K&R if you have been subject to police abuse of their authority

[kirby]

I mean personally been subjected to it, not just witnessed it.

I think all the so called law and order folks around here just do not understand that the reason the police profession get so
many negative comments is because so many people have been subjected to their abuse of authority.

I am referring to unnecessary use of force, unprofessional handling of a situation, unfair treatment, police departments/unions who refuse
to investigate or discipline complaints, etc.

[VMI Dem]

1. recommend.

[Dogtown]

2. K&R n/t

[undeterred]

3. Yes, and once it happens you never look

at police the same way again. You always wonder if a given cop is one of the bad apples.

[WeDidIt]

5. I've got a good solution for wondering

I just consider them all bad apples on sight. Saves time and confrontation by going out of my way to avoid them.

[kirby]

8. What a sad commentary

of how a free people have to walk on eggshells around the people hired to serve and protect.

[WeDidIt]

19. It's better than being beat upside the head with a club

or being shot numerous times because you reach for your wallet to comply with the request for ID.

[WeDidIt]

4. Yep, that's why I basically cower and say "Sir" a lot when confronted by them

No way am I ever going through that bullshi again.

I avoid cops at all costs, and never trust any of them.

[conscious evolution]

6. K&R

Too many times to count.

[Jokerman]

7. I should be able to rec this three times.

That's the current count just for my personal experiences with abuse of power.

[Th1onein]

9. Absolutely.

And I NEVER put up with their shit. It's amazing that, when you know your rights, and they KNOW that you know them, they are a lot less likely to continue with their bullshit.

If I deal with a cop? I have a tape recorder handy. I know how nasty and lazy these bastards are.

[Jokerman]

22. In my experience, knowing your rights really pisses them off.

Like you, I know my rights and refuse to let them push me around.

One officer flew into a rage after I said "You can't do that" in response to an unreasonable demand. I'll never forget his response, "No little shit is going to tell ME what I can or cannot do."

We spent the next minute or so standing toe to toe screaming obscenities at each other until more officers arrived on the scene. They talked him down and apologized to me for the "confrontational nature" of the first officer.

I'm lucky that all this happened on a crowded street in front of dozens of witnesses. Otherwise I'd have probably been arrested on bullshit charges and/or beaten to a pulp.

[Th1onein]

160. You have to be firm with them, like they are small children.

For instance, instead of saying, "You can't do that," (which you know would excite and frustrate a small child), you say, "Now, you know you're not going to do that, because that would be illegal."

Then, they know that you know, and will act accordingly. Most cops, not all, that I've dealt with have had their brains shoved down into their pants, and are operating on high-grade testosterone. And they DO get angry when you tell them how to do their jobs, but it usually works, and you get the upper hand, if you're in the right.

I once had a cop answer a call to my brother's house, when my nephew shot the window out of my car (nasty divorce between my brother and my sister-in-law), and he demanded to see my driver's license.

The reason that they do this is because they are hoping to run that driver's license and find an unpaid ticket, so they can take you in. Makes money, you know? But you can't require a person to show an ID on private property (unless you have probable cause, like in the Gates case), and a cop can't refuse to do his job and file your report of a crime, if someone doesn't show you their ID, OR their driver's license, in this situation. The Fourteenth Amendment requires it.

He even tried to bullshit me, and showed me his form, with a space for the driver's license number. I told him that it was too bad that his form required something that I was not required to give him. He was LIVID when I refused. He stormed off and took off in his car. I told him, when he was leaving, though, that it would probably only be a few minutes before he gave me the report.

I called his supervisor's office, and asked for the name and address, and then for the phone number and address of HIS supervisor, and went on up the chain until someone caught wind in that office that a citizen was gathering information on them. Some higher up stopped me and asked me what the problem was, and lo and behold, the first cop called me not two minutes later and gave me the report number.

If you think that you will be stopped and harassed by these kinds of cops, after something like this, think again. They usually steer clear of harassing people who know their rights and who show a willingness to follow through. They know that they have a lot more to lose than you do--for instance, their jobs, and any hope of a better job, or a promotion--with a well-written letter of complaint in their file.

It's very important to follow through when something like this happens, though. Even if you get what you want, like I did, that cop might go on to the next person who might not know his rights as well as you do, and do the same thing. If you send a letter, certified mail, return receipt requested, to his supervisors, he likely will not cross that same line again.

These people are public servants, and our employees. We must treat them as such.

[Joanne98]

10. Yes

[Zodiak]

11. Been hit with a billy club in the arm for "not moving fast enough"

While being bullied by two cops in the middle of the night. My crime: changing a flat tire.

After the cops got their jollies ordering my room-mate and me around doing meaningless tasks and roughing us up a bit, they drove off.

Galveston cops are assholes.

[Th1onein]

161. Galveston cops or Galveston County cops?

I've never had a problem with Galveston (city) cops, but Galveston County cops are very bad.

[freddie mertz]

12. Several times, most significantly at an anti-war rally

40 years ago.

[FarCenter]

13. Legalize drugs and elminate speed limits

Most people interact with the police only in traffic stops and drug busts.

Eliminate those from police functions and relations between the police and citizenry would improve immensely.

Plus, the police could actually spend their time on fighting crime.

[ekwhite]

101. I'm OK with the legalize drugs thing...

but eliminating speed limits? Not so much. That may work in a rural area, but Southern California?

[slampoet]

167. Would never work in the nyc providence boston corridor.

Just because of road conditions.

[chemp]

14. Yep

Years ago.
I was pulled over by the same cop three weeks in a row, without reason. I was in my mid twenties, restaurant manager, driving home a 3am. I saw the cop, checked my speed and drove by him. He pulled me over three weeks in a row.
"what's the problem officer?"
"L&R"
"Sure. what's the problem officer?"
"Where you going?"
"Home. what's the problem officer?"
"Where you coming from?"
"Work. what's the problem officer?"
"What that on your passenger seat?"
"Dirty work clothes. what's the problem officer?"

left me on my way.

Third week I asked if my papers were in order, with a German accent. Three more cops arrived to search me for drugs.

I call it driving with long hair.

[Bette Noir]

63. Yeah, long hair.

My ex-husband was pulled over five days in a row as he was leaving work, by the same cop each time. The cop kept telling my ex that he matched the description of someone suspected of robbing a liquor store in the neighborhood. After the fifth time, I phoned the chief of police, and asked him to have his men stop harassing my then-husband. No more problems, for a while.

[Iggo]

15. Auto-Unrec for the "K&R" post.

:P

[LostInAnomie]

30. Same here.

Nothing against the OP, but that is an automatic for me.

The OP would have been much better if it would have simple been "Have you been subject to police abuse?" or "Tell your story of being abused by police".

[HughMoran]

16. I have on multiple occasions

Even though many of the cops I know are cool, there are lots of real dicks out there who act like mafioso.

[L0oniX]

17. K & R ...many times

[tularetom]

18. How about an ongoing battle with the sheriff over his refusal to provide service

to a a sparsely populated remote area of the county.

He publicly stated he couldn't afford to patrol our area and that his deputies would only respond to emergencies but with no guarantee of response times. He said this at a budget meeting that I happened to be attending. When the time came for questions from the public I asked if I could get a rebate on my property taxes for the police services I wasn't receiving. (That would have meant I would pay virtually no taxes since at the time, the Sheriff's Dept. budget consumed about 80% of the county's general fund).

He knew how to hold a grudge and harassed me for a year or so about taking the law into my own hands. It only ended when a scandal over some missing dope from his evidence room started a scandal which led to his retirement before the end of his term.

I see him once in awhile at the golf course. He's civil but not friendly.

[justiceischeap]

20. I was belittled after being mugged at gun point, that count?

I was mugged by two kids and when the detectives came to take my statement, I stated that I thought maybe the guns were bb guns or plastic. The older detective snickered, actually snickered at me, and asked what made me an authority on guns. I told him when the guy gripped the gun by my ear, it sounded hollow and like plastic. Guess what, they were using plastic bb guns. The younger cop was hitting on my then girlfriend... not a pleasant night.

When I talked to two other detectives who were handling my case, I told them about my experience and they replied that that sounded like the guy and apologized to me.

[RT Atlanta]

21. In college

when a simple "hey boys, you should't be doing that" to some fire works we were shooting around my fraternity house, but instead the cop snuck up and into our house and had me "cuffed and stuffed" before I even knew what happened (and yes I was sober and this was the middle of the day - yes, college boys can to weird things - but exams had just ended and school was out for the summer).

Another friend in college used to paraphrase the "protect and serve" motto and said that our campus's police dept's motto was in fact to "arrest and detain."

[Taitertots]

157. So, were the fireworks legal in your state?

[ipaint]

23. Yes

I regularly took a side street home from work. One day after a particularly heavy downpour I went to turn down the street and there was a do not enter sign and under it said high water. I slowed down preparing to turn around when a cop at the end of the side street waved me down the street. He then pulled me over and gave me a ticket for driving down a one way street. Apparently they had just declared it a one way but there were no signs.

I went back a couple hours later and took pictures of the do not enter high water sign and pictures of the beginning of the street showing no one way signs anywhere.

I contested the ticket in court and brought my pics. The cop brought pictures too. His were of the street AFTER they put the one way signs up several days after he had ticketed me.

The judge looked at my pics and the cops pics and threw my ticket out and cleared my up until then squeaky clean driving record. She gave the cop a look that made him turn beet red and told him she would have a word with him later.

[get the red out]

24. Yes, I was threatened with arrest

I was threatened with arrest for cheering at a college football game, accused by a angry, anal corn-cob-up-butt white male police officer and falsely accused of yelling for the refs to be killed and assorted things that I never said. He got right in my face, not an inch from my nose and yelled about all the things he claimed I had said while cheering and said he could arrest me for terroristic threatening. I wasn't intoxicated, I don't drink, but I am a female in the south who likes to cheer at football games. We figure I wasn't "lady-like" enough. My husband tried to talk to the cop, but there was no listening, just threatening. There was a very large man sitting in front of us that said he figured the guy went after me instead of him (he was yelling much worse), because the cop wouldn't have wanted to threaten him. The cop made a point of standing just off to the side of our seats for the next quarter and I didn't cheer or stand up win or loose, I just knew if I made one move I would be arrested. The other person we saw him harrass looked like he was about 70 years old and had the audacity to dare to sip a bit of Bourbon in the stadium.

I have never gone back to another football game. My husband sold the rest of our season tickets for that year and we did not renew them the next. We just didn't feel comfortable going back.

