"
"It's a fine"
The cop actually went on to lecture him on how he (my buddy) read it wrong on the internet
I recognize the officer as well, Nathan Wallace, not Cain or Christensen.
Essentially it boils down to either 1 of 2 scenarios. The officer is:
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A: Completely incompetent in their understanding of the MVA
or
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B: Lying to save face
In either case, officers like these are doing a disservice to the people of Vancouver and to the reputation of the VPD. The correct and mature response would've been to recognize that perhaps they didn't catch the plate at first due to lighting or whatever, and asked the driver to carry on. It's a white license plate on a white car on a sunny day, it's possible you missed it, we're all human. But to backpedal and straight up lie about the MVA rather than own up to an honest mistake just shows really poor judgment on the officer's part and makes me question their mental fitness to be in such a high-stress occupation.
IMO this kind of behaviour could escalate if a driver (knowing full well they are innocent) were to be more defensive and argued with the officer. One thing leads to another and next thing you know, the officer is calling for backup due to an uncooperative and aggressive driver during a "routine traffic stop".