I had an experience a few days ago that reinforced my belief that many policemen are bullies. This story is a bit long, but lemme explain:
Last Saturday night, I wanted to go visit my family on Long Island. Since my car is off the road, this usually entails taking the Long Island Rail Road. My mom and sister were out, so I didn’t have any way of getting from the train station to my family’s house (13.5 miles away from the train station). I decided to bring a bicycle on the train.
I didn’t think this was a big deal. I’ve seen many people bring bikes on the train. I positioned the bike so that it wasn’t blocking anyone’s way, and I was on an off-peak train (after 9PM on a Saturday night).
After the train left the station, I was approached by a female train conductor, who informed me that I was supposed to have a $5 permit in order to take a bike on the train. I said OK, just tack it on to the price of my ticket, and I offered her a $20. The conductor informed me that she couldn’t sell me a permit and that I had to apply for one at Penn Station (the station I had just left). Worse yet, she didn’t want to “let this one slide” and she insisted that I get off at the next stop, take a train back to Penn, and apply for the permit. I explained that I thought this was unreasonable - trains to Port Jefferson (my destination) are usually 2 hours apart, and I didn’t want to be pedaling a bicycle down a main road after midnight. Not to mention that the next stop was Jamaica (a NY neighborhood that no one wants to be in after 9PM with a $650 bike). And besides, no one had ever told me that taking a bicycle on an LIRR train requires a permit. Instead of reasoning further with me, the conductor called the police.
At Jamaica, I behaved like a good little boy and got off the train so I could turn around and get my bike permit. There, I encountered 2 cops and the Jamaica stationmaster. The situation was pretty much sorted out in about 10 minutes, but here’s what the cop said to me before letting me go:
“When the conductor radioed this in, she said you busted balls about the permit. Now, I don’t know you, but I do know her. You’re about 3 times her size, and if there were a situation, I would have taken her word for it. And if you had busted my balls, you would have gone to jail.”
Please keep in mind that while I am a big guy (6’4", approx 300 lbs.), I was being completely cooperative and non-threatening. Anyway, this is how I translate the officer’s words:
“I am your judge, jury and executioner. If you’re doing something I don’t like, I can take you to jail. The train conductor is a cute little blonde girl who is a personal friend of mine. You’re just a random big white dude who I don’t know. I just wanted to reaffirm that I’m a bad-ass before I send you on your way.”
I did make it back to my mom’s house on LI at about 2 AM, but the whole experience really ticked me off. Where does a cop get off threatening me with jail time just because I had a disagreement with one of his personal friends?
I was going to post this right after it happened, but blew it off, until I saw the following posted by SqrlCub on WeirdDave’s thread “So you’re gay. Who gives a rat’s ass?”:
Maybe I’m just upset about my experience last Saturday night, but I’m really beginning to wonder… Why does a police uniform seemingly turn people into bullies?