The thing about that long ago incident was that yes, the cops were there ostensibly to be helping me out–but they declined to do so. They arbitrarily decided that in spite of the fact that I (the victim of the crime) wanted charges pressed against the perpetrator of the crime that they did not wish to perform their job duties and arrest him–I guess it was too much trouble or something. Then, adding insult to my already considerable injury, one of the three cops on the scene gets onto me about my decor. Up until the time that he popped off about my calligraphy I had been perfectly polite, albeit somewhat shaken and mushmouthed as I’d been beaten pretty comprehensively and was bleeding from my mouth and nose. It was only after he said it, and I said “I beg your pardon?” (I was convinced I couldn’t possibly have heard what I heard–it was so inappropriate, insensitive and just plain assholish that it took me completely aback) and he REPEATED his comments, with embellishments that basically took me to task for being a bad mom, that I finally reached the end of my tolerance and ordered him out of my home. The other two cops did nothing to reprimand him, although one did have the grace to look embarrassed and shooed him out the door quickly, as it looked like he was about to continue with his little diatribe.
This kind of behavior is unfortunately too damned common and it’s not right. We have a presumption of innocence built into our Constitution and there is nothing that gives law enforcement the right to act like everyone around them is a felon waiting to get popped by the po-po. It’s demeaning and rude and if we tolerate it we’re allowing the jackboot mentality to rule us and I think that’s an incredibly bad idea.
I start off any interaction with a cop on a neutral, pleasant, courteous footing and if they are willing to go along with that then we have no problem. As I stated in my first post, the motorcycle cop who busted me speeding a year or so ago was perfectly professional. He said please and thank you, he asked my permission before calling me by my first name, he thanked me for proceeding to an offramp before pulling over, thereby putting him at less risk of being creamed by a passing truck in the nonexistent verge of Hwy 26, he was courteous and polite when I met up with him in court to discuss alternatives to a fine, and he didn’t give me a bunch of stupid lectures on the EEEEVIILLLS of SPEEEEDING, thereby treating me as a sovereign adult citizen with a brain. I went out of my way to tell him that he’s a mensch and that I appreciated his professionalism.
Basically, I’m not prejudiced against cops per se, nor against any group qua group. Except assholes. I’m definitely prejudiced against assholes ab initio and I don’t submit meekly to being bullied by an asshole just because he has a badge. I think that doing so encourages them and does a disservice to both citizens and cops. Cops who are assholes are probably more likely to get shot–I figure when I stand up to them I’m probably increasing their chances of surviving to retirement.
Oh, and as for the OP, I think asset forfeiture laws are the biggest camel nose we ever allowed into the tent and should be overturned forthwith. When you have nothing but a hammer, pretty soon everything starts looking remarkably like a nail, and that’s not a good place to do business from.