And they really like it if, when their weapon is improperly holstered, you reach over and fix it for them.
Disclaimer: They really do not like it. At All.
What, exactly, do you gain by being a total jerk to anyone?
Of course, you may be a total jerk to everyone. In that case, feel free to try the approach you’ve described with random law enforcement officers.
Let us know the results!
Ahh, thank you. That video never ceases to make me giggle.
“Bye!”
That man is a saint. So I guess the answer to the OP is “yes, if you’re very, very lucky.”
Oh, for the love of Pete, this is GQ. I never said I wanted to go around mouthing off to cops, or anyone else for that matter. I was just imagining a humorous fictional situation involving a perfectly calm speeder insulting a cop (not ranting like a lunatic, not engaging the cop in a drunken donnybrook). I even stated explicitly in the OP that I was quite sure the guy would be getting cited for whatever he was doing wrong besides giving the cop a bunch of sass mouth; I just didn’t if there was a law like, “thou shall respect police officers.”
No one asks the OP in the keeping a severed head alive thread, what, exactly, does he gain by doing so. It’s just a hypothetical.
If you have a severed head with you, this traffic stop is going to take a lot longer whether you are a jerk or not.
I believe the setup line is “Do you know why I’m here?”
“Because you got crappy grades in high school.”
Your comment makes no sense. If you’re going to be an asshole to a cop, and endure his wrath, better make sure to practice the bit first.
Many jurisidictions have statutes making it illegal to engage in disorderly conduct or to distrurb the peace. So whether you are breaking the law by being an ass depends both on the jurisdiction you’re in (what the law is) and on what behavior you engaged in by being “a complete ass” (what you did).
For example, it may not be illegal to disrespect the officer when it’s just the two of you, but it might be if you are in a crowd, where your words could incite others. It may not be illegal to curse the officer when it’s just the two of you, but it might be if you’re in the presence of others (like, say, a bunch of kids) whose peace might be disturbed by your profanity. It might be illegal if the form of your ass-like behavior includes not just words but actions that could be taken as “disorderly.” It almost certainly will be illegal if your ass-like behavior interferes with the officer’s ability to do his duty as he or she sees fit.
It is highly unlikely that mere words, spoken at a normal volume, will support a charge that you are breaking the law. It used to, when being sworn at was a bigger deal than it is today. But today’s cops are used to being sworn at, to having people tell them they’re stupid, they must be filling quotas, don’t they have anything better to do – happens all the time, especially with drunks. BUT if your conduct goes beyond mere words to something that could be interpreted to be disturbing the peace, engaging in disorderly conduct, or interfering with the officer, then yes, you certainly can be charged. It also, frankly, depends on the officer. If he or she has had a bad day, or is a hard-ass, maybe they’re going to write you that citation even if they know (or suspect) that it won’t hold up, because before it gets thrown out, they will have made your life a bit harder tp pay you back for having done the same to them.
And as others have said, even if your rudeness does not support a an additional charge that you have broken a specific law, the officer still has the means to make you pay for it. You have no idea how specific ticketing offenses can be if the officer chooses to make them so (one mile over the limit, one inch over the line). In many cases, the officer has considerable discretion as to whether a ticket will be written or, if so, for how much. You don’t encourage him or her to exercise that discretion in your favor by being a jerk.
My point was, because the cop has discretion he could have let the guy go and he would have if the guy hadn’t mouthed off to him. But since the mouthpiece decided to give the cop a piece of his mind figuratively, he ended up getting hauled down to the station where he gave the cop a piece of his mind literally.
If he had been polite to the cop, he would have been warned not to drink in public. The cop would have had no reason to arrest him and he would still be alive today.
Cops are well-known for long memories.
Keep this in mind.
Yes, you can find a way to be a jerk to a cop without breaking any laws for that jerkitude. But there are cheaper ways to impress your girl friend.
I went with a copy for ten years, and there’s a lot of laws with “suspicion” in them–suspicion of drug use, etc. etc. etc. These days you can add “suspicion” of terrorism. And resisting an officer is breaking the law.
If you are stopped by the police, be nice with them and they will be nicer with you.
Ah to live in Northern Ireland, where simply saying you were coming from Derry and not Londonderry would supposedly have you sent to the side of the road while other cars were put through a check point ahead of you.
Dad was telling me about a case in the courts where the police tried to have a man banned from driving done for riding about on one of those mini-bikes. He was allowed off on a technicality (it wasn’t road legal, so the ban didn’t apply to him) but because of the abusive nature with which he spoke to the cops, they were able to do him for that instead.
Some cops are pigs but most are OK (kinda like the rest of humanity). We all sometimes wish we were a cop when some arsehole cuts us off, or what-have-you., but we’d rather not be one when it comes to attending fatal accidents, talking armed crackheads down, or doing a “bad news” doorknock.
I’m no cop worshipper, nor a cop hater. I just think that the right to levy “arsehole tax” is their due, to an extent. Most interactions with Joe Public are boring to the cop - neither of you wants to be there. Don’t gush or grovel, and don’t be rude. Be civil, and you’re BOTH on your way quickly.
There was one cop we knew in high school that was known for being pretty cool. He didn’t bust us one night when he found us drinking at the ice pond.
Anyway, one day he had someone pulled over, and one of my friends yelled out the window, “nice catch, asshole.” We didn’t know it was the cop we liked.
He stopped what he was doing, got in his car, and pulled us over.
He just came up to the window, looked us all in the face and said something like, “I thought we all were buddies.” (or something to that effect)
Then, he left and drove off. Didn’t even ask for license, registration, nothing. I don’t think we ever felt so low, collectively.
So, you can be a jerk to a cop, but watch out – that cop might know how to hurt your feelings.
Many years ago, I called a cop a “fucking douchbag,” in response to the way he was treating a kid who had really not done anything wrong. As a result, I was held in a cell for a few hours, roughed up and verbally abused. I had to go to court a few months later, and explained my side of the story to the judge. He pointed out to me that the kid had heard what I said, and it was inappropriate language to use around a minor. I was charged $5.
It didn’t work out so well for Gregory House, MD.
I’m just saying.
There is a difference between being civil and kissing someones ass. For various reasons cops have to write tickets. They also have the descretion to not write. They also have the descretion to let a plea bargain through or not. So even if he writes the ticket you could still plea it down to a lesser ticket and get out of any points on your license. At the price the price of acting the way you should to any other human. Your choice.
I really like it when they tell me I make only $30k a year. That one makes me laugh and laugh. Mostly because the jokes on them.
This is another one of those “can I do x?” threads, in which the answer is, Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Yeah, but none of us has assaulted a cop with a rectal thermometer.