The "why cops don't suck" thread

Well, it's nice to watch a video that puts me on the cops' team for once. 'Happy he was unharmed. 'Made me want the driver to be gunned down.

alex wrote: This reminds me that I should fix the dome light on both of my cars.

Two of my stops were after dark. I pulled over under street lights both times, rolled down all four windows, turned on the interior light, and had both hands visible on the steering wheel before the officers even got out of their patrol cars. I don't need to make a cop "edgy".

I've always had good luck with cops. The other night I got pulled over in my new-to-me MR2 because the taillights were out. Cop comes up to the window, asks for my ID. I hand him my DL and HCP and tell him I have a pistol in the glove compartment. He said, "Well, just leave it there and we won't have a problem." He ran my license, told me to fix my lights, and went on his way.

I have some good cop stories that I don't care to tell, but the one that I do care to tell was pretty funny. I was driving home one Friday night when I was about 16. I had a white mans afro going on at the time, driving a beat to hell Ford Tempo. I imagine I looked like the kind of teenager that was getting in trouble late at night.

Well, I guess one of my headlights was out, and I got pulled over in a place notorious for having dickhead cops.

He pulls me over, asks me how I'm doing. He then walks up to the headlight, kicks it. At this point it turns back on. He walks back to the window and says, "Have a good night!" and then goes back to the cruiser.

I didn't even get pulled over once: Motorcycle cop blipped his siren on me on the highway, motioned me to roll down my window and then informed me the ticket was (then) $153 bucks in the city and I should get that taken care of fast.

I've only had two police be not cool with me, and both times it was a case of profiling... Once I was a young kid that got t-boned at in intersection in the middle of an affluent old folks community, driving my DSM- the other time, I was driving my ms3 through rural WI. Second one I don't even blame for what he did, but walking up to the car with his hand on his piece while my (then pregnant) wife was in the car didn't make me happy. Other than that, the police have been SUPER cool to me, because I'm always super cool to them. I've been asked about my cars more than once, because they realize I'm mellow and not some sort of nutjob, despite my appearance.

For those that were interested, here's a "follow up" that explains the aftermath a bit better than I did above: http://www.wwmt.com/articles/kalamazoo-1400354-county-mich.html

I've only had one unhappy experience with police. Driving on I95, 1983, with two of my kids, on a camping trip and to visit my sister in Virginia. Had gotten a legit ticket for speeding in South Carolina, so was very careful not to get caught again. Every car on the road was passing me. Driving a Buick Century that I had bought from Avis. Coming under an overpass, I notice a car coming on to 95 behind me. Stuck on my tail for a couple of miles. Aggravated me a bit, so I kicked it up to 57mph. I had noticed that there were a bunch of antennas on the car, and it was a Dodge Diplomat. When I got to 57, all his lights went on, and a blip of the siren. Immediately pulled over. Two cops get out, holding shields in front of themselves, hands on guns. Cop asks where we were going, and if this is a rental. I replied that I had a letter from Avis in the glove box, may I get it? Showed him the letter. Wanted to see in the trunk. Sure, nothing but a bunch of camping gear. He then said, OK, you can go now. I am now more than pissed, asked why he pulled me over. He said I was speeding. I responded a bit too strongly with "BullE36 M3, I was being passed by every car on the road." He hemmed and hawed, and finally said I fit the profile. Rental, low in the back, driving carefully, Florida plate, looked like a drug runner. One wrong twitch, my kids would not have had a father. The days of the Cocaine Cowboys. Scary.

Curmudgeon wrote: a constable I knew in Charleston was kidnapped, taken to a remote cornfield in Orangeburg County, murdered and buried in a shallow grave.

I knew and used to dove hunt with a state trooper that was murdered on I-26 in O'burg county many years ago. Stupid murder, but they finally caught the guys a few years ago. It was an unsolved cold case for many years.

That being said, I have been stopped for speeding several times over 40 years. Each ticket was written down to 5 over and 2 points. Each one was in a BS speed trap designed to catch "speeders". Some of the cops were quite the prick, some nice, but none ever mistreated me. It's a job I wouldn't do.

In reply to cwh:

There are still cocaine cowboys. Go for a drive down 70 in Missouri and just guess how many vehicles around you are not civilian.

poopshovel wrote:

Lesley wrote: If you've ever run into a life-threatening situation with a dangerous criminal... feed them Glycol.

ftfy

ftfy again

I have watched the video several times and I did not see the pickup truck run a red light. He should not have been pulled over.

In reply to pilotbraden:

And the correct response to that would be "Officer, when is my court appearance?" not "BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! KAPOWIE!"

pilotbraden wrote: I have watched the video several times and I did not see the pickup truck run a red light. He should not have been pulled over.

I hadn't watched there video, but journalistic error? Wouldn't be the first, nor the last.

It may have nothing to do with anything in the video?

Perhaps the light in question was out of the camera's field?

The red light running may have not been in the video, but he definitely doesn't stop before turning right on red, right after that the cop hits his lights

Strizzo wrote: The red light running may have not been in the video, but he definitely doesn't stop before turning right on red, right after that the cop hits his lights

Rolling a stop is ticketable for sure. Wish I had a computer with internet to view this in here.

If I had to guess, the fail to stop probably occurred before the video starts. I've seen about 300 MVR's (Mobile Video Recordings) over the years and its clear to me that the truck was targeted for something that happened before the tape starts, as the officer is clearly pursuing the truck already when the video starts. IIRC - our local sheriff's MVR's are on continuously, so they probably distributed just the immediate incident to the media.

BTW - even if the stop were totally bogus, the law is clear that you have no right to use force (especially if you're a convicted felon who shouldn't even have a gun in the first place) against an officer, your recourse is in court.

In reply to kazoospec:

Many that I have encountered recently constantly, but its more like a dvr. It saved the prior three minutes and made it part of the recording. Of course I found all this out after the computer for it caught us on fire...

I agree that gunplay was uncalled for. All that video shows is a truck indicating a right tun on a green light and getting pulled over.

The ones that I am familiar with will record an entire shift, 8 hours or so. What are you guys using?

Cops agree to heard towards what the rest of us run from, and somehow not shoot the 3-4 people a day that I would if I were issued a gun. They have my respect always.

cwh wrote: The ones that I am familiar with will record an entire shift, 8 hours or so. What are you guys using?

I don't know what it was, but it blew the berkeley up. Nearly caught the car on fire LOL. In sure there are many many types and most probably record a whole shift.

Do you work in the business, Chuck?

My primary business is exporting CCTV equipment, so the answer is yes. Deal mostly with the Caribbean Islands.