Last time I took my car in, the service tech had facial/neck ink, gauges, flat brimmed cap pulled so low I couldn’t see his eyes. Have to admit, my initial thought was, “Uh oh!” But the guy was as competent and professional as I coulda hoped for.
So I continue to work on not forming initial impressions but - I think more importantly - whether I form an initial impression or not, assessing folk on their performance, rather than external appearance.
Cite?
Cite?
And cops sporting tattoos can be problematic, if they’re tattoos indicating that the cop has murdered someone and hence won initiation into a gang.
A facial tattoo would be a deal-breaker for me, especially a teardrop tattoo.
Yeah, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs have had issues with deputy gangs.
Ventura County as well. It’s one of the reasons that I friend of mine changed careers.
I’m a math teacher and I had to ask prof google what the law of sines was. (It was what I thought, but still.)
We are rapidly approaching a time (of we haven’t reached it yet) where plenty of professionals old enough to make the rules for their place of work have their own ink.
Tattoos are not a sign of a low socioeconomic class or an indicator of mean, violent, or criminal tendencies. They’re just a personal expression.
I don’t care for tattoos, but I’m actively working on my own biases.
I’m less concerned with a cop having visible tattoos unless they are notably bad, like swashtikas or White Power signs, or face tattoos, because I find them off-putting. I’m much more worried about the demeanor and expression of the cop. Is the officer calm? Respectful? Is there gun out and pointed at me?
I joke, but a buddy of mine had it happen to him. Cops pulled over his truck and ordered him out of the truck with guns drawn. Turns out they were responding to a report of a crime in the area matching his vehicle. It was quickly resolved, but it was a pucker factor.
I don’t care for tattoos. But I try to remember old peoples’ reactions to me growing my hair long when I was a kid.
I almost got one: a tattoo artist friend offered to draw a free map of Iraq on my right bicep when I came home. But then, I thought about decades down the road, when it would start to resemble Chile.
The math teacher story reminds me of the time I was in a small town grabbing lunch (I worked in the area) and got pulled over. The cop asked me what I was doing/going and I said I was grabbing lunch. He asked where. I named a place. He asked me something about the place (don’t specifically remember what) and I answered. Then he let me go with a warning. Guess he was willing to let someone slide if they were spending money in town but also was skeptical that anyone was spending money in town.
Like others have posted, I’m a white middle-aged ‘normal’ looking male. I don’t get pulled over often (it’s been years) but get a ticket a lot less than I’m pulled over.
A similar thing happened to me. I was the nite security guard at the original Tommy’s Hamburgers. I was a bit late to work and I was speeding , the CHP pulled me over, I explained, and he smiled and said “Say hello to Tommy for me” and let me go. Mind you I wasnt going crazy fast.
It’s not faith it’s logic. The systems are set up so that’s not possible. If your buddy on the police department had that ability he would be working for the NSA not the local department. The systems are set up to have a clear trail showing what is done to every file. That includes everyone that even looks at a video. I’m not claiming it’s impossible to do but it’s impossible for anyone I know that works for a police department. Maybe they could get someone at Axon to do it but why would they?
Same demographic as you – Going through my head, I’ve been pulled over 13 times (that I could remember right now), got tickets only five of them. Funnily, only two of them have been by a Chicago cop (where I live and do 95% of my driving. One was a ticket; the other was a warning.) My only strategy is being polite; putting my hands on the steering wheel so they could see them; that sort of stuff. Being a normal-looking white male I’m sure helped, as well.
Spectacular I-can-talk-my-way-out-of-it-with-police fail in Minnesota.
A woman reportedly high on meth crashes her speeding SUV into an Amish buggy, killing two children. She allegedly gets her identical twin sister to try to take the blame (sounds like a bad episode of Law & Order - Dim Bulbs of the Upper Midwest).
Another really bad idea is doing these Google searches on your phone: “What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people” and “If you hit a buggy and kill two people are you going to prison?”
Jeez. She and her sister are both real prizes. I hope she gets put away for a long, long time since it appears from her record she’ll continue to be a menace behind the wheel.