What are your experiences with Police?

a reply to: underwerks

Dude you were a teenage skateboarder. Don't act like you or one your friends didn't have drugs on you all the time. You were harassed because skateboard fashion is to dress like a junkie and it's cultural behavior is to act like a druggie punk "rebel". I used to skateboard. It's obvious why you were profiled.

Also, you were destroying private and public property on the daily every time you tried to grind on something, and you presented a massive legal risk to whoever's property you decided to skate on if you got injured.

Were the cops being unfair? Well, how many of your childhood friends turned out to be addicts, potheads, etc? It's no secret that the kids that "skateboard" end up losers that cause trouble at a very high rate and aren't that different as teenagers.

a reply to: underwerks

Damn. PAY YOUR TICKETS!!! I learned this lesson the hard way too.

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
So much about this country would be better if we could just lax up on the drug laws.

Then the police wouldn't be able to keep the "illegal" drug money they "confiscate."

Also, we have to protect the Hypotheticals. These are the hypothetical children and hypothetical adults who are apparently so susceptible to peer pressure and have such limited self-control that they'll go nuts if they have relatively easy access to certain kinds of drugs.

I'd like to know who these Hypotheticals are and find out why they're so stupid. Everybody who I ever met who really wanted to get drugs ended up getting them anyway. And anybody who really wasn't interested wasn't dissuaded due to lack of availability.

originally posted by: thesungod
a reply to: underwerks

Damn. PAY YOUR TICKETS!!! I learned this lesson the hard way too.

A lot of times if you're working poor like I was, you can't pay your tickets. It's either food for your family for the week or pay the government what they say you owe them, whether justified or not. I made the mistake twice of showing up in court and trying to explain my situation and hoping a judge would work with me on some kind of payment plan or something and both times they threw me directly in jail. If I'm going to get locked up whether I show up to court or not, I'm going to at least make the bastards work for it.

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
I was arrested for possessing less than half a gram of marijuana in 2009 in Tampa, FL. I was taken to jail, booked, bonded out, and was on probation for a year.

I'm white, the sheriff who arrested me was white. Where I was living at the time in Tampa was a predominantly white suburb. I was profiled for being young and driving at 2AM.

That being said... After I went through the pathetically inefficient justice system and had my record expunged, I became an outstanding citizen and have never had another negative encounter with police.

So you're complaining that you were profiled for being a probable drug user and ended up actually having drugs on you?

Guess it depend where you live ....

Here in the UK my first experience was age 18 when the local bobby came around to speak to me because litter had been left at a beach party and my motorbike was one of those observed parked nearby. We had a convienial chat in which I admitted being there but I had only taken plastic cider bottles (which we had burnt on the fire) and I explained I was just off to a bike rally (which it turned out one of his friends was also going to) and really I did not want to go inside and let my parents know who was talking to me ...... Anyway, upshot was, I was warned about leaving bottles in the beach and that was that.

Since then I have run pubs, and unfortunately had some involvement there. And latterly run a retail business in which I also occasionally get a friendly visit.

Can recall ever having an unfriendly encounter with a police man!

A few friends are/were police. Basically I think they do a very difficult job with sadly little respect or thanks from the public. And whilst there may be some thugs and idiots amongst them, the majority are really decent guys.

I do think though that if you take an agressive/unco-operative attitude, things may be different. So whose fault is that?

But thats in the UK (and outside of our cities)

I got jailed for one night because I (tried) to punch some asshat who wanted to take a young child with him at a folks fest but instead he threw his bicycle at me when I confronted him, sending us both to the ground. I was not charged, because the sob ran away and guess what, it turned out he has a history with such stuff, so, no wonder. Nonetheless, bystanders called the polizei and held me down because they thought it was random. It was not okay to try punch him in the face straight on after confronting him but time showed I was spot on, with what I was thinking.

When I was young, police took me with them because someone axed someones trees with a machete or big knife. So they went asking around. The uncle of a friend of mine, knew his nephew had a knife, and the "friend" selled me out (It wasn´t me, but I also had a (way bigger) knife so they came after me. They took me with them in the back of the car and when we were at the place with the trees, the idiot held the knife into the mark and told me "yep, fit´s perfectly". I had to point out, my knife is double the width of the tree, so it could be a smaller one.

A year later, it turns out, I had the corpus delicti in the barn (an axe another guy stole from there and hide it in an old abandoned house) and I found it by accident and took it with me. The guy, 2 years younger, I found him and pressured him to plead guilty. He did, had to serve time at the fire fighters, today he is a firefight commander.

edit: to be clear, he said to me it was him unknowingly I was snatched up by the police, I did not pressure him to make a false guilt plead (!!), he did it and he admitted it in front of other people before.

a reply to: underwerks

I can get behind that. See the Judge worked with me, even with 3 unpaid tickets, all the same stop. Which turned into 3 failure to appears. which turned into 3 failures to maintain financial responsibility, which turned into 3 warrants. In TX no less and they have an express lane for drugs, money and death row. I had to drop like $2k on a $250 set of tickets, but he let me walk that day for like $200, which is all I had until next pay day.

originally posted by: RedDragon
a reply to: underwerks

Dude you were a teenage skateboarder. Don't act like you or one your friends didn't have drugs on you all the time. You were harassed because skateboard fashion is to dress like a junkie and it's cultural behavior is to act like a druggie punk "rebel". I used to skateboard. It's obvious why you were profiled.

