Cops to police manners?Follow

If you'd said thanks to the 'counter jocky' the cop never would have said anything, you'd have never uttered further stupidity, and you'd not have gotten a ticket. So yes, you did get a ticket for not saying thanks.

I live on the border of what I can only assume is the safest suburb in America. I have to assume this because in the 9 years I have lived in Minnesota the only interaction I have had with the boys in blue have been members of said suburb's police force. How can their pulling me over indicate a safe suburb you ask? Storification incoming... now:

One day last summer, at around 7:35 in the morning, driving to drop my son off at daycare, obeying the prevailing speed laws (as I am behind a line of 5000 other cars, the leader of which can't be ***** to go 31 miles an hour), I was pulled over by a member of Roseville's finest. The officer walks to the passenger window, hand on service pistol, taps on the glass with his rather large ring and backs away a step, like the couple with an infant in the back seat is going to bust out the mossburg and make swiss cop. I roll down my window and ask what the problem was.

"I pulled you over because I noticed you didn't have your lights on."

...

So, I says to the "hero", "I'm sorry, is it illegal in Roseville to drive without your headlights on in the daytime?"

"No, but its not daytime yet."

...

I then, in my most flowery and subtle, non-profane, said, "Thank you officer. My daytime running lights probably are a little hard to see. I'll turn those lights on right now so we can all be a little bit safer." and went on my merry way.


The second incident involved me leaving a coffee shop not 4 hundred feet from my house. Pulling out of the parking lot to fill the open spot in traffic, the wheels spun in loose gravel and salt. I hit 27 miles per hour and as I pulled in to the turn lane for my street, I see flashing red and blue in my rear view. I made the turn, pulled to the side of my street 75 feet from my front door. This time the officer didn't feel as threatened, so no tickling the butt of his gun. I rolled down my window as he walked up and he asked me, after the ubiquitous "license and registration", "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

"No, officer, I have no idea."

"Well, I was sitting in the parking lot when you pulled out, and I heard the tires spin so I pulled you over to tell you to slow it down."

"I'm sorry, do you have any idea how fast I was going?"

"No."

"Did you see me pull in to traffic?"

"No."

"And yet you followed me across city limits and pulled me over to tell me to pull it down?"

"Yes."

I asked him why Roseville police officers seemed to have so little to do. I related my last experience with them to him. I said it must be nice living in such a safe community.

He was getting irritated. He suggested that he didn't have to see me doing anything to give me a ticket. I begged to differ, called him by his last name and badge number, and suggested that a letter to the Chief of Police might clear it up. He then backed off and simply suggested that in the future I slow it down. Again.

I am almost positive that he gave me a dirty look when I pulled out and came to a complete stop before turning in to my driveway. I sent the letter to the Chief of Police of the Roseville PD, thanking him for doing such a wonderful job with crime in his city that the police had time to harass motorists. I have yet to hear back from them.

I f'ucking hate cops. Even the ones that would investigate a burglery at my house.

Because we divide the squads to patrol sectors of a grid map back at the station. Honestly it's one of the best things ever considered. If I pull you over and I have no backup and I walk to your window and you blow me away.. well I'm laying dead in the road and your long gone, most likely I am as well. My squad is 6 cars for the areas we patrol, but we rotate and at times split depending on where we are needed. Right now due to the areas of town we are in we are 2 officers each car no exceptions.

It's interesting to see all the "I hate cops" mentalities.. I don't fault people when I run into these attitudes, instead I just try to have them understand that generalization is the worst thing you can do. If you have kids, your children are the targets of sexual predators whether you know it or not. And I gladly have no issues going after someone who did touch your child or attempted to touch them. So if I am able to stop them and or catch them, what warrants you to hate me? I always ask this and usually don't draw legitimate answers in response.

