Odd experiences with cops?

[Celebration]

As a white female, I don't have a lot to share here, but I have had a couple of experiences with cops that I thought were a bit over the top. Well, I have more than that, but won't go into the one psycho cop that was notorious for being psycho with all traffic offenders, no matter race, color, gender, creed.

1. I grew up in a quite affluent suburb with its own police force. When a teenager (new driver), I was driving my dad's old car that I was gifted. It was at least 10 years old but probably more, LOL. I stopped at a stop sign, and turned, I think. I was stopped by a cop, who asked for my driver's license and said I did not come to a complete stop at the stop sign. Once he saw that I was a resident of the affluent suburb, he let me off with a warning. At the time, I thought, hmmm, what if my driver's license had shown a different address? I got no ticket because of the address on the driver's license. I could tell he was shocked that someone driving that car actually lived in that neighborhood. The irony!! I loved that car!!

2. After my parents died, my husband and I were taking some furniture of theirs back to our house, about 800 miles away, using a Hertz rental truck. Hubby was in the Hertz truck and I was following right behind him in our car. We were on I-40 in Arkansas, and a state trooper cut in front of me. We were going about 60 mph. I thought wtf??? So when my husband stopped after the siren started going, the state trooper stopped too, and I stopped behind them. State trooper was surprised and not loving that. It was before cell phones or I would have been filming it. His contention was that my husband's Hertz truck was weaving. Oh, come on!!! It was not weaving!! I was right behind it. So then the dude has the nerve to ask us to 1. see our rental agreement, and 2. look in the back of the rental truck!! Oh, wtf, we had the rental agreement and opened the back of the truck which of course produced NOTHING for the cop-- just a bunch of old furniture. A total annoyance for us and we felt completely discriminated against because we had the nerve to rent a truck and drive it on an interstate within a few hundred miles of the Mexican border. In the end, he gave us no ticket and said something like "Well it must have been the wind so I won't give you a ticket." The wind at the time was about average.

So, I felt discriminated against because of the make and model of my car and because of renting a truck!! And it pissed me off both times, even though we had no real consequences other than slight inconvenience. I cannot imagine how it must feel to have to endure this on a regular basis, with actual consequences. In either case my outcome could have been different. The moral of my particular tale is to 1. have the right address, and 2. allow the cop to search things that he has no right to search. And if we had been Latino or black? And tried to assert our rights? OMG!!

[hexola]

1. The PennState police pulled up next to us and asked "Are you looking for a pig?"

I'm not kidding...I thought I was on Candid Camera or something (I am a male with LONG hair)

Turns out someone had lost a pot bellied pig - and had called the police...

[Celebration]

2. LOL!!

What a funny story...................

Hope the pig was found! Of course!

[Celebration]

3. really my oddest experience with cops

Was when our burglar alarm went off in the middle of the night and our whole system said it was disconnected. It was at a time when there was a notorious "cat burglar" in our general neighborhood. My daughter's dog slept through the whole thing. Another fact was that the helicopters had been over our neighborhood earlier in the evening.

I got a rookie cop that was obviously in training, plus maybe a supervisor and some other person. They supposedly investigated this occurence in the middle of the night. They were extremely nice and respectful...........AND incompetent. They were about to write a report about a false alarm when I knew I had to investigate myself. THEN I found the disconnected alarm location and they finally changed their report to an attempted break in.

It turns out that earlier on they had actually been chasing this infamous break in person right in our neighborhood. Later it was discovered that he had been hiding out in someone's shed and later tried to break into our house, only to encounter the burglar alarm. The next day we saw one of our lawn chairs up against our fence in the back yard. I was lazy and didn't move it back to the patio right away. A day later someone from our local news channel begged to interview me on camera. I humored them only because I had recently written an article for magazine and had a terrible time trying to get interviews. So, there I was, pointing out the lawn chair, our house that needed painting, etc. Then I thought maybe they hired cops that weren't so smart. Oh my gosh, that reminds me of yet ANOTHER experience with a cop that deserves its own post.

PS: I did not mention on TV that I had to figure out myself that a break in occurred.

