# Have you had any encounters with law enforcement? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550 "2026-11-06T14:55:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/22 "2026-11-07T02:28:29Z")
Got an APB put out on me for breaking into a government building! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/23 "2026-11-07T02:57:00Z")
I always got bounced from normal juries - but I swear, someone in the clerk’s office must have taken notes because I got called for grand juries almost like clockwork. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/24 "2026-11-07T03:54:18Z")
My first jury duty experience happened more than 20 years ago now. Here in Ontario, once all the prospective jurors have checked in one of the court staff announces that anyone with a criminal conviction needed to report to a small office off the main room to be questioned. Many years prior to that, I was charged with being in a boat without enough life-jackets for the number of passengers, so up I stood and walked on over. There were maybe 8 others, out of a room of about 300 people, who also got up, and it was an interesting experience seeing how the other “good” citizens looked at us. It turned out that the court officer wasn’t interested in such a minor offence so I wasn’t dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/25 "2026-11-07T05:18:52Z")
I’ve been pulled over for speeding a few times, ticketed twice, I used to regularly get pulled over in Texas for failing to register my vehicle in a timely fashion, and I got pulled over a few years ago because my tail light was out. I was once pulled over but as soon as the cop got up to my window he just said, “Nevermind, you have a nice day, sir” and waved me on. I assume he was looking for someone. I did get pulled over once by a cop who said I was “weaving” and it remains the only time I’ve been pulled over for a bullshit reason. I wasn’t weaving. I once got into a fight with three people and the police were called. I have no idea who they were or why they attacked us, but I was the only one who fought back and it was me versus them. Fortuantely I was in great shape at the time and I was able to walk away because they got tuckered out. We went to nearby house and waited for the police to show up. They were nice about making sure nobody was injured and taking our information, but they never caught the people who attacked me. We had the police show up when we called them after catching someone rummaging around our garage late at night. They brought out the dogs and ended up catching him. The police were nice to us, told us they didn’t have anything better to do anyway, and this was a nice way to stay awake. The police were among the first responders to my house when my father died. The officer was very nice and made sure I took care of things so my mother and sister didn’t have to see certain things. I appreciated that. Oh, once I got pulled over for speeding at night, so I did what I always do. I turned off my engine, turned on my interior light, rolled down the window, and placed my hands on the steering wheel. The officer said something along the lines of letting me off with a warning specifically because I did all those things. Another time I was traveling down the road and I passed a cop. When he pulled me over he said, “I was speeding and you passed _me_! The guy in the next lane just pointed at you and I pretty much _had_ to pull you over.” He didn’t give me a ticket and my passenger couldn’t believe my luck. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/26 "2026-11-07T09:14:31Z")
I’ve had numerous run-ins with the law, in my youth, but one stands out: I’d just purchased a reasonably large amount of cannabis from a local dealer. My guy was one of a number of Rastas who spent their days sitting on the side of a river hidden behind a shopping centre/strip mall, smoking dope and making soapstone carvings for the tourist trade. Everyone knew that that hole in the fence next to the river lead to “Hollywood”, although I don’t know why it got that name. So one day, I popped in to buy a [cob](https://www.newsweed.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/malawi-cob-1000x600.jpg) (a lovely anachronism, even in those days: a portion of compressed weed in a thin sausage shape, wrapped in corn husks and - allegedly - buried under a cattle kraal for several months to mature). In Zimbabwe, it was, and is illegal, and as a cob contains an ounce and a half to two ounces (30 to 40g) I could be charged with dealing if caught. In reality, the threshold for “dealing” depends on the policeman’s mood, but still… Anyway. I was a young white guy with dreadlocks wearing hippy clothes in a very conservative country. I am pretty sure I was the first white Zimbabwean EVER to get dreadlocks, although we saw the occasional tourists. I purchase my cob, have a few words and tokes with the salesmen, and proceed down the path next to the river to exit at the other end of Hollywood. I did not have a car, so I hitchhiked. The very first vehicle stopped: a police Santana (Landrover clone). Hastily packing my new purchase into my pants, I run up to the cops and jump in, reeking of cannabis and clearly emerging from a famous drug dealership. The cops were very cheery, gave me a lift of a few kilometers, and dropped me off near my destination. I’m sure they went back to the station with a funny story to tell their collegues. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/27 "2026-11-07T09:27:39Z")