Thing is, I don't need you to do that. I'll put a drill bit through the prevert's knee caps and cut his balls off before one of you *** holes finds 6 little burn barrels all around the city with what you might think are his arms, legs, torso and head in them. See, you get to him, he does, what, 5 years? If that. I get to him you'll never prove it and he never gets to hurt anyone else again.

Exactly my point. I'm not worth their time; they're not worth my time. And I'll gladly let the zoo keepers take care of the disgusting human zoo populating the poorer parts of the city.



Ironically enough, they almost never get the chance.

The police were created to protect the wealthy. I don't know what kind of f'ucking ideological view you put on law enforcement, but I'm pretty sure if anything out of the ordinary happened in my neighborhood, the FBI and a few SWAT teams wouldn't take long to show up.

Edited, Wed Mar 1 01:46:50 2006 by Meeko

Moe's got a code?

So you're a prick cop who swings around his shiny badge when it tickles your fancy. Using an authority given to "protect and serve" for your own jollies is precisely what makes you a douche. You seriously wonder why people don't like the police? Here's to you getting shot by a coke dealer, cheers.


It amazes me that as a police officer you don't receive some sort of a heads up that people will always hate you. Cops are asses with inflated egos that strut thier **** around doing as they please and get their panties in a bunch if you dare question them.

Sure you guys do your jobs and certainly gain some sort of satisfaction from catching the bad guy, but just as many seem to gain the same satisfaction from pulling over "random" people just to be ****** Furthermore, you are all hypocrites. I've seen my share of cops drinking and driving, doing drugs, gambling, abusing their power to let friends off, abusing their power to harm people they don't like, abusing their power to inflict injury on others, etc. to have no issues with making sweeping generalizations concerning the asshattery with which you conduct yourselves.

As to the issue of you catching some random skeeterphile and somehow thinking that washes your hands of all the wrongs you have done it seems as you are missing the point. You catching legitimate criminals isn't some grand accomplishment that deserves adoration from the public so much as it is you doing the ******* job my tax dollars pay for. That is the sole reason for the existence of your position.


@Allen
Stop being a whiney **** about not getting that promotion to Assistant French Fry Manager at McDonald's. Maybe if you stopped showing up for work drunk all the time you wouldn't feel the need to take it out on your customers and vice versa.



Edited, Wed Mar 1 12:52:24 2006 by Jacobsdeception

I think everyone understands the need for police. No one's questioning that. However, can we also accept that there are always some cops who are waaaaay too overbearing in the way they think they should enforce the law?

There's a town here in San Diego that I regularly refer to as "gestapoland", specifically because the police department there is notoriously overbearing. One specific incident there comes to mind. I was parking in front of my home (had just started renting there that day in fact), when suddenly I've got a spotlight on me. Realize that this is about 2 in the morning. The cop was not driving behind me (or if he was, he had his lights off). So. I've got a cop literally kneeling behind his door, pointing his gun at me and giving me step by step instructions on how to slowly exit the car and walk to the back and put both hands on the trunk.

He then proceeds to question me about why I'm there and what I'm doing. Um... I'm parking in front of my new home. No. I don't remember the address off the top of my head, but it's *right there*. The biggest thing was his attitude. He just assumed that I was doing something wrong the entire time, no matter how sensible what I was actually doing was (I worked swing shift and it was delivery night, explaining why I was coming home so late, not that it's a crime when I get home in any case). As he's basically harrassing the heck out of me, I can hear reports coming in on his radio. Turns out that three guys had robbed a store just down the hill from where we were and had fled on foot. Of course, I'm by myself and in a car, but apparently that was close enough...

Then, I overhear on his radio that another patrol unit has located the three criminals. Instead of appologizing for his treatment of a completely law abiding citizen, the cop just snapped his gun back in the holster, tossed my keys back on the trunk of the car and said "You got lucky" and rushed off. As though I was "lucky" that I wasn't involved in any way in a criminal act? Hmmm...


