Dealing with cops, understanding your rights,.... by a cop.

I have run into a few interesting incounters with cops.

One town in Calif between LA Calif and Reno NV i had to drive through about every 2 months and about every other trip i would get stopped for weaving in this one town.
These trips were to home for me from a mining job i was working and i would pass through this town about 2 to 3 in the morning and the cops always hid in the same parking lot.

And if i was doing anything illegal i could have taken a dirt power line road around town.
So i knew there reason for pulling me over was not because i was weaving. by the way after the first couple times there was no way i was weaving because i was waiting for them to stop me.

This went on for 5 years and this was also the only town that this happened.
Plus my vehicles after the first couple stops had my fire department ID tag on the back as it was magnetic and identified the vehicle as a volunteer Fire/EMT unit. I also had a scanner and a fire radio. and some of the officers had a problem with that.(i did not have there town on my equipment i had my county fire, police, state fire net, forest service fire net, state highway patrol, and state S&R net, because these are the agencies i worked with.)

One question they always asked was where i was going. And that i never answered with clear answer just told the officer i was headed south.(never got stopped going north.)

This got to be a joke after the first year.
They never searched my vehicles or me and never gave me a ticket. Just stopped me and ran a W&W every time.

I still don't understand what the problem was in this town with this police department after a year they must have recognized me.

reply to post by seeashrink


The cops routinely pull people over in my town just to ask what they are doing out so late.

reply to post by seeashrink


the only problem with this post is the whole assumption that it is our job to kiss cop's butts even if they are abusing authority. we are supposed to manage the cop, calm him down, so that he doesnt arrest us for no reason, according to the OP.

i have a better idea. how about we require police to receive actual training to respect citizens that goes beyond the desire to bully and a 3 month academy that teaches them people are the enemy, then we take away most of their police powers so untrained bullys cannot be abusive, then we make a whole slew of laws that restrict police abuse so that if a cop is rude for no reason, he gets fired, since that would happen to the rest of us if we were rude on the job.

then we eliminate 1/2 of the millions of needless laws that make this such a weird culture in the first place, and we accept that a culture based on character and principal and self responsibility and compassion is the true meaning of a successful civilization.

i dont want any training sessions on how to please abusive morons who are overempowered and undertrained, just so i am not a victim of their illegal abuse. and i would much prefer a world where i could put a brown bag to my lips without harassment....and legalized weed too [i dont smoke, but i am sick of seeing people harrassed to ensure mexican cartels have income].

maybe if we can get the ONE IN TEN american citizens who are incarcerated or involved in the criminal justice system outta jail and into freedom and a sane culture, we wouldnt need a bunch of high school football glory day underachievers jumping all over people for a stem in their ashtray, and then "officers" could focus on real crimes, like violent crimes, which basically werent even covered in this post. wait.

yeah, violent crimes were covered in this post. you implied many cops, if angry, would arrest a citizen for angering them just by being more intelligent, thus giving that citizen a criminal history and a horribly abusive experience in jail overnight. well, its pretty hard not to be more intelligent than an abusive cop. so thats pretty violent. violence against innocent citizens. thats ugly. and no, i dont feel like kissin anyone's butt for it.

reply to post by seeashrink


thank you for info, cannot tell if you are true or not

my main point is this...'officer' in england means 'officer' goes to sandhurst and has the queen's commision, the rest are 'privates' or NCOs = non commisioned officers, and the police in England are 'constables' the like of that I have had trouble with,, my ex-wife calls the police saying I have been violent (no description by her just violent) then me, a professional ...no record ends up banged up in cells for 12 hours and cannot do my job the next day or even call them to tell them why I cannot turn in!!!! A lot of you - not saying you- are mean!!!!! and worse, evil

The OP's post reads like an old cold war notice regarding what to do when traveling to a police state, how to behave around that particular state's enforcers, etc.

reply to post by seeashrink


I wish we had an Aussie version of this. The closest I've read it on a Train website where a PTA member advised people of their rights on the Public transport system, (they have Police rights on the Rail System here) but it was a confusing and obfuscated read.

I've often thought of the methods advised here by US citizens in this situation, but here they are just actions that get us into more strife...

cant win no matter what with the cops here.

Originally posted by Exuberant1
The OP's post reads like an old cold war notice regarding what to do when traveling to a police state, how to behave around that particular state's enforcers, etc.

And then they wonder why they are looked at more like and occupation army than someone there to preserve the peace. I have had several cops tell me more or less the same thing and they were the "good" ones.........but still didnt quite seem to understand they were telling us to basically grovel and take whatever abuse the cop heaped on us. I have meet decent cops...........ran a stoplight that changed right as i got to it once and was pulled over.............ran my name...was a nice guy who rode too and we talked Harley's for 20 mins and he let me off with a warning

But when even the good cops say the best way to react is with complete subservience like medieval serf or something it makes you wonder just what there mindset is.

