Back when I was in college, in Fresno, I had a cop friend of mine that told us just don't try to insult us and we'll get along fine. Sort of always kept that in my head when dealing with cops I don't know. If it's one I know it's open season. I've been on a first name basis with most the local PD, Sheriff, Deputies and most of the area ASP for years and plan on keeping it that way.

 

I Work For The Cops Here In Abbotsford (as A Mechanic) And I Know Everybody, All 150 People By There First Name, Out Of All Of That There Is Only One Dink. And Somehow The Communty Has A Bad Rap Against Alot Of Them. Sometimes It Helps To See Both Sides Of The Story. People Imbelish Things To Sound Cool. That And Kids Dont Have The Respect That I Used Too. Cop Bashing Is Cool To Them. Dont Get Me Wrong Im Still A Kid At 23, But I Defenetly Respect Authority.

 

Who got the ide that I was a punk or a kid? Sure im 21, but I have a steady full time job, dont do drugs, deface public property or dress like one of those faggy nevoux punks. My parents taught me how to cross the street properly, its a very simple important skill to have. What is better teach kids to be safe and keep them from running into traffic, or try to control a bunch of distracted groggy adults in commute traffic and hope no one plows into and errant child while they are on the phone or doing their makeup? Its like the saying goes:

If you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. If you can teach a man not to stick a bass luer through his ********, he can fish for the rest of his life.

I didn't ,mean to insult all cops in my post, I just got in a hurry while typing. Sounds like a copout, I know. Ive met good cops, i just dont know any well enough to help me out of a traffic stop. If you know all the cops in your area because they keep getting called to your house and pulling you over, then you should at least spend some time in jail or get beat up or something. If you know all the cops in your area from going to school with them or from other off duty experiences, thats cool. Career criminals, or career ******** who like to press their luck on the roads repeatedly (street racers) need to get beat up. The main reason I am so mad is because of selective enforcement, buzzcut ( i know his real name and dont want to use it) spent a good part of his day following the bus and pretty much turned a blind eye to whatever else was going on unless it was really major.

 

Rod...respect for defusing the situation with respect and a little bit of humor. Most cops are cool, but you'll get the exceptional cop with the "Tough Guy Complex." I had one of those, and he was asking me if I wanted to fight him...i was just smiling like..."you've gotta be kidding me." If there weren't 2 cool women officers there, he probably would have tried to strangle me with his night stick...
Cops deserve respect, they put thier life on the line every day...some of them are mean because they're not sure if you're gonna be the one who's crazy enough to send them to meet thier maker or if you're just an average joe. Good story, something that you'll remember for a long long time I'm sure.

 

Don't you think he was there at the request of the school district because of all the people passing when the bus had its signal out? Not selective at all.

 

I'm curious what it is you do that gets you so much time with members of the local PD?

Most people don't have a chance to get that kind of exposure.

 

Rod, I apologize if my post triggered any sort of blame towards you. Your story was taken by me as intended. It was an odd experience for you and you minimized it with your humour. Kudos to you for handling a situation well, twice (once on the street and once more here). I saw something else in that incident that concerned me for you and so I offered my two bits.

jmmoriso, there is no doubt in my mind that people on this forum, themselves are or know someone who is....

...a cop
...a parent to a young child
...an addict of some sort

All I can say to you is that spoken words can not be taken back, No matter what you do afterwards to correct it, the damage is done.

 

Well I used to do emergency response work, not EMT,but I was who was called in for wrecks and cleanup. Primarly HazMat. Right now all I do is take care of my car wash. I remain very active in community affairs. Alot of the local PD I've known since they were kids, many I know their parents. The older ones I've been around, grew up with or just know them from dealings with different things.
I have almost daily dealings with the prosecutors office both county and city from one of my other businesses I operate from my car wash office.
We have a breakfast every saturday morning where we have many different people come by and eat with us and BS, sometimes it's the Sheriff sometimes it's the X Chief of Police. We did get a new Chief here, who I haven't met yet. She came from out of town.
An example, on christmas eve we came in to the wash and found 15 spikes and 2 crack pipes laying by one of the trash cans in one of the wash bays. Had the PD send by an officer to dispose of them.
Another good reason to know all the locals is I have 5 kids, 3 of them ain't been angels so I've met a few that way.
Again maybe it's because I'm 52 yrs old and been around awhile.