I have never, and will never look at a police officer the same again as long as I live. And my story is nothing compared to so many. But I was not prepared to have false claims thrown at me that I couldn't defend.

[Enthusiast]

91. Taliban-like. nt

[XanaDUer]

169. That's a very interesting story

what is so terrifying about stories like yours is the arbitrariness (sp?) of it. In other words, based on this cop's irrational beliefs or perceptions, you and your husband, or whomever, could have been thrown in jail. For nothing. Maybe this cop was mad because he thought you were cheering for the team he was against?

Or, maybe he just hated women. Or was on steroids, or whatever.

[me b zola]

25. K&R

[yowzayowzayowza]

26. Yes X 2.

Phukr #1 called me a liar first thing, then lied his ass off all the way to the stand where, knowing I was going to lose anyway, I called him on it. $260 fine.

Phukr #2 didn't like that I knew my rights and would not speak to him while his baton sized flashlite was in my face. Spent the night in jail for "walking on the wrong side of the street".

[Flaneur]

27. Pulled over on an empty interstate for "failure to signal a lane change for 2 seconds"

Asked to consent to a search of my vehicle. I said no.

Warning ticket issued. Incident over, right?

No. Detained unlawfully against my will for 35 minutes until a drug dog arrived to search my vehicle. (In a bizarro world ruling, the Supreme Court held that a drug dog search is not a search, thus no consent needed.)

This shit happens all the time on the nation's highways. The Highway Patrol is more like highway robbers, lurking at the roadside, and we are the prey.

[Vincardog]

28. Been there had that done to me

[BuyingThyme]

29. Hell yes. Cops lie their asses off about everything.

[TexasObserver]

31. recommend

[Ten Bears]

32. Yep, by the cop in this story

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=9032571

No, that is not me he is choking. He put me in a submission hold after a different cop had placed the handcuffs on me with no resistance by me about a year before the event talked about in this story. As far as the charges against me? He was the ranking officer on the scene and overruled the other two cops who were there. Three months later the case was dropped when the district attorney refused to prosecute. Since then I have had a complete 180 on my attitude towards the police. And even though this case was dropped ramifications that I would never have thought of are still coming up today and will for the rest of my life I expect.

[lxlxlxl]

33. Yes, in ways im unwilling to talk about here...and a witness

[PurityOfEssence]

34. How about if you've ever been publicly belittled and hectored by a professor

Surely I'm not the only one...

[PSzymeczek]

40. In my case,

it was a high school teacher.

[enki23]

164. oh, i know. i've had several of them come into my home and belittle me for hours.

they kept gesturing expansively toward the slide rules in their pocket protectors and flashing their university IDs. i knew damned well that if i didn't say "yes sir" or "no sir" every time they asked me a question, i may very well be dragged in to the local university and have my old undergraduate GPA knocked down a few points for insubordination.

i'm not making this up. it's not just an unbelievably fucking stupid false equivalence. it really happens.

[PurityOfEssence]

182. If he hadn't followed Crowley outside, refusing to stop raging, he wouldn't have been arrested

"You don't know who (sic) you're dealing with!"

Obviously, after being repeatedly being called a racist and having complied with giving his name and badge number to Gates, Crowley didn't satisfy Gates as he was leaving the premises.

The truth is NOT open to conjecture, though: Crowley left the place walked down the stairs to the street, repeatedly warned Gates to stop his fusillade of abuse, warned him that arrest would be the result of continuing it, and THEN arrested him.

Silly me; I'd think that repeatedly calling someone a racist, threatening to bring some form of complaint against him, and reminding him that one is really IMPORTANT would be enough to slake even the thirstiest ego. Apparently I'm wrong.

If he hadn't followed Crowley outside and refused to stop yelling at him in public, he wouldn't have been arrested. I'm not making this up, and this isn't hypothetical. Crowley had left the premises and walked down the stairs to the street. Gates was inconvenienced, but he wasn't being arrested. For refusing to obey an officer of the law in public who was asking him to stop creating a disturbance, he was arrested. The officer had every LEGAL right to enter the house when investigating a potential break-in.

One has a cosmic right to rage and scream at cops, and they have the cosmic and legal right to arrest you when it's done in public. Crowley even warned him; it wasn't done immediately.

[enki23]

186. what a load of "cosmic" horseshit.

[PurityOfEssence]

196. He left the house. He walked down the stairs. He was on the street.

The ONLY reason (not necessarily a good reason) he arrested him was because he refused to stop yelling and then refused when warned that he would be arrested.

How am I wrong? Gates got himself arrested. The incident was over, and he wouldn't let it drop.

[rucky]

35. Nope. I was doing exactly what he arrested me for.

And I don't think he was going to rough me up too much with my pants down and vomit everywhere.

[david13]

36. Yes, just about every time I have to deal with them. Most of

them think they are the most important thing in the world.
dc

[AspenRose]

37. DWB three times.

Once in Oklahoma, once in Texas, once in Virginia. And almost got hit by a cop who was speeding through an intersection on a hill when I had the right of way to turn. No lights, no siren....on a hill, so I couldn't see him coming until it was too late. We could have easily been broadsided. Yet he pulls ME over and runs my tags. When he saw I had no offenses and that I was getting HIS name and badge number, he let me go.

[bigwillq]

38. I mouthed off at a cop

and was cuffed and shoved into the police car. I was only trying to figure out why we were being told to get out of our car when three police cars followed my boyfriend and I home.

We later found out that my boyfriend's ex-wife told the police that he pulled a gun on her. He was immediately cuffed and shoved into the squad car.

I was pleading with the cop to tell me what we did wrong, but he said nothing, cuffed me and shoved me into the squad car. Later, while I was still in the car, the cop interrogated me about where we were. He asked me several questions but didn't reveal why we were cuffed until later on when they figured out that my boyfriend had nothing to do with what was accused.

We were then let go.

[orbitalman]

39. I have been abused twice...

and I am white and college educated.

[Oldtimeralso]

82. +1 n/t

[Fumesucker]

41. I have seen both service above and beyond the call of duty and extreme abuse of authority..

I have to say that not all cops are bad, or certainly not in all circumstances anyway.

But there are certainly some that will abuse their authority at the drop of a hat.

Recced..

[bc3000]

42. Who hasn't?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

44. I never have.

The three times in my life that I was pulled over for violations (which were legit), and the one time I was in a fender bender, I was treated with respect and courtesy.

Then again, I've also worked alongside cops in different jobs, so maybe I just know how to deal with them better than most.

[TankLV]

138. oh goody for you...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

191. Somebody asked and I answered.

Maybe your sarcastic attitude is something you should dwell on a bit.

[Pavulon]

139. Me. Never had a problem with them..

went to state, raleigh police were at our place all the time for noise, drunk people doing dumb shit, and were always cool. All officers, black white, latino, no issues.

Because we all treated each other with respect. Complied and moved on. Countless traffic violations, many with really drunk people in the car (me dd) no issues.

[FLyellowdog]

43. My own little story...

though this wasn't a huge problem, it was still disconcerting. Over 40 years ago I had taken my husband to catch a ride back to Portsmouth Naval shipyards...it's about 10 pm...I'm 8 months pregnant...I drop off my husband....I'm driving back home in the rain...on an unfamiliar road...my german shepherd dog is in the back seat...I apparently pull out in front of a Highway Patrolman (how dumb is that)...he pulls me over...I start crying...the dog starts growling and barking...the patrolman asks why I'm crying and tells me he'd hate to have to shoot my dog for threatening him. He says to get on home and don't ever pull out without signalling again. Strange thing...he and my husband had the same name. He didn't have to say he'd shoot my dog. Just mean. No harm done, but he shouldn't have been so rude. IMO

[Voice for Peace]

45. yep nt

[boppers]

46. ...and another.

They threatened to seize my car and strand me on the side of a highway unless I consented to a search.

[SeattleGirl]

47. I have.

Was at a small party with some women I went to school with. We were laughing and giggling, and the windows were open. A neighbor called the police on us, and EIGHT policemen showed up (there were 6 of us). We had some beers, and yes, all but one of us was under age. Busted there. But then the cops started going through drawers and stuff, which they had no right to do. The woman whose apartment it was lived there with her boyfriend, and he had a hash pipe stuck in the back of the bottom drawer of the dresser. Cops found it, and they not only charged us with minor in possession, but with criminal drug promotion.

CRIMINAL DRUG PROMOTION????? WTF???? Made it sound like we were hanging around the playground of a gradeschool, getting the little kids to buy our wares. Well, I told my parents (I still lived at home at the time), and they were livid. Not at me, but at what I had been charged with, and with how many cops showed up at the door of that apartment. None of us had any drugs, and there were no drugs in the drawer with the hash pipe. We went to see an attorney, who knew that the cops in that town tended to be jerks more often than not. He placed a call to the Chief of Police, and told them what I had relayed to him. Conversation lasted about 10 minutes, and when he got off the phone, he grinned at me and said the charges had been dropped, including MIP, which I actually was guilty of.

Mighty grateful to that attorney, and very VERY grateful to my parents, who stood by me.

Not so very grateful to those asshole cops. And no, I don't think they all are; I dated a cop once, and knew quite a few of his buddies on the force (a different police force than the one that had busted me). But I know that some of them tend to abuse their power.

[Ten Bears]

66. Interesting that eight showed up...

... I wonder if there was another police incident going on at the same time that was a little more uh, dangerous? I once worked graveyard shift in a convenience store and called in a fistfight in the parking lot at 1:30. It wasn't the first time I had had to call in a fistfight and SOP was a cruiser would show up 60 to 90 minutes later and ask me what happened. Of course the participants were always gone by this time, if they had showed earlier they may have had to do some police work. By the time they showed up I had usually forgotten I had called them. I was shocked then when on this occasion four cruisers pulled in to the parking lot within five minutes. The police carted off the pugilists and I went on with my night. After getting home I went to bed and then woke up about 1 and read the paper. At the same time as my fistfight there was a shooting downtown where the shooter was killed and a police officer wounded. I wonder if there were four cruisers that heard nearly simultaneous calls and called in responding to my parking lot so they wouldn't have to respond to the shooting? Perhaps you saw so many police for the same reason. And of course once there they would have to justify why they didn't respond to the other, more dangerous, situation.

[SeattleGirl]

74. No, there was no other incident going on nearby.

In this particular town, at least at that time, many of the cops were over-zealous, to say the least.

[catrose]

48. Yes.

for everyone in my family

[frogcycle]

49. three instances

white cops; I'm white

[kestrel91316]

50. K&R. Refusal to investigate complaints; unprofessional attitude

toward me as crime victim.

