I hate it, probably the number one thing I hate about the USA. People in the USA, random law abiding citizens make sure they never leave the house without ID in case they are stopped randomly by police even if they are not driving.
Does anyone who has only lived in the USA realize how insane that is? How utterly insane? Do they realize most other countries citizens would laugh at such an absurd suggestion?
The USA is SWARMING with cops, cops that love to harass random pedestrians. In other countries you see cops walking the beat, they pass obvious stumbling drunks and as long as they aren’t assaulting people or committing other “real” crimes(sorry but being intoxicated in public view is a false crime, fuck what you think) they say good day and make it home safe. In the USA they would taser them and take them to jail.
Do you know how relaxing it is to stroll down the street openly drinking a beer not having to worry about police harassment? I’ll take a million minor crimes and vagrants and drunks stumbling home over police that are an oppressive presence.
But seriously is someone asked me what is the number one con about living in the USA I would say too many cops, too much police harassment and too much strict enforcement of nonsense victimless crimes.
I’ll wait for the replies before revealing something.
Yup, it also in Germany, but guess how many times I was randomly stopped and asked for it in Germany? 0
And in the USA it isn’t required, but how many times was I randomly stopped and asked for it while doing nothing suspicious? Enough times that I purposely did not carry any so I could fuck with the police and I grew a deep hatred of them, hell I could predict the scripts they would use, I would argue ID law with them, it became a hobby of sorts.
It doesn’t sound like you live here. I know many people that do not regularly carry ID with them. In fact, the furor over voter ID laws should be an indication that many Americans do not have photo IDs at all. There is no legal obligation to carry identification, only an obligation to identify yourself to a police officer. Carrying ID makes this process easier. Besides, many Americans go years or even their whole lives without a confrontation with the police.
Next: A drivers license is just another card you shove in your wallet and forget about. How much work is that, really?
Finally, the last point of your rant doesn’t really make sense. You seem to be arguing that the police ignore drunkards on the street… to go after people drinking on the street. That doesn’t make sense.
Finally, the police don’t make the laws, only enforce them. The decision to outlaw drinking in public is made at the local level, and is something that almost all communities have decided to do (Bourbon Street and the Las Vegas Strip notwithstanding). It’s hard to blame the police on this one–the people have spoken, and they don’t want drinking in public. If you have a problem with that, take it up with your fellow voters.
Same here, although I’m 51. Most folks don’t give it a second thought. There are places where it is a concern, and mainly for minorities, but it’s not a universal thing.
I recently had an online friend who lives clear across the USA from my usual resident area relate how he had been riding his bike(dude is in his late 40s and a programmer) and smoking a cigarette and out of nowhere he was knocked off his bike and hit the ground and suddenly had two cops swarming on him.
His crime? He had apparently crossed over a street that is on university property where smoking is forbidden without realizing it, this merited being knocked off his bike to be cuffed and arrested.
It seems to me personally that in the USA police look for an excuse to harass you, elsewhere you have to work at making yourself worthy of police harassment.
I will say in Germany and Europe driving while intoxicated is taken far more harshly than the USA, but that is good.
Yea, I’ll admit the USA’s(or at least parts of it) puritanical attitude toward alcohol is bullshit and needs to be worked on, but also police have discretion in enforcing law.
I’m not really endorsing either being intoxicated in public or drinking in public, I just prefer to live somewhere where such happens rather than a place where a drunk walking down the street attracts three squad cars. I don’t care about drunks unless they are behind the wheel.
You know, I think I’ve spotted where your problem started.
You wanted to annoy the police? Well, congratulations, you won. You now have the police annoyed at you. And what’s your prize? Petty harassment from the police.
What did you imagine was going to happen when you took up your hobby? That you would gain a reputation among the local police as a rebel who’s not to be trifled with and that the police would avoid you in fear? I think you may have overestimated how intimidating your arguments about ID laws are.
I didn’t curse or antagonize the officer, in fact I found it greatly annoyed them more when I played friendly and dumb. I would simply respond sorry I don’t have any ID, or I don’t have any on me(both were the truth at the time, my first ID was a US passport which I did not carry unless I needed it for a business) and why do you ask?
My favorite was the cop who said if you get killed by a random psycho we who not know who you are, I said well officer I think the people I care about would start looking.
I felt my constitutional right not to carry or be demanded for “papers please” was being violated, would you not do the same?
A lot of people are not subjected to police harassment as pedestrians here in America because they walk ONLY to get to or from their cars.
I carry ID, but lie and say I don’t have it because I refuse to cooperate with the destruction of my own civil rights.
I hate having to lie, but sometimes it is the better choice. They stopped really caring whether you actually carry ID or your drivers’ license here years ago anyway, since they just force you to give your info under threat of “detainment” and after they find you in the system they have your ID or DL picture on their screen anyway.
Passport info doesn’t come up on their in car laptops, which would only drive them nuttier. Only then would I saw oh what form of ID? Why a US passport of course.
Seriously I got a lot of experience dealing with angry and annoyed cops this way, and I found the absolute best way to deal with an angry cop was to ignore them totally and act polite and friendly. It was almost like it freaked them out not to find their nasty attitude returned, they seemed off balance somehow.
The way I look, the way I dressed, the motorcycle I rode made it clear that if an LEO who did not know me personally or by word of mouth did not stop me and check me out they were not doing their job.
I can’t say I’ve ever met someone that carries their ID (typically a drivers license) just because they might be randomly stopped by the police. I’ve certainly never considered it. My license is just in my wallet and I always have it because I want to have my credit card, cash, etc on me when I’m out and about.
Only then would I saw oh what form of ID? Why a US passport of course.