Yes. I'm aware that this is atypical behavior. Most cops are really good guys. They work hard. They work in a dangerous field. And they are largely underappreciated. However, it's those bad apples that spoil the impression of the whole bunch. There really are some cops that seem to believe that the very fact that they wear a badge somehow makes them "right" about everything and empowered to enforce that on anyone they want.

As to the OP? Dumb move IMO. When you run into a cop with that kind of attitude, the correct response is to simply let him get his way (assuming he's not doing something totally out of bounds). He wants you to be polite? Be polite. Doesn't really cost you anything. If it makes you feel better, get his name and badge number and report the incident to his department. But do that *after* you've resolved the incident itself. The time to start talking about getting a badge number and filing a report is *not* when the cop is directing you in some manner. Wait until after everything's done and *then* collect that information.


The thing to realize about cops is that they are people too. They have the same flaws and failings as the rest of us. Most police departments today actually do an excellent job of screening officers to weed out the guys who are in it for the power. Some inevitably still get through, but it's not as bad as some people try to make it out to be. If you want to see *really* crappy guys with power issues, take a look at security guards sometimes. That's where the guys who fail to pass psyche screenings for police jobs end up. They're a scary bunch...

You know I'd honestly like to thinkso but then we see these shining examples of stupidity:

This is by far so distant from the truth I honestly laughed hard for a moment. Mainly because I've only heard thru the grapevine people thinking this, never actually saw someone state it.

Bottom line this was wrong, and this officer didn't deal with being "wrong" essentially very well. You weren't the "bad guy" so his hopes were low and his attitude showed it. I would have asked for his badge# and made a complaint. It's cops like this or cops in small extremely low crime rate towns that everyone remembers, simply because those asshats are bored 10 hours a day and a random pull over is probably the most excitement they get for 15 mins that whole week. Guys like me and my squad, we patrol heavily infested gang and drug territories, not the rich and posh areas of Phoenix and such. So thinking we were "Created to protect the rich" is hilarious to me, when the richest suburbs from where we patrol is most likely a modest 50-75k yearly income (total household) and these neighborhoods are about 35 miles away, yes the "ghetto" does span out in some areas, and I highly doubt the criminals will go to extensive lengths to hit those neighborhoods and swing back.. Very unlikely.

Bottom line, thank you. It's nice to see this actually be said once in awhile. It's always been easier in life for people to comment and harp on the negativity in their lives and negative encounters. No one remembers the police officer that let them off on a ticket with a warning without constrewing it as "he was an *** about it" usually. Those that complain or hate police are those who simply have had bad lots with the law.

"The fucker said I was speeding so he ticketed me!!"
My response, "And how fast were you going?"
"45 in a 30, but no one was around!!!" So I see this as..You broke the law and you were caught, and this makes someone a ******** for doing their job? There's always a bigger picture that we drown out, that cop pulled you over..What if he/she didn't and at your rate of speed you blow a tire and your car flips or something random along those lines? Your dead or in a hospital for awhile. Sure you got a ticket but the bigger and more dangerous issues could have been deflated down to minimal risk.

And in response to:Here let me reiterate for clarification.. No I don't abuse my badge, we live in a complaint loving society. Would I like to at times? Yes I would, but those thoughts are left at that.. thoughts only. It's not worth me deciding to be a prick and lose my job to some moron I pulled over and I decided to go the extra mile with for instant satisfaction, only to later get burned. If your going to hate cops, get a semi decent reason, not because they do things in your eyes that are unfair to you. You were drinking and driving? Well you were caught.. Speeding? You were caught. Mouthing off to someone using foul language and a lack of common sense? You were caught..

I will wholeheartily agree we have officers who come in with the "Rambo" mentality and somehow get thru the psych exam process. And also I will agree that some develop it overtime.. But to use an all encompassing mentality to EVERY police officer.. Thats just lack of intelligence and ignorance at it's finest.

I'd bother to actually to reply to everyone seeing it's been two days, but fuck it I'm tired.

Edited, Thu Mar 2 22:43:31 2006 by Sindarek