First of all COP is acronym for Constable On Patrol, I know because My uncles first wife’s new husband is a cop…
No it doesn’t put me in a rage, I think it’s funny actually.
What they mean when they say this is, “If I don’t cuff you, there’s a good chance you’ll try to hurt me or my fellow officers. Thus I am cuffing you for our protection. Also, if you try to hurt me or my fellow officers, we will have to respond by restraining you vigorously, using pepper spray, or, if you find a way to be really dangerous, shooting you. Thus I am cuffing you for your protection.”
Makes perfect sense.
It makes me want to drop my t.v. set off an overpass.
A long and pointless personal annecdote.
I used to get pulled over alot. Apparently, there was a really bad guy who looked like me and drove the same kind of car or something. I’d be suspicious of racial profiling if I weren’t a white guy with a shaved head.
One night I got off work at 1:00 and headed right from my job to travel about 350km to my Aunt’s house for Thanksgiving. I was an hour into the trip when I saw the flashing lights. Apparently they were looking for this guy there too.
Pull over, do it right, radio off, hazard lights on, interior light on, window down, hands in plain sight on top of the wheel. Cop #1 comes over to the window while Cop #2 is running my plates, and while we’re doing the licence and registration thing I recognize him. I used to be a lawyer, and the RCMP in small centres handle their own minor prosecutions, and the nearest town is one where the firm had branch office. This is a fellow I’ve kicked around the courtroom a few times. I don’t know if he recognized me or not, since I used to have hair on my head and less on my face back in those days.
He asks me to step out of the car. I know he doesn’t have a good reason for this, but what the hell, I’ve got nothing to do until tomorrow afternoon. We discuss the fact that they’re looking for this other guy (I should have gotten his name), and that people’ve been smuggling things between here and the next province over.
Well, now I’m insulted. If I was smuggling, what would I be doing on the road at 2:00 in the morning when it’s just cops, truckers, and me? I’d do it on a Friday at about 5:30, get in with the weekend crowd. Then I remember how smart the people I used to represent were.
He asks the magic question, do I mind if they search my car.
I don’t mind at all. You see, I’m a slob. I have about half of my worldly goods in the car, mixed in with at least 50 pounds of various wrappers and empty cups and those cans I’ve been meaning to recycle. If they want to dig through all that that’s fine. It’ll take all night and I have nothing illegal in there anyway.
Suspicious? That’s another story.
I go and sit in the back and chat with Cop #2, thinking the whole time that they probably should have taken away my pocket knife before they put me in there, because that could make it harder to get me out of the car again. We’re discussing the weather and the holidays and such as Cop #1 searches my car. He goes through the front seat, makes a token effort at the back seat (you’d need 15 minutes to get enough crap out of there to get a person in), and starts on the trunk. That’s where it got fun.
He pulls out my roll of kitchen knives. There are 10 of them, and most of them are scary looking, but what’s he gonna do, they’re kitchen knives. Then he pulls out the bullwhip. He held it out for his partner to see, but I was impressed. They never mentioned it, or the handcuffs hanging from the rear-view mirror. Apparently the axe and the shovel are common enough for highway travellers hereabouts. When he pulled out my kukri (it’s a big bush knife, about 14 inches long, very heavy and exotic looking), and held that out for his partner to see, I could tell that they were a little concerned. He put everything back in the trunk and returned to their car, and let me out of the back seat.
“So, do you work in a kitchen?”
“Yes.”
“That other one, that’s a pretty big knife.”
“Yes.”
“So, what do you have that for?”
“In case I need a really big knife.”
They considered that for a while, and I could see that they both wanted to do something. They’d been here for at least 45 minutes, and I was obviously some kind of weirdo who should be run in for something. It seemed like a waste not to charge me, but they couldn’t think of anything to charge me with.
They thanked me for my cooperation and we parted ways. I checked, and there were still the same number of donuts in my box as there had been when I was stopped, so that stereotype is out the window.
I probably should have said no, just because they had no good reason to stop me in the first place, but it was nice to see that they were able to put aside their feelings and just deal with the law as it is.
I do watch COPS, and there are some nights when I just wish I could be there to do the helpful citizen thing, advising the guy to shut the hell up except to say “I don’t want to talk to you, arrest me or let me go” and “I want a lawyer”, but then I see somebody reach into his pants to pull out his driver’s licence and as he does so his baggie of weed falls to the ground and I think that maybe prison is a better place for him than the real world.
If you’re going to deal with cops who have an agenda, though, it’s much better to do it with a bunch of people around and the video tape rolling than it would be to do it in the middle of nowhere in the dark. The camera crew is your friend.
