Last time I did this, it got me an interrogation(how much coke have you done, how much alcohol, Etc,), a hammer lock(ya, that felt real good Mr. Little dick), and a half hour of insults. The whole mess ended up with me being on the pig’s “list”.
Oh, and this was in front of my HOUSE.
-Sam
My, what an /interesting/ thread…
In my experience, cops tend to officially divide people into two categories: “citizens” and “scumbags”. The unspoken 3rd & 4th categories are “Fellow Cops” and “People With Power”.
“Fellow Cops” get professional priviledge…which often supercedes the law. “People With Power” get extreme deference (which /usually/ supercedes the law) as a matter of practical self-defence on the part of the cop.
Me, I’m always in category 1 or 2–and I’ll know exactly which in an instant by the way the cop speaks. If he speaks with courtesy, I’m a “citizen”–powerless, but non-threatening, and entitled to routine service.
If he deliberately speaks without courtesy, I’m a “scumbag”. I then have zero /POWER/, automatic guilt, and no rights of any sort. Unless I earn them, or pay for them. or receive them as a gift at the whim of the officer.
Or I turn out to have friends in Category 4 places.
The guilt really /is/ automatic–it has no relation to whatever actually attracted the Official Attention. If I happen to be innocent at that particular instant, it doesen’t matter because I’m guilty of something else, somewhere along the line. Undeniably.
ALL police are above the law. I use the word all intentionally. They arbitrate the law on a daily basis, deciding who and what should be prosecuted (and who and what shouldn’t) in a daily stream of unending law-breaking. In theory, ALL crime should be prosecuted, but in the real world that can’t be done. So they pick and choose.
Police are also above the law because they are officially exempt from many laws in the performance of their duty. And they are exempted from many more laws simply because they are Category 3 people.
This inevitably results in a God Complex, and an Us Against Them mentality.
That’s okay (in fact, useful!), as long as it doesn’t get out of control.
When it gets out of control, cops murder, torture, rape, steal, perjure themselves, extort, and brutalize the public and the very system of Law that they are supposed to protect.
When it’s NOT out of control, cops can make the best of any situation, dealing properly and effectively with whatever comes up.
The difference between the Good Cop and the Bad Cop is chiefly defined by personal integrity and personal ethics. Their inner balance.
Good cops are the best of humanity. Bad cops are less than human.
Want to be treated as a “citizen”? First, don’t lie to a cop unless you are very good at lying. They can spot a lie faster than a televangelist can spot a dollar in a gullible hand. Secondly, demand courtesy, above, beyond, and entirely aside from, whatever official matter is at hand.
If you can do that, you win. Regardless of guilt, arrest, conviction, or all or none of the above.
If you can’t, you’re in for two tough times. The first will be right then, and the second will be when YOU follow up on the abusive officer, and make it /impractical/ for him to treat you that way in the future. As always, practicality rules.
(Note: Do use caution when attempting to protect your rights. NEVER underestimate the danger inherent in dealing with police. They WILL kill you the instant they decide they genuinely want to.)
'Scuse me for being long-winded. This is a subject dear to my heart…
This is gonna get ME flamed.Cops have a very tough job.They deal with the dregs of humanity and see the worst in people every day.The pay isn’t worth getting shot at.I think many of them are so jaded they don’t even give anyone the benefit of a doubt.I have NEVER had problems with police.They are doing a job,if you treat them with respect and dignity,it comes back to you.Most ex military guys…clean cut guys I know have also never had trouble.IMHO you may be the most law abiding guy on the planet,but if you Appear to be a “scumbag” Ie long hair,defamatory bumper stickers…pot leaf t shirt you are gonna get hassled.This situation isn’t fair…but cops are put in a position where they have to “size you up” at a glance.It’s just the way it is.
I’m not going to flame you. However, there are two problems with what you pointed out. 1, cops shouldn’t be making judegement calls based on appearence.
2, Cops will “hassle” you anytime you attempt to prevent them from doing what they feel like doing, even if it happens to be illegal. They are on a power trip, and anyone who interferes with that get’s “hassled” (which in my case frequently involves pepper spray and beatings).
Try being an observer at a protest sometime. You get to see cops in the most basic element. And you get to see their true personallities. (with apropriate exceptions made for cops who don’t fit into the asshole persona)
I’ve had both good and bad encounters with the police.
Cops seem to have been trained to quickly take charge of the situation; or, at least, act like they’re in control of it. Threaten this control even a little, and you’re in for some shit. They have expectations about how they’re going to resolve things, and if anything deviates from that, they get upset quickly. Tack on the wide latitude they have in making decisions - the lowest traffic cop has a tremendous amount of power - and it’s trouble.
All pigs have a lust for power and authority. That’s why they get into that line of work - Not to protect and serve, but to dominate and be feared, to milk respect out of a world they belive has given them none. Speaking of which, those grouchy women cops are the worst IMHO, they feel like they have a lot to prove and so are extra hardassed. If you’re a straight man who has ever been detained, harassed, verbally abused, and searched by a pair of gross and bull-voiced lesbian pigs with trashy mullet haircuts, you know what misery is. I think the vast majority of pigs, male or female, have “daddy’s weenie” issues.
When I see a fit man strutting around macho-style in a flat-top and a cheesy little mustache, I know that that man is either a cop or a homosexual. Why is that, I wonder?
& Just remember you can’t spell police state without police. Our civil liberties are gradually eroding - illegal search and seizure is always threatened, and they even tried to get rid of “Miranda” this year. But no matter how much our rights are taken away, you can be certain that there will always be a parade of goons willing to force us to toe the line of the Man.
Great idea … at least then I won’t get my brains knocked out with a carbon-fiber club, filled with 9mm slugs, or have a plunger jammed up my ass. I’m guaranteed to be treated equally and with respect, and maybe actually helped too. Thanks for the tip.
(It could be a lot worse though. Think of all the fat-idiot security guards and sadistic prison guards out there; imagine the civil horror if police entry standards were lowered to allow that lot in. Brrr!)