A Cop's Advice on Dealing with Cops

[Byte Stryke]

Reasons I record any and all traffic stops and I Do not trust ANYONE...
Just like PD Don't know who they are pulling over, we don't know who is pulling us over.

Should this go in the funny video thread?








And this shit terrifies me the most!

[Irving]

We don't need to turn this into a cop bashing thread, but it would be nice if people would at least accept that there are bad police officers. If that happened, there wouldn't always be so many examples posted up and the threads would stay on track.

Byte, I get worked up thinking about how citizens have zero ability to protect themselves from the police too. I'm going to bed, then I'll be all better in the morning.

[Byte Stryke]

We don't need to turn this into a cop bashing thread, but it would be nice if people would at least accept that there are bad police officers. If that happened, there wouldn't always be so many examples posted up and the threads would stay on track.

Byte, I get worked up thinking about how citizens have zero ability to protect themselves from the police too. I'm going to bed, then I'll be all better in the morning.

I Don't sleep well at night.
I am worried that DPS SWAT Will raid the wrong address TSA Will molest my Toddler and then some fat donut whore will accidentally shoot me.


Tell me a Bedtime story?

[Irving]

Once upon a time, I went on a ride along with a Denver PD cop buddy. It was a pretty boring day, thank God we didn't do any traffic bullshit. We went to a lady's house who came home and found her front door ajar. She figured it was her kids being less than responsible, but wanted to be sure. We waited until another unit arrived. When the other guy got there, they said they were going to clear the house. I was hanging out with the lady in her driveway, and my friend said, "Nah, come in with us!" I walked into the kitchen with them. They drew out their Glocks and I just made a gun with my hand. We cleared the house. They didn't let me be point man and made sure I was out of the hallways before they opened any doors. The architecture of that house was a monstrosity. It must have started out pretty small, and been built on many times over the years. The owners must have drawn the plans by using a Magic 8 Ball each time. It was a mess. Very charming.

Then we went to a call about a broken down car that was parked in front of someone's house for 3 days. I got to write the ticket.

The
---n
---d

Sleep well, sweet Prince.

[Elhuero]

Experience has taught me that regardless of what the facts actually are or your position in the events in Question, that cop can fuck you up and say ANYTHING and its up to you to disprove it.

that is why you should video any interactions with police.

(there's a whole bunch of videos on youtube of police telling people it's illegal to film, grabbing cameras etc. as well)

[BushMasterBoy]

Cops lie and the US Government is corrupt...I could tell you more, but they would probably would just kill me. Did this nation form by armed revolution? Oh yeah...and the FBI is worthless...

[cstone]

If you don't video tape, the cops will probably video tape it for you. As you can tell just by the videos Byte posted, most of the evidence used to convict crooked cops comes from the dash cameras in their cruiser.

There are bad cops. Not everyone who gets through the screening process is honest or suited to be in law enforcement. The judicial system isn't perfect. Far from it.

If you were King or President for the day, how would you change it?

Some people make mistakes. Some people are bad. Some people are evil. Figuring out who is who before they hurt you or someone else is a problem everyone faces. Cops just tend to face that dilemna more often on a daily basis. Its just the nature of the work.

[Irving]

Thank you.

[2ndChildhood]

I have always been treated fairly by LEO's. I talk courteously, keep my hands where they can see them, have my license and registration ready etc etc.
I can't count the number of times I have been let off on speeding tickets - something I have really appreciated over the years.

TSA folks on the other hand... Some of them you can see the JBT attitude on their face. It's really unpleasant to be under their jurisdiction even if only for a few minutes. I'll be traveling on the 2nd so I'll let you guys know just how unpleasant it is.

[OneGuy67]

OneGuy: You seem to have difficulty admitting that shitty cops exist in this world. I've seen first hand, shitty versions of every occupation I've ever had, and I have no issue admitting that they exist. We understand that you are an upstanding guy. There are more "bad cop" stories that can even be told here.

Byte - A family member was carrying his pistol concealed, while drunk, (not driving, walking on the sidewalk) when he was confronted by the police. He was arrested and they took the gun. I was pissed and was going to call the police and ask how to get the gun back, since it wasn't used in a crime. I was lazy and never did it. After like 18 months, they sent a letter to him telling him that he could come and claim the gun back. Color me surprised. [/indent]

Nah, Stuart, I am very much aware there are some less than stellar cops out there. That is what I do right now. I assist municipal and county agencies with their complex investigations, I read some really poor reports and I see some pretty bad policing going on. Most of which is due to poor training, poor pay and a lack of repetition of specific events. What I am saying is, your impression of the events is vastly different than the officers impression of the events and your interpretation of those events leads people astray.

Not to pick on Byte (I like you dude, so don't feel I am being mean), but in his versions of the event we have been speaking of, he believes he passed the SFST's and was detained. Not so. Detention is a short term (20 minutes or so) event and if he was held as long as he said he was, he was ARRESTED and did not pass the SFST's to the officers liking (there is far too many court cases and court decisions on this to muck it up). Pretty standard way of doing the job. There is a very specific way events of this nature have to be handled in order to be lawful in court and what he perceives happened, doesn't match normal police procedure. So by me asking for more specific details, I am trying to see what fits within and can be explained by normal police procedure and maybe understand what happened to Byte. I've done over 500 DUI arrests in my time as a patrol officer. Have I ever had a situation similar to Byte's? Yes, on a couple of occasions. One example: I had a guy who failed the SFST's and refused to provide a sample of breath into a PBT. I arrested him, processed him and he agreed to take a breath test on the Intoxilyzer 5000EN (a calibrated machine that is accepted in court proceedings) and he blew under the legal limit. I then stopped everything I was doing in regards to processing him and drove him back to his vehicle and he was released. Total time out of this man's life, +/- 1 hour. I explained everything to him and I even apologized even though it wasn't necessary, given how badly he performed the roadside maneuvers, had alcohol on his breath, was unsteady on his feet, etc. Now, looking back on that with age and more wisdom, I realize he may have had more than just alcohol on board and might have gone farther with a urine test for other things, but at the time, I released him without charges.

And Stuart, your family member walking drunk with a firearm on him is unlawful. Be pissed all you want, but he shouldn't have done that.

So, my friend. Yes, you seem to have more than your share of police contacts (by your own admission) and I wonder why. Natural curiosity. Maybe one day we'll sit down over a beer and you'll tell me about them. Maybe not.