[loveable liberal]

51. Everybody's innocent....

Just ask anyone who's in prison.

[JonLP24]

94. It doesn't explain the over 90% of cases

that end in a guilty plea or some other plea agreement usually to a lesser charge. Not everyone who is guilty that is arrested fights it in court. Vast majority of them simply say 'yeah, I did it.'

[1monster]

106. Traffic tickets are extortion. I was ticketed for running a red light that I didn't run...

My first impulse was to fight it in court. However, after talking it over with many people, including my car insurance agent, I chose to pay the ticket and go to driving school. I had a clean driving record.

The cost of the ticket was $216 (although the cop made a mistake on the ticket and I ended up paying $156 instead). Had I fought in court and won, the judge would have tacked on court fees which, according to the ticket could be as much as $500.

My insurance agent told me that if I fought, having no witnesses, then I would definitely lose as traffic court judges nearly always believe the ticketing officer over the driver.

(Hubby was driving a samll tourist bus when he went through a yellow light a couple of months before. He was pulled over by a county deputy for running a red light. If he had not had about 15 witnesses, including an off duty police officer, he would have been ticketed for running a red light, which would have resulted in him losing his job.)

Moral, always have at least one witness.

[loveable liberal]

193. Yea.. I understand that...

One of my co-workers was actually told by our union rep that in order to keep her job she had to admit to something she didnt do. There is much that I'd like to change in the law enforcement culture, but I dont believe the vast majority of cops go to work specifically looking to screw the civilian population. Oftentimes if an agency has problems its a reflection of the administration running it.

[kirby]

135. Police dont determine guilt, the judge/jury does.

The police should handle everyone professionally.

[TankLV]

140. and fuck you too for being an asshole...

this is a SERIOUS discussion, and NONE of us has reason to LIE, as you are accusing us of...

[loveable liberal]

192. You're funny.

I see half the story here. I'm a liberal working at a 911 center and work with cops every day. Its a rough go sometimes but I persevere. I've been pulled over a number of times but have never received a ticket because of what I do while being pulled over (and never in uniform by the way). I'm able to read without the cap's. Flame away tough guy ("funny" is top secret cop code!)

[backscatter712]

52. Yep. Never, ever trust a cop. Any cop. Ever.

They're trained and experienced liars.

[beevul]

53. K&R N/T

[whistler162]

54. Nope....

Been pulled over for giving a ride to a woman who asked for help getting gas for her vehicle. Turned out to be a undercover officer participating in a sting for johns. Her backup described her as a heavily AIDS infected prostitute. That was after she ran away lauging at the top of her lungs about my taking her to a local mini-mart, for gas. Abuse of power no, sloppy procedure yup.

Been stopped in a local park for being a scary fat ugly older man with a camera. A father panicked when I was walking to a set of picnic tables for my nephews birthday with a camera around my neck and a train engineers hat on, I like the hat. Five or ten minutes later the police stop me. I haad heard the father so I knew what it was about I told them why I was there and showed them id. Police abuse of power no... father making a jackass out of himself yes.

[safeinOhio]

55. Stupid Me.

I married a cop a few years back. Then it was the divorce from hell. She used the department and her friends to go after me. I had to move out of the state. There is some justice, she lost her job on the deal.

[BREMPRO]

56. Pulled over in Somerville, MA 10 years ago for no apparent reason

asked officer politely (with a hint of confusion) why i was pulled over, he reacted with indignant rage that i would question his authority or judgment, YELLED at me that i had not yielded to traffic in a rotary (totally ridiculous and fabricated charge)and not to question him. His roid rage was so intimidating, i felt in fear for my safety from this rogue officer. I didn't say another word and he wrote the ticket. Not that it was relevant in this case but he was white, I am white. I had another cop in Allston, also must have been on roids, yell at me for not turning left on a green light- i was so confused and intimated by his anger that i just apologized. I realize later that there was a red left turn arrow that i was waiting to turn green when he yelled at me. He was actually raging at me for following the traffic signal legally. He then proceeded to go around me and turn in front of traffic going through a red light and endangering several drivers. f'd up. Between the power trip and the steroids- some of these guys need better screening, training and supervision.

[2QT2BSTR8]

57. K&R

[ChazInAz]

58. Oh yes.

Everybody in my lily-white, college-educated liberal family.
My first time was the trial by fire in Chicago's Grant Park in 1968. 'Nuff said.

Another time, around midnight several summers ago, my wife and I were awakened by an ungodly uproar in front of the house. Two cops had jumped my tall, skinny son and his tall, skinny best Native American buddy as they were unlocking the front gate to come home. We got outside just in time for the backup squad to arrive and join in the festivities. The two kids were on the ground, handcuffed and all four cops were whaling on them. Guess they didn't expect witnesses at that hour. Pricks.

At the beginning of this month, my wife and I went to the neighboring feudal township of Marana, Arizona. Now I'm only 5'9" and 150 pounds, walk with a limp and a cane. My wife is under 5' and, just out of the hospital and very feeble, way less than 100 pounds, couldn't walk at all at the time so we had a folded wheelchair in the back of the truck. We'd just bought the old beater of a truck two days before and were in the process of changing over insurance, title, license plates. Got pulled over by one of Marana's super troopers. Big guy, way over 6' and pushing 300 pounds. Looked like a 'roid monster. He demanded and got driver's licenses, but we couldn't produce insurance proof because it hadn't arrived yet. The scourge of malefactors went back to his growler for a while. I saw him eventually emerge from his car, sneak up behind my truck and rip the license plate off the back. I hopped out and demanded to know what the hell he was doing. Good thing I didn't hop out with cane in hand or I would have been shot. As it was, this putz immediately kicked it up to "High Crazy", put his hand on both his pistol and Tazer (Holstered right next to each other on his belt). He proceeded to get in my face, screaming that he was going to handcuff, nightclub and arrest me for threatening him and being a car thief. (Remember the extreme disparity in our sizes and the fact that I can barely walk without a cane.) So, under threat of dismemberment and being eaten or something, I got back in my truck. Ygor raged on and on that since the plates were expired, I was obviously a criminal and a dangerous one, at that. Then this over sized coward in blue turned his attention on my tiny spouse, demanding information from her and screaming that he couldn't hear her. Soft-spoken, invalid, obviously the modern reincarnation of Ma Barker or Bonny Parker.
After repeated threats of jail time, and a promise of more harassment if I ever showed my sinister self in the bustling metropolis of Marana, he wrote me a ticket for over $900.
When we got home, all the paperwork needed for the truck had arrived in the mail. A phone call, a letter to the mayor and a few faxes got the bogus ticket dropped. I just hope my upcoming official complaint to the chief of police and mayor (again), get Attila off the force and back to euthanizing animals at the pound.

[ProudDad]

85. Marana appears from here in Tucson

to be a right-wing republican shit-hole.

And those fuckers are also responsible for the freakin' RTA nonsense too...

[Orwellian_Ghost]

59. K&R

My case went from the local to the county to the state level. I won my case after over two years of litigation and hassle. Fortunately I had pro-bono lawyers who were determined to get the record straight.

The original arrest was for "interference" with not even a single word uttered beyond that from the officer. When I resisted things got weird in a hurry.

Turned out the cop had a history of alcohol abuse and had been dismissed from another police force for certain abuses.

Well I won the case and received a minor settlement but it was mostly due to my insistent nature and refusal to capitulate on any level. I documented the details and without that I suppose things could've gone the other way. Who knows?

I won't go into what one of my lawyers said privately but when she said it I knew we were gonna fight back no matter what.

[winyanstaz]

60. K & R

[lob1]

61. First, let me start by saying I'm white. But the cops hassled me when I was

a teenager, just because I was a teenager.
Then I got a motorcycle, and they hassled me because I rode a bike.
Then I got a sportscar, and they used to LOVE to stop my sportscar.
Then I grew long hair and a beard AND drove a sportscar and I saw cops actually come when they stopped me.
Then I marched in Peace marches, and they chased me with clubs but never caught me.

But then I got old. I still have long hair, but the cops pretty much leave me alone these days.
Which is really great, because I'm stoned out of my mind.

[midnight]

62. Last week while on a evening walk with another person in my

neighborhood, at 10:30, a police car turned it's spot light on us. He stopped us to ask us where we were going. Then he said he was told to watch this area for two adolescents He went on to discuss that these suspects were smashing watermelon. I indicated that it was a shame, and then he asked me if I saw anyone, and I said no. I indicated that we just came outside. He asked me from where. Shockingly, I responded my home. Anyways he asked again about my destination.

[wisteria]

64. This is subjective unless these "police abuses" have been documented and proven as fact. n/t

[NinjaguyDan]

65. Disorderly Conduct is a CHUMP CHARGE!

After two arrests and *NO CONVICTIONS* I know this to be true! I will admit a rather... defiant attitude, because I wasn't breaking the law, just standing my ground.

To give you an idea of where I come from, I was always the shortest guy in my class, the last guy to get picked for a team, but the first guy to get picked on by bullies. Around the time I was twelve, I inadvertently put myself through a "Turtle Hermit" style of training with a series of odd(tough!)jobs that gave me the strength I needed to "Draw the Line", so to speak.

I had become my own Linderman.

By the time I was fourteen I was 5'2", 95 lbs and could bench-press 165lbs@ 5 reps, around that time I was able to, quite literally, throw around someone much bigger than me like a rag doll. (leverage!)

The two incidents of which I speak tripped my "bully trigger", I basically told those motherfuckers to GO TO HELL, the bastards arrested me and charges were dropped.

FUCK THEM!

[Taitertots]

177. Ok, tough guy

How did that end up working out for you?
Napoleon needs to "stand his ground" to the cops to feel like a bad ass.

Why don't you explain what they actually did to you? Instead of ranting about how much of a tough guy you are.

[Celtic Merlin]

67. It has most certainly happened to me - more than once.

While I will state clearly and unquestionably that there are alot of very good people wearing police uniforms, I absolutely MUST point out that there are alot of power trippin' assholes wearing those same police uniforms.

I cannot provide the details of what I've been subjected to, but I can tell you that I've been subjected to verbal abuse, refusal to show up at the hearing against a perpetrator of criminal activities against me, and (worst of all) illegal search of my car and briefcase.

