All due respect, but that’s insane. A cop is supposed to know you’re Italian by looking into your car? I’m Italian, born in Trenton, NJ, and drove all around the Northeast for years, from CT to MD. I was pulled over ONCE, for a valid speed violation, in NJ. What the fuck is “Looking Italian?” EVERYONE looks like a fucking Guinea in the NE, all the way down to Maryland, IME. I’m hairier than Robin Williams. Everyone I knew there had a vowel at the and of their name. You can’t stop a car without a 50-50 chance of an Italian being in the car.
“Hmmm… that guy’s Italian, better check him out. Might have some Prosciutto in his pants!”
Try being a young-ish woman. That has worked for me. I was pulled over on my way home from the driver’s facility with new plates IN my car, but not ON my car. I was violating the law, obviously, without license plates. I should have gotten a ticket and possibly had my car towed.
Instead, the cop got down on his hands and knees with tools he got out of his trunk and put the new plates on for me, then sent me on my way.
I mean, I WAS on my way home to get a screwdriver to to this. But still…
I’m just amazed that there is any sense of Italian racism anywhere in this country. Perhaps I’m shielded. I’m from the most segregated parts of the country (it’s self-segregation), so the attitude seems to be that if you’re not black, then you’re white. Yeah, other than for certain portions of the caucasion portion, the general sense is that if you’re Asian, Indian, Latino, Italian, Amerindian, whatever, then you’re not black, so you’re white.
FWIW, my mom’s standard defense when she’s stopped by cops abroad (she travels a lot, and is an impatient driver) is to speak broken English in the most outrageous French accent, and act like she doesn’t understand half of what the cop’s saying - all the while being very nice and friendly. She never got a ticket.
WRT the ACLU advice, I’ll definitely say the best way to calm down an asshole cop, or a cop who’s clearly abusing his authority, is to ask for his badge number so you can write it down. Asking their number or name shapeshifts them from An Officer of the LAW into an individual with actual responsibilities. Usually makes them stop and think about what they’re doing.
Of course, if you ARE in the wrong, it won’t help you one bit
It’s tongue in cheek. I’ve been pulled over a lot and have insight into what works when talking with the officer. The whole point about having a certain look is, IMHO, relevant. Certain appearances create a bias. Being honest, articulate and respectful and reading the officer helps get you respect.
I drove the wrong way down a one way street, turning off when I realised there was a car coming towards me and stopping when the lights on top of it started flashing.
The cops asked me if I knew why they’d pulled me over. I had seven or eight drunken co-pilots all screaming advice at me, but I said yes - plus I’ve got a car full of drunken idiots and implored them to have mercy on me. They told me they were letting me off since I hadn’t been drinking and I was aware of what I’d done and had been honest.
A couple of the now-even-more-emboldened-passengers started hurling abuse at the police, so I had to pull over again and let the cops pull them out, pat them down and caution them. Sigh.
It’s been at least 20 years since I asked a motorist if they knew why I stopped them right off the bat.
I use a technique called “verbal Judo”:
*
Good Evening.
I’m Officer Beitz with the North Bumblefunk police Department.
I want to see your drivers license.
The reason I pulled you over is because I clocked you with radar going 78 mph.
The speed limit is 55.*
This quickly answers several questions:
Who am I
What do I want
Why do I want it
What did you do
Why was it wrong
Etc…
That Schpiel takes less than 10 seconds. It’s not until after that that I ask questions:
*
Did you know you were going 78?
Did you know the limit was 55?
What is your current address?* (this is to see if they give a different one from whats on the license)
The answer to those go in my report.
Please remain in your vehicle while I run this information through the computer.
“Am I going to get a ticket?”
I’ll decide that after I evaluate the information that comes back.
If I can, I don’t tell people they’re getting cited until I’m actually handing them the ticket. If someone isn’t sure they’re getting one, their attitude and temper remain in check. The longer I can keep someone friendly, the easier and safer it is for me.
There are, of course, times when things are not handled this way. Different variables call for different action/words/techniques.
. What’s your purpose in posting this rubbish in General Questions? You get pulled over twice a year for nothing? I’ve driven 20K/year for 48 years, been pulled over perhaps 6 times.
Certain people get pulled over for a combination of how they look, how they drive and what they drive.
I have been pulled over twice since September already. One ticket which I beat with good photos and one where he let me go because I was polite and admitted what I was doing wrong. What should I say here…really? You are asking me questions that I have been asking myself for years! The tongue-in-cheek remark of mine was about the “DWI” comment (Driving While Italian), wherein I am just trying to make light of some sort of bias demonstrated by some police officers.
Maybe I break more laws. Whatever gets me to the side of the road with a police officer and whatever gives me experience needed to help the OP!
When I ask the question it is more of a verbal shortcut to start off with. I’m not looking for an admission. This is not an interogation for a serious crime. It is a minor offense that I have witnessed. I doesn’t really matter if you know or not. I do. I saw you do it.
I respond with a “No sir.” It’s polite, and often times the truth.
In fact I was sick and tired of getting pulled over coming home from work late at night, so I started setting my cruise at 35 in a 35 zone. About a week after I started I got pulled over yelling to myself, “WTF DID I DO NOW?!?!?!?!”
I’d say that’s pretty much always the truth. In most circumstances, I have a strong suspicion why I’m being pulled over – but I don’t know for sure. If I was going 40 in a 30, it’s probably for speeding, but it could be because he thought I had a taillight out.
Are you kidding me? Italians are white. White people don’t get racially profiled. Although there are some physical characteristics you find more commonly among Italians (I am half Italian myself), it’s just not that easy to clearly distinguish a white Italian from any other white guy at a glance from a car the way you could positively ID a person as being black or Hispanic.
Can I ask an aside? What documents do you have to carry with you to drive a car in the US? Do you always have to have a driving licence on you? What happens if you just jumped in the car in your pyjamas because you needed a pint of milk, but didn’t take your documents with you? Do you get a fine?
In the UK, we don’t have to carry any documentation, although if stopped, you would normally be expected to produce documents (driving licence, insurance certificate) at any police station within 7 days.
In the US, traffic laws are largely left to the states to decide so I cannot speak for the entire US, but ISTR that, in Ohio at least, it is mandatory. I remember hearing that it is mandatory in Canada as well. I can’t tell you what the consequences would be, though.
In New Jersey you must have your Driver’s License, the vehicle registration and vehicle insurance card. One and two are no big deal. Both can be verified quickly by computer from the police car. In some states insurance can also be verified that way but in my state the document is your only proof of insurance. In NJ the officer is legally obligated to tow any vehicle without proof of insurance. No insurance is a serious offense, 6 months suspension and $1000 fine. Failure to produce a license is a minor offense. By that I mean there is a fine but no points or loss of driving privledges. Up to a couple of years ago the fine was something like $40. Then when the state needed more money they raised it up to something like $120. Not sure how it is in other states but in NJ almost all of the money for fines goes directly to the state, not the local town or police department.
ETA: to fully answer your question, the ticket for not have your license on you is not mandatory. It is up to the officer to decide to write it or not.
No insurance is a serious offence in the UK too, with very similar charges. But the DVLA (licensing authority) now has all this information online, and I believe the police have access to this. I’ve certainly seen those kind of ‘police! action!’ shows where the police can identify an uninsured vehicle just from the licence plate
