# What the heck were you \*thinking\*, "Officer Friendly" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693 "2012-02-03T22:54:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/1 "2012-02-03T22:54:29Z")
Tonight, on the drive home, my radar detector alerted me to a threat ahead… One signal, Ka band, signal strength of three and rising… It’s a two lane back road, speed limit of 35 MPH, checked my speedometer, 35 MPH on the dot, seatbelt buckled, drop my speed to 30 MPH just to be on the safe side… The cruiser passes me going in the opposite lane, a current Dodge Charger pursuit vehicle, the officer tags me once with his rear facing gun as is the standard procedure for the locals here, speedo still reads 30 MPH, I’m safe and legal, nothing he can do, I’m under the limit, buckled up, and registration and inspection stickers are current… we pass in the night, going in opposite directions a minute or so later… “BR-Brap” my detector picks up a signal from the rear, rear arrow lit up, Bogey Counter shows one threat, Ka band, strength two and rising… the cruiser takes up station on my six, and proceeds to tag oncoming traffic with Instant-On, using me as a shadow, my detector BR-Braps for each time he fires the radar gun at the oncoming cars, but he doesn’t grab any oncoming cars, fine, I understand he’s doing his job, running traffic radar on oncoming cars, besides, I’m doing a steady 30 MPH, five miles under the limit… We reach a lull in the traffic, no oncoming cars, no hills, nothing, just a wide, flat stretch of road, suddenly, my detector springs to full alert, rear KA band signal, nine bars of strength, one Bogey signal, just his cruiser, he then proceeds to _KEEP THE SODDING RADAR GUN RUNNING_ for the next mile and a half, until I reach my turn-off point, as my turn signal comes on and I indicate a legal, safe turn onto my home road, he turns off the radar and continues on straight… So, why the FRAK did this officer choose to blast me with his radar gun for a mile and a half or so, when it was obvious there was no oncoming traffic (no intersections, just a flat straight road) for a good half mile, I’m sure he saw my radar detector’s bright red display and rear arrow pointing at him, he obviously knew I knew he was there, I was obviously NOT going to speed, heck, I was 5 under, there was no legal reason to pull me over, so why did he insist on painting my car with his constant-on radar gun, when he was using Instant-On a few miles back to tag oncoming traffic? Idiot!, I KNOW you’re there, I’m NOT GOING TO SPEED, so why waste your effort with the radar gun? are you doing it just to annoy me? maybe I should drop my speed to 25 MPH, to be even safer… What’s the mindset here, painting a non-speeding, road legal driver in hopes I’ll accidentally drift over the speed limit or something? heck, you can’t even get me for a licence plate bulb violation as I replaced that old unreliable incandescent dinosaur bulb with an unbreakable, won’t-burn-out LED bulb ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/2 "2012-02-03T23:08:45Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > …I’m sure he saw my radar detector’s bright red display and rear arrow pointing at him… That’s your answer. He saw your radar detector and wanted to mess with you. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Dollar\_Tallboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Two\_Dollar\_Tallboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Dollar_Tallboy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/3 "2012-02-03T23:09:34Z")
It was probably just a bored cop hoping for you to make an error while driving. Do you have any bumper stickers that may have caught his attention? ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/4 "2012-02-03T23:12:03Z")
No bumper stickers of any kind, nothing identifiable, looks like any other bone stock “Berry Red” (such a stupid name for the color) Saturn Ion level-2 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/5 "2012-02-03T23:14:19Z")
I thought radar detectors were illegal? ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/6 "2012-02-03T23:27:41Z")
That’s why I got the Concealed Display with Band Identification widget when I was running my] V1. I haven’t used it in years, everyone in this part of the country has been using laser for quite some time. Now my V1 is sitting in the garage gathering dust. The concealed display is worth the $40 for those that can still use detectors. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/7 "2012-02-03T23:30:41Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I thought radar detectors were illegal? Only in some places. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/8 "2012-02-03T23:31:51Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I thought radar detectors were illegal? Not in most of the U.S. Only in Virginia and Washington, D.C. (and on military bases). I personally think it has to do with how highly we regard our police force and traffic laws. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/9 "2012-02-04T00:03:25Z")
