One example as to how LEO's do themselves no favors in the way of perception.

Bamabuzzard

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I thought about putting this in the existing thread Bazza started but didn't want to hijack it. Yesterday we were having my parents and my wife's parents over to celebrate Mother's Day for each of our mothers and mother in laws. My in laws had long arrived yet my parents still hadn't made it. I started calling their cell phones yet no one answered. They had my oldest son with them, who is under the age of 12. They FINALLY made it and both of my parents were visibly "shaken" and upset. My son looked like he'd seen a ghost.

On the way to our house they were pulled over by a LEO for an expired inspection sticker. Initially it was one officer. She approached the car, retrieved drivers license, insurance and registration. Everything checked out, she came back to the car and stated the citation was due to an expired inspection sticker. So my dad complied in every way and simply thought she was going to write the ticket and everybody be on their way. NOPE. All of a sudden, she told my dad that she was calling "back up". Keep in mind, the LEO has long had time to assess the situation, as to whether or not it seems like a potentially dangerous situation in which she needs backup. She has stopped a man and woman who are 66 years old with their grandson in the back seat. They have complied in every way, shown no signs of a threat or anything. Yet she feels the need to call back up? My dad asked the officer twice why she needed to call for "back up". She ignored him, walked off to sit in her vehicle. Three more cop cars come speeding up, surrounded my parents car, lights on as if this was some sort of hostile situation. My parents had no idea what was going on. All four LEO's huddled together behind my parents car for over five minutes talking. Then broke the huddle (no football pun intended) and one officer positioned himself in the back of their car, the other on the passenger side, the female LEO who initially pulled them over in the front of the car, and the fourth officer (male) at my dad's window. He basically repeated exactly what the initial officer who pulled them over told them, that they were being pulled over due to an expired inspection sticker and for some reason thought he had to lecture my dad in a condescending, aggressive tone. My dad sensing that this was potentially one response away from this escalating, simply "yes sir'ed" until the officer ended his vent session. All the while my son is taking in all of this and is completely petrified and crying in the backseat. He has no idea what is about to happen.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. For all the "respect" and "back the badge" LEO's want from people. They certainly do themselves no favors in situations like these. Also, someone doesn't have to get physically assaulted for a LEO to abuse his/her position of power. This in my opinion was complete over kill and did nothing but reinforce the negative public perception they've gotten over the last several years. :mad2:
 
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Its On A Slab

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I thought about putting this in the existing thread Bazza started but didn't want to hijack it. Yesterday we were having my parents and my wife's parents over to celebrate Mother's Day for each of our mothers and mother in laws. My in laws had long arrived yet my parents still hadn't made it. I started calling their cell phones yet no one answered. They had my oldest son with them, who is under the age of 12. They FINALLY make it and both of my parents were visibly "shaken" and upset. My son looked like he'd seen a ghost.

On the way to our house they were pulled over by a LEO for an expired inspection sticker. Initially it was one officer. She approached the car, retrieved drivers license, insurance and registration. Everything checked out, she came back to the car and stated the citation was due to an expired inspection sticker. So my dad complied in every way and simply thought she was going to write the ticket and everybody be on their way. NOPE. All of a sudden, she told my dad that she was calling "back up". Keep in mind, the LEO has long had time to assess the situation, as to whether or not it seems like a potentially dangerous situation in which she needs backup. She has stopped a man and woman who are 66 years old with their grandson in the back seat. They have complied in every way, shown no signs of a threat or anything. Yet she feels the need to call back up? My dad asked the officer twice why she needed to call for "back up". She ignored him, walked off to sit in her vehicle. Three more cop cars come speeding up, surrounded my parents car, lights on as if this was some sort of hostile situation. My parents had no idea what was going on. All four LEO's huddled together behind my parents car for over five minutes talking. Then broke the huddle (no football pun intended) and one officer positioned himself in the back of their car, the other on the passenger side, the female LEO who initially pulled them over in the front of the car, and the fourth officer (male) at my dad's window. He basically repeated exactly what the initial officer who pulled them over told them, that they were being pulled over due to an expired inspection sticker and for some reason thought he had to lecture my dad in a condescending, aggressive tone. My dad sensing that this was potentially one response away from this escalating, simply "yes sir'ed" until the officer ended his vent session. All the while my son is taking in all of this and is completely petrified and crying in the backseat. He has no idea what is about to happen.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. For all the "respect" and "back the badge" LEO's want from people. They certainly do themselves no favors in situations like these. Also, someone doesn't have to get physically assaulted for a LEO to abuse his/her position of power. This in my opinion was completely over kill and did nothing but reinforce the negative public perception they've gotten over the last several years. :mad2:
I respect the law and the police, but I do think there is a certain type of personality that gravitates to those jobs. The kind that finds it preferable to harass someone in a traffic stop, while the person he stops is 100% polite and compliant.

