Posted on 07/26/2015 5:53:03 PM PDT by Kaslin
Late one night, during high school, I was driving home when several police cars zoomed by. Curious about what was going on, I followed them down a residential street, where they pulled up to a house.
I drove by and saw some officers walking up the sidewalk, but couldn't tell what they might be after. So I pulled into a driveway, turned around and drove back. My curiosity still unsatisfied, I then looped around the block to make one more pass.
Wrong decision. One of the cops pulled his car up behind me, turned on his lights, jumped out and ordered me to get out of my car. When I did, I was surrounded by men in uniform, one of whom screamed profane threats and invective in my face. I quietly endured the abuse, and when they finally let me go, I considered myself lucky not to have been beaten or arrested.
The police would have had trouble finding a reason to arrest me, since driving on a public street is not illegal. Nor was I interfering with what they were doing. But my unassailable legal position was not foremost in my mind at that moment.
What was foremost is that they had guns, batons and badges and could do pretty much whatever they chose without fear of punishment. Had I argued, I have no doubt the encounter would have ended badly.
I was breaking no law. The cop who threatened me, however, was guilty of assault -- which Texas says occurs when someone "intentionally or knowingly threatens another with imminent bodily injury." Since he had a gun on his hip, he may have been guilty of aggravated assault. But it didn't matter. He and his colleagues acted as though they were in the right, and self-preservation dictated that I pretend they were.
The lesson imprinted by the experience was one I already understood, even if I had never thought much about it: Some of the scariest people are the ones who are supposed to keep us safe.
I've had only a few unwanted contacts with police since, and I've been very careful not to antagonize them. Even when I was ticketed for failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign -- which I was quite sure I had -- I didn't argue.
When I went to traffic school for that citation, the instructor confirmed my instincts. "When you're stopped, I'd strongly advise you not to talk back," he said with a smug grin. "If you do, any cop can find five or 10 things to write you up for."
Sandra Bland probably understood the nature of this reality. She cooperated with the Texas state trooper who pulled her over for her trivial failure to signal a lane change on a mostly empty street.
But when she failed to grovel sufficiently, he demanded an explanation -- and didn't like the one he got. Soon he was angrily yanking her out of the car, taking her to the ground and handcuffing her. Why did the confrontation escalate out of control? Not because Bland violated the laws of Texas, but because the cop felt unconstrained by them.
In many instances, police can trample on citizens' rights with impunity. Stopping and frisking without legal justification was the practice in New York City until 2013, when a federal judge intervened. Some Chicago cops tortured suspects, and for years they got away with it.
The only reason police brutality has come to light via video cameras is that some officers are so used to committing it that they never dream of being held to account.
It's no secret that they can and do get away with lying. A prosecutor I know once marveled at how often motorists leave illegal drugs on the front seat, where they can be easily spotted by police during stops. His implication was that the cops conduct illegal searches and afterward invent stories to make them appear legal.
Video cameras expose some of this behavior, but they're not necessarily enough to change it. The officer who stopped Bland knew a dashboard camera was recording him -- yet he proceeded to flip out.
He acted on a view that too many cops have and that civilians learn at their peril: The police are obligated to enforce the law, not obey the law.
Never mind my question. I see the location was that of your incident and not where your son lives. Excuse me for getting it wrong.
Well, for one thing, I have experienced some of the things he described.
My son’s a cop (and FReeper) in East Peoria, just across the Illinois River from Peoria. He does complain a bit about the snow and ice.
F.R. name “smaagee” but he’s not on line much. His Army Reserve company was much supported by F.R.’s “Hobbit Hole” when their company was sent to Iraq in ‘03. If I remember correctly, the Hobbit Hole bought his company new two way radios (among other things) to replace the crappy ones the Army issued them. Threw a big party for them in Seattle when they came home. There’s an F.R. article about it with pics, unfortunately, I do not remember the title.
There is other questionable police activity in the video, but its meaning can be subject to interpretation...
