# COPS: Rudeness Is OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699 "2003-01-30T20:07:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![sperfur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@sperfur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sperfur)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/101 "2003-02-04T02:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by sperfur > A friend of mine was rear-ended last week. She was stopped, waiting for the car in front of her to turn left into a driveway - the woman who hit her didn’t even slow down. > > As soon as the cop found out my friend was deaf, he avoided her. Didn’t take any kind of statement from her - asked her one question, realized she was deaf, walked away and talked to the other two people. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*What was the one question he asked? \*\* I just saw them tonight and asked. The cop asked which one of them was driving. Friend 1 (passenger) translated the question for Friend 2 (driver), then translated her answer for the cop. That was it - end of conversation. He interviewed the other two drivers at length. Right before the cop got in his car and left, he came over and asked Friend 1 for Friend 2’s birthdate. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/102 "2003-02-04T18:37:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sperfur \* > \*\*I just saw them tonight and asked. The cop asked which one of them was driving. Friend 1 (passenger) translated the question for Friend 2 (driver), then translated her answer for the cop. That was it - end of conversation. He interviewed the other two drivers at length. > > Right before the cop got in his car and left, he came over and asked Friend 1 for Friend 2’s birthdate. :rolleyes: \*\* I’m not trying to be a smartass, but maybe that’s all the officer needed to know. If car A is already stopped, and car B rear-ends it, there’s not really much question about who is at fault. If the officer talks to car B’s driver, and they admit that the car in front of them was stopped, and they hit it, what other information would he need, other than the name and identifying information of the drivers of both cars? Was the other driver found to be at fault? ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/103 "2003-02-04T19:01:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by belladonna \* > \*\*I’ve been treated very rudely by police officers on a couple different occasions. One of those times was in my own home, when I asked that some questioning stop and the officer leave. He became extremely nasty, insulted my cats (huh?), called me a loser, threatened to come back with warrents, etc. etc. I got a strong impression that he was just trying to push any button he could in order to get me to react, which would have justified further action or an arrest on his part. > > On the other hand, I’ve also been helped out by very friendly and helpful cops on a number of occasions. I had one who treated me so kindly at an accident scene that I went from sobbing to lauging within minutes. In those stressful moments, I wanted to marry that man. 🙂 So I just try to remember that. There’s good eggs and bad eggs out there, and cops are no exception. If you run into a bad one your best bet is to just keep your head on straight and not give them an excuse to make things worse. On top of that KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. There’s a specific set of things that a cop can and cannot do in different situations (unfortunately, the “can” list is rapidly growing under the guise of national security). By being aware, you could really help keep yourself from getting into a sticky situation. \*\* As someone who has worked with local, state, and national-level cops (the FBI and the Secret Service) I would like to say that in my experience, 100% of this post is correct. The worst cops though are the ones in rural areas. They usually have minimal training because of a miniscule departmental budget, and an overinflated sense of importance. Big fish in little pond syndrome, basically. But the Feds are some of the most professioanl people you’ll ever meet, anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![sperfur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@sperfur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sperfur)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/104 "2003-02-05T03:50:06Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by blowero_ > I’m not trying to be a smartass, but maybe that’s all the officer needed to know. If car A is already stopped, and car B rear-ends it, there’s not really much question about who is at fault. If the officer talks to car B’s driver, and they admit that the car in front of them was stopped, and they hit it, what other information would he need, other than the name and identifying information of the drivers of both cars? Was the other driver found to be at fault? Thats a legitimate question. Perhaps he could have asked if they were hurt? (They were.) Do they need to go to the hospital? (They did.) Also, the gas switches off automatically if you’re rear-ended - they couldn’t figure out how to start the car. He didn’t help them at all. I’ve been in a few accidents that were not my fault - the other driver admitted running the red light and hitting me, for instance, or following me too closely then sliding into me when the car in front of me stopped abruptly. Not once has the cop only asked me who was driving and my birthdate. My side of the story was always necessary to complete the paperwork, even when the other driver admitted fault. In addition, the cop spoke at length with the driver _in front_ of them, who was not involved in the accident. That driver was turning into her own driveway, and is the reason my friends were stopped. However, her car was not involved - she was just a witness. Why would the cop get her side of the story (witness) and not my friends’ (actually involved in the accident)? My theory? He freaked out. Didn’t know what to do, how to act. So he avoided them. It happens often - wait staff in restaurants, for example. You ought to hang out with some deaf people sometime. You’ll get a feel for what I’m talking about. Conversing in sign language freaks people out. However, you’d think that cops would be better trained and wouldn’t freak out like the average person. Thank you for not being a smartass. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread into a deaf/hearing issue. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/105 "2003-02-05T08:10:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sperfur \* > My theory? He freaked out. Didn’t know what to do, how to act. So he avoided them. It happens often - wait staff in restaurants, for example. You ought to hang out with some deaf people sometime. You’ll get a feel for what I’m talking about. No, I understand you perfectly. I was just trying to give the officer the benefit of the doubt. But now that you gave more details, I would agree that it sounds like he was uncomfortable and avoided the situation. > [@](#): > > Conversing in sign language freaks people out. However, you’d think that cops would be better trained and wouldn’t freak out like the average person. Yeah, you’d think - but it’s been my experience that cops’ behavior is all over the map. Some can be the nicest, most polite people you’d ever want to meet, and others can be the most arrogant, swaggering jackasses on the planet. I guess they’re just human beings like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/106 "2003-02-05T10:58:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by blowero \* > \*\*I guess they’re just human beings like the rest of us. \*\* Well, not _exactly_ like the rest of us. They have billy clubs and sap gloves and…you know…guns. They’re supposed to live up to a higher standard. That said, departments like Los Angeles really do try to weed out the assholes before they send a recruit to the academy. My best buddy in high school joined the LAPD in 1965. As part of the application process, I was interviewed by a lieutenant who asked a great many questions intended to weed out the cowboys and thugs. I gave my friend a glowing review, enhanced by my wife’s comments (she wasn’t the reference he had given, but the lieutenant considered her responses a plus because she was so impressed by my bud). As the lieutenant was leaving he walked a few steps, turned and said, “I hope I can come back to you the first time he kills someone.” Hey, my friend was a good guy, but that made me think. 😉 The last time I talked with him, he’d been on the force more than twenty years and had never unholstered his gun on the job. _Almost_ like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/107 "2003-02-05T18:39:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DesertGeezer \* > Well, not _exactly_ like the rest of us. They have billy clubs and sap gloves and…you know…guns. They’re supposed to live up to a higher standard. You’re talking about how they’re _supposed_ to be, whereas I was talking about how they _are_. ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/108 "2003-02-05T22:18:25Z")
The thing with the dog searching, searching your car, getting pulled over…they’re supposed to have justification for all of that. But do they really need to? Nope. All a cop EVER has to say is he: a) Smells pot b) You are acting “suspiciously” That’s it. And who is there to make sure the cop really does have a good reason to do these things? Well, the cop him/her self of course. How convienent. So while there are laws in place that are ment to protect citizens they are so poorly written that in effect the cop can search whoever and for whatever reason they choose. This needs to change. I say each and every stop needs to be well documented and recorded with a camera including audio. Now the cop can’t really do anything that will get him in trouble and he will actually have to follow the letter of the law…just like he expects you to do. ---
**Author:** ![mr.greg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@mr.greg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.greg)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/109 "2003-02-05T23:01:12Z")
This is the incident I am talking about [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/08/police.kill.dog/](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/08/police.kill.dog/) And to World Eater: You seem to be the one who has a problem with stating your mind and keeping personal feelings out of it. I don’t see how I insulted you at all, unless you are a cop. If so you may be the exception to the rule and I really hope you are. However to throw insults at me in the manner you did gives the impression that YOU are the one who is asinine and boneheaded - I believe those are the words you used to describe me. If all you wish to do is troll, well you’re not gonna catch this fish. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/110 "2003-02-06T08:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*I do have a correction to my story. I said it happened in Grand Forks (where my wife and i went to college and where my wife knew this girl). My wife now informs that it happened out of state (my mistake, like I said, it’s been a while) but she is declining to provide more details because she doesn’t want this woman’s name and personal horror story to be a topic of discussion on a message board…and since my wife is the boss in our family, I am forced to drop the subject. Dopers are free to believe me or not. There’s not much I can do to prove myself, but I swear to Buddha that this happened. \*\* You didn’t see it. You were mistaken about what state it happened in. You are relying totally on someone else’s 3rd person account of it. And _you swear to Buddah it happened just as you say it did?_ I’m sorry, but that just aint enough. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699/111 "2003-02-06T08:45:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mr.greg \* > \*\*3. The police nowadays do something that I think is reprehensible and that is hire ex-military. These fucking jarheads just want to fight a war that they never got to experience and John Q. Public is the only “enemy” they have. There should be a 3-5 year waiting period before these goddamned “trained killers” get out into the real world. > > \*\* I’ll ask my roommate about that. He’s ex-military. Served in the gulf war. And is one of the nicest, most caring people on the face of the planet. On second thought, I’ll just tell you to go fuck yourself for being an idiot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cops-rudeness-is-ok/151699.md?page=5)