Why are you dissing Officer Friendly? My dad started the Officer Friendly program in Kansas City back in the 1960s, and it was very successful in teaching kids about safety. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/10 "2012-02-04T01:42:34Z")
Maybe he was trying to cook his microwave burrito with it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/11 "2012-02-04T01:50:29Z")
> [@Two\_Dollar\_Tallboy](#): > > It was probably just a bored cop hoping for you to make an error while driving. I’m sure it was just this. I was driving home very late (like, 4.30am) from a party in the UK once and a cop car coming the other way turned round and followed me right on my tail for _twelve miles_, presumably waiting for me to slip up. It was like doing my driving test all over again only with more adrenaline. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/12 "2012-02-04T01:54:35Z")
I second or third or whatever that he noticed your radar detector and wanted to annoy the hell out of you. I also believe whole-heartedly that 1) Radar detectors should NOT be illegal and 2) only lead-footed speeders use them I hope the brap-BRAP at level 9 annoyed you for a while 😃 ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/13 "2012-02-04T02:21:02Z")
Noticed your radar detector and/or annoyed at you for going so slowly. Either way, suspicious of you in general. Possibly rightfully so, as the amount of attention you were paying to your detector comes off the amount of attention you were paying to your driving. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/14 "2012-02-04T02:45:48Z")
Not only that, but cops know that someone who pays an inordinate attention to their presence likely has extra reasons to not want to get pulled over. Witness: - Driver with both hands on the wheel and doing just under the speed limit but also laughing occasionally and bopping away to the radio? - Driver with both hands on the wheel, eyes straight forward, speed at ehzzzzaaaaactly five under the limit, red light for a radar detector blinking away, eyeballing the cop in their rearview mirror every so often? Which one do YOU think is more likely to have drugs/illegal weapons/dead hookers in their trunk? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/15 "2012-02-04T02:48:13Z")
I went to Western Illinois U. It’s a big LEA school. When I had my Mustang, I had “WIU Alumni” stickers in the rear triangle windows and a plate frame. I frequently sped on the highways, and usually got a honk and a wave from state troopers as they passed, speeding even more than me. Does the OP have a big LEA school nearby? Maybe a window sticker from there would help. My WAG is he could see that your detector was going apeshit and thought it was amusing to see how long he could keep it going until it annoyed you enough to turn off or do something drastic. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/16 "2012-02-04T02:49:00Z")
He probably thought that you would start speeding as soon as he was gone and wanted to make you drive the limit the whole way home just to mess with you. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/17 "2012-02-04T02:51:40Z")
Remember, one of the important driving forces in this is that he wanted you to fail so he could extract money from you. That is a major source of income in many jurisdictions. Sad but true. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/18 "2012-02-04T03:09:20Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Remember, one of the important driving forces in this is that he wanted you to fail so he could extract money from you. That is a major source of income in many jurisdictions. Yeah, he probably wants some extra dough to buy a new TV for the Superbowl, or something. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/19 "2012-02-04T04:20:09Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > … likely to have drugs/illegal weapons/dead hookers in their trunk? 😃 Oh, sure, the OP is all innocent. And then _an hour later_, we find out about the hookers in the trunk… ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693/20 "2012-02-04T10:37:38Z")
Driving under the speed limit, especially on a low-limit road, is also a red flag. He may have suspected you were driving stoned. When high on marijuana, many people are actually overly cautious (to compensate for any potential impairment) and tend to drive more slowly and carefully than they do while sober. I know that the times I’ve driven high (not recently, as I don’t use anymore), I noticed myself driving under the limit more often than at or above it. Once I heard that driving under the limit was a red flag, I used cruise control to make sure I didn’t deviate more than 1 or 2 mph from the speed limit in either direction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-were-you-thinking-officer-friendly/611693.md?page=2)