I got stopped rural MN over a 4th of July weekend a couple years back, and it seemed like the nicer and more polite I became, the more of a jerk the guy became. I managed to get out of there with a simple speeding ticket, but things could have escalated quickly had I told him what I thought about the situation.

Then, you have the local cops here that drive in the left lane, speed up, slow down, change lanes, then park in your blind spot and wait for you to put your turn signal on and change lanes. Then they can hit the blue and accuse you of reckless driving. Or at least attempt. We got my significant other's ticket knocked down to improper lane change, but we had to argue with the city attorney about it. I have seen them in action doing this to other motorists since this incident.
 

RollTide_HTTR

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Its On A Slab;3216833[B said:
]I respect the law and the police, but I do think there is a certain type of personality that gravitates to those jobs. [/B] The kind that finds it preferable to harass someone in a traffic stop, while the person he stops is 100% polite and compliant.

I got stopped rural MN over a 4th of July weekend a couple years back, and it seemed like the nicer and more polite I became, the more of a jerk the guy became. I managed to get out of there with a simple speeding ticket, but things could have escalated quickly had I told him what I thought about the situation.

Then, you have the local cops here that drive in the left lane, speed up, slow down, change lanes, then park in your blind spot and wait for you to put your turn signal on and change lanes. Then they can hit the blue and accuse you of reckless driving. Or at least attempt. We got my significant other's ticket knocked down to improper lane change, but we had to argue with the city attorney about it. I have seen them in action doing this to other motorists since this incident.
There was a podcast I was listening to a while back (can't remember which, maybe RadioLab or 99%) that discussed a police chief somewhere(can't remember where) who basically went about changing the culture of his department. He changed the uniform and titles to be less intimidating and less like the military. He ultimately wasn't all that successful of a Police Chief but he did change the culture partially by changing the type of people who applied to become officers. People who tended to want to become cops for the power weren't drawn to the job anymore. I wish I remembered more of the details. But I'm pretty sure they had fewer complaints of police abuse after his changes and even after he moved on. I may have to go back and find it.
 

Displaced Bama Fan

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Yeah, I would've been more po'ed than anything. In fact, your dad needs to call the chief and his city councilman and ask why it took four cops to scare the hell out of an old couple with their grandson over a GD expired sticker.
 

Bazza

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Hey Buzz.......sorry your folks and son had to go through that.

You're 100% right as is On a Slab - certain personality in that job, although there are exceptions - you don't hear about them as much.

It's ironic that in your parent's situation a YT video would have been applicable - especially if one was also provided by the po-po....as compared to the opposite in my thread.

Thanks for sharing and best to both your mums!
 

Its On A Slab

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Hey Buzz.......sorry your folks and son had to go through that.

You're 100% right as is On a Slab - certain personality in that job, although there are exceptions - you don't hear about them as much.

It's ironic that in your parent's situation a YT video would have been applicable - especially if one was also provided by the po-po....as compared to the opposite in my thread.