We are not a nation of serfs or slaves that need to bow and grovel under the eyes of our betters..........we are a nation of freemen with the right to do as we damn well please as long as we arent harming anyone else. We should be free to move about without being harressed just because we fit some profile or because some x schooll bully has had a bad day

Interesting.. Things have certainly changed much over there. Have never had problem with law officers there or anyplace else that have been over the years in my travels. Then again always been polite when dealing with them as its a hard often thankless job they have.

Originally posted by gallopinghordes
I've been stopped by cops twice; each time I was guilty, neither time I got a ticket. I believe it's because when they approached the car I had put it in park and turned it off and kept my hands in sight. I greeted them with a smile. Good manners will go a long way in any situation. Neither time did I realize I was speeding until I saw the lights and looked at the speedometer and said well darn. When asked I didn't try to deny it and told both officers I didn't have a good reason to speed and wasn't going to try and blow smoke. Both times being honest is what did the trick. That and a bit of friendly convo.

I've found that being polite and friendly goes a very long way when dealing with anyone. A smile and a polite greeting goes a long long way and as the OP said you don't know what kind of day they've had.

Here is a question. I am assuming here. By your avitar, I guess you to be a woman. If I am wrong, I apologize. If a good looking woman is stopped and is polite as opposed to a normal guy, being just as polite, a male officer may give differential treatment. I think it's human nature and nothing sinister. I have quite a few cop friends and understand the garbage they put up with. I also think that speed limits are about 10 MPH too slow so I tend to adjust my speed accordingly. A few times it didn't seem the same way to the officer who pulled me over. He thought 55 meant 55. But I was nice. Polite and cordial. The last time, the officer told me that since I was so nice, I should ask the DA to reduce the speed. I have learned that there is a code that is put on the ticket to signify if the person being pulled was nice or not. I guess that is for the judge to see. Either way, I agree that being nice will go a long way.

Don't be this guy.

reply to post by network dude


Yep i was targeted by the police in london uk for 19 years now, and they try desperately to get you to do something wrong. Do not ever, these people are just wannabe murderers. Do not ever give them a right to do what they do.

In my experience.
The cop is a guy and has bad days just like anyone else.

Don't act like a giant douchebag.
Be friendly.
Don't have an attitude.

Most of the time the cop will just let you off with a warning.

reply to post by grey580


Lol, they have spent 19 years perving into our home in london trying to find something that does not exist, i.e a crime in my life.

Police will terrorise people and families, and through my own experience london, to get anyone they want whether you done anything. They cannot understand a human exists that they are wrong about, they are that dumb.

Originally posted by greenovni



Right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Under this Constitutional guarantee one may, therefore, under normal conditions, travel at his inclination along the public highways or in public places,

I think you are really confused about the constitution. Please show where in the U S Constitution those words appear. They don't. If there is a "right to travel" it is much more likely to arise out of the due process clause.

We have the right to determine, collectively, how we are policed and there shouldn't be any union contract or in- house policy getting in the way.

We should be telling the cops how to treat US during a traffic stop.

I treat police as equal human beings, no better than I would treat any human stranger that I would encounter. Honestly, with the mistreatment I have gone through by the likes of the police, I feel safer now that I live in a town without them.

Oops hit the wrong reply button.

reply to post by TKDRL


I personally think they organise alot of crimes, so they can justify there existence. I always also think they are in pubs at weekends with there friends planning vendettas against people they do not like.

My life was ruined at every instant with these clowns perving into our lifes. They try and turn absolutely anything into crimes, including going to work is a crime for some of them, clowns.

So you could be right.

reply to post by 4nsicphd

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language.[1] These three aspects are listed among the "unalienable rights" or sovereign rights of man.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

It is obvious as stated in hundreds of decided court cases that an individual does not need a driver's license in order to travel in his personal automovile.

Also, you have to remember that the constitution does not give you rights, they just uphold some of the many rights that you have, rights that you were simply born with.

One of those rights is your right to travel, if you did not have a right to travel, the powers that be could simply keep you in an open prison and severely limit your movement.

Have to agree that treating cops with dignity and respect works, and not getting into a attitude contest with them will win you more points, and maybe get you out of a ticket as well.

One thing I have stopped doing is carrying a copy of the ACLU Bust Card with me. I travel frequently through TSA country (airports), and have received reliable advice that the TSA consider this card a red flag and you are going to receive special attention. Don't know for sure but personally decided to not take a chance.

Thanks.

I have my own cams I switch on when I get pulled over.

Here's a link to some practical advice on dealing with the police from Chris Rock:

www.policemag.com

Made me laugh...