Also, you were destroying private and public property on the daily every time you tried to grind on something, and you presented a massive legal risk to whoever's property you decided to skate on if you got injured.

Were the cops being unfair? Well, how many of your childhood friends turned out to be addicts, potheads, etc? It's no secret that the kids that "skateboard" end up losers that cause trouble at a very high rate and aren't that different as teenagers.

Paint with a broad brush much? Out of everyone I'm talking about growing up with that experienced the same harassment as me, one owns a successful woodworking company, the other owns a chain of restaurants in Kentucky, one does music for TV shows (MTV's Teenage Mom and others) the other is an IT professional, and I'm an audio engineer and work in the legal cannabis industry in Washington state. Not a lot of losers or junkies. So yeah, the "pothead" label is apt in my case but it sure isn't synonymous with "loser".

a reply to: verschickter

Esh. The Polizei are some mean customers.

Got in a bar brawl in Idar-Oberstein with some Turks.

Was not fun getting whacked with repeater sticks, something police in America are not allowed to carry.

originally posted by: underwerks

originally posted by: RedDragon
a reply to: underwerks

Dude you were a teenage skateboarder. Don't act like you or one your friends didn't have drugs on you all the time. You were harassed because skateboard fashion is to dress like a junkie and it's cultural behavior is to act like a druggie punk "rebel". I used to skateboard. It's obvious why you were profiled.

Also, you were destroying private and public property on the daily every time you tried to grind on something, and you presented a massive legal risk to whoever's property you decided to skate on if you got injured.

Were the cops being unfair? Well, how many of your childhood friends turned out to be addicts, potheads, etc? It's no secret that the kids that "skateboard" end up losers that cause trouble at a very high rate and aren't that different as teenagers.

Paint with a broad brush much? Out of everyone I'm talking about growing up with that experienced the same harassment as me, one owns a successful woodworking company, the other owns a chain of restaurants in Kentucky, one does music for TV shows (MTV's Teenage Mom and others) the other is an IT professional, and I'm an audio engineer and work in the legal cannabis industry in Washington state. Not a lot of losers or junkies. So yeah, the "pothead" label is apt in my case but it sure isn't synonymous with "loser".

So it's just a coincidence that you were stopped and searched for drugs all the time -- they were the bad guys for doing that -- and now you work in the marijuana industry?

Obviously, you or one of your friends did actually have drugs on you all the time. Why did you feel the need to leave that fact out of your story?

Dude.

Arrested on my back porch for marijuana and a dice game. Both charges were dropped and I received more cash in return than what was originally confiscated at the scene.

originally posted by: RedDragon

originally posted by: underwerks

originally posted by: RedDragon
a reply to: underwerks

Dude you were a teenage skateboarder. Don't act like you or one your friends didn't have drugs on you all the time. You were harassed because skateboard fashion is to dress like a junkie and it's cultural behavior is to act like a druggie punk "rebel". I used to skateboard. It's obvious why you were profiled.

Also, you were destroying private and public property on the daily every time you tried to grind on something, and you presented a massive legal risk to whoever's property you decided to skate on if you got injured.

Were the cops being unfair? Well, how many of your childhood friends turned out to be addicts, potheads, etc? It's no secret that the kids that "skateboard" end up losers that cause trouble at a very high rate and aren't that different as teenagers.

Paint with a broad brush much? Out of everyone I'm talking about growing up with that experienced the same harassment as me, one owns a successful woodworking company, the other owns a chain of restaurants in Kentucky, one does music for TV shows (MTV's Teenage Mom and others) the other is an IT professional, and I'm an audio engineer and work in the legal cannabis industry in Washington state. Not a lot of losers or junkies. So yeah, the "pothead" label is apt in my case but it sure isn't synonymous with "loser".

So it's just a coincidence that you were stopped and searched for drugs all the time -- they were the bad guys for doing that -- and now you work in the marijuana industry?

Dude.

At the time I didn't use cannabis at all. So yes, they were the bad guys for pulling us over and literally ripping the car apart for their BS "suspicions". That's not the only thing. I guess you missed the part in the OP where they used to beat us and throw our shoes away and make us walk back to town. We weren't the criminals. Just kids.


ETA: (Since I saw you edited your post) Obviously we didn't have any drugs on us. Otherwise the dogs and the police would have found it. Obviously.

a reply to: RedDragon

Was I profiled for looking like a drug user? No.

Furthermore, you were not there when it happened and shame on you for trying to criticize facts you couldn't possibly be privy to.

