I do this, too. I roll down the window, shut off the engine, put my hands in plain sight, and wait for the officer’s instructions.
“License, registration, and proof of insurance, please.”
“Certainly, officer. My license is in my pocket. I will get it out. My registration and insurance are in the glove box. I’m getting them out now.”
Deliberate, cooperative and polite. It doesn’t always get me out of a ticket. But I’ve never been ordered out of my car and I’ve never been to jail.
Answering the specific question posed by the OP, I listen carefully and follow instructions at whatever pace I feel is appropriate.
I don’t cop an attitude, but likewise I’m not going to be falsely cheery either.
Of course, I’m rather out of practice, as I haven’t had to interact with any cops for quite some time.
Yeah, that’s what I’m hearing, too.
Yes, but out of general politeness and a desire to end things as quickly and painlessly for everyone involved, not out of respect for authority.
I also don’t like the general attitude that rude people or people who question the police are deserving of harsh treatment. Everyone deserves to go home safely, as long as they haven’t hurt anyone or posed an actual threat. Even jerks.
The last time I was pulled over, I had just lost my job, was worried about money, it was approaching xmas and I was grieving the death of my mother.
Before he had even approached my window, I had started to sob and could not get my emotions under control throughout our entire interaction. He was very uncomfortable, but he remained polite as he gave me the ticket.
In general, I try to be polite, but I am not always able to hide my irritation with receiving a ticket. It’s always going to cost me money and unexpected expenses are never welcome. Especially if you already have financial problems. I’ve never had an officer lose his shit over my obvious irritation. But I’m a small white woman. That probably helps.
Yes. I do what the police say. But the underlying message that it is the fault of the person who doesn’t when things go bad is something I will not agree with.
That’s just off the top of my head. People are different and that does not make them bad.
In short, not everyone is like me, so I can’t judge them as a whole based solely on how they act around police. But police have power, guns, and a code for behavior, so I hold them to a higher standard. I understand police have a highly stressful job and believe that means they should be paid well and trained well.
I hope you’re joking ! I once did not hear a policeman and he came up my car yelling “Are you death or something!” I told him “I am hard of hearing !” He did not say much after that and walked away. It did not matter that I am a white woman , the police still got pissed of at me . The police was white too.
I would have asked him if he wanted to play chess.
People are escalating a trivial traffic stop by not complying with the officer’s orders. That means in return he escalates. Separating a non compliant person from a vehicle which may contain a weapon or criminal evidence is a natural next step for the officer. Getting that person away from the vehicle helps ensure the officer’s safety. The person continues to be loud and non compliant and so naturally that means another escalation on the part of the police. Probably a pat down looking for weapons. A closer look at the person’s id and a computer search for warrants.
That’s not a free pass for any officer to deliver a beat down or worse. At least not at this point. It would have to escalate much further before any type of force is justified. But sadly the line between a citizen that is non compliant and combative is razor thin. A situation like this can quickly get out of hand. I’ve already said the officer in the Bland case overreacted at the beginning. A bit more patience and maybe the woman would have done as he asked. It’s under investigation and the authorities will decide what to do about the officer.
But, yes it all starts with that first small step. Something as dumb and trivial as arguing over a lit cigarette. The roadside is not the place to scream about your rights.
Others have already posted this, but it’s worth repeating.
Say as little as possible, accept the ticket and contact a lawyer if you feel the officer went too far. Or save the lawyer’s fees and file the complaint yourself.
I’m a middle-aged black man, so yes, with a qualification. I remain calm and cooperative, but my only response to any statement or question is to say that I am saying nothing until I have consulted with my lawyer, whose card I will already have given the officer.
I do, but I know it’s because I have the privilege of being comfortable around police officers, if that makes sense. I look like a white PTA mom, I have cops in my family so often my interactions with random police officers turn into a “hey, do you know…?” conversation. If I ever felt I was treated poorly by an individual officer (in my town), I would keep my mouth shut, get through the situation as quickly as possible, and then I would tell on them. Not make a complaint, but literally tell on them. That seems really juvenile when I write it out, so maybe I will rethink that (but still, easier than a formal complaint).
But I increasingly feel weird about all of that, because I don’t want to be an example of “well if some people can follow all the instructions, the people who can’t/don’t/won’t are only bringing problems upon themselves” because that isn’t right either.
One random scenario, which I keep meaning to ask a LEO about, is that I have a weird fear of being pulled over by an unmarked car. I am not the kind of person who is paranoid about serial killers … but something about stories where a person posing as a police officer in order to get women out of their cars has stuck with me in a strange way. So I’ve always imagined staying in my car and asking for a female officer to be called … but I also imagine that could result in the officer (if he is a real officer) saying “oh yeah sure, I can do that, it will take about eight hours of your time so have fun with that, lady.”
I’m also from a state where you’re not asked to step out of the car for most stops, and I made it through quite a bit of my adult life not knowing that was typical in many areas … and I image if I had been stopped and told to exit the car before I learned that, I would have absolutely freaked out.
Particularly important given the hundreds of years of black people in power oppressing white people in the United States.:mad:
Er, nice, cute and all, and I’m sure you’re just busting out like spring, but this has totally zero to do with what I said. Let’s keep it in Tomorrowland, not Fantasyland, ok?
I wasn’t being cute or funny. I was irritably pointing out that the history of racially-motivated abuse of police power in this nation is almost entirely white-on-black, and the concern you were expressing was rather like a group of senior frat boys worrying that a lone freshman girl was going to life them into a dark bedroom, overpower them by herself, and rape them.
No, Battleship. 