[TheKentuckian]

4. By odd do you mean helpful, beneficial, professional, and even handed?

A few times and if it all went like that the discussion would be different. Getting a deserved ticket and being told to slow down is a billion lightyears from the problem.

I guess some folks haven't been through the shakedowns, ignored complaints, the threats, guns pointed at your head at point blank range, made up petty charges just to harass a person to missing pay or burning vacation time to fight it and obviously none of us lucky folks have been just lynched for shits and giggles by the bastards, though some may have actually been blasted on and lived.

[Celebration]

5. I mean "off"

In any way, for whatever reason, no matter the consequences, just showing that something was going on that wasn't quite right, by our own perceptions at the time.

How did we handle it, and how could outcomes have been different under different circumstances?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. After a hard day's work I was on my way to my favorite dive for a drink in downtown Long Beach

On busy E. Anaheim Street at night there was a black man lying down in and rolling across the lanes of traffic, with cars trying to avoid him. About a half block away, I saw a black and white stopped in front of a, that's right, an all-night donut shop. I pulled up to the police car and described what I had seen. One of the cops shrugged and took a gulp of coffee, while the other cop mumbled as he swallowed his donut saying "what do you expect us to do about it?"

My first real case as an attorney involved my prosecution of the work comp case of Mr. Charles J__________, a former police officer who was black. The officer had suffered a knee injury after a fall while chasing a suspect and for this he sought workers' compensation from the City of Los Angeles, which I prosecuted on his behalf. I hadn't prepared or filed the case (I was a mere Associate attorney in my boss' office).and I had to show up in downtown L.A. for trial. i had never met Mr. J_________. He had also added a "psyche" component to his case in addition to the physical injury to the knee. This meant that he was claiming psychological distress from the job. On the witness stand, Officer J________ began listing incredible event after incredible event, like smelling dead bodies he had to remove from the water days after death, with body parts falling off or caving in, along with several dangerous encounters with gang members or even fellow officers. He'd described run-ins with a white officer who he was convinced wanted to kill him and on one occasion had discharged his weapon at him "by accident". After several minutes of this testimony, he began seeing things in front of his eyes and began violently waving his walking cane in the air, standing up, and striking things around the room. He hit the judge's bench several times, forcing the judge to run at a full gallop back to his chambers, all the while wailing a high-pitched wail at the top of his lungs. Great experience for my first case. The judge permanently recused himself, claiming a heart condition and the case didn't make it back on the calendar to continue the trial for about a year and a half. Fortunately, the case was settled shortly after. My boss was on pins and needles for the entire year and a half the case was off calendar, as the ex-cop kept calling and making threats, blaming us for the delay.

A few years later, I worked in another law office in which a cop turned attorney was one of the partners. He would describe how excited he would get, his heart pounding in his chest every time he was on a call in his patrol car with his partner, the gumball lights flashing and the siren blaring, heading to a serious crime scene. He missed being a cop but he had had to retire after a serious back injury. He was convinced that he had major psychic powers. He felt that he had solved several cases as a patrolman by using his special powers. One example he gave was his premonition that a BofA that had frequently been robbed in broad daylight would get knocked over. He'd seen the event in his mind before it had occurred. So on the day his psychic images had told him it would happen, he took some time off and sat in his private car in civilian clothes waiting for the gang to hit the BofA, which of course they did, right on time. He received some kind of commendation and he swore that he had then gone on to solve several other cases with his mind.

[Celebration]

8. These certainly qualify as odd experiences

Lazy cops in the first case. Probably burned out too. Disgusting!

Glad that second one was settled. Whew!

With the cop turned attorney, he either had psychic powers and didn't understand how to disguise that from his skeptical colleagues, or he was a complete delusional nutcase. Was he able to predict the outcome of his cases? Maybe he should have concentrated on picking juries, based on his powers, LOL.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. I don't know if it's just me

and the luck of the draw with the police officers I happen to meet, professionally or otherwise, but I would say a significant portion seem to have mental issues of one kind or another. I'm not a mental health pro and it's just my personal judgement. Their unstable behavior could result from stress from the job or maybe it's people with issues who are drawn to the work, like guys with the need to feel power over others or thrill-seekers who love the rush of potential violence.