The over-officious, power-trippin', enforcers of their personal agendas have to be weeded OUT of our law enforcement agencies. The time has come for the average American's rights to be respected once again, not trampled upon in the name of the cops' version of law and order. WE define that term, not the police. I've had it, and I don't know how to go about changing what this effed-up system has evolved into.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[L. Coyote]

68. Skinner, we need to be able to REC more than once!!

Does torture count?

[drm604]

69. I won't recommend since we weren't really abused, but it was a situation that could have gone bad

through no fault of our own.

One winter evening my mother was rushed to the emergency room by ambulance due to a very slow heartbeat (12 beats a minute! She's fine now).

My brother was living with my mother and I live a few blocks away but was at my mother's house at the time. My car was parked on the street out front as was my brother's. My mother's car was parked in the two car lot at the end of her yard. This lot was accessible only via a small back alley. It had snowed and we hadn't even bothered to try to move her car. The snow would have made it difficult to do so.

She went by ambulance and my brother and I went out to the ER in his car. We stayed with her for a number of hours until she was finally admitted to the CCU early in the morning. I think it was around 2 AM.

At that point my brother and I went home. When we got back to her house there were no spaces available on her block. We drove around the block trying to find a place to park but nothing was available so we reluctantly decided to hazard the snow packed alley and back parking lot. When we got to the lot we realized that we had a problem. My mother's car wasn't parked as far to the left as it could have been and the neighbor on the right was over right against our lot. This meant that we had to try to back out my mother's car and pull it back in further to the left before my brother could park. We spent maybe half an hour trying to move two cars back and forth on slippery snow before we finally got them satisfactorily parked.

I had gotten out of my mother's car and my brother was still in his car when I noticed something going on in the alley behind us. A number of police cars were entering from both ends of the alley.

Police started getting out, it seemed like half the town's force was there. My brother asked what was going on and I said "I don't know man, the cops are here". It never crossed my mind that it had anything to do with us until one walked up to me and asked what was going on. While I spoke to him other police were shining their flashlights into the two cars. One asked "is that your wife" and I replied "no, my brother". I explained to the first one that we had taken our mother to the emergency room and when we returned couldn't find a space out front and had had difficulty parking on the snow out back. I told him that a policeman had been at the house earlier when the ambulance came and he could check that out if he'd like. One of them apparently called in and checked out the story. They then said that someone must have heard the noise we were making and called them. Then they left.

It worked out fine, but they seemed pretty nervous about us and I wonder what might have happened if my brother had suddenly decided to get out of the car, or if we had just been out somewhere that we couldn't corroborate so easily, or if we had been black.

[Amaya]

70. yes

[anachro1]

71. You betcha!

In 1977, after a week at my aunt's home, I decided to take a Greyhound bus from Del Rio, Texas, to my home in San Antonio, a short 150 miles or so away. Some 35 miles into the trip the bus is pulled over and I, a native born primarily English speaking American citizen, with my SS# card and Texas driver's license, was lumped in with other Latin-looking people, and I was treated with a spontaneous trip to Acapulco.

This was the most ridiculous vacation foisted on me. I had to have my family wire me money for a flight back.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

72. Was arrested and held wrongly for 2.5 days in Maricopa County Jail

Mine was a case of legitimate mistaken/stolen identity on the part of the police officers, but I tired to plead my case to them and eventually an arraignment judge, became desperate/angry when it fell of deaf ears and was subsequently sent to county lock up until a family friend who had a connection made calls/inquiries on my behalf. I was let out from jail w/o an apology and was stuck with the impound costs for my vehicle.

[G_j]

73. many times.. nt

[NoQuarter]

75. Yep. Moving to a new apartment.

I had help from a friend (white and <<ahem>> mature) for a couple of trips – the new place was around the corner. Someone phoned in that there was a burglary in progress. But did the cops halt me and my 60+ year-old accomplice in the "act"? Oh, hell no. Only after my friend had left me alone for the final load, did the unmarked vehicle AND 3 black-n-whites corner me at the new place and spread-eagle me on the hood of my car. Since they described my friend as well, I pointed out that they had waited until I, the black man, was alone to strike. I was then informed that "that stuff went out in the sixties."

I shit you not.

They kept me like that until one of the bastards in uniform went to "check out" my "story" with the apartment manager at my old building. Lucky they were home, or who knows how this would have proceeded.

As with the Gates case, these pussy-assed cocksuckers refused to give over the names a badge numbers I demanded. Just walked away. Not the slightest hint of an apology.

So that's how my new neighbors were introduced to me...spread out on the hood of my car by 5 racist fucks uniformed officers.

[toymachines]

76. K&R

My heart still jumps a beat when I hear a helicopter.

[warren pease]

77. Gassed, shot with rubber pellets, clubbed...

... cuffed tightly enough to cut off circulation and cause temporary nerve damage; pistol whipped and tossed down a flight of stairs while cuffed; slashed across the left cheek with a bicycle chain; pistol barrel ground into the back of my neck while lying face down; kicked in the ribs; lifted out of a car passenger seat and tossed to the pavement, landing on neck and shoulders, followed by another round of boots into ribs...

And then there's the verbal abuse category, as in "If this was night time, you'd be in the harbor (Half Moon Bay, CA) with the crabs eating on you by now..." I'll never forget that line, spoken by a cop who'd already killed two people "in the line of duty" and was being punished via temporary assignment as a small weapons instructor at the Lake Merced (SF, CA) police shooting range.

Btw, all the above except the rubber pellets happened in or around the SF Bay Area before I was 25, most before turning 21. Also, this litany isn't at all unusual among '60s and early '70s survivors from that area.

I'm told it was much, much worse elsewhere in the country. Probably so, since unlike the four murder victims at Kent State and the dozens of dead civil rights and anti-war activists, I didn't have to die to prove a point.


sf

[Celtic Merlin]

171. Oh, Warren. You're lucky you were in CA, my brother!

The shit the cops pulled back in the 60's and early 70's was legendary here in the east. Talk to some of the folks who were arrested during the war in cities like Boston, Philly, Pittsburgh, Chicago, NYC, and Atlanta. Some guys simply got disappeared. No explanation, no arrest record, no witnesses - even though a dozen or more people swear that the missing guy had been arrested with them that same day. There were injuries which were "not discovered" until after booking - which required hospitalization: broken bones, dislocated joints, scalp lacerations, etc. Lots of bruises to "soft tissue" areas like kidneys, stomachs, etc. were shown off as badges of honor days after release.

If you were a DFH, you had a special subset of civil rights which were a pretty short list.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[warren pease]

180. I didn't feel so lucky at the time... ; - )

But you're right. I've got friends and acquaintances from all over the place -- all over western Yurup, too -- and their experiences during those days make me feel fortunate to still have the use of both legs and at least half a brain.

Best to you, my brother. At least we got out there and acted like we gave a shit. Occasionally gave as good as we got, too, which was the definition of a perfect day back then.


sf

[sallylou666]

78. Got hit on

I'm a petite white woman. I had an officer pull me over to hit on me. So not cool.

[alfredo]

79. K&R I've also been cut some slack by other officers.

[intheflow]

84. K&R Me too.

[Mojorabbit]

80. Yes

more than once..... though to be fair when I was younger there were some wonderful cops. They weren't so quick to make an arrest.

[barbtries]

81. when my son was about 16

he was arrested for talking back to the sheriff. they found something to illegally charge him with and immediately dropped all charges, but basically he was handcuffed and taken to jail for not "respecting" the officer.

eta: reading through the responses reminded me of other instances. my sister and i were driving through a busy beach neighborhood and she was being tailgated plus we were looking for a place to eat. she slowed down and the car behind her flashed his lights, honked, and rode on our tail. she was pulled over and yelled at by a policeman for about five minutes for going too slow. the man was red in the face he was so pissed. all we could do was sit there. it was the middle of the day on a crowded two lane road.

my SIL's cousin made the mistake of driving drunk and not pulling over instantly when he saw the red lights...a la Rodney King, he was nearly killed when they caught up with him. not excusing HIS behavior, but as professionals they should have simply jailed and charged the man. instead he required hospitalization.

in CA they have all kinda ways to take vehicles. i've lost several that way, some that i could never afford to retrieve. it's a racket, robin hood ass backward.

two friends of mine lived on the palos verdes peninsula. actually i've known many people who lived and do live up there, but these two happen to have dark skin. both tell of being pulled over every fucking day on their way home from work. every day being pulled over and harassed for no good reason at all and knowing that if they dared to express their outrage at such treatment they'd be at the very least thrown into jail and who knows what at the worst - possibly killed.

i know i'll keep thinking of more as i continue to read. it's a sad commentary.

[ProudDad]

83. Yep! Big KICK!

Rousted by San Francisco PD...

Rousted by Oakland PD...

FBI from CoInTelPro...J.Edgar cross-dressing fuckin' Hoover...

San Mateo County Sheriff's Department (the night Nixon was "elected")...police riot

Winnimucka, NV PD -- rogue cops from the most corrupt PD in the country after I was assaulted...

That's the short list...

-----------------------------------------------

Long Haired Secular Humanist Hippy guitar player/activist hanging around with Black folks -- get ya' noticed every time...

-----------------------------------------------

[Hannah Bell]

86. twice. once playing goofy with a statue with boyfriend when riot police appeared.

no harm to statue, just talking to it, putting hats & mufflers on it, goofing around like young lovers are wont to do. got the full loudspeaker/frisk treatment & because we mouthed off, lady officer wanted to arrest us. male officer nixed that, for which i was very grateful.

more recently, police surreptiously entered an empty rental where i was painting the kitchen for a friend, snuck up on me, asked for ID, ran my DL, had me show them my car.

I was in an empty house, covered with paint, open paint, brushes, drop cloth, newly painted kitchen & heavy paint fumes in evidence.

I'm a woman close to 60 & gave them homeowners' names & neighbors' names.

But some neighbor had reported me.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

87. I was arrested for disorderly conduct because my buddy dared to question the cops identity.

We sitting in our car outside a Chicago blues bar (Rosa's) on the west side of Chicago in what was, at the time, a rough neighborhood.

An unmarked car with two plain clothes cops rolled up on us, pulled us out of the car at gunpoint and rousted us. They never identified themselves with badges or anything. I suppose they thought we were gang-bangers or drug dealers. Anyway, it was over as fast as it started with never an explanation. As they started to leave, my buddy stepped near the front of their car to ascertain if their car had municipal plates or to get the plate number - because we weren't 100% sure what had just happened or if they were, in fact, cops. The cop slammed his car back in park, jumped back out and arrested us for disorderly conduct saying "you don't think we're fucking cops?"

