6 legal ways cops can ruin you!

What kind of fascist dictatorship has sprung up around us? And more importantly why is it that NOBODY seems to care? What can we do? Seriously the only non-violent means of fighting back I can even think of anymore would be to not pay taxes! But...unless you work for yourself, you still can't do that one because they take taxes right out of your check before you ever see it! And as far as violent resistance you might as well forget that before it even starts to form in your head because nobody does violence like the good old govenment!


We are so lucky to be living in an era of law when it's no longer common for, say, suspects to be interrogated with live cobras tied to the ends of nightsticks. Unfortunately, there are still many colorful ways the police can royally screw you while Lady Justice shrugs.

For instance, you might be surprised to learn that right now in the U.S., it's actually legal for the cops to...

#6.Steal Your Stuff


Imagine you had your car stolen, but then fortune smiles upon you and the cops find it after the thief used it to smuggle 200 pounds of coc aine across the border, running over 30 children in the process while sexually assaulting the car itself.

You realize you're going to need to get all of its fluids replaced from a mechanic with a soft voice and gentle hands, but you still want it back, because hey, it's your car, right?

Yeeeah, there's some bad news: It has been sold to buy a new espresso machine for the station's break room.

It's called civil asset forfeiture. You probably already have heard of something like this, where the police get to seize the car and house of some drug kingpin and stick the money in the department's budget (that's criminal forfeiture).

But then there's this loophole where the police can seize anything they suspect has been used in a crime, even if it doesn't belong to the criminal, and even if there hasn't been a conviction.


"Let's take the jet. Those bootlegged DVDs from China had to get here somehow."

Then if you, as the actual owner of the goods, try to challenge it, the burden of proof is on you to prove you didn't know it was going to be used in a crime. That's civil forfeiture.

For the police, there is no legal requirement to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that, say, your TV set was once used by a ring of Dutch pedophiles to view kiddie porn. They can simply take it, without ever giving it back, even if they never formally charge anyone for a crime.

You're Shi**ing Me!

In 2004, Zaher El-Ali, a Jordanian immigrant and U.S. citizen, sold a truck to a man who agreed to pay for it in installments. Before he could finish the payments though, the man was arrested for drunk driving and the truck was seized. Seeing as the car still legally belonged to Zaher (he still had the title), he demanded it back. The police refused, and possibly laughed.

Because civil forfeitures are so simple, over 40 percent of police executives admitted their budgets depend on cash from them. That means each year, those stations have a quota of forfeitures to fill and technically there is really no stopping them from filling it with YOUR Xbox.

#5.Guess Your Car's Speed and Ticket You For It


Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

Cop: Sir, do you know how fast you were going?
You: Oh, couldn't have been more than 40, 42.
Cop: Sir, it was over 100. I have it on my radar.
You: I see.
Cop: Sir, where are your pants?
You: That's actually a very funny story, officer...


"All the drug money in the pockets was weighing me down."

Luckily, those days are in the past. Not the part about "spending the night in jail for driving bottomless around school zones," the radar thing. Police don't need them anymore because now they can just guess your speed and ticket you based on that.

That's as of June 2010, when the Ohio Supreme Court decided in a 5-1 ruling that a trained officer doesn't need any of those newfangled gizmos to determine if a car was speeding. In accordance with the ruling, the visual estimate of an experienced police officer is enough to convict anyone of speeding, without the need for pesky wastes of time like independent verification and evidence.

Some might argue that this grants too much power to the police, but really, what's the worst thing that could happen?


A horrible movie gets made(lol).

You're Shi**ing Me!

Mark Jenney of Akron definitely wasn't the first person to ever get ticketed without a radar reading. But unlike other motorists, he refused to take it lying down and fought back, all the way to the state's Supreme Court.

Sure, in the end he lost and had to pay his ticket, involuntarily helping to legalize radar-less ticketing and probably losing a #-heap of money in attorney fees but... wait, we forgot where we were going with this.


Was it, "Next time, just pay the damn ticket?"

#4.Arrest You For Drinking in a Bar


Picture yourself on a typical Wednesday morning, hunched over a shot of whiskey ready to commit mass murder on your brain cells, the smug little bastards. After taking one sip, a bunch of cops burst in and tackle you to the ground. In your state of shock and confusion you apologize for drinking and beg them not to tell your parents. It takes several minutes before you realize that you are 26, live alone and that you were just arrested for tasting alcohol in a bar.


That's the scenario in states with very broad Public Intoxication laws, like Texas. In 2006, Texas scored the highest number of drunk-driving fatalities in the country and, after determining that this was the rare problem that could not be blamed on immigrants or homosexuals, state officials decided to do something about it.


First, they fired a bunch of guns to clear their heads. Then they moved on.

