Agreed! 
I think we both know where each other is coming from and let me apologize again for coming off a little harsh.
May I say that as a mom myself, I can appreciate you sticking up for her when you felt her character was being attacked. She would be proud. 
Byz, do you really think that because you didn’t have a bad experience that one time that it negates the bad experiences of all the people who’ve posted here? And my “paranoia” is based on reading the newspapers and talking to the people around me. Maybe the cops in the cities I’ve lived in are exceptionally corrupt, and not representative of those where you live; by all means trust their character to dominate their self-interest if you think that’s a good idea.
Of course not everyone who complains goes on some list. The point is that police very commonly will take retaliatory actions against innocent members of the public, especially those who have dared to criticize the cops or question their behavior. I consider this to be abusing their authority in defiance of their mandate. Perhaps you do not.
By the way, Diane, I think you’d have a VERY difficult time bringing a charge of obstructing justice against Anthracite’s mother for standing on her own porch watching the cops make an arrest on her front lawn, and asking what was going on. And even if she hesitated when orders were barked at her by a total stranger, I seriously doubt a DA could make a case out of that. I’m not a lawyer, but coloring this woman as having done something criminal is a bit of an acrobatic interpretation to me. Foolish and ill-timed, perhaps, but criminal? Not in my book.
The point is: the mother distracted the police from what they were doing? What if there was an acomplice, and in that split second he turned to answer her, the person hiding pulled a gun? Probably an exaggeration, but still, don’t distract the cops from what they’re doing…
As far as the swearing, no, it wasn’t polite, but it was probably just an impulse with no thought-look, lady, just get back in the house now! No time for explanations.
First, watch and wait until they are finished.
What if, what if, what if… Haven’t we already been down the road of adding elements to the story?
This is one of those cases where the police officers were hyped on adrenaline and were rude. A’s mom then had her feelings hurt and the two clashed egos. There is enough “blame” to spread around with a butter knife.
As to the illegality of her actions, I would REALLY love to see a cite for a case in which someone was convicted for such innocuous actions.
Guinastasia said:
“As far as the swearing, no, it wasn’t polite, but it was probably just an impulse with no thought-look,”
Oh great, just who I want protecting me, someone very impulsive under pressure wielding a gun. I would think that a majority of their training would be to remain rational in those situations.
The two officers referenced in this thread (the laughing one-moment, belligerent-to-citizen the next and the vindictive cop) are nothing more than grown-up play-ground bullies with badges. They get their rocks off by pushing around the people they are suppose to be protecting.
That said, I whole-heartedly agree that for every “less than acceptable” law enforcement official, there are bajillions of decent, upstanding ones.
Regards.
Not sure you will believe me, but what the hell. It happened to my ex TWICE while we were married.
When I was married for less than a year, my ex-husband’s brother came to live with us. This guy had been in trouble with the law over and over again.
One night, he and his best friend bought a bag of pot and were driving back to my house. The cops had been watching him for a while and decided to make the arrest when he pulled into our driveway.
My ex came home from work (swing shift) just as they finished searching the brother-in-law’s van. The two guys were already cuffed and sitting in the cop car. When my ex saw what was going on he demanded an explanation. The cops told him that they were arresting his brother and his friend Dave and that he should go into the house. My ex insisted they tell him what they were arresting him for. The cop gave him a card and told him to call the station in an hour and he could get all the information he needed but that he should GO INTO THE HOUSE NOW! My ex continued trying to get the cop to talk to him.
I got a call an hour later from the police station. My ex was calling for me to come pick him up. He had been arrested for obstructing justice.
I had slept through everything that was happening in the front yard and was really confused as to how my car was home but the husband was in jail.
Charged filed. No jail. Hefty fine.
Pissed me off (at the ex, not the cops).
Anyhoooooo. . . . .
Second story.
Same ex, same brother, couple years later.
One day we drive over to Mike’s house (he finally moved out - THANK GOD!) for some reason that I forget now.
As we round the corner, we see a bunch of cops and Mike in handcuffs. Not an unusual sight, but what the hell. I tell my ex that he damn well better not get himself arrested again. It was like talking to the wall.