We had to bond out, hire an attorney and take a day off work - the cops blew off the court date and the case was dismissed. A classic case of a fuck-you arrest.

[workinclasszero]

88. "Innocent people go to jail everyday"

This is what a cop told me back in the day. He wasn't sad about it either. If they know you, and there is an unsolved crime on their books....

Well I got the picture.

Sure everybody hates the cops until a criminal is busting down your door, but still...

I don't trust them.

[Seldona]

89. K&R

And I hate K&R threads.

[texanwitch]

90. Yes, twice.

I am white.

I was almost killed twice by cops, and I didn't do anything to anybody.

Some cops need to have a power trip.

[Eric68601]

92. Back in 97'

I was getting my 3 kids ready for their baths. While I was undressing the littlest one, my oldest daughter (5 at the time), took it upon herself to start the water in the bathtub, and placed her sister into the water causing scalding on her feet. I had to rush her to E.R. And after that, my life became a living hell thanks to a lying cop who for some reason had it in for me. I had felt bad enough that I should have regulated the thermostat on the hot water heater to a lower temp in the first place. She accused me of being the one who placed my daughter in the hot water, she accused me of being abusive to my kids and wife, she just kept accusing me of all these outlandish crimes trying to make it look like I was some kind of animal or something. My kids were all taken away, my oldest daughte because she had worn jeans to school with a tear in them, and my baby because she was 2 weeks behind on her shots. We were at the burn center at that time, and her shots were the least of our concern, but of course, they had to find something to take my kids. I suffered very severe depression and PTSD and had to undergo lots of therapy and medication just to deal with everything. My wife had told her repeatedly that I had never laid a hand on her or any of my kids, this cops response "DON'T WORRY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PROTECT HIM, WE CAN HELP YOU". And after my wife KEPT insisting it was the truth, all of a sudden she was like some kind of enabler. The entire system screwed us over, caused me to drop out of college, put us in the poor house, but most of all, destroyed the family I had always dreamed for years of having with that special someone. We have 2 more children now, but once, when my son was a baby, he got a piece of thread or something from a sock wrapped around one of his little toes while at the sitter, so we had to take him to the ER to get it removed.. This same cop harassed us about that as well. My wife is now a very paranoid person about our kids (8&10), they have never been at a baby sitters since, they do not stay over at friends houses, and both of us, have a somewhat irrational fear of police all because of this lying bitch. I don't hate all cops, I have a couple who are now actually pretty good friends of mine and helped me with the PTSD, insomnia, nightmares and depression and to break away from needing to medicate myself just to function.. So yeah, this thread will absolutely get a K&R from me.

[Raine]

93. K & R

and more than once. :-(

[Aragorn]

95. more than once

but the worst is an ongoing drama started when I reported the sister of a DEA agent for calling in multiple prescriptions for herself and others to multiple pharmacies for a controlled substance.

[Downwinder]

96. As expected, when Government took over the "numbers" rackets,

Law Enforcement became Organized crime.

[SoCalDem]

97. I was n/t

[Maraya1969]

98. Here unfortunately.

[The Wizard]

99. Question

When you're driving down the road and see a police car do you feel trepidation or security?
No one said you had to be smart to carry a gun.
The police have an us against them mentality and everyone who isn't a cop is them. Why do honorable officers protect the ones who make them look bad? The bad ones only serve to make the job more difficult for the good ones.
In traffic court you're presumed guilty. Everyone knows the police never lie until their lips start moving.
Ever since the Vietnam War and the protests, anyone wearing a uniform is deified because they "put their lives on the line to protect and serve" and get free donuts.
It's also a violation for a cop to show up in court as a witness wearing a uniform unless he or she is on duty.
How many cops are charged with DWI unless someone is killed or seriously injured?
There are many good officers out there who do their best and put in an honest days work. The ones who abuse their official status and traumatize society at large must be removed from service. The difficult part is penetrating the thin blue line.
If a cop testifies against another cop he or she is ostracized by other officers who should be finding ways to improve their image with the taxpayers who are the source of their income.
And Blackwater lurks in the shadows.

[ekwhite]

100. Arrested as a teenager

I got to see how cops really are. Never trusted them since.

[PJPhreak]

102. Yes

While committing DWWTD (Driving While Wearing a Tye Dye)
Us Deadheads have been targets for Decades!!!!!!

[1monster]

103. First time in 1976, last time, this year. nt

[TexasObserver]

104. +150 recommends and counting

[stray cat]

129. K&R if you have ever been treated wrongly by someone in your life

[TexasObserver]

159. K&R if you've ever had a poster reply with a non sequitur

[quoddy woman]

105. It took 6 cops in Austin,TX

to give me a ticket for failing to signal a turn (turning into a one way road) one night 2 years ago. Where had I been, what was I doing,how come I, a white women, lived in a black neighborhood? Was I wearing my pajamas?(no) Was I Christian? What exactly were my religious beliefs? I didn't give any lip, was furious, but wanted to get out of there without being hurt. Seems I had a bumper sticker that identified me as a witch!

[Heidi]

107. Kick.

:kick:

[rateyes]

108. K & R

I ended up with an apology from the cop's boss. (Disclaimer: I'm a WASP, and so was the cop.)

[Happyhippychick]

109. Me! When I was 21 I was stopped for no reason by a cop who sexually harrassed me.

He detained me for 45 minutes while he asked me where I worked (it was in NYC), if I had a boyfriend, if I date older men, etc. His hands were shaking the entire time. He finally let me go (I hadn't done anything wrong and he admitted this to me, said he stopped me because he saw me sitting at a red light).

It was awful. I was so young, I had to just sit there and smile and take it because I was afraid I would be hauled in. I decided not to press charges because I was afraid of retaliation.

[XanaDUer]

116. You are lucky

what a disgusting and disturbing incident you had to endure. I am sorry.

There was a cop in CA, Craig Peyer, who was doing something similar in the mid-1980s, who murdered a pretty young woman named Cara Knott. He would pull over young women who were driving alone, take them into his patrol car, and ask similar questions of them. Cara Knott was taken to a lonely abandoned overpass and she must have sensed danger because she did something that caused Peyer to freak out and kill her and throw her body off the overpass.

He was one of those Mr. All-American Straight-Arrow types who would be the cop chosen to go onto TV to do the crime-prevention segments, one right after he murdered Ms. Knott.

EDIT:

On the night of December 27, 1986, Knott was driving from her boyfriend's home in Escondido to her parents' home in El Cajon, California on Interstate 15 when Peyer, on duty in a marked CHP patrol car, signalled Knott to pull off the freeway on an isolated offramp. It later came to light that the officer had been previously harassing women drivers in the same area, pulling them over on the same isloated offramp and apparently trying to pick them up as dates. It is believed that the situation escalated when Knott threatened to report Peyer for unprofessional behavior, and that he killed her by bludgeoning her with his flashlight and then strangling her with rope and then he threw her body off an abandoned bridge into the brush below in an attempt to avoid disciplinary action.

Ironically, two days later, while covering the investigation of the murder, a reporter for KCST-TV interviewed Peyer during a ride-along segment about self-protection for female drivers. At the time of this interview Peyer had scratches on his face which, as details of the case unfolded, were believed to have been inflicted by Knott during her struggle with the officer. He tried to explain them away by saying he fell against a fence on the CHP parking lot but the fence was found to be too high to be consistent with the scratches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Peyer

[Happyhippychick]

143. Yes in the end I certainly was lucky. Poor Cara.

[1monster]

187. Something similar happened to a woman in Florida about fifteen to twenty years ago...

FHP pulled her over and she ended up murdered by him. Which is why women are told to keep driving to a well-lit, populated area when those red and blue lights start flashing...

[Exultant Democracy]

110. 7 incidents of police harassment in 08 but that year was an outlier and I think it had to

do with Obama running for prez.

[Exultant Democracy]

111. 7 incidents of police harassment in 08 but that year was an outlier and I think it had to

do with Obama running for prez.

[Exultant Democracy]

112. 7 incidents of police harassment in 08 but that year was an outlier and I think it had to

do with Obama running for prez.

[Bluenorthwest]

113. Several times

I have been harassed in the town where I was born and raised for being gay. A California liberal town, so called. The officers of heterosexual law used vile language, called us names, and suggested we go to a nearby town known for, in their words 'perverts'.
I have been threatened with arrest many times for speaking up against abuses against others. One cop called me 'Hot Shot' for about 6 years on the streets of my neighborhood, because I had stopped him from doing an unbelievably illegal search of a random pedestrian. And a few other things. Testified about what his partner said to an innocent bystander who had been shot by the cops as they killed a drunk prostitute for shouting. Several officers shot in several directions. They hit two bystanders, whom they told to 'stop whining, sit down, we will get to you when we can'. This poor young woman saying to that,yes, pig-"but officer, I've been shot!" and he said "I told you to shut up." It was in fact that officer who shot that girl. He shot her and said 'shut up with your whining.'
I have seen heroic actions by the police as well. But there is no profession that comes close to the police in terms of the horrors I have witnessed out of the group, with my own eyes and ears. I do not trust a one of them, and all of it is based on first hand knowledge.

[XanaDUer]

114. There is a new reality show about female cops in Broward County

I used to live there, and the police force is very corrupt.

Anyway, on this lovely commercial, one of the female offices (while some dumb song in the background about meeting a "sweet old-fashioned girl" plays) brags that there is always a good time to use a taser. Broward cops LOVE tasers, btw...

(await the taser supporters here to chime in now)

Imagine the time in America when a police officer, who is supposed to serve and protect the public that pays their salaries, fucking brags about tasering the populance on national TV! This would have caused outrage. Now, it is accepted as something cute-and-sexy from Ms. Cop.

Then there are various shots of the female officers screaming at black women and telling them to shut the fuck up, etc. Throwing them on the ground, bitching about their jobs...sort of like COPS, or now, B*I*T*C*H COPS.

I am sure these police officers are NOT doing this in some of Broward's "nicer" neighborhoods, like Westin, Emerald Hills, Plantation (yeah, the real name of a city).

Disgusting. :grr:

EDIT: Yeah, in NE Florida, Jacksonville, got pulled over four times in three years, for minor things. Talked my way out of a ticket with a scary cop. Still get nervous when a cop pulls in behind me, because I know things can go wrong for me real fast.

[Rabrrrrrr]

115. Nope. The police have always been courteous and patient, even when I heaped verbal abuse on them.

But then, most of my interactions have been with NYC cops who are - when there are guns or dangerous shit happening - pretty patient and tolerant of a lot more than cops in other areas would tolerate.