 

I think what a lot of people are missing here is that the police force is comprised of people. They come in all forms and attitudes just like the regular population. Unfortunately, the dicks tend to give a bad reputation to the rest of the PD and unfortunately, as a result of the 'Thin Blue Line' and a substantial amount of cronyism, the good cops give the bad cops the benefit of the doubt, sometimes when they shouldn't.

When a Police officer gives a break to someone because they know them or have a relationship with them when they otherwise wouldn't do so to a stranger on the street constitutes just as much of an abuse of power as the inverse.

Unfortunately, it's something that can't be eliminated due to human nature. I've had just as many good experiences as bad and you are FAR more likely to have a good experience if you know the local 'small town' PD than if you live in a large metropolitan area where the number of officers outnumber the entire population of citizens in smaller jurisdictions.

The key is, know your rights and use them wisely.

Unlike Rod, I would have told the officer, no, he can't search my vehicle unless he has probable cause. I can't say how the outcome would have changed if I were in his shoes, but I'm a libertarian and take our inalianable rights very seriously.

Hard to believe I live in the SF Bay Area! HAHAHA!!

 

a liberal in the bay area !?!?! you're kidding

 

Fiscally conservative libertarian to be exact. HUGE difference! I think most liberal's are phuckt in the head...

 

It is selective enforcement in that the officer was only paying attention to the bus. Just a few hundred feet from where I got stopped is the worst freeway bottleneck in the area. People are routinely driving on the shoulder, making stupid lane changes and driving with one hand while on the phone, thats illegal now right? He was Highway Patrol in the middle of a city street, I dont know how their jurisdiction works, but it seems a little funky. I dont want to inflame anyone anymore, i rely you on you guys to keep my car running. Although, as an American I feel it is my duty to say offensive things without thinking and generally pissing off the international community! Ha Ha we got the bombs and the tanks and blah blah blah. Actually at this point thats all we are number one in. I dont know if we even have technicians to work on the bombs or badass tank pilots any more. Remember, just take this all with a grain of salt, because without sodium your brain will stop working, body chemistry shutdown, and you will die. So relax, work on your cars, and post good writeups on anything cool that you learn

 

Hey Nuke, I wasn't put off at all by anything you wrote. No need to appologize. Everybody has a different way of responding to authority. I can tell you that the biggest reason I have managed to go 18 years without being ticketed is because 99.9% of the time I am polite, cordial and humble when dealing with the officer or officers that pulled me over. Now, while that is almost always the case, there have been exceptions like the one described in my first post here. I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong, I had 3 cops coming at me like hungry dogs after a steak and I simply gave them back the attitude and demeanor they gave me. I played along with their inexperience fueled keystone cops routine because for one, I was more than a little put off by the way it started out, I knew I had nothing to hide, and I hoped that eventually if they saw that I wasn't too concerened that they might lighten up. If you act nervous, it makes them nervous. L-Dub made mention of me letting them search my car... Ordinarily I would have resited that a little more because I feel like he does about it. In this case, it was a purpose driven act. Again, I wanted them to see that I was unafraid and had nothing to hide, and that it would only serve to waste their time and effort... In other words, make him look like a schmuck, and it worked. I have an interesting relationship with the local PD that would be very hard to try and understand. The short version of the story... In August 1983 when I was 13, my older sister Leslie wsa killed by an officer of the Escondido Police department. She did nothing wrong. She was a hosatge. The cop that killed her was out of control and other cops (part of the "brotherhood") tried to cover it up. It was a big deal and made a big impression on a 13 year old kid. Now, I don't think anyone would blame me for hating cops... I don't. In fact, I almost became one. I went to school and got my Masters in Criminal Justice because I thought maybe they just needed more guys like me and fewer guys like him. I only changed my mind about law enforcement as a career because I found something that made me happier. What I was trying to get at, was that it would be very easy for me to associate all cops with what happened to my sister but that would not be fair. There's good and bad in every bunch. ... ... ... ... ... Rod