The Police Department's double standard.

The BBQ Pit
1

I am livid right now. I need to spew so here I go:

A few months ago the house across from mine was busted for running a meth lab. Good neighbors like me assisted the police in getting the place shut down. The police thanked us for being observant neighbors that were willing to assist the men in blue. They commended us for coming forward and being involved in our community.

Now, ever since the clean up of that lab, every two or three weeks, we have the following little drama: A fire truck, an ambulance, two marked police cars, one unmarked police car and one other state vehicle show up. Everyone gets out, greats each other (no sirens are on, it all seems very casual) then they go in and out of that house for an hour and then they all leave. No one gets into the ambulance. No one is arrested. There is no fire. This has happened four times that I have seen. I’m imagining it’s costing tax payers at least 1000.00 for each of these little visits.

Well, it happened again just a few minutes ago and so I decided to go ask what was going on. I approached an officer, told him who I was, pointed out where I lived and asked him if there was anything for us neighbors to be concerned about. In the most thinly veiled look of utter contempt he told me to “go on home and mind my own damn business”. He said, “it’s hard enough for us to do our job without a bunch of noisy neighbors getting involved.”

I was so stunned that I stood there for a moment dumfounded. Since I thought he didn’t understand why I was concerned I told him I was just worried that the drug lab had started up again. He told me that “even if it has it still isn’t any concern of yours”.

He then got in his car and drove off.

No concern of mine?! Those fucking things have a nasty habit of exploding! I have never, in my life, been treated so rudely by an officer.

How dare they suck up to me and my “community” when they want something but won’t tell me or my “community” when something is going on. I mean, really, if all that was going on was some kind of situation like, a domestic situation or something he could have just said that it had nothing to do with drugs and that it was nothing for us to worry about. He didn’t have to be rude to me.

Our community council meeting is next week and believe me, I’m going to bring this up, give them this guy’s name, and see just what we as a “community” will do about it. I’m tired of the police double standard of “we want your help but don’t expect anything from us.”

2

I believe that this happens way more than it should. Actually, it should never happen unless the bystander is in some kind of danger.

Unfortunatly, when you bring it up to the community council, you will probably be greeted with some such nonsence as “We’ll look into it”, and nothing will ever be done. I find it interesting that it takes an ambulance, a fire truck, two marked police cars, an unmarked police car and another car to basically do nothing. Kind of makes you wonder what they are doing over there, doesn’t it?

But regardless of what they are doing, there is no call to be nasty to one of the people that pay their lousy wages.

3

Try reporting this guy to Internal Affairs. What you describe sounds like some kind of corrupt setup. The FBI might be interested as well. But be careful.

4

Write a letter to the chief or sheriff (depending on deparment). Just because this cop was a dick, does not mean the whole department is like that. If you do not write a letter, nothing will be done about it and he will continue being an asshole cop! You have his name, so that is great! Now, follow through and notify the head of the department!!

5

When I was young, we woke up one night to 3 police cars in our driveway and about 6 or 7 cops arresting 3 guys laying in our front yard. Since that seemed like something we should know about, my Mom opened the front door and yelled out to ask what was going on.

A cop yelled back “shut your goddamn door and get back inside.” Now, my Mom wasn’t going to be bullied, so she said that it was her yard, and she wanted to know what was going on. At which, a second cop said “lady?! Do you have a hearing problem? Do you want to go to jail with these guys? We’ll put you all in the same car! Now get back inside.” So she did. Of course, in Olathe Kansas the mere act of asking a police officer is obviously a criminal offense - as it casts doubt on their “God Complex”.

FTR, I know these were the words they said because she wrote them down (we have the report) and called the police department the next morning and complained about it to high heaven. A very concerned acting Sargeant came out that night and profoundly apologized, explained that the cops had just finished a 30-minute high-speed chase and were upset and high strung, and said the cops would be disciplined. OK, my Mom thought, end of story.

Then over the next 2 months, she proceded to get no less than 11 speeding tickets on our road - and she had previously gone 6 or 7 years without a single ticket. My Mom, the “5-miles-an-hour-under-the-limit-driver” got 11 tickets in 3 months. They were all lies of course, and a woman already working 2 jobs to support her family had to shell out more than $1000 for a lawyer to clear her of all the tickets. One cop even told her, as her wrote her a ticket for going 40 in a 20 (she was actually going 20, I was in the car at the time) to “next time, keep your goddamn opinions to yourself.”, threw the ticket at her, and stalked off.