The only two negatives have been getting stopped for having a headlight out, the cop began with, "Do you know why I'm stopping you?" like an arrogant prick, and another time I got $5 of gas and drove away without paying (accidentally) and the cop that stopped me kept asking me stupid shit questions, like, "Why didn't you pay? What are you doing?" and blah blah blah and I finally convinced him I forgot so he let me go back and pay, which I did, and apologized to the station clerk and he said, "We figured you just forgot - anyone stealing gas would have filled up. No one steals $5 worth" and laughed it off.

But then, I've also not ever done shady shit or been in places where cops might feel the need to threaten or abuse me, and I've always been very polite with them (except the few times I heaped abuse on them, but that was in NYC, and I never said anything personal, just ranted about their lack of action on certain matters of importance to me). I sometimes wonder if I should send a letter of apology to that particular police station.

[Bluenorthwest]

145. No 'shady shit'?

Some folks would have gotten arrested for stealing that gas. Count on it. But for some reason, some folks are seen as 'making a mistake' when others are seen as larcenous scum. People have indeed been shot for ripping off, or 'accidentally taking while not noticing until pulled over' a few bucks worth of food or fuel.
The power to be asked, and believed, is much of what the Gates arrest discussion is about. Your post proves the opposite of what you think it proves.

[Rabrrrrrr]

158. I never claimed my post proved anything, but thanks for the condescending insult.

:eyes:

Jesus Christ, I answered a question, and because I didn't proffer the preferred "yes, I've been harassed" then apparently I'm a police apologist who doesn't think that cops ever abuse their power.

Fucking hell.

Grow up.

[noiretextatique]

117. three incidents of driving while black

:kick:

[CannabisRex]

118. delete...duplicate

[CannabisRex]

119. Me too

Over the years I have had a number of run in's with the cops.Back in 1979-80 I was estate manager and personal assistant to the leader of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic church in Miami and his family. To make a long story short, the Feds raided us one day with dozens of LEO...smashing doors and pointing rfiles at us...kids, employees..all of us. It turned out no one was there that was on their list, and I got bold enough ( I was the only white person there..the owners were Jamaican) to ask for ID from the plainclothes DEA thugs, who refused to show any ID.

As the lady of the house and I were surveying the damage and trying to figure out how to secure ( and later fortify ) the house the DEA scum yelled at me: " Hey, ( my name )..come on over here, we'll show you our Id now!". i knew an ass whipping was in store and I said " No thanks". If you can find the TV footage from the Coptic brothers federal court case you will see me there driving the limo, flying the Coptic flag!!

I refused to be intimidated then, and I refuse now. I have a standard way of dealing with cops now; We have frequent roadbloaks here, for ' drivers license checks', of course, and I made them stop using dogs at them by raising hell in letters to the editor. it is illegal to use a narcotics detection dog at a checkpoint ( supreme Court ruling), but the locals will ignore the law ( suprise!0 if you do not hold their feet to the fire. In addition, on the rare occasions when i am stopped at one, I NEVER answer ANY questions, and i let the copper know that I am collecting evidence at all times to screw him with.

If a cop says; " Where are you going?", I say " None of your business, why are you illegally detaining me?" You MUST retain control at all times, even when you do not feel empowered. Let the cop know that if he crosses the line there will be consequences. I am always calm and collected, never yelling or getting anxious, and that really gets to them. you cna also say" My attorney told me never to talk to the police without him/her there". That lets them know that A. you have an attorney standing by..and B. you will not be bullied.

NEVER give consent for a search. The cops will bluster and lie and bluff, but the bottom line is if you stand strong they will usually relent and seek easier pickings.If they do violate you, at least you have done all you can and your lawyer can take it from there. Never give up a right. If a cop says ; " If you have nothing to hide, why not let us search?"...you say;" If there is nothing to find, why do you want to look?". Of course the best bet is as few words as possible, and we are never under any obligation to answer anything at all. the right to remain silent is absolute, as long as you have identified yourself properly.

Cops cannot legally detain you longer than a normal traffic stop without reasonable grounds to believe you are committing a crime, so making you wait for more than a short time for a dog is not legal. merely refusing to give consent is NOT suspicious under the law, and cannot be used as a defense to an illegal search.Cops LOVE consent and will do almost anything to get it, because it means later in court he will not have to face a defense attorney and explain why he searched without consent or a warrant.

Maybe I am more confrontational than most, and I am not afraid at all to challenge a cop or the system, but to give in to their lies and badgering and give up my rights is not me. I would rather face the risk of a bad cop doing his thing than to give in. I would not hesitate to tell a cop that if he so much as violates my rights whatsoever that I will file a Federal UCS18-1943 civil rights case and sue him. I told a thug cop once that it only costs 35 dollars to file a case against him and that his department would not defend a civil rights violation and would cost him dearly.

I will admit it; I don't like cops..the vast majority that is..and I refuse to allow them to intimidate me.If you give in and kowtow to a cop, you are sustaining their illegal and sick actions and making them more empowered to continue. After running into a guy like me, they always have to think twice about violating my rights.

At the last roadbloack in a neighboring county not long ago, a rather pleasant officer looked at my papers and asked me if I would mind if they ' looked around ' my car. I refused
as always and he said; " Do you have something to hide?", and I said " No, I have something to protect...The CONSTITUTION!!" He backed off and waved me thru...those cops do not want any part of someone who is beyond bluffing.

[nashville_brook]

122. FYI - this week there's a 5-state roadblock operation called "take back our highways"

sounds to me like a reason to harass suspected illegal immigrants, i.e. brown people.

Floirida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi.

there's lots of news about it -- this is just a sample.

http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/51591052.html

The Florida Highway Patrol’s Northern Region is teaming up with the Alabama Department of Public Safety and the Georgia State Patrol for a joint initiative to reduce traffic fatalities while increasing safety.

During the week of July 27 through July 31, 2009, FHP will increase patrols on the roads throughout this region as a part of the multi-state safety campaign called “Take Back Our Highways.” The campaign includes Alabama and her border states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, and will result in an increased number of law enforcement officers on the road.

“The goal of this effort is to save lives by targeting aggressive and dangerous drivers throughout the region,” Director of FHP, Col. John Czernis said. “If you are breaking any of our traffic laws, you can expect to meet a state trooper.”

During the week-long enforcement period, FHP will use all available personnel, including members of its Aviation Section, Contraband Interdiction teams and Special Programs, as well as Auxiliary and Reserve troopers to focus on aggressive drivers, impaired drivers, speeders, and drivers who fail to buckle up.

[XanaDUer]

124. Yes, that, and also known as "how to generate monies in cash-strapped red states

now that the economy has tanked initiative. And it's Obama's fault.

:rofl:

[nashville_brook]

133. ?? not sure what that means -- but, sure there's a direct revenue motivation, BUT, the scarier

beat is that it reinforces the message that there's "our highways" that illegitimate people are using. In a time of scarcity of resource, it's absolutely toxic to advance the meme that there's people who "don't belong."

[XanaDUer]

146. It means

more drivers stopped for tickets to generate money for cash-strapped areas. And I believe totally in racial profiling.


I wanted to hyphenate that, but the window would not accept my doing that for technical reasons.

While I was never stopped in Miami when I lived there, while driving to work, I would see black male drivers pulled over every morning. Probably guys driving to their jobs.

NE Florida was cop-stopping-you heaven. I got stopped more times there in three years than in 25 years of driving. Cop was always white (I am too), male, and just-this-close to being insolent. One was just over the edge weird, considering my infaction was a nonfunctioning tail light. I was very very calm and polite with that guy. He seemed mollified and, very kindly, let me go with just a warning.

[1monster]

189. I've seen more cars pulled over in the last six months than I've seen in the

previous five years... And strangely enough, the cars pulled over have not been noticeably breaking driving laws.

The fines for moving violations have been raised considerably since early in the year in order to raise revenue for the cash strapped state, county, and local governments.

And I still see the really dangerous and reckless drivers getting away with tailgating, weaving in and out of lanes at unsafe speeds, road rage, etc.

[nashville_brook]

198. gotcha, agreed. be safe.

[XanaDUer]

125. Yes, that, and also known as "how to generate monies in cash-strapped red states

now that the economy has tanked initiative". And it's Obama's fault.

:rofl:

[XanaDUer]

123. I grew up in Miami. Remember that other set of outstanding peace officers,

The Miami Police involved in the Miami River Case?

The Miami River Cops case: A stroll down memory lane
May 21st, 2009 · 4 Comments
By Carlos Miller
One of my earliest memories of police corruption in the news was the Miami River Cops case back in the mid 1980s. I was just a teenager but I was captivated by the stories that would appear almost daily in the Miami Herald.

Today, Miami Beach 411 published a piece I wrote about the most notorious police corruption case in the history of Miami. Check it out.

http://carlosmiller.com/2009/05/21/the-miami-river-cops-case-a-stroll-down-memory-lane/

No one believes me when I tell them that, in the 1980s especially, you would avoid cops in Miami like the plague-there was a chance one of the cops was AT LEAST as dangerous as the person harassing you, etc.

[southshore]

136. Good advice

I have had two bad interactions with cops that stand out.

Some time ago, when I drove a truck, I was stopped by the Kentucky Department of Transportation Enforcement cops for, well, I still don't know what for. During the stop, they demanded that I kneel in front of the truck with my hands in the air. After about a minute of this, I figured bullshit, and laid face down on the ground with my arms at 90 degree angles to my body. When one of the 4 cops went ballistic, I told him as a disabled combat veteran I was in no mood, shape, or disposition to play games. I was arrested for resisting arrest and held for 3 days until the charges were dropped at arraignment. The truck was impounded, the refrigeration unit in the trailer shut off, spoiling the load, and all told, with towing damage, impound fees and cargo loss, it cost my employer in the $30,000 neighborhood. I was fired on my release from jail.


Another time, my wife and I were driving in Cambridge, MA (yes, that one). Term of the settlement prohibit speaking about it, but the house is lovely!

[nashville_brook]

120. oh hell yeah. hippie profiling. the cop had a record of abusing women he'd pulled-over,

and even tho i didn't make a report on him, he had 18 complaints by the time the department let him go. i believe it was a case of a "bad apple" and I'm not a big fan of that theory generally.

[eShirl]

121. k&r

Although I want to say the vast majority of cops I've dealt with over the decades have been very professional and/or friendly. But when the cop is a jerk, THEY'RE REALLY A JERK!

