# Gotta pit- the cops. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892 "2009-01-12T09:04:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/121 "2009-01-14T05:56:07Z")
I don’t post much at all here, but have lurked pretty much continuously for a number of years. I just have to inject here that, as the son of someone who has been a police officer, and still is, for the past 31 years, that I don’t find Stan’s stories far-fetched at all. I will not go into details, but some of the stories I have heard from my father over the years, and with first-hand experience with his partners and co-workers, leaves me with very little respect for the law enforcement community as a whole. There are good, honest, hard-working, dedicated individuals, just like any profession, but there are bad ones, and LOTS of those. I have first hand knowledge of perjury, police brutality, racial profiling, failure to render first aid to a victim because they were black resulting in their death, and many other things that, unless you are in the law enforcement community, you rarely, if ever will see reported in the media. The number one unwritten rule is to protect other officers, no matter how horrible their crimes. Do a google search and read about the Frank Jude case in Milwaukee sometime. That took years, and initial verdicts of not guilty before those officers were convicted, I believe finally on federal civil rights violations. And that was just those officers went so ridiculously overboard in their crimes, coverup, and stonewalling, and they barely were brought to justice. For every one that gets convicted, I’m sure another 5 continue to patrol the streets. I know that some, if not all of the experiences, Stan relates are not only possible, but most likely are true, as I have heard similar stories from my own father. And much like Paul In Saudi, I agree that the federal officials I have met and/or known are vastly more professional, courteous, and upstanding than your local patrol-type officer. In fact, the less responsibility an officer is given, such as simply running traffic duty, the more petty and power-mad they seem to be. That’s all I wanted to say, as it seems like many of you really have no idea how still in this day and age, your skin color, socio-economic status, or appearance can affect whether you are pulled over, treated fairly, or quite literally, fucked by those sworn to serve you. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/122 "2009-01-14T12:37:56Z")
I’m curious, **Stan** – do you have any stories where you’re **not** the hero? (Except the one about how you couldn’t do the math necessary to figure out how much change to take to the laundromat.) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/123 "2009-01-14T12:59:39Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > LMAO! Smilies are often used on this board, heck there is even a pallete of them next to the message box! As far as my phrasing, that is well within the bounds of expression. May I ask, are you or a relative a LEO? > > And I would never use an acronym like LMAO here, except as sarcasm in response to a post. You have a gift for missing the point. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/124 "2009-01-14T18:56:08Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > I have been driving since I was ten years old, and have driven everything with wheels short of an 18 wheeler. Ah, well, I have been driving since I was eight, and I have a full HGV driving license. Yay, I wins, gives me your candies. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/125 "2009-01-15T00:58:58Z")
And not that it matters, but I don’t have any LEOs in my family (although two of my girlfriend’s exes are local county cops). I was an asshole with a cop once (not as big an asshole as Stan seems to be, but still, a jerk). He responded by being very professional and civil, and in a few minutes I cooled down and apologized. We talked a while and it was okay. I was lucky I wasn’t dealing with a cop who was also having an asshole episode. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/126 "2009-01-15T14:40:44Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > All this is aside from the fact that the PD here tried to coerce a murder confession out of my friend, and never lifted a finger to find the real killer of his WIFE. It’s th same person who killed Ron and Nicole!!! (This is too easy.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/127 "2009-01-16T00:27:10Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Ah, well, I have been driving since I was eight, and I have a full HGV driving license. > > Yay, I wins, gives me your candies. I spat tea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/128 "2009-01-16T22:31:19Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Ah, well, I have been driving since I was eight, and I have a full HGV driving license. > > Yay, I wins, gives me your candies. I have been driving since I was a mere cytoplast. I used my vast psychic powers to control automobiles mentally. Once I was born, I took to using my hands and feet and have driven everything from a Flintstones car to a hovercraft\* to a lunar space-capsule. That Paul Simon song “Baby Driver”? That was _me_. Nyahh-nyahh. \*Which, by coincidence was indeed filled with eels. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/129 "2009-01-17T02:32:53Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I have been driving since I was a mere cytoplast. I used my vast psychic powers to control automobiles mentally. Once I was born, I took to using my hands and feet and have driven everything from a Flintstones car to a hovercraft\* to a lunar space-capsule. That Paul Simon song “Baby Driver”? That was _me_. > > Nyahh-nyahh. > \*Which, by coincidence was indeed filled with eels. Yeah, well, I was the impulse that DROVE my father to nail my mother nearly thirty years ago. I then was quicker than about seventy bajillion sperm because I am so quick and good at cornering and all. I was then born knowing how to drive a forklift, and learned how to pilot an aircraft carrier before I learned how to walk. You know the guy that landed that plane in the Hudson? Taught him everything he knows. In fact, if I had been driving (I know…) that plane, not only would I have landed, but the passengers wouldnt have known there was a problem untill the stewardess asked them to leave, I AM THAT GOOD. Maybe not as good as Stan though (only saying that because Stan is “not to be messed with”) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/130 "2009-01-17T15:41:13Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Those are nothing like the cars at the old Malibu Grand Prix, those are go-karts. the cars at the old Malibu Gand Prix were very expensive scaled down fomula one cars. The place, if anyone remembers it, was on Katella in Anaheim. The facility was on the edge of the parking lot of Angel’s stadium. > > And here we go again. Morons ignoring the main point, because they disagree. Moron here. What was the main point again? You were saying that you were a better driver than the person you were responding to (even without knowing anything about them). Are you a better driver than I am? If I pick a name out of the phone book, can you tell me if you’re a better driver than that person? And what, again, does that have to do with all law enforcement officers being tools? ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/131 "2009-01-17T23:29:53Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Eggzactly! These tickets were spaced out over my entire driving career which officially began in 1977, although I have been driving since I was ten years old, operating everything from a VW beetle to a bulldozer on my grandfather’s farm. I guestimate that over that intervening time, I have driven WELL over 1/2 million miles, without an accident. I am pretty much a road warrior, and a better driver than you, unless you are Mario Andretti. If you started driving in 1977, that gives you a 32 year driving record. Your brag of a half million miles over that period gives you about 15,600 miles a year. Since the American average is 15,000 a year (the [AAA](http://www.aaanewsroom.net/main/Default.asp?CategoryID=4&ArticleID=529) uses that number for their estimates), you are smack dab at average. Farm driving hardly counts - every kid who has ever been on a farm has driven Grampa’s tractor once or twice. Oh, and also, you are indeed a douche. And a wussy little one, who has run away quickly from your own thread. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/132 "2009-01-18T03:22:23Z")
I missed the part about Mario Andretti. So, Stan is a more skillful driver than most professional racers. Simply amazing. How dare a cop even think about ticketing him. Well, they’ll get theirs. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892/133 "2009-01-18T22:38:35Z")
Strange kind of profiling. If you drive the speed limit, signal for every move and don’t tailgate ,you are acting suspiciously. If I have to break laws not to get pulled over, which ones are best? We all have hears of criminals that get pulled over for a traffic infraction after robbing a bank. Cops just pull over anyone they feel like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gotta-pit-the-cops/480892.md?page=6)