Do new officers get hazed by older cops?
I was stopped for apparently “no reason” Friday night. I was not drinking or driving too fast. The police man told me that my tail light was out, but when I got out to check, it was working. He claimed that it must have been “loose” and that it was OK for me to leave.
My friend claims that it is because I drive with my moon roof open in the middle of winter. He says that this is a tip off to police that I have probably been drinking and that I am using the cold air to stay awake. (I do drive with it open and with the heat full on - I like the fresh air.) Although I’m not sure I believe him, I have carefully reviewed my actions and can’t think of any other reason I would have been stopped. The light was green (not yellow, green) when I went through it. I had a signal light on.
Is this indeed suspicious behavior?
Good god. Where were you last year when I was nearly ridden off this board for saying there are some scary ass bad cops out there, including, bdgr a rookie cop in chicago who shot a woman in the head at a routine traffic stop because she had a padlock in her hand.
Don’t screw around and don’t trust them outright, that’s my motto.
You know, I like donuts but I can’t eat them while in uniform because of all the jokes! My union has been trying for years to force the city to provide us with a 24-hour donut shop! 
Seriously, I think that started because donut shops were one place that was open all night so an officer could get some coffee and work on reports.
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I’ve never been too intent on traffic, so my rule is usually 11 over for a stop, anything over 14 will get a ticket (except in school zones, 6 over gets a ticket there). Traffic unit cops are much more strict, and usually right everyone at 6 or move above.
I consider these rules to give enough margin for speedometer errors.**
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Have you ever been involved in a high-speed car chase? **
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I never have. For some reason, we have very few here. Officers for my department may get in a chase once a year at most.
My department doesn’t do that much, but I have heard some great hazing stories over the years. It makes me wish I had a morgue to take rookies to late at night . . .
If I saw that, I would wonder if you were smoking dope and letting the smoke out. I wouldn’t make up a reason for the stop (and yes, “the wire must be loose” is an old cop trick for justifying a stop when you can’t find a real reason), but I might keep an eye on you until you do give me a reason to stop you.
Let me just add, if I may, something about getting pulled over. The best thing to say to an officer to aviod a ticket is. . . nothing. Just have your license and insurance ready and don’t say anything unless the officer asks you a question. There’s no magical secret for getting out of a ticket, when an officer pulls someone over, they usually have their mind made up on whether they’re going to give a ticket or not. The only thing you can do is be rude or try to argue with an officer and you’ll wind up getting a ticket when all he wanted to do is warn you. Being nice is great, but just don’t be surprised if the officer still gives you the ticket. Hey, they might actually not write you up for as many things as they would’ve if you would have been rude.
This also applies to your passengers, they’ll get you in trouble at the drop of a hat.
One last word of advise, if you get pulled over, stay in the car. I nearly double-tapped someone who charged my vehicle after I pulled him over. He wound up geting taken to the ground and sent to jail for every offence I could write for him. I gave him 6 citations and tried to file assault charges on him too. All that because he could’nt stand getting orders from an authority figure. I just wanted to warn him that his registration was expired, I’m not a big fan of writing tickets.
My last post was a little harsh, but Badge, I was told by another officer on this board that the Chicago Police Department has one of the worst reputations in the nation. Do you know this to be true?
I have no idea. Pretty much all of the large agencies have these reputations to one degree or another. It would be hard to quantify a “reputation”.
First, if you were to receive a call about a sawn-off shotgun…nevermind.
Real question: If you are in a situation where using your gun is necessary (large person with club on PCP), are you supposed to aim for extremities or otherwise avoid killing him?
LOL And I almost replied in that thread, too!
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That’s really a good question. The answer is no, we don’t do anything to avoid killing the person. We shoot for the center of the largest mass visible. If the person is standing in front of me, that’s the center of his chest (if he’s peeking around a corner, it will be his head). It’s a nice idea to shoot him in the leg or shoot the gun out of his hand, but it just doesn’t work in real life.
The goal is NOT to kill the person. Our goal is to stop him from doing whatever he is doing. However, since we shoot for the center of mass, it is very likely that the person will be killed.