[harvey007]

126. The REAL issue of the Harvard Prof Arrest

Here's a link to a blog that is focused on this very issue....Read the following:

Media missing the real issue of the Harvard prof arrest

http://carlosmiller.com/2009/07/23/media-missing-the-real-issue-of-the-harvard-prof-arrest/

[Froward69]

127. When i was In college

I returned all my ex-GF's stuff by piling it on her car at her lovers house in the parking lot. a cop showed up and started pushing me around saying "you want to take a swing at me don't ya?" over and over. I didn't and eventually when a sergeant showed up he finally stopped. to this day I am thankful I did not and at the same time wish that I had.

[stray cat]

128. K &R if you have ever behaved more aggressively toward someone than warranted

anyone here ever yell at a child and realized the kid didn't deserve it or had a bad day and yelled at someone else.

[kirby]

141. You miss the point...

The police are a trained profession elevated with authoritarian powers in our country.
They are representatives of the government and have been granted the power to deny you life, liberty, and all that good stuff.

This thread was to both get an idea of why the police are viewed so negatively and highlight why so many people can understand the situation
Gates found himself in.

[Bluenorthwest]

149. the cop is a professional, they say.

If a teachers yelled at children on a regular basis, and then subjected them to often selective punishments, there would be hell to pay.
And who here is talking about yelling? You are making that analogy. I reject it. False arrest is more like kidnapping than yelling. Every kidnap anyone because you were having a bad day? After yelling at them, invading their home, and questioning their honesty beyond reason? Dragged them off in bondage 'cause you were having a bad day?

[XanaDUer]

150. Police officers are in positions of authority over citizens, an

unequal power structure. That is not the same as overreacting to someone because you're having a bad day, unless you can get that person thrown in jail or beat them up without any consequences to you or your partners.

[kpominville]

130. k&r

Yup, personally experienced it.

[T Wolf]

131. Many timea in many circumstances. From physical to verbal to incompetence in

the "performance of their duties" to perjury in court.

Throw in legal matters decided against me and I have more than enough experience to be able to state authoritatively, THEY ABUSE AS A MATTER OF OPERATIONAL (if not official) POLICY!

On edit - I see some are telling their stories. I'll keep it to the worst...

A neighbor's dogs, with a history of attacking animals and people, comes onto my property and kills my daughters' cat. Before the hearing, the cops who "handled the call" had a private conference with the defense attorney, then come into court and lie about the facts. Owner found not guilty.

In high school, friend's van shot up by (Virginia) rednecks. Cops respond to call and tell us to "get that piece of shit off the road or we'll throw y'all hippies in jail." We had to push the thing down the road.

Charged with disorderly conduct (and convicted & fined $700) for asking (and repeating request) for a receipt when I paid a $5.00 parking ticket in cash. Again, they lied in court.

When I was young, my traffic encounters tended to be more contentious than the more recent ones. Funny thing - as I aged and I looked less like a long-haired druggie and more like a harmless old fart, the fewer times I have been stopped while driving have been calmer. And no, I have not changed my behavior. I always was subservient when pulled over. That is a lesson leaned immediately when you are male and have a pony tail in Virginia in the '60s.

Add in many instances that my wife has encountered professionally. She has had to report sexual & physical abuse of students many times and when the perp was a cop (often in her schools), there has NEVER been anything done by the cops. They do protect their own, no matter what.

They really do not have to act that way. And we all, and our society, suffer as a consequence.

[Shagbark Hickory]

132. Yes I have.Miami Beach, Florida. Notorious for this. It's been in the paper. I'm white btw

Yanked out of stopped car at a red light. Ass kicked, the cops held a gun to my head and fondled my penis & then jailed me for nothing. I did nothing wrong. Only one charge... resisting arrest w/o violence.
Nice way to make money.
Only I Never returned to the city of miami beach. Used the money I would be spending there to pay for a lawyer to expunge the record.

[TankLV]

134. Right after the 2000 Coup and then again after the ILLEGAL WAR OF CHOICE

all my AWOL bush*, WAR CRIMINAL bush* bumper stickers caused me to be pulled over a COUPLE times for things like going TWO MILES OVER THE SPEED LIMIT!!!

The judge in each case was NOT amused with the PIG officer involved...

and each time it was near my home - usually late at night...

and each time I put on even MORE "pronounced" stickers!!!

[pollo poco]

137. yes

arrogant pricks.

Maybe we should only hire police from the list of people who sign up to be firemen.

Real heros who wish to save lives vs. authoritarian personality types.

Flame away, but the job of policing is too important to entrust it to people who seek it out.

They are mostly authoritarian bullies signing up to become state sanctioned authoritarian bullies.

And, for those who dwell on the exceptions- one good apple does not make the rest of the barrel less rotten.

[T Wolf]

147. Wish I could rec your suggestion. There is a tangible, qualitative difference between

these two groups of people.

Even though they often are actually related.

[Timbuk3]

142. K&R

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

[kdpeters]

144. Yes.

My partner was a cop and was endlessly harrassed for months for being gay. They just swept it under the rug. When he finally filed a formal complaint, the entire department came down on him and on us. He was persona non grata from then on. They made our life a living hell.

[kirby]

148. My story...

I had a rogue cop pull out and tailgate me in a 25 mph zone late at night. I was certain to do exactly 25 mph. Apparently he didn't think I knew it was a police car behind me and was trying to egg me to speed up. He put his highbeams on, rode my bumper, and was blinding me. After a mile of this crap, I pulled to the side and waved him by. We took different turns, but 20 minutes later, I pull up behind him at a stop sign. He must have known it was me because he sat at the stop sign for at least 2 full minutes doing nothing. After the 2 minutes of being trapped behind him at an empty intersection, I honked my horn. That got me arrested for 'unnecessary use of the horn' and taken to the county detention center. After being handcuffed, but before being hauled off, I asked the officer to give the keys to the house/car to my wife who was my passenger. The keys were in my pocket. He lazily patted my pockets and said 'there are no keys there'. I kept telling him the keys were in my pocket but he couldn't give a shit. My wife had to get a relative to travel from a distance with an extra set of keys to get the car to come pick me up. After being handcuffed to a table at the local jail with hardly any circulation in my hand for several hours, she picked me up. It turns out I was not actually arrested, just detained to teach me a lesson. I had to go to court to fight the 'unnecessary use of the horn ticket', which I won because as I explained, the officer was obstructing traffic without emergency equipment so there was nothing unnecessary about my horn. The run-in has left a scar on me for life. My complaints went unaddressed.

[XanaDUer]

151. Well, maybe that cop was just having a bad day

:eyes:
:sarcasm:

[kirby]

153. LOL, his bad day became my nightmare! n/t

[Speck Tater]

152. In 64 years I've never been close to a cop. They are something only seen in the distance

but never close enough to interact with.

As soon as the system knows you exist it will fuck with you. Low profile is the only way to fly.

People have more control over outcomes than they usually realize. Crude examples: If you don't want to drown in a boating accident, stay away from boats. If you don't want to be stabbed in a barroom knife fight, don't go to bars.

[kirby]

154. Don't want a traffic ticket, dont drive... Great advice.. n/t

[XanaDUer]

155. I agree, for the most part

However, what do you do when you have to drive around, say, late at night? I have a friend, male, African-american, middle-aged, who got pulled over because he was coming back from a late-night class (he works during the day). This is in Georgia.

There is no good public-transit system in this part of Georgia near his home and job, and this class, while a portion was online, did have parts you had to attend in person, to complete successfully.

He was driving while Black. It was a year-long nightmare for him he finally got cleared up after hiring an attorney he could not afford.

[Egnever]

166. A life of fear is no life at all.

Avoiding things because of some remote possibility of something happening is not the answer.

[Speck Tater]

170. It's not a matter of avoiding all risky situations. It's a matter of picking your battles.

If I want to go rock climbing I won't drive 60 MPH in a 35 MPH zone to get to my rock climbing destination just because I disagree with speed limits on principle. In that situation I WANT the challenge of rock climbing, but I DON'T want the challenge of arguing with the police over the merits of speed limits and ending up in jail. Being in jail would spoil my day of rock climbing.

Some people are just habitually confrontational and then complain about how the police pick on them. Some other people, like Sarah Palin, choose a different kind of confrontationalism and always complain about how the media is picking on them. It's not the media's fault, and in many (not all, of course, but many) cases it's not the police's fault that they "picked on" a confrontational person who CHOSE to pick a fight with them.

[Mudoria]

156. Hmmm

Was driving home late one rainy night and the back tire picked up a nail from somewhere and went flat. Pulled it off to the side of a road and got out and started to change it. Had trouble getting the lug nuts off with the flimsy tire tool the auto company gave with the car. About the time I was ready to give up a car pulled up behind me and this cop got out and asked me what the problem was. I told him and he looked things over and walked back to his cruiser and brought one of those huge tire tools and broke all those lug nuts loose for me. He finished helping me change the tire and after I thanked him he said "no problem, glad to help out on a crappy night like this". I've appreciated police ever since...

[lies and propaganda]

162. i wish i could tell my story here

Yes, without a doubt i have.. the only thing that 'saved' me was that i was a veteran.

[deadmessengers]

OH yeah

Many times, but the most egregious was a time a few years ago when I was visiting New York City, and had to pick my wife up at her mother's apartment in the South Bronx. I stopped my car in front of the apartment building, my wife got in, and as I drove off, I was pulled over a block away. The cops walked alongside the car, asked us to get out, and quickly separated my wife and I for questioning. It quickly became apparent from the line of questioning that they thought she was a prostitute, and I her customer. When I explained that she was my wife, the response was "yeah, right". The only thing that saved us from a trip to jail: I told the cop to look at my wife's driver's license. I pointed out that if she were a hooker, and I her customer, then why would she have the same address as I, and furthermore, why would we have sequential drivers' license numbers? (we moved to Georgia together, and switched our licenses on the same day, one right after the other on the line at the DMV)

After checking the licenses with his partner and corroborating our story, the cop (Latino, for what it's worth) walked back to me standing behind his car, threw my license back at me, and he and his partner got in the car and drove off to look for another victim.

By the way, I feel the need to point out that my wife is black, and I white. You think that could possibly have been a factor in their profiling decision?

[1monster]

194. One night, with my 17 year old son in the front seat beside me, I picked my 32 year old

stepson up from work. I stopped in the fire lane for about 30 seconds while he got in the car.

As he was buckling his seat belt, a sheriff's deputy pulled up beside me and just looked at me in a very cynical way.

I rolled down my window and waited for him to tell me why he was blocking me.

