Omiak

Ever heard of Rodney King? If you think corrupt police officers don't last long in law enforcement you're living in a dream world.

raqball

Or maybe you've watched one to many movies????

Omiak

If you must know I was mainly speaking from my experience filing a complaint against an apathetic police officer who told me that intentionally hitting a cyclist with a motor vehicle was "not a crime" when I tried to report it. Complaint process went absolutely nowhere. Police report was never filed in a case that was clearly assault etc.

That and having personally witnessed on multiple occasions police brutality against people asserting their first amendment right to assemble peaceably.

Anyway, this argument seems like a lost cause. I'm done here.

Jseis 

Ditto here. I wear the DL, insurance card, & contact info (+ 3 $20's) in a light plastic case around my neck under my jersey (one of the those convention ID necklace thingies).

The two time I've been stopped were both for "infractions". The first was riding from the Winslow ferry dock up to a friends house. We'd taken a ferry from Seattle at sunset and by the time we left the Winslow dock it was dark. The town cop stopped us, chewed us out for not having lights (1976...headlight choices were not good) and made us walk the 1/4 mile to the house. The second time was on a 2 lane road transition to a controlled access freeway in Ottawa. We never saw the sign (if it even existed) at the transition point (it was like "say what?" and the highway patrolman pulled us over, read us the riot act and made us walk off the freeway (I still shake my head at that one...the off ramp was 1/2 mile up and we were already planning to leave the freeway).

Bottom line? Any officer can observe you for 5 minutes and likely find a legit reason (particularly in an urban environment) however minor, to pull you over.

spare_wheel

i'm indignant that you would suggest that the police might profile citizens and then trump up an excuse to stop them.

spare_wheel

If an officer has to stalk a citizen (could be harassment or profiling depending on context) for 5 minutes to find a so-called legit reason "to pull [them] over" then they violating their oath. The Department of Justice has sanctioned countless local law enforcement agencies because they engaged in this type of behavior in a discriminatory manner.

If a sworn officer of the law were to do this to me I would come down on them like a load of bricks.

raqball

Wrong.. It's not profiling unless you add other factors and it's not stalking.. Stalking? Hahahahaha

Thanks for the laugh.. That was great!

Retired2013

KGood,

Not trying to pile on. But, attitude and respect goes a long way in how one is treated in life. I have not idea who was right or wrong in your case. But, in my experience I always defer to the man with the weapon - even if I think he is wrong. If you felt so strongly about this - why didn't you refuse to give him any id - as you would of had your day in court! This is a lesson in life. Hang in there and keep pedaling.

spare_wheel

i think it's sad that you find potential police misconduct funny. sadly this kind of attitude is not uncommon among le.
it's a little less common after a police department has been investigated and sanctioned by the doj.

Civil Rights Division Home Page


people like me:
File a Commendation / Complaint - ON LINE
led to this:
USDOJ: Justice Department and the City of Portland, Ore., Jointly File Court Enforceable Agreement to Reform Portland Police Bureau’s Use of Force Practices

i know that le loves to act as if they are above the law, but they are not.

eastbay71

Cops in my neck of the woods are lazy underpaid obese neanderthals looking to vent some pent up aggression.

Let's look at some Bureau of Labor 2012 statistics.
Police in San Jose, Ca the closest city to me, require a high school diploma or GED to be accepted. Their median wage is $56,130 with a starting wage of $32,670 and a 90th percentile wage of $90,700.
Software Developers require a bachelor's degree or associates degree. Their median wage is $92,660 with a starting wage of $55,770 and a 90th percentile wage of $143,540.

The calculated living wage for San Jose is $15.78/hr Which translates to $31,560. So starting wage for San Jose police is near poverty level and if your lucky you may climb to the median wage of the Software Developers. But you probably won't. Conservatives and tea partiers have decided that its Socialism to pay taxes. Unfortunately taxes pay for our roads and public services so these have been cut to the bone. Maybe if the right valued the service provided by the police they wouldn't refuse to pay for it and we could raise the salary for police and they can attract some good candidates. It until then I can't think of many reasons to become a cop. The Supreme Court ruled that they are not required to protect the citizens, only to enforce the law so that whole I want to serve my community thing is BS. Cops are kids that were bullies and want to continue to bully.

eastbay71

If I remember correctly Raqball is a cop or used to be a cop. So read his posts with a grain of salt. His opinion is the Law Enforcement perspective. I believe that law enforcement types have done more to ruin this country since 9-11 then pretty much any force in America's history. They have no regard for people's personal rights and freedoms and believe we should all just do what they say like sheep. Sorry I'm an American. I'm a veteran. I served to protect my rights and yours. I question authority. I stand for my rights.