Thanks for sharing and best to both your mums!
I really don't think this is a recent problem, either. It is just that you are now seeing police abuse documented more and more due to the prevalence of smart phones.

One of my 1st I.T. jobs was in downtown Jackson MS at a bank data processing facility. We would leave the building nightly to drive 3 blocks to the main office to switch off-site backup tapes. Leaving in clearly-marked bank vehicle. Inordinately, we would be stopped every few weeks, sometimes asked to keep our hands up in the patrol car floodlights. You would think the precinct would take note of who was on the streets early in the morning for work, and who was a potential perpetrator.
 

Bazza

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We have a good one here - first time ever I can say that in many years of observing.

Mike Chitwood who started off as Daytona Beach Police Chief and was just elected County Sheriff. He's on a local talk radio show every Friday afternoon answering questions from the host, listeners, and discussing area news.

Check this out......

 

CaliforniaTide

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I've been noticing more and more in my drives through the Tennessee Valley (I drive an hour each way to work and home) that for each car that has been pulled over, at least 2-3 LE cars are parked with the same stop. Now, I cannot say with any certainty what is occurring in each situation, and thus, be able to tell if it is a legitimate need for more than 1 LEO on the scene. But knowing the roads I drive, I'd assume that most of those pulled over were speeding. I had one ride up behind me on 565 at 6AM this morning as I was going 72 in a 70. I moved over and the LEO pulled up next to me, maintaining speed with me (there was no car in front of him). After a few moments, the car quickly sped up to the next car in the fast lane and did the same thing. Not sure what he was trying to prove, but I didn't like it, and I don't feel it was necessary relative to what was occurring on the road at that time.
 

Bamabuzzard

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Yeah, I would've been more po'ed than anything. In fact, your dad needs to call the chief and his city councilman and ask why it took four cops to scare the hell out of an old couple with their grandson over a GD expired sticker.
It's a waste of time to call the chief. The "take care of their own" is alive and well in our area. They can dang near rationalize any behavior. But he is sending an email AND following up with a phone call to the city council.
 

Bamabuzzard

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I respect the law and the police, but I do think there is a certain type of personality that gravitates to those jobs. The kind that finds it preferable to harass someone in a traffic stop, while the person he stops is 100% polite and compliant.

I got stopped rural MN over a 4th of July weekend a couple years back, and it seemed like the nicer and more polite I became, the more of a jerk the guy became. I managed to get out of there with a simple speeding ticket, but things could have escalated quickly had I told him what I thought about the situation.

Then, you have the local cops here that drive in the left lane, speed up, slow down, change lanes, then park in your blind spot and wait for you to put your turn signal on and change lanes. Then they can hit the blue and accuse you of reckless driving. Or at least attempt. We got my significant other's ticket knocked down to improper lane change, but we had to argue with the city attorney about it. I have seen them in action doing this to other motorists since this incident.
Yep. I think the same thing to. I also have experienced the same thing in that the nicer you try to be the more irritated they become. IMO, the reason that happens is because they want you to give them a reason to snatch you out of the car and show you how big and bad they are. So when you don't do that it makes them mad. So they try to goad you.
 

Wilson Monroe

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I've been noticing more and more in my drives through the Tennessee Valley (I drive an hour each way to work and home) that for each car that has been pulled over, at least 2-3 LE cars are parked with the same stop. Now, I cannot say with any certainty what is occurring in each situation, and thus, be able to tell if it is a legitimate need for more than 1 LEO on the scene. But knowing the roads I drive, I'd assume that most of those pulled over were speeding. I had one ride up behind me on 565 at 6AM this morning as I was going 72 in a 70. I moved over and the LEO pulled up next to me, maintaining speed with me (there was no car in front of him). After a few moments, the car quickly sped up to the next car in the fast lane and did the same thing. Not sure what he was trying to prove, but I didn't like it, and I don't feel it was necessary relative to what was occurring on the road at that time.

