Now that the Teeming Millions are vented themselves about bad cops–what about the good guys? Those who save lives, catch deadly criminals, protect property? Hey, that’s why we pay their taxes, ain’t it?
It’s time for the good side of this matter. 
Ummm, Barney Fife…
That’s about it. and he was an idiot, if you ask me.
Too bad, Babar. I mean * real * cops, etc. I have as cousin who recently retired from a P. D. in Indiana–and I would never call her an idiot.
I had a great cop that helped when my husband got hit on his motorcycle a few months back…He showed up along with all the emergency people, really kept things in order. He was super nice to me (and I was friggin’ hysterical) and he was very complete in his work. He interviewed witnesses right on the spot, talked to the driver, even checked on my husband. He was very alert to what I needed- reminded me to go get my purse and stuff before we went to the hospital…then he came all the way to the hospital, checked up on my hubby and me. The next day he called to let me know he had our report all typed up and mailed us a copy. He is also very active in our community anti drunk driving campaigns. Excellent cop- I wrote a letter to his supervisor and to the Mayor of our city to let them know.
So there.
I also trained all of our city police officers when they got their new computers, and they couldn’t have been any nicer to me. Good folks around here, I guess.
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; A pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
Your one and only cow god got pulled over today by Mr. Policeman. I was doing 35 in a 20. That 20 mph zone just happened to be a school zone too. I didn’t have my insurance card (in Ohio it is a must)and was driving my boss’s truck. I couldn’t see Mr. Policeman’s flashing lights or hear his siren so it took him several blocks before pulling me over. Needless to say I thought I was up shit creek without a paddle. Mr. Policeman took my id, the registration, asked if I saw the flashing lights for the school zone (which I didn’t), asked if I had any other tickets, then he let me go. NO TICKET FOR ME! YAY! Thank you Mr. Policeman!
“I’m not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information.”-- Calvin and Hobbes
(__)
\/-------\ | |-----| |
…c.c…c.c…
While not in his official duties BluePony’s posts (as well as the other straight-dopers) have kept me entertained and informed.
“You CAN’T be evil. 'Cos no matter how many ‘bad’ things you do on purpose,
you MUST be doing it because you think it’s the right thing to do.”
I would just like to mention that in my experience, black cops seem to be a lot more genial than white. Plus, the younger the better.
"No job’s too small, we bomb them all."
-Ace Wrecking Company
A few years back, I had a car accident, in the winter, on a very busy expressway. I wasn’t injured or anything, but the policeman that took the report was very, very nice to me. I was on my way to work, and he even used the phone in his car to call my boss & tell her I’d be late. He waited there until the wrecker came, chatted with me very pleasantly, and did a great job of calming me & my hysterical self.
I am very partial to EMT’s, myself. I’m an epileptic, and occasionally have been taken to the hospital after a seizure. The EMT’s I’ve had contact with have been great. They’re caring, concerned, and pretty darn funny. Lots of them have told me jokes & stuff to get me laughing after a seizure, because I’m usually pretty PO’d (oh man, another one? Six more months of no driving!).
I know a guy named Larry who swears that this actually happened.
He was driving on the Interstate, doing about 5 mph above the limit, when he got pulled over. When the policeman approached his car, Larry waved his hand and said, “These are not the droids you’re looking for.”
The cop said, “These are not the droids I’m looking for.”
Larry said, “Move along.”
The cop repeated, “Move along.” He then turned around, went back to his car and drove off.
Now, I’m quite sure that Larry does not have Jedi mental powers. I think the cop just had a sense of humor, enough that he’d let a minor infraction go in exchange for a good laugh.
Of course I don’t fit in; I’m part of a better puzzle.
Aura, I almost hope that story is true just cause it’s so funny.
Last night we had and “incident”. I wake up at 11:30 hearing my husband say,“If you don’t get off our lawn, sir, I’ll have to call the police” then he comes upstairs and tells me to get up, call the police, while he goes outside to round up our black cat that escaped outside, all the time trying to avoid the drunk that drove his van ONTO our lawn almost up to the house, and pushed over one of my big flower boxes. He gets the cat and as he does the drunk guy starts getting beligerant etc etc. My husband is not one to deal with emergency situations, so he locks the door, grabs a knife and a baseball bat and says “call 911, call 911, he’s freaking out!”. After being an EMT working Navy and Marine bases, drunks don’t bother me, but I call 911 and they send the cops out. Meanwhile, the drunk has “found” his house (two houses away) and has by now parked his van there. Police come. We explain the situation, point to where he’s parked his car, etc. They tell us we can go to bed (thank god!) and they go down the street and talk to the neighbors. Very nice guys. I apologized that we called them out but they said “hey, that’s why we get paid the big bucks.” That made me laugh.
Now, on a different matter, I wish my husband would learn to not freak out so friggin’ much when stuff like this happens. Sheesh! Kids! I wasn’t worried.
I was brought up with that “the policeman is our friend” ethic, and have never had any troubles (really, I have trouble even using the word “cop,” which I thought was disrespectful–Bluepony, any input on this?).
My first time driving alone, age 16. I lost control of the car and ran up on the side of the road, got wedged between a tree and a wall (indredibly, the car didn’t have a scratch!). The NICEST policeman helped me drive out, didn’t ticket me or anything!
See, Babar, there * are * helpful cops.
Oh, Bunny Girl: that sounds like what happened to me in the 70s. This surfer got really drunk and pounded on our doorbell in the middle of the night. (His real home was two doors away, an almost identical apartment building.) I opened the door and asked, “What do you want?” with a glazed expression he said, “I live here.” I shut the door but I could hear the frame cracking!! I called the police! While I was still on the line thie surfer got inside and it turned out he had gone to the wrong house!! (He had closed his eyes when they took his picture for his driver’s license; when the cops showed it to me I couldn’t identifiy him positively.)
All the same, I’m glald the cops did something about this.
One night several years ago I was out at about three in the morning after dropping some friends off at their dorm (I was the Des. Driv. on this occasion) when I noticed I was low on gas. On the way to one of only two or three all night gas stations in this town I ran out of gas. I’m pushing my car off the street and into a parking lot when a cop pulls up and asks me what I’m doing. I tell him as I open the hatch and pull out an empty antifreeze jug and prepare to take a walk. The cop gives me a ride to the nearest gas station (about a mile and a half away), brings me back to my car, makes a funnel out of an old oil bottle with his pocketknife, and sees me on my way. Pretty nice guy, I’d say.
AuraSeer, I too hope that story is true! That’s one of the best ones I’ve heard in a long time!
Auraseer, that is hilarious! Oh my.
Thanks for making me laugh. Darn that’s funny!
Adam
“Life is hard…but God is good”
Flora—
Believe me, “cop” is a perfectly good term. On the disrespectful side, I have been called a lot worse.
Speaking of losing control of a vehicle, I stopped a vehicle a few years ago that was totally out of control. Fortunately the area was pretty light on traffic.
I pulled over a middle-aged couple who were laughing hysterically as I walked up. I figured drunk, drugs, or some weird combination. Turned out he was telling a funny story to his girlfriend while she was driving and she cuffed him on the back of his neck causing his glass eye to pop out and roll around on the dashboard. I couldn’t help laughing as well, it was so weird seeing that eye staring at me in the air conditioner vent. I wanted to say something about “keeping your eyes on the road” but I knew it would come out wrong, so we shot the shit until she calmed down and I sent them on their merry way. I wouldn’t have known how to write the narrative on a traffic ticket for that circumstance anyway.
“…send lawyers, guns, and money…”
Warren Zevon