Why do we shoot for center of mass? Because numerous studies have shown that fine motor skills disappear when under extreme stress (such as a shoot/don’t shoot situation). A person under such conditions is basically a shitty shot, no matter how good he is when he’s at the range. We are trained to shoot for the large mass because we have the best chance of hitting and stopping the suspect.
If you read reports of officer-involved shootings, you will see that the hit ratio is usually terrible.
What is your opinion on the legalization of marijuana?
Oh, thought of another thing. How do cops feel about the “War on Drugs”? Now, I realize that opinions are likely to be all over the board just as in non-police society, but is there a general consensus? Do police officers think some of the mandatory minimum laws are overly harsh? Has this ever affected your decision to arrest someone (ie “I don’t want this poor kid going to jail for years because of a few joints”)? Does the “war” seem to be having any positive effect? I am interested in what the front-line soldiers have to say.
Thanks
Please no hijacks on the validity of the drug war. There are plenty such threads around here.
Badge - There was a cop that boarded her horse at the stable where I keep my horse. She always wore her sidearm when she would go trailriding (understandable - I was always thinking I’d stumble across a body in the woods, just because it seemed like such a good place to dump one). One day, her horse started bucking when she first got on. He dumped her and she took out her gun and started shooting at him. She fired about three shots and missed him. I’ve often thought that someone with that volatile a temper shouldn’t be carrying a gun. Should that incident have been reported to someone? For the record - she was asked to leave the barn shortly after that.
StG
Okay, I’ve got a question. Someone asked above about how realistic TV shows are, and this is along those lines. I always liked the show Columbo, but wonder if real detectives can get away with some of the things he does. For instance, in one episode, the climax occurs when he is at a cafe with a couple of suspects, who apparently have been asserting all along that they don’t know each other. The case breaks wide open when the Lieut. is offering cream and sugar around, and Suspect #1 unthinkingly says that Suspect #2 doesn’t use cream and sugar, thereby establishing their long acquaintance, and co-conspiracy. An arrest follows immediately.
But in real life, wouldn’t there have to be more evidence to make a good bust? Or does the suspect get busted and held, (or bailed), while the detectives get corroborating evidence?
I’ll cover the last two questions together.
I personally believe that marijuana should be legalized. As long as we develop some laws and procedures to prevent dangerous driving, I don’t see why not. I would much rather deal with someone who is stoned than someone who is drunk.
The war on drugs. As you said, jk1245, there is no more a consensus among cops than in the rest of society. I guess more cops support it, since we see the harm that drugs do more than most people, but I know cops who very much oppose the current drug policies.
I’d just like to second and third that statement. Passengers can definately cause problems.
Back to the OP:
Officer, I smoke cloves, which stink, and don’t smell like cigarettes, and not only that, they are an off brand. So on that rare occasion that I may be stopped, how shall you, the officer, realize that and not try to search and bust me?
And, I’m really curious about that war on drugs also. The new mandate of this “homeland defense” is on terrorism, and that has changed all sorts of agencies. How do you as a police officer feel about it and what does the change of direction for all of those agencies mean to you, the guy on the street?
Any cop who can’t tell the smell of cloves from the smell of pot isn’t paying attention. I believe that the smell of burning marijuana is completely unique and smells like nothing else.
If questioned, I would just explain to the officer what is in your smokes, and show him the pack. It’s no guarentee that he will believe you and go on his way, but it’s the best bet.
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It hasn’t directly affected me or my agency at all. As citizens, we are all more aware of these threats, but we haven’t changed any policies or procedures because of them. I’m sure the same is not true in agencies that deal with borders, ports of call and international airports.
Wow, that’s scary! This should be reported to her department immediately. Besides sign of a bad temper, there could be deeper problems. A psychological exam may be in order.
The stuff TV cops can use for probable cause to arrest is really amazing! It makes for good stories, but they are very rarely realistic.
And we won’t arrest a person with sketchy PC while we build a better case (if it can be avoided). Once the person is arrested and arraigned, the requirement for a speedy trail kicks in and we don’t have forever to gather evidence. We prefer to have things fairly solid before we make the arrest.