Namely, they dusted off an old 1993 law and gang-interpreted it atop a pinball machine until it somehow became legal to arrest people for so much as being near a bottle of booze, anywhere. Including in a bar.

We're not exaggerating for the sake of comedy here. Not only have they decided a bar is part of the "public" that "public intoxication" forbids, but they don't even require a breathalyzer test to determine if a suspect really is drunk. They can make arrests based on nothing more than their hunches.

continued....
Source
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If you search for "a@#hole cop" on YouTube you will instantly get hundreds if not thousands of videos of some police officer tasing or otherwise abusing some kid or grandmother who may or may not deserve it. Police abuse videos surely are the fastest growing segment of online entertainment.

Sadly, that entire genre might be on its way out. Currently, three states had made it illegal to film on-duty police officers, even (and especially) if they are beating up handicapped minorities in the middle of the town square.


"Memorizing is also a sort of recording. Stop remembering this!"

In Illinois, Massachusetts and Maryland, they require both parties to consent to any recording for it to be legal. So, that cop whom you just filmed spouting profanities that reinvent the very idea of racism? Unless he always dreamt of being an Internet sensation, he can easily bust your ass and confiscate your camera.

There are 12 states in total that enforce an all-party-consent law, but only three interpret it to include public places of gathering with absolutely no expectation of privacy. So on one hand, that kind of sucks for people trying to record police misconduct, but on the other, hey, apparently security cameras are now illegal in parts of the Northeast! Looting party next week!


Yeeeah I am thinking NOT.

You're Shi**ing Me!

Earlier this year, a Chicago man by the name of Christopher Drew was arrested for peddling goods without a license - a misdemeanor only slightly more socially-damaging than stealing garbage. But because he videotaped the arrest, Drew is now being charged with illegal recording, a class I felony punishable with up to 15 years of sharing a prison-cell with a 300 pound mountain of perversity named Bubba.

The case of Anthony Graber is even more disturbing. On March 5, Graber was pulled over for speeding and immediately had a gun pulled on him by an off-duty policeman. Luckily, his helmet had a built-in camera, so after 10 days, the video of this encounter hit YouTube.



This magically elevated Graber's speeding to an "egregious traffic violation" and had him arrested for breaking wiretapping laws... punishable by up to 16 years in prison. We're pretty sure you get less than that for having a flamethrower strapped to your helmet.

#2.Book You For Carrying Condoms


Spotting a prostitute can prove to be one of the most important skills you will ever learn, especially when it comes to telling real hookers from undercover cops. And thus, we present you with this wonderful bit of information on proper Whore Identification: In Washington, D.C. women carrying more than two condoms on themselves are considered prostitutes and can be arrested as such.

Or at least that's the case in D.C.'s designated Prostitution Free Zones. You can't be having prostitutes in your Prostitution Free Zones--that would defeat their very purpose--so is it really an overreaction of the D.C. police for arresting all women "congregating without a destination" in PFZs with at least three condoms in their purses? After all, those are the internationally recognized signs of people who takes stranger dick into their bodies for money.

Come on, three entire condoms should be enough to last a typical person an entire lifetime of sexual activity. That's why they only sell them individually at ridiculously marked-up prices. Add such suspicious behavior as "hanging out" into the mix and you have all the ingredients for Prostitute Stew.

You're Shi**ing Me!

The new practice has already caught the attention of various women rights groups around the country, and not just because innocent girls are possibly being thrown into holding cells with women that go by names like "Discount Debbie." The main worry here is all that delicious AIDS the real working girls are spreading like well, like working girls who suddenly found condoms to be a huge liability.

Man, who could have predicted that with the new Rubber Standard most prostitutes wouldn't clean up their acts and go get MBAs or something, but rather start doing it without protection?

#1.Steal Your Identity


For the last couple of years, Identity Theft has been the exalted Grand Poobah of the American Paranoia Club, and for good reasons. The thought that someone out there might go into a long, prosperous career in bestiality porn, using our name and credit to fund it, constantly keeps us up at night.

But you know what would be even scarier? If it was the police who took your identity and then created an entire new chapter in your life, one where they made you, like, a stripper from Ohio. Which is something the law actually permits them to do.

This used to be illegal no more than eight years ago, but it all changed when Ohio passed a new law aimed at combating, ironically, identity theft. The 2002 law allows law enforcement agencies to take anyone's personal information (driver's license number, Social Security Number, etc.) and give it to an agent to use while undercover.

That in itself wouldn't be so bad if the cops were using your identity to pose as somebody cool, like a mafia hitman or a T-Rex.


Or, in Bruce Wayne's case, the Batman.

Sadly, the reality is most often less professional assassins and more street walkers or nude dancers.

You're Shi**ing Me!