Probably the way I feel about Mexicans driving without insurance when I have to pay 200 hundred dollars a month to keep my tags and license. In particularly the one that ran into me and had nether insurance or a driver’s license.
That’s really great. F.R. is awesome to have done that.
My dad hated the snow in Peoria.
Did you know, before feminism, LA cops had to be tall, 5’10”? That’s above average height. That’s what cops are (or were), the big boss in any situation they are involved in.
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lol... A couple of months ago I was at a local Italian restuarant around lunch time and waiting for my take out order. Six local plainclothed LEOs entered, 5 guys and one female, all with their sidearms and badges on their belts.
I’m 6’1” and only the female officer was shorter than me. The five guys were each about 6’4”-6’6” and looked like NFL linebackers. The gal was about 5’8”. We grow ‘em big in TX!
If you're too pig-headed to admit that, so be it.
I'm beginning to understand all the crap cops have to put up with. But, as for my own experience, there has been a legitimate reason in every instance. I have always treated them with courtesy. And, with one exception, that courtesy has been returned.
And made zero attempt to hide it. The cop asked repeatedly if there was something wrong before he gave her a warning ticket. What set him off about the cigarette is anyones guess. I'm guessing she was blowing smoke at him.
There's plenty of better examples of cops being a-holes out of the gate, I've met my share. Never, could I have gotten out of one of those encounters with a warning.
I call BS, grew up in WLA. When I came back from VN, I went to a familiar HS hangout with friends at a place at Manchester and Sepuveda. After leaving, out in the parking lot was a LAPD guy from near my class in HS (around 1965) rousting some teenage chicks.
I knew the guy and said hi. It had been a pleasant night, saying hello to old HS friends now that I was home (including one that had heard that I had been killed?).
Anyway, the former HS buddy maybe recognized me, maybe not, but I knew him, and he was a lot shorter than my six foot. He was at best, 5-8. He did have his partners there, so no big deal. No way 5-10" and far before feminism.
Long gone now, went by there on my way to LAX from Ventura county and could not believe it was not there anymore. Should have been a national landmark for Westchester HS alumni.
HeHe.
Got a similar one.
I had been partaking a little (ahem) one night and was headed west on A major road through my side of town (West side Charlotte).
Honestly I was gettin’ it, had a little bit of umph under the hood.
I saw the cop as I passed, and was 1/4 mile past when the lights came on.
I knew they were for me.
As soon as I went through the next stoplight, I whipped the car into a Crown Gas Station, jumped out and ran into the mens room.
Because I knew this place, I knew there was only room for one.
I waited about 2-3 minutes, flushed, washed my hands, and walked out, exhaling loudly.
Female cop was pulled up opposite of my window, watched me come out, shook her head laughed, and said, “Try and keep it under 60”, laughed again and drove away.
Then I really did breathe a sigh of relief! If she had pressed I would probably gotten the DUI.
Sparking what could become a giant debate over small matters, LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams wants to get rid of the LAPD’s requirement to be at least 5 feet tall.
(snip)
The LAPD in the 1930s began requiring officers to be at least 5 feet 9 inches, but that requirement was reduced to 5 feet 8 inches in the 1960s and then 5 feet in the 1980s as part of a consent decree to promote the hiring of more women.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/POLICE+CHIEF+CALLS+FOR+ELIMINATING+LAPD+HEIGHT+REQUIREMENT.-a083856035
bkmk
But, as for my own experience, there has been a legitimate reason in every instance.
Sounds scientific and conclusive.
I don’t know...
That's right. You don't.
You don’t know that she was “a black racist activist who was trying to make headlines”.
The drugs they found was apparently a trace of marijuana. I’m not a fan of pot, but that’s after the fact and barely relevant.
#onlyblackstopsmatter
At what point does standing up for your rights ("Am I being detained or am I free to leave?"; "Yes, you may search my car as soon as you show me your warrant") become "baiting"?
Thanks for the ping!
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