# Cops being nice to me
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 13, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764 "2002-08-13T23:22:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/1 "2002-08-13T23:22:44Z")
Scares the snot out of me. Things have been going downhill since Kent state. If it’s “Listen, Punk”, you’re ok, just yessir nosir and they will eventually leave you alone.
I have to get a copy of the fire report because the jerk weed insurance company won’t renew and I have to get another company. The volunteer FD says they store stuff at 9600 W. Roosevelt.
That’s the sheriff department. Yikes.
I have to go in and ask where this stuff is. They are nice to me. Call me Sir. DAmn, They _looked_ at me, like I’m a terrorist or something. Maybe from the IRA since I’m of European heritage. They have guns.
The kids at the desk can’t find the report. I make to leave, the lady at the desk asks if I found it; five big cops ask me to move so they can get in the door. I beg her to quit looking, I’ll find the date at home.
I escape.
A cop (the guy at the window) leaves a message on my phone at work. _How did he get the number?_
Shit. Now he’s gonna be bad because I wasn’t there when he called. They will come to work and drag me into a tinted window SUV.
I’m toast.
I call him back. The cop who came to the fire didn’t write a report “because there was obviously no foul play”. Shit, man, just tell that to the insurabce guy, ok?
No, the cop at the window is gonna make the non reporting cop write a report and call me.
Great, now I have a cop mad at me.
I hope I live to post tomorrow.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2002, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/2 "2002-08-13T23:54:59Z")
Either I’m getting whooshed or you my friend need some serious help. 😃
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/3 "2002-08-14T00:00:54Z")
The former.
It is, however…unusual to see that many polite, friendly policemen in one place. Maybe they thought I had a camcorder. 🙂
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/4 "2002-08-14T01:25:51Z")
Yes, because if you risked secretly filming them I would suggest the latter. 😃
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### Author:  [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/5 "2002-08-14T01:30:43Z")
Some law enforcement officers are very nice.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/6 "2002-08-14T03:47:25Z")
Last cop I talked to made me cry…
You would think that if a car was repaired and inspected in June, someone- me, the two mechanics it saw between June and January, my parents, a cop, anyone- might have noticed that when it was inspected the sticker wasn’t changed, before Mid-January the following year. No. :smack: So I got a ticket(you know how people always say “no” when asked if they know why they were pulled over? I really meant it!), and was told I wouldn’t have to pay it if my mechanic wrote a letter stating that the car had indeed passed inspection, and gave me something that showed proof of the inspection, but they forgot to put a sticker on it. I didn’t cry until after I got stopped _again_ on the way to the mechanic’s…at least I didn’t end up having to pay a fine in the end 🙂
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### Author:  [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/7 "2002-08-14T09:50:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Violet \*
> \*\*Some law enforcement officers are very nice. \*\*
**Most** law enforcement officers are very nice.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/8 "2002-08-14T13:03:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Spit \*
> \*\*
>
> **Most** law enforcement officers are very nice. \*\*
I wouldn’t go _that_ dar.
🙂
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### Author:  [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/9 "2002-08-14T13:28:40Z")
I would. I’ve been pulled over 5 times - 4 of them were VERY nice and polite. Including the one that ticketed me.
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### Author:  [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/10 "2002-08-14T13:51:58Z")
It’s amazing what a few “Yes, officers” and “No, officers” will do. You don’t need to kiss their ass, just show a modicum of civility.
The one time a cop hassled me, I deserved it.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/11 "2002-08-14T14:54:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Venoma \*
> \*\* 4 of them were VERY nice and polite. Including the one that ticketed me. \*\*
I’m not being a smart ass, but are you white, what is your gender and do you live in a large metropolitan area?
It takes a lot of the nice ones to outweigh the very few that shoot Haitians and beat up people.
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### Author:  [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/12 "2002-08-14T17:33:33Z")
I’m white, female and some of the cops were from cities, some were not. Sometimes alone, sometimes had folks with me. Always do my best to be polite and I never make excuses. Also been with my husband a few times when he was pulled over and we’ve never had any trouble (he’s a white male in a smaller city in georgia)
I agree though - the ones that are NOT nice make a much larger impression. Also, because they are ‘not nice’ they also see more people, are more likely to pull you over without much cause, etc, etc.
I also have a good friend who claims that all cops are mean to her - and brags about how she mouths off to them. If she was a little more civil she probably wouldn’t have as much trouble. Not saying that this is YOUR problem at all - the cops in your area might have a higher workload than the ones I’ve met - thus be more stressed out and irritable.
_shrug_ YMMV as always
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/13 "2002-08-14T17:53:59Z")
Christ, even Ray Charles can see where this is headed. FTR I always consider a cop friendly unless proven otherwise.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/14 "2002-08-14T18:14:12Z")
I wonder if pulling Ray Charles over constitutes racial profiling.
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### Author:  [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/15 "2002-08-14T18:24:31Z")
No, pulling Ray Charles over is just good sense.
What’s Ray Charles doing behind the wheel of a car, anyway?
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### Author:  [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/16 "2002-08-14T21:37:28Z")
Driving up to the blind-friendly ATM.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/17 "2002-08-14T21:39:39Z")
As a person who has many pals in the local PDs, I can tell you this: Most officers are…_HUMAN!_ Some are nice, some are jerks. Same with plumbers, some are nice, some are jerks. Same with wicker repairmen, some are nice, some are jerks. Same with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
Some departments are so screwed up that people are grumpy just because they are at work. Same with gas stations. Same with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
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### Author:  [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/18 "2002-08-14T22:29:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \*
> \*\*
> It takes a lot of the nice ones to outweigh the very few that shoot Haitians and beat up people. \*\*
So does it take a lot of normal posters to make up for the paranoid freaks on the board like you?
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/19 "2002-08-15T03:10:03Z")
Smile when you say that, pardner.
Or get a sense of humor.
🙂
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### Author:  [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-being-nice-to-me/123764/20 "2002-08-15T03:39:16Z")
Eh, I have met one really crappy cop. Several just doing their jobs, professional and polite. And one who forever cemented my defence of the profession.
I rolled my car over and was waiting to be cut out of it. I was a little in shock and the first officer on the scene sat on the ground next to my window and chatted with me while I was getting over the shakes, getting over not remembering anyone’s phone number, getting over being stuck upside down in a car… and then when more people showed up who could actually get me out he left. I panicked, and was informed that he was over on the curb, comforting my younger sisters who had arrived with my mom and were terrified that their sister was under that wreck of a vehicle.
He showed up at the hospital later to check up on the lot of us. The report had been written, all the police work was done, he just had a moment and had promised one of my sisters that he would. Good guy. Wish I had kept my head on straight enough to file and remember his name, but it took me several minutes and lots of focus to remember my own name, so I forgive myself.
Good cop.
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