The ex gets out of the car and insists that the cops tell him everything. The cops tell him to get back into his car and that if he has any questions he can meet them at the station.
I am telling him to get his ass in the car, Mike is cussing like mad, his girlfriend at the moment is hysterical, the dog is barking, the cops tell the ex to get his ass back into the car.
They didn’t ask a second time.
I was the lucky one got to drive to the cop-shop and pick up the ex AGAIN!
Charged filed. No jail. Hefty fine.
I was EXTREMELY pissed me off (at the ex, not the cops).
Besides, don’t you ever watch “COPS”?
This is a link to “The Teenager’s Guide to the Real World” by Marshall Brain. I really like what he has to say about interacting with police officers.
In both instances your ex was ACTUALLY interfering with the cop. I imagine he was NOT standing 20 feet away on his own property as Anthracite’s mom was. I think that she deserved an explanation not profanity.
It is not difficult for a cop to say “we’ll be with you in a moment ma’am” even if they have to yell it at the top of their lungs.
I don’t understand why cops feel exempt from the rules that other public servants. As citizens is our RIGHT to be treated with dignity. I can imagine any other public servant telling a person to mind their own damn business. Even if they DO thing it’s none of your beeswax, they generally are polite about it.
They should at least be honest like the cops in “South Park”, who have on their cars; “To patronize and annoy”
Byz, maybe they’ve set up their own whore house. That’s why they’re so happy!
Actually, they’re probably cleaning up. The fire folks are doing the hazmat work, thus the ambulance. Every firetruck has to have an officer with him (at least they did in MI). The emergancy vehicles attract more bored cops who want to see what’s going on, and chat, and kill time (my brother-in-law just spends half his shift parked in the driveway of his house). That’s just my WAG.
Be sure to give us the scoop on what you find out!! =-)
I don’t have any real problem with the cops shouting at A’s mom to go back in the house, and even being rude about it. I said that before. Remember, we don’t know who these guys they were arresting were. They could have been seriously dangerous dudes, and the cops were probably pumped up, prepared for resistance. Furthermore, when you need someone to obey you immediately, no questions asked, sometimes you have to be, shall we say, “aggressive” in your demeanor. And I think she should have gone back in the house. I don’t really have that much problem with the way the cops acted that night, as described.
My problem is that taking an authoritative tone pisses some people off, and not everyone is easily pushed around, even when it’s for their own good. This is human nature, and it is especially true when something is happening on your own front lawn. I don’t find A’s mom to have done anything really damnable, even if it wasn’t, in hindsight, appropriate. What’s really shameful to me is that the cops were so unable to deal with the public - someone who was, ultimately, a bystander - that they chose to harass the woman after she went through channels to complain. I don’t think she should have complained, but for the cops to go and purposely hassle anyone this way is a very clear case of abuse of police powers. Cops do NOT have the authority to write tickets, (or make arrests, or shoot people for that matter) for their own personal gratification. The public entrusts with them with this power for very specific purposes. It is ESPECIALLY incumbent upon them to play by the rules.
That said, bio-brat’s suggestion that they are cleaning up the meth lab sounds like the most likely scenario. Although Byz didn’t mention a fire truck, I can see an ambulance being there for haz-mat, and the cops are around because the hazmat workers may not want to be alone in a neighborhood where you find meth labs. That would explain why the cops seem to be just hanging around: they’re just there for protection.
Anthracite:
Hello! You’re kidding, right? Does the phrase Rampart Division ring a bell? In my limited experience, the small town cops are generally the most approachable.
FTR, I’m terrified of cops. Always have been. I have no reason for this. It’s just the way it is.
However, all of the cops I have had any experience with were very polite, nice, considerate, and concerned about my well-being. I was pulled over twice, both misunderstandings, and I had done nothing illegal.But the cops were willing to discuss it with me, and in the end everything was cool. And after I got in my accident, the policeman who gave me the ticket even apologized for doing it, explained he understood how frightened I was (I was 16 and all alone) and allowed me to sit in his truck out of the snow until my grandfather arrived. So, even though I have a phobia of policemen, I think some posters on this thread are losing sight of the fact that there are actually some great policeman who became cops because they WANT to protect and serve.