[Celebration]

17. even if this wasn't true in general

I do think it is commonplace for cops to lie in court, plant evidence, etc. Most people would probably be shocked if there was a way to get accurate statistics on that.

[Beringia]

7. I have only had good experiences with cops

I know it could have been different easily if I were not a white female.

On the other hand, I have had problems with doctors who I have worked for, several real assholes.

But also many kind, serious, good doctors.

[Celebration]

18. oh, yes

We could start an "odd experiences with doctors" threads. I probably would post.

[Vattel]

9. I have had many bad experiences with cops.

Once I was trying to prevent a family of ducks from getting hit by a car in a busy highway that they were crossing to get to the upper Newport Bay. I had parked my car illegally because I felt there was no time to find a legal space, but it was not interfering with anything or anyone. A cop pulls up and tells me I have to move my car immediately. I explain to him that this would mean that there may soon be dead ducks or ducklings on the road, but he demanded immediate action. (Luckily I spotted a legal space quickly and managed to get back in time to get the ducks to safety.)

One kind of funny story was the cop who pulled me over for no apparent reason, and when I asked why he told me it was because of the parking tag hanging from my rearview mirror which could obstruct my vision. So I asked him if I should take it down and he replied, "Nah, no one will give you a ticket for it."

In that case and several others I can only assume that I was pulled over because of how I look. (e.g., I had purple hair for awhile). I always get bullshit excuses.

[Celebration]

13. you are so kind!

How could a cop not care about ducks?

My son in law is a firefighter and he had to save some ducklings out of a drainage ditch once. Mama duck and kid whose father called the firemen were very appreciative!

[frogmarch]

11. In the mid 1970s during an AIM “uprising”

we – me ‘n’ Mr. froggy and our three young kids - were living in Edgemont, South Dakota and had driven the 25 miles to Hot Springs to visit Mr. froggy’s parents. When we arrived at their house, I realized I was running low on baby formula for our baby son, so I hopped back in the car and headed to the drug store. I thought it odd that in every vehicle I met, I saw only Native Americans.

I parked across the street from the drugstore, and as I was walking over to it I noticed bunches of white men, some in lawman uniforms, on the store roofs, pointing rifles at all of us down below. “All of us” consisted of a milling group of Lakota – mostly men – and me, plus lots of passing cars and pickup trucks from Pine Ridge.

Back then, I had a mouth on me and also an attitude, and I hollered up something like, “Put those down! What the hell are you doing?” Some guy from the top of J.C. Penneys hollered back at me down the barrel of his gun, “Get home, lady!”

I yelled something back -I don't remember what exactly, but I was angry - and then a middle-aged Lakota man patted me on the arm and told me quietly that I might as well do what the roof guy had said and go home, since all the stores were closed.

Besides having a mouth on me and an attitude, I was also pathetically out of the loop and asked why they were closed. He shrugged, but I’m sure he knew why. I said I needed to buy Similac for my baby, and he told me Dick’s Super might be open and have it. I thanked him and drove to Dick’s.

It was closed. The trip to Dick’s wasn’t wasted, though, because there was a gathering of Lakota in the parking lot, and I talked with them for a while and learned a lot.

[Celebration]

14. interesting

Your parents sound like they were out of the loop too. Did you ever find some formula?

[frogmarch]

20. Yes, mr. froggy's parents

were out of the loop too. All of us knew about AIM and their periodic so-called "uprisings," but we hadn't heard about this demonstration ahead of time. I'd never seen one, so I didn't know that's what it was. I'm still friends with some of the Lakota people I met that day, and the daughter of one of them married my elder son. In 1976 Mr. froggy and I, along with our kids, went to Hill City in the Black Hills and walked with the Lakota to Mt. Rushmore. What a wonderful and unforgettable experience it was.

I was able to buy Similac when we went back to Edgemont. The stores didn't close there, but at night the bars turned their lights off and patrons had to drink crouched down on the floor or under the tables.