Yup, I just love cops (I’ve posted about police atrocities I’ve witnessed before though, so no need to rehash). So if you complain Byz, just be ready for retribution.

6

Call the police station NOW. Ask for the Watch Commander. That is the person responsible for all activities on his/her shift. Tell the Watch Commander what you just told us. Demand an explanation and an apology. Refuse to accept any more of the bullshit you just got.

7

Byz - The guy was just being a dick and there is no excuse for his rudeness. Don’t get a bad impression of the whole department.

It also sounds like the person who called the cops used the 911 system, that is why there were so many emergency personnel.

As someone who dated a cop for a few years and I also have a friend who is married to one, I can’t count the number of times (even using both hands and feet) I have heard stories of citizens putting themselves and the cops into danger by interrupting arrest proceedures.

Was your mother certain that all suspects were in custody? Was she certain that an open door to a private home wasn’t an opportunity for another suspect to run in and hold a family hostage? Was she certain that calling out to the cops wasn’t enough of a distraction that one of the suspects could use for that split second to over take a cop or grab a weapon?

It sounds to me like your mother did a stupid and dangerous thing. Even though the arrest took place on your front yard, it was NOT your mother’s business to interupt police proceedings and they do not owe your family an explanation. She is lucky things didn’t turn bad.

Oh, and the charge she could have been arrested for? It is called “obstructing justice”.

DLT - Are there black helicopters flying over your house at night?

8

Why bother helping? Gee… sounds like they can do the job.

9

Am I the only one that read this?

OK, once I can see this happening and maybe the police officer had a bad day. But no sirens? They hang around for an hour and then go back out? What the fuck is that? Normal police and ambulance procedure?

10

Last November, while participating in a peaceful protest, I was attacked by police with clubs.

At a different protest around the same time, a small demonstration for funding increases to universities was broken up and the organizers arrested on false pretenses. A protester’s knee was smashed by an officer wielding a baton.

Over the last five years, eight people in Montreal have died by police misuse of pepper spray alone.

How rude.

11

This sort of falls under the Darwin Award category. Like people seeing high-speed chase coverage on TV.

HEY THAT’s MY HOUSE!!! I thik I’ll go and try to stop those criminals ALL ON MY OWN.

Do not take out a weapon during ANY police action, even if you are trying to be on the “good guys side.”

Cases like the Diallo shooting are more widely published, but most accidental police shootings result from people pulling weapons when they hear shots fired, etc.

Although it may be nice if the police do give you an after-the-fact explanation, they certainly are not required to. The police commenting also violates the suspects right to privacy. If you recognized the people being arrested, they may not wish to have somebody blabbing all over town about their arrest.

Frankly, this story of harrasment seems dubious.

12

threemae: what on earth are you talking about? Did you even read the quote you posted? This was not “I’ll take care of the criminals myself”, it was “the cops have arrested somebody on my lawn, I’ll ask them what’s up”.

And where did you get the weapon thing from? There was no mention of a weapon. So how is this related in any way, shape, or form to Darwin Awards? If the post read, “my mother pulled out her Glock and started plunking the criminal”, then I see your point. But there was nothing of that sort.

This one must just be a reference I don’t get: what exactly did you mean by the “people seeing high-speed chases on TV” thing? Is watching chases on TV inherently dangerous and stupid–and therefore likely to remove myself from the gene pool? Why wasn’t I warned about this before?

13

On the whole, doing anything that police do not speciffically tell you to do whenever they are doing something with any risk involved is not smart. This includes running out of your house while they are arresting more than one suspect.

This falls in under the Darwin-Award category along with people doing the things mentioned.

I hope that that cleared a few things up.

14

I’m sorry, but an arrest on your property IS a concern. A property owner should be informed of what is happening. In the example, the mother with YOUNG children has a right to be concerned that she needs to take percautions for the safety of her family. i.e., should she lock the doors? should she move her children to interior rooms of the house?, should she turn her lights off, or on to assist the officers?, were there weapons involved that she should have her children lay on the floor? etc, etc, etc.
When an action is occuring on your property that may endanger your family, you have right to know what the fuck is going on.

A simple “Please get back into the house.” Would probably have been sufficent.

A GOOD cop would have done what he could do to put the homeowner at ease.