As a wayward youth, yes, a couple of times. Then later in life I went through a rough patch and had to explain my situation to the Police, and they gave me a way to find some assistance. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/28 "2026-11-07T12:29:18Z")
In college, I worked in campus security which was associated with campus police (who were real police). As it was campus police, there wasn’t that much crime, but I did have some interesting experiences. I became good friends with a number of the officers. I worked there for about four years. In high school, my friend and I were stopped because our car was similar to a getaway car driven by some bank robbers. They didn’t do a felony stop, no guns drawn or anything and they were pretty chill about it. They didn’t ask the search the car or anything. Which was really nice, because I had a bit of weed in my backpack. This was Utah in the 70s, so it may have been similar to armed bank robbery as far as the seriousness of the crime. 🤣 My cousins lived on an army base, and my aunt cleaned the church. She had my cousin and I go there one Saturday night to get something, and the MPs thought we were burglars. Spotlights on us, very nervous 19-year-olds screaming at us with weapons drawn. It was scary at the time mostly because the MPs were so hyped up. They got ahold of my aunt and all ended well. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/29 "2026-11-07T12:58:46Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Yes, a lot. That recently got me out of jury duty > > As it should be > > It’s not that I don’t want to do my civic duty but no defense lawyer is going to let a cop on his jury so why are you wasting my time sitting there all day? > > When I got the questionnaire for federal court one of the first questions is whether I worked in law enforcement. Yes. End of questioning > > Maybe when I retire for good they’ll let me on. I am retired (sort of). My first jury experience was a few months ago. It’s been decades since they removed exemptions for various jobs. Everyone has to go through the process. This one was a hit and run with injuries. I had to wait around until I got in front of the judge. Once I started telling her I would be looking at the evidence as someone who had been through accident reconstruction training I was dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/30 "2026-11-07T13:29:39Z")
I’ve been pulled over five times, all at night. Twice for driving erratically (one time, I crossed over the centerline while fiddling around with my pre-smartphone mp3 player, the other I just wasn’t sure where the turn lane was for the Walmart and the road was poorly lit with only painted turn lanes). On both occasions, I was let go without a citation. The other three times… I was totally profiled. They pulled me over on my bicycle because I was riding my bike very late at night with a backpack (in which I would put my groceries—this was pre-COVID, in the days of the 24-hour Walmart—and carry my tire-patching kit). They were looking for people doing smash and grabs on neighborhood cars, and I guess bikes and backpacks are a popular mode of transit and storage for that sort of thing. So like I said, profiled. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/31 "2026-11-07T13:44:22Z")
When I was seventeen, I got popped with two other knuckleheads for underage drinking. To make it worse, we had stolen the booze and ended up having to go to a juvenile court to be scolded by a judge and then pay for the booze. When I was working for a public housing agency, another employee and I were visiting one of our units to evaluate it for some major repairs. Suddenly the door bursts open and several cops rush in. One of them demands to know “who does that black Jeep belong to?” I walked out of another room and said that it was mine. They were being quite aggressive until I identified myself. No idea what that was about. A few years ago I had to file a report with local police when my bank account was robbed of $16K. Oh, and I volunteered as an auxiliary cop for a couple of years in Idaho. It was more than just ride-along, as we carried a sidearm and actively assisted regular officers in apprehensions and arrests. It was interesting and informative to experience what police do in a typical shift. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/32 "2026-11-07T13:44:47Z")