He just sat there looking at me like I was some kind of degenerate.

I was really getting irritated and said in a very cutting voice, "I'm just picking up my stepson for work. Is that a problem?"

(I pick him up about four times a week and drop him off almost as often.)

He never said a word, but drove away.

Since my stepson is a short, rather scrawy thing, and dresses like a teenager, I wondered if he thought I was picking up a male prostitute? :puke:

[trocar]

163. Alabama

Several years ago I had a friend who was kidnapped from a 24 hour store in the middle of the night. She jumped out of a moving car to save her life. At the hospital she gave the police my number to call as she had no family in the area. The police wanted to know where I had been during the evening and when I told them a gay bar, the kidnapping and robbery became secondary to the fact that we were gay. I was "summoned" back to the Montgomery Police Dept repeatedly, under the pretense to discuss my friend's case only to be harassed for being gay. A**holes all.

[GReedDiamond]

165. Yes, back in 1973...

...I was pistol whipped, had my head bashed against a cement curb, etc.

My crime: possession of a one ounce bag of marijuana. I refused to hand it over, so the cop assaulted me.

After my trip to the hospital, where my head wounds were treated by a doctor who spoke with a German accent, I was put in a jail cell overnight.

I was bailed out the next day, after being charged with felony possession, and felony assault-type charges (for beating the cop, which I did not do), resisting arrest, fleeing an officer, etc. There were, IIRC, six felonies lodged against me, and a misdemeanor or two.

My attorney was obtained by my aunt, who was the personal secretary to the Chairman of the Board of a very famous national retail outlet. This attorney was one of the attorneys for this retail outlet.

The attorney, a friend of the judge hearing the case, met the judge on a golf course. During a round of golf, the attorney convinced the judge that I was a "good kid" (I was 18 at the time), and the judge, without ever hearing any "evidence" from the prosecution, summarily dismissed all charges, with the exception of a reduced (from felony, to misdemeanor), charge of possession, to which I agreed to plead guilty.

My sentence: no jail time, no probation, a $500.00 fine. The cop who beat me was flabbergasted, to say the least. We paid the attorney $1000.00 for his "legal expertise" in springing me. I had otherwise faced years in the slammer.

BTW, I always thought this Country would have evolved enough by this time to have lifted the ridiculous prohibition on pot, but, no such luck...

[RamboLiberal]

168. Nothing major - just one incident

Most of my encounters have been in traffic stops. All were polite though a few had a snide quip or two except for one incident where the damn local yokel sergeant called me a liar after I had said initially when he stopped "Oops I must have goofed" then later told him I didn't see the no left turn sign until I started the turn and realized the intersection wasn't designed for a left turn which was the truth. He called me a liar repeatedly and said I had to have seen the sign.

He was quite nasty and unprofessional. I remained cool though I was fuming cause I didn't want the damn ticket. He just berated me for a couple of minutes but wouldn't get out of his unmarked car cause it was a freezing ass day so I didn't get the ticket.

If it wasn't for the possibility of a ticket I'd have probably went off on him.

One other time I did go off on a cop a bit, I got the ticket but the cop remained professional throughout the stop.

I'm a white female and if I was another race especially African-American or Hispanic it sure might have been different I realize.

I also note as I'm driving how many African-Americans or just people who may be lower economic class seem to be stopped by cops at the side of the road.

Only other nasty encounters have been by some cops directing traffic on various ocassions when I wasn't fast enough to make a turn or proceed to please them, etc.

[Taitertots]

172. Un-rec for good service

You guys must act like some serious jerks.

I've had a cop say this verbatim "You are way too drunk to be driving, so you better go straight home" and "Here do you want this back" about a pot bag.

I'm going to start renting Holiday Inn Suites and having "how to deal with the police" conferences. I'll cover how to not be a douche bag, how to assert your rights, set yourself up to win when in court, how to cool the situation, how to deflect allegations, how to avoid it in the first place, and general attitude. It seems obvious DU needs it after reading this thread.

[G_j]

174. you assume that everyone who answered yes, acted like a serious jerk

that is quite an assumption, and just from my own individual perspective, you couldn't be more wrong.

[Taitertots]

176. I read all the posts up to when I wrote that

The vast majority sounded like total jerks. With a few real cases where the police should have been held to the fullest extent of the law.

If you think you can treat the Police like McDonald's burger flippers, then your going to get your burger spit on.

I've had plenty of interactions with the police. Usually, I did something that cause them to be there. I've been driving 8 years and I've been pulled over at least 16 times while I was driving. I have no points on my driving record.

What are all you guys doing?

[G_j]

178. you must have lived a sheltered life

and you are young. and I'm guessing probably not a minority.

It simply sounds like your experience is limited.

[Taitertots]

179. You must think way to much of your opinion

Your Narrow experience doesn't represent what everyone experiences. Your opinion is not an ultimate truth that anyone who doesn't recognize it is sheltered. Plenty of people are out there interacting with the police and not having a problem with them.

[kirby]

185. Then your comprehension skills are not vey good... n/t

[bongbong]

173. With a judge

Years and years ago in the early 80's when I was a young pup, I was before a judge for doing something like 125 MPH+ on my Yamaha 1100 (motorcycle). He threw the book at me, and as I was being led out in cuffs, he made a random comment out loud to the court, but to no one in particular:

He said "if you had been riding a Kawasaki you wouldn't have gotten caught"

I asked the bailiff who was "escorting" me to my date with the jail cell about it, and he said the judge had a Kawasaki 1000 and that he was known to regularly break speed laws on it.

Absolutely true story. So wrong on so many levels, especially if you know the Old Law Of Motorcycling Courtesy Among Bikers, now long gone in this day of everybody owning a bike, and owning one being trendy.

[grahamhgreen]

175. We were pulled over by a drunk cop once, fortunately he let us go! Then we

were in an accident that was caused by a sobriety checkpoint (someone hit us in the rear), and the cops would not let us out of the car to survey the damage - when we go home our fender was trashed!


BTW - we are average white people, if that matters....

[aikoaiko]

181. I was pulled over and told I fit the description of a wanted person often

It was because of my appearance and vehicle, not my race. I didn't like it, but it wasn't a big deal to me.

[Gwendolyn]

183. I was once involved in a violent incident involving a psycho freak.

Said psycho freak had also accosted several other women, a few of whom had been raped. The detective assigned to us called us down for a line up. It was very traumatic to say the least, and for whatever reason, we got herded into a room together while something weird behind the scenes was being sorted out. Normally this doesn't happen and I believe it was a breech of procedure, but whatever. When we were once herded out again into separate areas, a bunch of cops started whistling and making those piggy sex guy noises. It got pretty loud and was so demeaning. Because there were so many of them, it felt like we were running a gauntlet. This happens all the time while walking past a construction site, but because of the circumstances, it was disgusting. Hard to explain, you had to be there. Fortunately, the guys in charge of us managed to shut it up. But will always remember those few humiliating moments. All that aside, the two detectives in charge of us couldn't have been more amazing, kind, and considerate. I met up with one of them by kismet accident a year later, and we ended up dating for a while. He was hot, adorable, and one of the most gentle people I've ever met. And yes, they put psycho freak away for a loooonnnnngggg time.

[bongbong]

184. How cops really do things

This isn't so much a story of direct cop abuse, but it is a *absolutely* true story illustrating how cops really do things. Specifically, how they enter houses if they want somebody they suspect is there.

I was living in a share-house when I was a college student, and one of the roommates was a guy who was guilty of a number of very petty crimes, but he was harassing his ex-wife, so the cops wanted him. Now, he wasn't a super-evil guy, as the harassment wasn't physical but consisted of him doing things like keying her car. I do understand that is pretty much just as bad to a person undergoing harrassment, but he was kinda like a goofy petty criminal rather than an evil petty criminal. (I heard theses details from the cops later, not from him, so they're probably true)

Anyway, he was gone one day and the other roommates and I were playing a video game. We were on the 2nd floor of a house with a separate apt on the first floor. We heard something, but didn't think anything of it since it was a share-house. The next thing we know, there are four guys standing in front of us with guns drawn.

We weren't really scared as it happened too fast to think about, and we were penniless students, so there was nothing to steal. But my point is that the TV shows with cops knocking on the door are, often, fiction. They will just walk in.

The funniest thing happened during their search for him after we told them he wasn't there. Of course they didn't believe us and searched everywhere, including **the small drawers at the top of dressers used for socks**!!!

[noamnety]

188. I've had good and bad experiences

I've been threatened with arrest for no reason at all. I've been prevented from walking down a public sidewalk when there was no reason to prevent me from walking there - except I had a veterans for peace shirt on, and was with other veterans similarly dressed.

I've been assumed guilty and been subject to sexist insults.

and also they've responded to a couple of calls at my house and been extremely helpful.

So it's a mixed bag for me. Part of what concerns me is that I know only one person who became a cop - and he was always a bully in high school, always on the floor in drag down fist fights with other guys back in the day when you weren't expelled for that. and I know one person who wants to become a cop - a person who hears voices and is very prone to violent outbursts. I am trying to have faith that he won't be allowed to join, based on his mental health records.

[readmoreoften]

190. +1!!!!

Shit! I missed being able to rec this thread.

[DawgHouse]

195. Personally, yes.

While I stammered and tried to be nice (Yes, sir.. No sir...), he screamed in my face that he didn't like my attitude. Still not sure what I could have done to improve my attitude when he obviously was pissed at being relegated to crossing guard at an intersection. Oh and when he told me that Florida statutes say you have to yield to a yellow raincoat and I quite innocently asked "which statute is that?" :) He didn't like my attitude and I didn't like that he pulled a non existent statute out of his ass.

But generally, my experiences with police have been professional and friendly.

[sallylou666]

197. Some officers consider traffic stops a dating technique

The only thing that I did wrong was driving while female. Some police officers apparently think that traffic stops are a dating strategy. I was lucky, though, because I know a woman who was sexually assaulted by an officer that stopped her.

To be fair, I've been stalked by crazy civilian men on the road, too. Once, a guy followed me for miles, even when I slowed down to try to make him pass. I turned into a neighborhood and made a bunch of left turns to lose the asshat. Another time, I was stopped at a light when a dude hung out of his car kissing and leaving his tongue hanging out at me. I stepped on the gas as soon as the light changed and lost the freak.

I might also mention being harassed my construction workers. I turned around and the dudes saw that I was very pregnant. That shut 'em up.

[TexasObserver]

199. 200 replies and +193 Recommends is impressive

[L0oniX]

200. K & R