I have known my share of police officers. Many were good, many were bad. I find it disturbing though, that the newer officers coming up are more likely to forget that their job is to “SERVE and protect.” I find that the cops with attitude tend to be under thirty. (This is just my experience and not otherwise documented.)

I know that it is difficult to keep a good attitude when your job entails that you deal with the dregs of society, but everyone is not evil and bad.

15

Byz- From the looks of it, when the police department thanked your community, that was public relations. And since one person doesn’t constitute a public, the cop didn’t feel he needed to be at all repectful of you. But I agree, it does sound like they’re just dicking around and not getting anything done.

16

Hey, Byz. Next time they show up, get out yer camcorder and tape it. Send the tape and your story to a local TV station. Try to find the station that has a ‘troubleshooter’ reporter.

17

Byz, I think that those cops are in the “I don’t have to answer the citizen mode”. They should have cleaned all the hazardous chemicals out of the house after the initial bust. Odds are, they are practicing for the next bust. All you need to do is to get another neighborhood to turn in a meth lab and then they will go bust it and start practicing there.

The citizens do deserve answers regarding the behavior of the police. This is a very dicey area though, the police are famous for retribution. Go for it, like I know you will, but watch your backside afterward.

Good luck!!! Archer

18

threemae: first off, I’m still confused by what you meant by the “seeing a high speed chase on TV” thing…just don’t get that. Is there something iherently dangerous about watching one?

That said, this case seems pretty clear-cut. I may just be reading into the post, but it seems like the criminals were already handcuffed and under control. Opening the door and asking what’s going on is certainly not Darwin material (I frequent that site–I guarantee you that it would never make the cut; it might get an average of 2 out of 10). Flinging open the door shotgun in hand might, or opening the door while there’s still a struggle going on. Nothing in that post was inherently dangerous or stupid…

19

Byzantine: That was a non-emergency situation, he shouldn’t have talked to you like that, and he should have nicely told you who you could go to for that information. It’s a lot harder to find out stuff about DEU or Special Ops (as you know) because they are their own secret segregated units (hell, they don’t even tell dispatch what they are up to and we are supposed to keep track of everyone for their own safety!) I think Archer is right, I would bet they are there for some sort of practice/training deal.

Anthracite: What your mom did was TOTALLY understandable…but very very stupid. The cop was justified in everything he said EXCEPT the “goddamn”. I do believe she deserved some sort of explanation while the officers were on scene, but not when the subjects are still on the ground, she should have waited until they were all in cop cars…then sticking her head out and asking would have been better. Also, if the cops thought anyone was in immediate danger (like they thought another subject was still running loose) then they would have told your mother at that time. I do find the later harassment perfectly believable though.

Myrr21: You think just having them cuffed but still face down on the grass in some unknown persons backyard is considered “under control” enough for some woman to come out of her house and chat with the officers?

20

cheezit – it really does make me wonder. It’s just so weird that everyone seems so laid back. I mean, they are smiling and chatting with each other as they go in and out. It’s just weird.

drainthelizard – um… I can’t see how there is something “corrupt” going on. Most of these visits are in broad daylight. I just can’t imagine anything nefarious taking place.

Bear_Nenno – good point. I do NOT hold the entire police department as assholes just because this one guy was.

Anthracite – I’m sorry, but the two situations are very different. I NEVER would have gone out there if it was obvious they had a suspect. If everyone would have been very tense and guns drawn I would have gone to the back of the house in case gun fire broke out. I can understand your mother’s concern but she could have gotten hurt.

Diane – as I said, I don’t. I’ve dated police officers and have a very high regard for what they do. I was upset because I was very respectful to him and he was so rude. And again, I never would have even asked but for the fact that there were no suspects or anything. And we’ve done this particular little drama four times.

Saint Zero – once I calmed down I decided that I still would help. I don’t want crap like drug houses or gang houses in my neighborhood. But I will be a lot more careful in how I go about it.

SanibelMan – yeah, that is really the rub. I don’t get it. That’s a tremendous amount of personnel and resources for nothing.

matt_mcl – WTF? I’m not saying that police brutality is merely “rude”. I have no idea why you posted that here.

Okay, once I calmed down I called the community council (I’m on the council) police liaison officer. He apologized for this guy. Apparently, this guy is just a real jerk all the time, even to other officers. He said he would check it out but didn’t guarantee that he would tell me. I guess there could be some kind of “privacy” issue. And he did say that it must be a 911 call to generate that much personnel.

I’ll let you know.