[KinMd]

15. The truth is, especially if you eliminate traffic stops

most of us have very little interaction with the police

[Celebration]

19. the best experience that I had with a cop

Is when he came in response to a break in at my house. Someone had kicked in the door and stolen my purse in the middle of the night. Turned out he was a cop to make money while he took classes at the law school, or something like that. He was a short term policeman, and I felt sad for the profession.

Our city is having some fiscal issues due to pensions, the 2008 crash, etc. So lately other cities have been coming in and hiring away our best officers. Sad.

[Celebration]

16. this takes the cake for being a head scratcher!

This has to do with a conversation I had with a "top brass" person in our police department.

My daughter and her family were driving under a viaduct at a very major intersection in our city. It is a pretty rough area, and not well lit, and there are lots of rocks around. Some kid thought it would be a good idea to throw a large rock through the car window. My grandson was inside the car. Thankfully nobody was hurt. They called the police but all they could do at that point was take some poor homeless guy to the police station.

Next day, the same thing happened to another car! So the police went out again and could not find the perpetrators. They did NOT stake it out, they did NOT set up any warnings, they did NOT call the news stations. Word of mouth was all we had to try to get the word out on this. I was enraged at this point. Finally I started a Facebook group about the incident, and called the newspaper.

All weekend long people were being hit by rocks at the same intersection. There must have been six or seven incidents. Each time the police would respond but it took a couple of days to find the kids. At that point they said they didn't have all that much evidence against them and would probably have to reduce the charges.

I had written to our neighborhood email group about the incident, because I wanted to warn them against driving there. I described the odd non action of the police, and someone told me I needed to call the captain of the precinct. So I did!

By the time I talked to this captain, the kids had been caught. By this time someone had posted to my Facebook group that he had been hit by a rock, and that he had later come back and chased the kids, who were on bicycles. So when the captain told me he had no witnesses, I said, yes you do, and he posted to my Facebook group. He went ballistic. I think he was mortified that 1. I had a witness and he didn't and 2. He had no idea how to find Facebook or a Facebook group. He had absolutely no explanation for why he had not moved to protect the citizens other than "not enough resources." This was an active threat and someone could have gotten killed! He just didn't seem to get the idea of something being an active threat vs. patrolling every overpass in town. The area should have been staked out 24/7. And if there is a Facebook group with a witness out it, really don't you think you could learn how to use a computer?

Then about a week later I decided to use my photography skills to do some photojournalism in the area. The area and the rocks under the viaduct needed cleaning up. My husband and I parked the car and walked over the viaduct, on a sidewalk. At the very top of the viaduct, over the rushing traffic, in the middle of the sidewalk was a large rock. It had obviously been taken there by someone, ready to drop on traffic. The police had not even seen this, obviously. I took photos of it but decided it was safer to remove the evidence than tell the police about it.

Later on this Captain was forced to quit due to suspicion of graft/corruption. I personally think he was too stupid to even know what graft and corruption were. Later I moved out of the city and into a suburb. Blame me?

[mulsh]

21. Down the street from my parents house lived a fairly well known, violent teenaged repeat offender.

He was truly disturbed, violent, but just smart enough to constantly think of dumb criminal stuff to do with his time. Including spending part of his time actively trying to kill me and my brother.

From my early teen age years until my mid-twenties every time I had an interaction with a local cop and he read the address on my ID the conversation would go like this:

cop: I see you live...parent's address.
me: yes I do
cop: do you know... Mr. Psycho Punk/loser?
me: yes and I hate the S.O.B.
cop: Mr. Mulsh, and your friends, can you step over here.
Handing my ID back the cops would say "I"m letting you go. I know you won't do what ever dumb/criminal thing I caught you doing again. I want you to take a message to Mr. Psycho Punk/loser..."

This happened in every bay area county with local cops and sheriffs including Salinas and Clear Lake. The message was ways the same, "stay our of my jurisdiction or suffer the consequences." Mr.Psycho Punk/loser finally did a series of stupid crimes ending when he pulled a knife on two bailiffs while riding a court house elevator to his arraignment. Which should give you some idea of how bright this guy was.

[Celebration]

22. yikes

Truly frightening...........so sorry you had to grow up like that.