Cop

[bobquasit]

Last week Teri started taking a Tai Chi class with her mother on Monday nights. The schedule is complicated; she has to pick Sebastian up first, then pick me up, then drive straight to the class. I was going to drive Sebastian back home for dinner, and her mother would drive her home.

But Sebastian was starving, so instead of going home I took him to Tennessee's, a barbecue place near the class. I'd been there long ago, and they'd been pretty good.

But that was long ago. The place was completely different this time - more like a bar, and less like a real barbecue place. The food was okay, but just okay; it certainly didn't compare to Blue Ribbon BBQ, which is the gold standard as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, we finished in time to go back and meet Teri as she finished her class. We set off for home.

We were taking back roads, and there was hardly any traffic. Teri was hungry, but she wasn't going really fast. Unfortunately she spotted the cop too late. We were doing about 45 in a 30 zone, so it wasn't surprising when he pulled out and put on his lights.

Sebastian was scared. I was angry. Teri took it very calmly.

He kept us sitting for a long time, and finally came to the window. I was impressed at how calm Teri was.

"What's the rush?" he asked. I don't like cops, and I consider most of them to be arrogant thugs, but even I was surprised at how rude the guy was (and so was Teri).

"Just tired and trying to get home quickly," Teri answered.

He talked a bit more, and after he took her license and registration Teri and I discussed it, quietly; he seemed really nasty, and we were both pretty sure that we were going to get a ticket.

But when he came back, his attitude was totally different. He was actually polite! Told us that the ticket would have been $150, but he was going to let us off with a verbal warning.

Weird.

Sebastian behaved himself throughout, although he was pretty nervous.

Comments

[tonysalieri.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I've met very few cops on the road who are professionally courteous. Funny enough, the ones who had me dead to rights were the nicest, and usually let me off.

The last time I got pulled over was in April, for something that totally wasn't my fault at all. The guy was trying to pin all sorts of additional charges on me, as if he knew he couldn't make what he was trying to get on me stick. (I was in an intersection, and was turning left as the light changed.) The irony was that the guy swung wildly into traffic, causing far more of a hazzard than I could have possibly done.

Long story short, I had a witness at the time, contested it in court, and got the charge dropped very quickly.

But yeah, most cops these days are essentially the asshole bullies from high school who became police so that they could legally push people around and get off on power trips. It's sad, because the police are public servants who should be held up to far, far higher standards.

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

I think of most cops as an official gang with a license to carry guns and shoot anyone they feel like. Certainly they've never helped me when I needed it. "There's nothing we can do" seems to be the first phrase in the police lexicon.

I had a positive experience...

[happypete.livejournal.com]

a contractor took our deposit and made no bona fide effort to start the work. I had his original signature on the contract and a paper trail of my efforts to resolve the issue.

I expected to be told to take him to civil court, but this officer actually researched the relevant law, determined the statute that had been violated, and that there was sufficient evidence to pursue it.

The fact that the guy got a criminal charge instead of a civil suit--including a restitution order--is the only reason we got our money back.

[moonlitmagik.livejournal.com]

lucky!! i have only been pulled over once and i was only speeding 12 mph over the limit on the interstate and the guy acted like i committed murder and i ended up with 180 in tickets

[klyfix.livejournal.com]

It's possible that he realized that he was being annoying, or his attitude was because of something they were looking out for.

Hmm. Ya know, pretty much every time I've dealt with police they've been professional and polite. I'd like to think I radiate a Psychic Field of Niceness, but I've certainly had negative encounters with other types of people. Then again, really not all that many. Huh. Maybe that's my Secret Mutant Power. :)

[goddessgrrrrl.livejournal.com]

I second what klyfix here says... Most of my dealings with cops have been fairly positive. Usually, they seem to want to help me. Don't ask me why- I do look fairly conservative (kind of a hoot, given my politics, huh?).

I was actually thinking there may have been a case of mistaken identity involved with your experience. He may have been looking for someone with a car similar to yours, or heard about someone going through the area who would be trying to slip through. Once he got all the facts together, maybe he realized you guys weren't who he was looking for.

At least, that's the scenario that comes to mind.