I've seen this a lot on 565 also in regard to two or three cruisers per stop. I assume that it is the push to enforce the moving over and giving an officer the entire right-most lane as a buffer, or at least slowing down to 15mph below the limit if you can't move over. They said that it would be more strictly enforced a couple of months back (can't recall if that was state-wide or local).
 

day-day

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I thought about putting this in the existing thread Bazza started but didn't want to hijack it. Yesterday we were having my parents and my wife's parents over to celebrate Mother's Day for each of our mothers and mother in laws. My in laws had long arrived yet my parents still hadn't made it. I started calling their cell phones yet no one answered. They had my oldest son with them, who is under the age of 12. They FINALLY made it and both of my parents were visibly "shaken" and upset. My son looked like he'd seen a ghost.

On the way to our house they were pulled over by a LEO for an expired inspection sticker. Initially it was one officer. She approached the car, retrieved drivers license, insurance and registration. Everything checked out, she came back to the car and stated the citation was due to an expired inspection sticker. So my dad complied in every way and simply thought she was going to write the ticket and everybody be on their way. NOPE. All of a sudden, she told my dad that she was calling "back up". Keep in mind, the LEO has long had time to assess the situation, as to whether or not it seems like a potentially dangerous situation in which she needs backup. She has stopped a man and woman who are 66 years old with their grandson in the back seat. They have complied in every way, shown no signs of a threat or anything. Yet she feels the need to call back up? My dad asked the officer twice why she needed to call for "back up". She ignored him, walked off to sit in her vehicle. Three more cop cars come speeding up, surrounded my parents car, lights on as if this was some sort of hostile situation. My parents had no idea what was going on. All four LEO's huddled together behind my parents car for over five minutes talking. Then broke the huddle (no football pun intended) and one officer positioned himself in the back of their car, the other on the passenger side, the female LEO who initially pulled them over in the front of the car, and the fourth officer (male) at my dad's window. He basically repeated exactly what the initial officer who pulled them over told them, that they were being pulled over due to an expired inspection sticker and for some reason thought he had to lecture my dad in a condescending, aggressive tone. My dad sensing that this was potentially one response away from this escalating, simply "yes sir'ed" until the officer ended his vent session. All the while my son is taking in all of this and is completely petrified and crying in the backseat. He has no idea what is about to happen.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. For all the "respect" and "back the badge" LEO's want from people. They certainly do themselves no favors in situations like these. Also, someone doesn't have to get physically assaulted for a LEO to abuse his/her position of power. This in my opinion was complete over kill and did nothing but reinforce the negative public perception they've gotten over the last several years. :mad2:
This story means nothing without a description of race for the various characters involved. I have no idea as to what level of appalling I need to take this.
 

dayhiker

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I've been noticing more and more in my drives through the Tennessee Valley (I drive an hour each way to work and home) that for each car that has been pulled over, at least 2-3 LE cars are parked with the same stop. Now, I cannot say with any certainty what is occurring in each situation, and thus, be able to tell if it is a legitimate need for more than 1 LEO on the scene. But knowing the roads I drive, I'd assume that most of those pulled over were speeding. I had one ride up behind me on 565 at 6AM this morning as I was going 72 in a 70. I moved over and the LEO pulled up next to me, maintaining speed with me (there was no car in front of him). After a few moments, the car quickly sped up to the next car in the fast lane and did the same thing. Not sure what he was trying to prove, but I didn't like it, and I don't feel it was necessary relative to what was occurring on the road at that time.
It sounds like he was trying to decide if he should give you a ticket for driving in the fast lane when you weren't passing.
 

danb

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I’ve had encounters with LEO’s who were very fair and respectful, but I’ve also had a few run ins with LEO’s that seemed to try and escalate a situation.

Several years back, my ex wife and two daughters pulled out from the grocery store and got into the turning lane to turn north onto Memorial Parkway. She called me to let me know they were on their way home while sitting at the light. When the light turned green, she turned and then says “a cop just come flying around 3 cars behind me and is pulling me over.