As a Nice White Lady, i also take a lot of comfort in know that if a cop was horrible and inappropriate and abusive to me, I’d win in the end. I am confident that I could remain civil and compliant and calm because while some rogue cop might be a Bad Dude, the system is basically on my side, so when I show up to complain or with a lawyer or whatever, I’d be listened to.
But a lot of people have every reason to believe that the system itself will close ranks to resist them, that when they show up afterward to complain or whatever, they won’t be listened to–there will be excuses and deflecting blame back on them and accusations of lying or whatever.
To put it another way, I’m not going to feel humiliated by anything a cop does, because in the end I know I fundamentally outgun him–not all cops, but any cop stupid enough to be terrible to a Nice White Lady who didn’t do anything really wrong (because I wouldn’t). That’s a dumb mother fucker, and I know while he might win a battle against me, I’ll win the war; I’ll get my dignity back. If I didn’t have that assurance, I think I might react very, very differently. Because dignity does matter a lot to me, and I can act pretty rashly to protect it.
Now, maybe I’m too naive about the system, and maybe some minorities are too cynical–but I think those are the general preconceptions people have, and those make a big difference in your ability to make nice when someone is abusing their authority at your expense.
I have never been picked on because of my race by a cop of any race and I have been picked on unjustly by many many different races of cops because of my beard, mode of transport.
Was completely surrounded by cop cars of various kinds, city, state, county all at the same time.
It killed their souls that I was legal that they could find nothing, even the itty bitty numbers on my yearly sticker on my plate was correct, ins, DL, etc. They had nuttin. (also had to pull off my hand grips to see if I had shot guns rigged in them & measured my belt knife too)
Friends on hearing about were livid. I asked why. Well, this, that, right, wrong, law# such & such till I had a headache so I asked, "What are they supposed to do when they see someone who looks like they just did something illegal? They check me out. That is their job.
After a few years, the cops on my side of town, some of who were on the police soccer team where I was referee on many of their games, (it is fun to yellow card a cop who gave you a ticket a month ago, he he he) were themselves rec league referees, lived in the same neighborhood, etc and just had been around for a while would have fun with new guys by setting it up where they knew we would pass by a lot and let the new guy get all excited by spotting some bad bikers and want to give chase.
When they got close enough , especially at night to see our colors & recognize my/our bikes and person, they would make the new guy break off saying that messing with us was a waste of time because we did not speed, weed, or drink & that we were 100% legal. Waste of time. When I was in the QT getting gas, I was often introduced to the new guys. My QT that I used was right next to the East Side police substation.
Now days and for a while, when stopped, the loud speaker will tell us to sit tight. You can tell he is running the plate and looking for wants & warrants on the registered owners. They then walk up with hand on weapon, staying to the rear and ask a few questions, then ask for L&I, take that back to their car & run me individually. Then they come back to the car, with hand on gun sometimes, I look like a bad guy, and give ticket, warning, polite, “Go on your way” or whatever.
Point of interest, say you have a non felony arrest and the whole thing is expunged, the record of being arrested is not. Even in the case of mistaken identity, With a little digging they will find out why but many do not bother, the hearing of, “Arrested for…” is all they they listen for. Your US senator can not get that record removed. At least for me they could not. Others I know also. Not infringing on your rights, it is in the public record.
Back before computers, your stuff may not be in it but if they know where to look, the paper record can be found. Seldom are things pushed that far unless it is late at night and they are bored. Just put you head back and nap until they ask another question. Smile a lot. Works for me.
I always try to be polite and respectful and I find that 9 times out of 10 they treat me the same way. I follow all their commands, I haven’t had a scenario where a cop gave me an illegal command but if he did and it wasn’t something major and I knew I wasn’t committing a crime I’d probably go along with it rather than deal with the hassle of being arrested over some trumped up charge. I’ve gotten off with warnings before that probably should have been tickets, probably because I was polite and acknowledged I was in the wrong.
The only time I’ve been rude to a cop was when they were stopping every car in traffic to check our license, registration, and insurance. I was rude because he was making me late to pick my kid up from school, after I gave him some attitude he didn’t even bother to check anything besides my license.
I was arrested once when I was clocked going 120mph on the interstate, he clocked me and put his flashers on and I pulled over immediately, I was polite and courteous, I didn’t get dragged from my car, beaten, or have a gun pulled on me but he had no choice but to take me to jail. I had to plead guilty to the speeding but got the reckless driving charge dropped. I’ll never understand why some people turn what would have been a simple ticket into a slew of charges like fleeing/eluding, resisting arrest, etc. but it seems to happen often enough.
I was brought up to be very dutiful and polite, but at the same time I have a certain disrespect for that kind of authority figure, especially if they act like they’re on a power trip. I’ve been stopped a few times and I do get the panic/mind empties initial reaction.
Once I knew I had done something potentially very dangerous and was happy to meekly accept the ticket. Once I went through what I would have said was the tail end of a red light but I accepted the warning, no problem.
The third one, the guy was an asshole. I did something technically wrong that hurt no one and created no danger; he was on me like I had killed his family. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!! DID YOU NOT SEE THE SIGN?!! Yep, I took my chances and I lost. Are you going to stop the other people who have done the same thing since we’ve been sitting here? I can point them out to you.
I still did what he wanted, but I know I was being an backtalking asshole. He started it. 
I’m white as a ghost, middle-aged and a frumpy female, but regardless, the way police behavior has been of late, I’d probably do whatever they say simply out of any potential for escalation. They (as a whole) seem like power hungry, crazy bigots itching for any reason to lay a smack down. I’d be doubly terrified if I was a minority and would think the smallest perceived infraction would probably get my ass shot. So, compliance would feel like the only thing keeping me safe, sir!