Yeah it was a joke from another thread, I shoulda linked to it I spose…
I like to watch it.
I wonder how they get permission from the people to show their faces on tv? Yesterday on Fox @ 8pm, they were doing reverse prostitution & got this cop to be a clown & catch women asking for sex. Most of the women said it was ‘free’ but on loan until tomorrow, when she wanted to get paid. There was one older guy, who probably is married with kids & they showed his face clearly & he said that he didn’t get an erection for years. I can just imagine what people are gonna say to him.
So don’t they have to ask people for their permission to show their face on the show?
Some shows I get pissed at the officers, but usually I’m just amazed at the fuc***g ignorance of the perps. It is usually so damned stupid, it’s kinda funny. I also watch the one w/ the chase video’s…my dog loves both shows.
http://www.chpcards.com/coporigin.html
Take a peek at the link to learn about the origin of COP. For a little more detail try,
http://www.geocities.com/orvillejenkins/words/cops.html
and BTW…the DPS in Tx now have a device that is attached to the end of their flashlight. It actually “smells” the driver and vehicle…it is capable of detecting the presence of alcohol in the area. Kinda like a “whiffer” or whatever it’s called that a mechanic uses to locate a freon leak.
So, BEWARE one beer by anyone in the vehicle…empty cans or spills = probable cause…:eek:
Thank you handy and t-keela for your input.
I thought they did since some people’s faces (those who do not give permission) are blotted out.
I thought cops could search anything that could move without a warrent. this include mobile homes.
What I hate seeing are the cops with the bad attitudes who treat everyone guilty until proven innocent.
We had (have?) a problem in Texas with cops in border areas pulling people over and asking permission to search for drugs, and those that refuse were held until a K9 unit could show up. The dogs would ALWAYS alert, giving probably cause for a search, but most searches found nothing. A lawyer started putting up billboards at points where major highways enter Texas, letting people know that they had the right to refuse a search and if you refused they could not detain you until they brought the dogs.
Many years ago I was pulled over leaving the house of someone who dealt drugs. The cops asked me if I knew who he was (I did) and asked if I knew he dealt drugs (not to me). They then did the cursory inspection of my car they are allowed without probable cause or a warrant (flashlight, no opening or moving things around), and lo and behold, they found a ball of dried mud that they insisted was a marijuana seed (though it was almost the size of a pea) and they tore my car apart looking for drugs I didn’t have, and ended up writing a citation telling me to replace my failing license plate light, which apparently was the reason they pulled me over (though the light never flickered before or after that night). Of course, if they had found a real marijuana seed in my car that alone would be enough to arrest me for possession, but it wasn’t really a marijuana seed.
Hey, es no problemo Kid…“badges? we don’t need no stinkin badges”…
But now, since you’ve read this thread, you realize how wrong you were, yes?
I don’t watch COPS, mainly because I get carsick - that is some seriously bad camera work. However, I listen to COPS a lot, because the WryGuy is a fan.
AFAIK, if you’re videotaped for TV, you have to sign some kind of waiver/permission thing, no? I think that’s why the blurred images on some - they would be the people who didn’t sign(although some may be because they’re minors?) It amazes me that anyone signs these things. You have to be pretty desperate for exposure if you’re willing to be shown the way most people are on that show.
I was all ready to show off my new knowledge with the “Constable On Patrol” thing… thanks for stopping me before I made an ass of myself. (Makes perfect sense to me, though.)
“You have to be pretty desperate for exposure if you’re willing to be shown the way most people are on that show.”
Yes, or pretty drunk or on drugs, which a lot of them are on the show.
Can a waiver signed while you’re toasted be binding?
i like the show…cops in london was very interesting…my problem with you acidkid is that you fail to acknowledge that the perp usually lies and begins to act funny causing suspicion to rise…if idiots would just follow direction and know that the cop is just doing his job things would be fine…for the ercord i’ma felon and i’ve beenstopped numerous timmes…you cannot win with police, its best just to keep quiet and be nice…as far as cuffing for ones own protection, it really is…would you like to be beside the road at three in the morning with two or three guys and have them roaming around? no you wouldnt…
You’d think the dumb-asses would AT LEAST wonder if there was a camera in the squad car. How many times have they filmed the perp stashing his dope or attempting to dispose of it while being filmed?
Ha- you know that’s funny! In response again to the OP…I’m not a real fan so to speak. I watch if nothing else is on and I’m too tired to do anything else. BUT like I said, my DOG…he loves it, you know the sirens and all.
gwardlaw: I have a feeling you’re not going to be around here too long. So let me be the first to say both “Welcome” and “Goodby”. 