As far as we know, Haley Dawson has never taken her clothes off professionally. But for one month in 2003, a woman with the same name, address and SSN danced naked in front of a bunch of drunkards and Internet perverts at a strip-joint in Troy, Ohio. That woman was actually Michelle Szuhay, a criminal-justice student participating in an undercover police operation, using Dawson's identity as her cover.


Naturally, the real Ms. Dawson wasn't informed that her good name was being tarnished and fantasized about by sweaty middle-aged guys for
over 30 days. But it was all worth it, after local liquor-agents could charge the owner of the club with two misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol without a permit. The ends

Article by
Cezary Jan Strusiewicz
cracked.com


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Ok lets get rid of the cops. After all clearly they are all evil and these few hand picked examples should be used to judge the hundreds of thousands of them across the country.

reply to post by MrSpad


Did ya read the post? I think not? Because if you had you would realize that the article is NOT about the cops but about the laws! You should read an article or post before commenting on it. That way your rebuttle can at least make some sense.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Redwookieaz]

Nice one.

I enjoyed it when I read this entire thing word for word on cracked.com the other day.

reply to post by DARKCYDE_CROWLEY


Sorry I tried to post the link but apparently it didn't show up. Thanks for assuming it wasn't a mistake but purposeful plagiarizing too

Originally posted by Redwookieaz
reply to post by MrSpad

 

Did ya read the post? I think not? Because if you had you would realize that the article is NOT about the cops but about the laws! You should read an article or post before commenting on it. That way your rebuttle can at least make some sense.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Redwookieaz]

Maybe you should change your title and I will change my rebuttle to: Ok lets get rid of laws. After all clearly they are all evil and these few hand picked examples should be used to judge the hundreds of thousands of them across the country.

reply to post by Redwookieaz


Uk police and gov made up anything they wanted about me to ruin my life.

Thankfully i have no money, but they would wanted desperately to wreck my life for no reason, other than to kill me for there friends.

Police do not need a reason, you just upset there friends, and they can kill you.

The world is full of these nuts in power, i just wonder why people even bother?

In regards to the motorcyclist that was passing in the right lane several times and even doing wheelies (someone probably called it in no doubt).

Good job officer whoever you were.
As far as posting it to youtube, thats a little extreme punishable up to 16 yrs imprisonment.

Personally I think it should be a free for all. Just because the camera was being worked by a law enforcement officer vs a civilian should be irrelevant. Kinda makes things a little more exciting in court. What the officers video saw compared to what yours saw. Again the authority figure will win in a court of law simply on the fact that he is a law enforcement officer.

Radar-
Besides...those radar guns don't have a telescopic video-camera on them.
So how in the hell can they say it was you when you were flowing along with 5 other cars in a wolf pack all doing 9- or how many mph over speed limit?

[edit on 13-7-2010 by superluminal11]

Not to mention that they have a whole lot of 'arrest anyone' charges they can arrest you on. It doesn't matter if you go to court at all or if the charges are kept. My favourite one is "resisting without violence" which for example can be used to arrest you if you film cops and they tell you not to. Also that whole wiretapping thing is ridicilous. Most laws actually specify that it doesn't apply if there is no expectation of privace. Even without that the courts have never held those charges and DA's have issued memos to cops not to arrest anyone based on that. Cops respond however with something like "the officers interpretation of the law on the scene applies" as if that trumps the actual law and what DA's and courts say.

reply to post by MrSpad


My title is actually just the title of the article from the website it was originally posted from. Albeit slightly cleaned up. So I felt it was important to keep the title as close as possible. Although I mostly agree, it's not my opinion in the title, just the article title.

reply to post by andy1033


I'd like to see more people stand up and fight for their rights. I mean I can be accused if being anti-authority/cop but I'm not crazy, they are necessary in any civil society but as your life experience would exemplify, they need the power they weild severely curtailed IMO.

reply to post by Redwookieaz


of course he didnt read the the post, the objective of a troll is to cause arguments without no background infomation

other than that great post, the are too many stupid laws in this day and age

reply to post by Kr0nZ


Thank you for your input sir. I certainly agree that there are way too many stupid laws on the books these days. Also people are entitled to their opinions even if they differ from mine. Of course I think that it only makes sense that if they are going to take exception to an article or opinion, they should read it first. It actually reminds of the all to common problem we seem to have with politicians these days (well among other problems). They have these strong opinions concerning all these issues but actually have no idea what they are talking about. Most of the time they haven't read anything about it lol

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Redwookieaz]

Cracked is a great website since 1956! hahaha

I would have to also suggest listverse.

yes, cops who go sour grapes on the public make all cops look bad. I have met good cops and met bad cops. I don't care if this incriminates me for being a racist, but I noticed most bad cops are white. Very few bad ones are minority. Most bad cops are also kids who got picked on by bullies in high school as well.

But you can replace cops with thugs and they do the same thing.