Those who surrender freedom for security will not have either one - Benjamin Franklin

muzpuf

Rodney king was a perfect reason to comply with police instructions ...............they kept telling him to stay down ....and he kept trying to get up ............................ how many more times did poor Rodney king get in trouble with the law after that day (arrested 7-8 more times) .........and how is he today (dead of drug overdose)

wphamilton

I don't agree with Raqball much in this thread but I sure don't see any reason to associate him with whatever anyone is complaining about. Expressing opinions is fine by me, but my opinion is that the cumulative cop-bashing is getting to be a little over the top.

zymphad

I see this too often. At the very least if don't have lights, should wear a reflector vest. Just think about yourself, have to remember this is when drunk idiots are driving. Hope you got lights now

Really?!?!?

Plenty of evidence out there that an officer won't even have to look for a reason. May just keep the person and hold them until person does something, like brush hand away or try to move away and then officer has a reason to throw person to the ground. All they have to do is be patient until the person becomes emotional and exasperated and do something dumb.
- I'm not trying to bash police, just being realistic, this happens far more frequently than I expected.

spare_wheel

sarcasm.

GP

If you go to the SJPD website there are several pictures of their officers. They don't look obese to me. You seem to be a stat guy so do you have any stats to back up your claim?

zymphad

Hypervigiliance is no better. Cyclist riding home at 2AM is suspicious behavior? Cyclist fixing his lights is suspicious behavior? If police stopped everyone on such menial behavior, people should be upset.

This is not the same as police stopping a burglary in process... Don't see why people are saying can't have both. You can have both. Police should do their job and protect property. Police shouldn't profile and assume and stop everyone they want to and harass them...

Also around here, property ends at the street. If OP was a foot away in the street, I don't see how that's trespassing, sounds like cop was making up threats. Which is harassment. Unless where OP lives, people can own part of a public road? That would be interesting.

Eh, it's more likely for me to see a fat cop than a fit cop in the entire state of MA. Overall, the average weight of cops seem t be tipping the scale more than the average population. Overall I consider cops in MA to be obese, not fat, obese.

squirtdad

On the rare occaisons you see a fat SJPD member, if you check details you will find that they are most likely a reserve officer. All the active SJPD cops I have known are trim and fit....and very few of them are tall.

zymphad

Then SJPD are exemplary and they ought to hold seminars for police across the nation on how to remain trim and fit. In Boston, there are "Special Operations" cops so fat they can't walk, they waddle.

squirtdad

Eastbay71...... based on your obvious bias I think the "read with a grain of salt" would apply.

I simply don't get the cop bashing in this thread. Sure there are some idiot bad cops......just like there are idiot bad cyclists. And in both cases they are not the majority.

My dealings with cops have been minimal but I have never had a problem/issue with the interaction.

I have known socially a fair number of cops and with one exception they have not been psychos.

It also pretty easy for cops in san jose to significantly up their income with overtime and 'Pay jobs" (the cops you see directing traffic at construction are being paid by the contractor, not the city

raqball

For the record I've never said I was a police officer.. I said I was retired Law Enforcement. I didn't specify if I was City, County, State or Federal..

I've also not asked what others have chosen as their profession.. Trust me, it would be pretty easy to find bad people in every single profession that there is.. Law Enforcement is NO exception..

Lastly I am 6" 1" and weigh 185lbs. I guess if that makes me obese and causes me to waddle then so be it...

eastbay71

Right! Because pictures posted on the internet capture the way real life is. They never use models. They never use photoshop. They only use the first person they see when taking the picture. Your argument lacks logic.

casio04330

never give them your ID, just ask "Sir am i being detained or am i free to go?"

raqball

Stellar advise...

Are you paying their bail????

casio04330

they can't arrest you for that.. i do it all the time...