She pulls into the old Western Auto parking lot, and the cop follows her into the lot. The cop stays in his car for a minute or so until 3 other patrol cars come flying in the lot. They all get out and approach the vehicle from all sides (and the ones approaching the passenger side have their guns drawn).
The original officer that pulled her over comes up to the window, and hatefully asks for her license (she had her phone lying on the console on speaker so I heard the entire exchange). I can hear my daughters (aged 5 and 6 at the time) crying and scared to death over what was happening. The other officers proceeded to walk around the Jeep like they were looking for something, while one stood back with his gun drawn.

After 5 or so minutes, the original officer comes back to the window and tells my ex that he was issuing her a citation for a inoperable tag light (it wasn’t even dark outside yet, but it was shaded enough for the automatic lights to come on). He then proceeded to hatefully ask her what had she been doing, and where was she going. She timidly replied “We just pulled out from the grocery store less than a mile away, and we’re heading home”. The smart arse cop said “well I guess your ice cream’s gonna be all melted now, but you can go to the municipal building and show someone you got that tag light fixed and they’ll dismiss the citation....you’re free to go”. The tone of his remarks would have PO’d the Pope!

And they all jumped in their cars and left. The only thing I can figure is they were looking for a vehicle that fit that description, then found out it wasn’t the one they were looking for. That’s all fine if that was the case, but they should have easily determined rather quickly that it wasn’t the vehicle in question. They didn’t say or explain anything, didn’t apologize, nothing. I guess they were mad they didn’t have the vehicle they were hunting so they found (fabricated) a reason to write a ticket.

When she got home I looked to see that both tag lights were working fine so the citation was bogus too. I had to take time off of work to go to the city municipal building and have someone come out to the parking lot to show that I got my tag lights “fixed” to get out of the ticket. I filed a complaint and even spoke with the police Chief (who was friends with a close friend of mine that was Chief at the time of Huntsville Fire Dept) but nothing was done except the emotional damage to my ex wife and daughters that had already occurred. My oldest daughter (turns 19 on May 18) still remembers that incident vividly and has had a negative outlook, and a certain fear of LEO’s since then (although we’ve tried to tell her that not all LEO’s act that way)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TIDE-HSV

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Yep. I think the same thing to. I also have experienced the same thing in that the nicer you try to be the more irritated they become. IMO, the reason that happens is because they want you to give them a reason to snatch you out of the car and show you how big and bad they are. So when you don't do that it makes them mad. So they try to goad you.
I don't have to deal with the situation often, because I'm very careful about where and how much I speed. Generally, though, I avoid the super polite approach. If they're in a mood to lecture, I simply reply "I understand, now write me the ticket please." If they go on, I repeat the phrase. I've never had one make it past the third repetition.

The last semi-hostile confrontation, I can't repeat verbatim because of language and it wasn't a traffic stop. My wife and her sister had a breakdown in our then Passat, coming up Governors Drive - on New Year's Eve during rush hour. When I saw them, just below the overlook, for you locals, I pulled into the middle lane and, instants later, I was airborne and sideways, in a Ford Explorer. I survived, probably because I was in a mid-90s Explorer with the old live axle, so I had a lot of steel between me and the kid who hit me, in an Explorer of the same vintage. He was 16, on his first solo drive and phoning home. His explanation was that his car pulled right and he looked over to see the wreck (my wife's car - no wreck).

Condensing, they kept me away from the kid. A cop offered me a ride home. My wife went with the car. Midway back up to our home on Monte Sano, he decided he would lecture me. It wasn't pretty after that. He was badly mistaken as to what the law was (not unusual with frontline LEOs) and obviously didn't like lawyers anyway (most of them don't). It finally ended with my thanking him at my driveway for the lift and advising him to keep his mouth shut about the law when he didn't know what he was talking about. Most of the rest of it is unprintable. I was in shock and not in a mood to be messed with. If it had been my wife alone, I would have been dead and you all wouldn't have been having to put up with me the last several years...
 

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