Have you had any encounters with law enforcement?

In My Humble Opinion
42

The follow up question, for anyone who reported any sort of contact was whether their experience would influence how they considered the testimony of law enforcement officers.

This case seemed to involve some guy who assaulted a woman at a local grocery store and then communicated threats. After I was dismissed, I looked him up, and he was convicted of a similar crime about a decade ago, where he approached a woman sleeping in a park, started touching her, and then threw a hammer at someone who tried to intervene.

I am curious whether and how your traumatic experiences with cops would affect your interpretation of their evidence during a trial like this.

43

I just turned 66. I don’t recall seeing anything about being aged out.

They didn’t change any rules. I’ve been getting called every 4 years since 1984.

44

When I was a kid, we had one town cop that would stop us many evenings. We would grab our rifles and pistols, jump out of the pickup, climb into the police car, and we’d all run out to the city dump to shoot rats.

45

Tell me you’re from the United States without telling me you’re from the United States.

46

Next time you get a notice to serve, check whether there’s a line on the form about being entitled to opt out. My state does that. You could also check your state’s laws about that, see how it works there. You’re still too young to opt out in Massachusetts anyway.

47

Here in New Jersey there is no maximum age but once you reach 75 it’s an automatic exemption if you request it.

48

That’s the key point – for at least federal jury duty you have to request it when filling out the online questionnaire (see item 1):

49

I’ve lived in the same house for more than 30 years. Paid utilities, property tax, voted, etc. for those 30+ years.

And I’ve NEVER received a summons for jury duty. Go figure.

Anyway, about 6 years ago, I was detained by Polish Border Patrol agents after I walked across the border a few steps into Ukraine.

I had rented a motorcycle in Budapest and planned a two-week tour in central and eastern Europe, including a night in Lviv, Ukraine. Well, as I was signing the rental contract, the rental agent pointed out that I could not ride into non-EU countries. Bummer. My trip to Lviv was not going to happen.

Stil, I was determined to go to Ukraine. So, during my stay at a national park in southeastern Poland, I took a hike on a path that would take me close to the border. Google maps told me there was a small gravel road spur that led to the border, which I found on my hike.

I walked past several signs saying do not go here, and about after about 200 meters, I reach the border and walk around a lowered gate arm and walk to the border, marked by two concrete pylons, one with red and white stripes for Poland, and the other blue and yellow for Ukraine.

I cross, taking perhaps 10 steps, stopping perhaps 20 meters from a barbed wire fence.

I see the backside of a Ukrainian soldier, sitting down, appearing to be eating lunch.

I take a couple of photos. He doesn’t notice me.

But his buddy about 50 or so meters up the line does, and he begins to shout at his buddy while gesturing to me. I take that as my sign to leave.

I turn and slowly but deliberately walk away, stretching my arms out to my side and raised so the guards could see I was not holding a weapon.

I go around the lowered gate and start my walk back toward the park.

The Polish Border Patrol, I’m sure tipped off by a call from their Ukrainian counterparts, came down the road with lights flashing atop their Range Rover traveling at a pretty good clip. They stop and detain me in the back seat for questioning about my little adventure.

I know no Polish, and their English was minimal. But I did say that I did NOT cross into Ukraine (a lie). And so they only gave me a citation that cost me the equivalent of about 12 USD.

Best I figured how I got away with my lie (and they told me if I had crossed into Ukraine, the fine was much, much larger and that I would see the inside of a jail cell for a while) was that the Ukrainian guards reported me to their superiors, but did not say that I had crossed the border because they would be disciplined for their lapses.

So, the Polish guards were very nice and they dropped my back where I had parked my motorcycle. I ALMOST asked them to pose for a selfie with me, but I didn’t … but I bet they would have agreed.

Anyway, that’s my encounter with cops, and now I have a very cool “true” story to use when I play a game of “two truths and a lie” – to wit, “I was once stopped by border patrol agents for illegally crossing into an eastern European country.”

50

Annnnnnnnd you are in what state?

51

As noted above (post number 36), I’m in Massachusetts.

52

Nope.
I was already raised ACAB before I had any personal experience with them, and my subsequent experiences after Apartheid was overthrown (being witness to bribery, police violence to the homeless, general sloth and apathy for normal crimes) haven’t really given me any reason to change that.

53

At 16 or so I was sleeping outside in a sleeping bag in the backyard and a policeman woke me up with a flashlight in the face. Apparently, somebody broke into the next door neighbors car and the lady across the street (think Gladys from Bewitched) saw the person running into our backyard. Later I heard that the person that did it was the kid from across the street, the son of a policeman.

Maybe 5 or so times for minor traffic things.