I have never gotten so much as a speeding ticket in my life, but I’ve been in jail twice and in the back of a police car for two hours (or nearly, can’t be exact). One was straightforward police corruption in Pakistan. The other two were police letting me know that brown people in nice clothes and cars in rapidly diversifying formerly lily white suburbs were not welcome. Once they claimed my car came up stolen (this is 20 years before automatic license plate readers and nationwide networks to check on plates). But then they concluded that it was a typo they made in inputting the plate. Why they were running a plate of a very mass market passenger sedan stopped at a traffic light is a mystery. The second was literally as I got into my car as I left my condo. The cop saw out of town plates and asked me if I lived there. When I said yes, he put me in the back of his car, had my car towed as an unregistered/uninsured vehicle and took me to jail ranting about “You people coming here thinking you don’t have to follow the rules…”. Charges not preferred by the prosecutor when my lawyer showed that I had moved to the state 17 days before the incident and state law allowed 30 days. Something I told the cop at the scene. Cost me thousands in legal fees, towing and storage. And 16 hours in jail before I could bail out. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/33 "2026-11-07T14:24:58Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Once they claimed my car came up stolen (this is 20 years before automatic license plate readers and nationwide networks to check on plates). But then they concluded that it was a typo they made in inputting the plate. Why they were running a plate of a very mass market passenger sedan stopped at a traffic light is a mystery. You got pulled over in 1947? The NCIC data base went live in 1967 and the stolen car registry was in the initial roll out. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/34 "2026-11-07T14:51:15Z")
No. I’m talking about automated license plate readers that can check thousands of cars going by. Not a cop sitting on the median punching in plate numbers and states into a keyboard or (this was in 1993) calling in the numbers to someone who is punching them in. Obviously his story was made up. He didn’t look up my plate. He just wanted to intimidate a brown guy in nicer clothes and car than he thought they were entitled to. Your response is interesting and rather bolsters my point. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/35 "2026-11-07T15:40:19Z")
I’ve had the same types of innocuous encounters as others have mentioned, including a stop for speeding where I got off with a warning because when the cop asked me why I was going too fast I blurted “Because I’m an idiot!” The most amusing one was when my cousin and I were at the gun range and a young cop came in to practice for his certification. After a few rounds by him (we two middle-aged, out-of-practice women were better shots, by the way) his pistol jammed and he couldn’t get it unjammed, even after calling his sergeant for advice. I wound up letting him borrow my screwdriver, and he was still struggling futilely when we left. Somehow I doubt that’s the sort of thing the voir dire would be looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/36 "2026-11-07T15:47:22Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Your response is interesting and rather bolsters my point. I wish to apologize publicly to brother Loach for this remark. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/37 "2026-11-07T16:41:36Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I was dismissed. That’s my point Every 4 years I get called up, and every time I get dismissed. If not by the judge then by the attorney. So why waste my time in the first place? At least the federal court exempts me upon the questionnaire in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/38 "2026-11-07T16:50:57Z")
Have you aged out of being callable yet? In my state, Massachusetts, one you hit 70 you can opt out of being called. Checking, in the federal system you can also request exemption once you hit 70. In both cases there’ll be a place on the summons to make the request. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/39 "2026-11-07T17:24:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Curious both about your personal experiences. Does getting whipped, teargassed and water cannoned count as “an encounter”? And that would be considered fairly normal for people of my age here. Worse, even, for many - thankfully I was never shot at with live ammunition. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/40 "2026-11-07T17:25:15Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > > > Your response is interesting and rather bolsters my point. > > I wish to apologize publicly to brother Loach for this remark. It’s ok. FTR if you had used the word “with” and not “and” I wouldn’t have replied at all. > [@pkbites](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > I was dismissed. > > That’s my point > > Every 4 years I get called up, and every time I get dismissed. If not by the judge then by the attorney. > So why waste my time in the first place? > > At least the federal court exempts me upon the questionnaire in the mail. From what I understand they changed the rule because they weren’t getting a large enough pool. Along with cops, lawyers and healthcare workers were exempt. The chances of any of them getting on a jury is small for different reasons. I don’t think it helps too much. I figure there is zero chance for a cop to get on a criminal jury but they do take civil juries out of the same pool. I suppose it’s possible that I could get picked for a civil trial depending on the type of case. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550/41 "2026-11-07T18:00:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > > > It’s ok. FTR if you had used the word “with” and not “and” I wouldn’t have replied at all. Indeed, that is the reason I apologized. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-any-encounters-with-law-enforcement/1034550.md?page=3)