I asked a PO his name once, and he refused to give it , and started to threaten me, and called another cop, who also did this. Unfortuately for them, I was currently on the grand Jury, whci “outranks” a line cop about 6 steps. The Chief was not amused.
I have asked a cop, politely and respectfully, why the road was closed off and was met with bluster and condescension. The cop was not directing traffic or otherwise engaged, he was standing there drinking a cup of coffee.
WTF?
I have noticed that cops tend to be nicer to women than they are to men, nicer to whites than to blacks, etc.
HA! You’re kidding, right? Let me explain. No, too much. Let me sum up.
I was 16. I live in a town of just under 900 people. No traffic, ever. I run a stop sign. I was run off the road a few blocks down by this crazed tiny ass Napoleon complex redneck. I had no idea why. He comes storming up to my car, reaches in my window, and attempts to pull me out by my neck. I punch him in the chest, he lets go, and he starts yelling at me for running the stop sign. “My kids play in that street!” “You let your kids play in the street?” More yelling. Finally he tries to smack me, so I tell him he better back the fuck up because I’m only 16, unless, of course, he wants to spend the night in jail. He takes off.
I go to find a cop. I know who this guy is, and where he lives.
When I find a cop, the redneck’s already talking to him. The cop waves me to stop. I park and get out. Cop asks for driver’s license and insurance. I give it to him, he goes and runs it. It all comes back clean. He starts lecturing me for running the stop sign, and for peeling out. I ask him to look at my car, and tell me what he sees. A 1989 Escort Pony. Base model. Automatic. I couldn’t peel out if I tried. He shrugs and says “I don’t want to hear you doing it again.”
I tell the cop I’m not the one who he should be lecturing, and explain what the asshole did. The cop says he doesn’t care, if he’d seen me run a stop sign in front of his house, he’d pull me out of the car and beat my ass, too. I tell the cop that I was assaulted, and battered. The cop tells me I don’t even know what that means. I quote the legal definition of assault and battery. The cop blinks a few times. I tell the cop that his previous statement also could be considered assault, as well as a threat. The cop starts to get angry.
Cop makes redneck wait by his car. I notice the redneck has no plates on his vehicle, or any ‘new car’ tags. Cop says he doesn’t care, that’s not his problem.
Cop harangues me for a while, and threatens the passengers with me, too. I tell the cop that I want to file charges against the redneck, cop refuses. Says “I didn’t see it, you can’t prove it, it didn’t happen.” I show the cop the red marks on my neck and ear. Cop reiterates “I didn’t see it, it didn’t happen.” I tell the cop I want to file a statement against the redneck. He says he won’t let me. “It’s the law,” I say. “I am the law,” he replies.
I give up, it’s no use. I get back in my car and go home. I intend to file charges against the redneck the next day, along with a formal complaint to his superior. My dad agrees that it’s a good idea.
Mom’s up for Schoolboard election a few weeks later, and she cries and argues with me not to do it, she doesn’t want anything to hurt her chances for reelection. Oh, well, I guess that’s more important.
::sigh:: What’s the point?
–Tim
Since some posters have reading comprehension problems let me quote from the OP:
They are not cleaning up the lab. Hazardous Material teams did that. And I DID mention a fire truck.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten THAT out of my system let me tell you what is, in fact, going on. Apparently, the stupid bitch that lives over there gets really fucking sad about what a piece of shit she is, thinks she’s dying and calls 911.
Here comes the calvary! Everyone rushes over and suddenly, she’s fine. Once they all get there she refuses medical treatment but they have to hang around a bit just to make sure she really is okay.
Basically, she just loves the attention. That’s why everyone is so casual. They know the drill.
Isn’t that great? Tax payers are footing the bill so this stupid bitch can feel important. Not to mention the fact that someone could seriously be in trouble but everyone is pouring out over this dumb bitch who should be the very first candidate for a retroactive abortion.
And I thought I was angry before…