Did I end up having drugs on me? Pfft yea you got me. I was taken to jail for 0.3 grams of marijuana. I was such a danger to society.

I will conclude by stating that I have the utmost respect for law enforcement. I also have friends in law enforcement and they are great cops. My point was that if they weren't forced to enforce ridiculous drug laws then they wouldn't have to waste their time and my tax dollars taking non violent drug offenders off the streets.

About 7 years ago I was driving my STi and was doing about 70 in a 45, I was weaving in and out through slightly heavy traffic. I knew there was a spot cops hung out on that road and I didn't see any so I kept going and arrived at my destination.

I went inside bought a couple things and come out, next thing I know I was being picked up by my belt and shirt collar from behind and slammed to the ground. By this point i saw it was a heavy set cop. And he was using his knee no pin me, and I wasn't resisting in anyway, unfortunately I just had lower back surgery less than a month before and his knee and as right on the spot it was done. I was begging him to get off my spine as I was starting to lose feeling in my right leg completely. After about 3 minutes he picked me up and I was not handcuffed.

He walked me over to my car and I was asking for an ambulance and what did I do. He said I ran from him. I told him I never saw any police trying to pull me over and why would I go shopping while running from the police? He had no answer for that. And never called an ambulance.

The weird part is, as we where at my car he asked if I had drugs in the car. I said no go ahead and search it, and he didn't. He never asked for my id or even got on his radio about me. He just let me go and said to slow it down.

Over the years I've been over this in my mind at least a hundred times, especially because it led to me having another surgery, and I believe the only reason he let me go and never called it in is because where he picked me up and slammed me down and kneeing my spine was right in front of his police car and all would have been caught on camera. And I told him I just had surgery and he was causing me extreme pain.

It seems like he was scared of getting sued or fired so I walked away, well barely able to walk, and yes I was speeding but I didn't run from the police I never saw him. Either way it doesn't justify the way he was treating me especially not answering my request's for an ambulance.

I now have a brand new sti with 483 wheel hp and to this day I don't speed like that anymore. I have a son that is now 5 almost 6 and I just take him to the strip with me when I feel like hauling ass.

So, idk maybe the cop was having a bad day and what he did was wrong, but I did stop driving like that from that point on so that's a good thing.

a reply to: underwerks

Not good, had 5 DS raid my flat in an unknown name of a black gentleman(im white). Smashed my door into 3 pieces, nearly killed my dog, stripped searched both myself and 9 month pregnant partner, tore out/up fire surrounds, floorboards, carpeting and opened baby clothes/nappies and other goods. Refused to apologize and departed without even a by your leave.

Why did i not sue there bacon flavored candy arse? We tried but in the U.K you cannot sue police unless they actively show malice towards you, essentially they would need to repeat the ordeal.

I hate Police they are incompetent fools and don't have a clue how to enforce the law and actually apprehend real criminals. Is all about revenue generation and criminalizing the underclasses just to get them in to the system these days.

a reply to: underwerks

I got pulled over for erratic driving once. Got removed from the car at gunpoint so i quickly grabbed the officer's sidearm away from him.

He told me to keep it as a souvenier and have a pleasant evening.

We were both caucasian at the time.

Dunno if that had anything to do with it or not.

a reply to: underwerks

i've had many run ins with the police. each time they acted professional.

i have a lot of respect for the law enforcement of this country. (U.S.A.) they have a difficult job to do. each day that goes by, their jobs get more difficult. we have to remember, they are just people who have families and are just doing their job.

I'm from just north of Detroit. I've seen cops do some messed up stuff and it's not just to black people I'm white. I had my car break down in one of the worst parts of Detroit once. My girlfriend and I had to walk it was in the 90's before cell phones. Car loads of brothers were circling us like sharks. They would drive by staring at us then circle back it was 2 am. My girlfriend broke down in tears. She knew what was going to happen. A pretty blonde girl in the hood stands out like a sore thumb. A cop came driving down the road. She ran up to the cop car waving her arms. The cops slowed down looked at us and kept going. They left us for dead. My girlfriend was totally hysterical by this point. Thankfully a we were able to stop a cab. We told the cab driver were didn't have any money. The cab driver said she couldn't live with herself if she left us there. She drove us to the city limit for free.

I've know a couple of people that have been beaten by the cops and stuff. One kid I knew back in the day had a dirt bike. He was riding in the field by where we lived. He ran from the cops on his bike. When they caught him they beat the snot out of him. He looked like Rodney King when they were done.

I have a few more stories but I don't feel like typing them out.

originally posted by: subfab
a reply to: underwerks

i've had many run ins with the police. each time they acted professional.

i have a lot of respect for the law enforcement of this country. (U.S.A.) they have a difficult job to do. each day that goes by, their jobs get more difficult. we have to remember, they are just people who have families and are just doing their job.

That's the thing, I see them as people first and foremost and a badge second. More often than not, they see themselves as a badge first. It comes down to a power game.