Police Confrontations
 

I’m not sure if there’s a place where we’re supposed to post up incidents with the Poe Leece, but I figured those who’d be interested would be in the fixed-gear forum.

Late Nov I got my first fixed conversion. With school and everything I wasn’t able to go for a ride until later in the evening. I’m sure everyone knows that excitement and anticipation before their first ride on a new bike. I was giddy as hell and having a great time so I road down to downtown San Diego. I cruised by all the bars and what not and started my way back. I was headed back up 6th street on my way to Balboa Park. When I cop drove the opposite way. I wear a headlamp so she could see me look at her. She drove down to the end of the light where I saw her make a u-turn. She drove up beside me and the following clash ensued.

5.0- excuse me can I ask you to pull over.
Me- uh ok. What’s the problem?
5.0 – nothing I just want to see blah blah.
Me – (now stopped) ok is there a problem? What did I do?
5.0 – (asks the 5 w’s from inside the car). Then says “you’re acting pretty nervous”
me- yeah cause I’m being pulled over by the cops.
5.0 – gets out and shines the light in my face.
Me- ooooh sorry.
5.0 – yeah you better be sorry. I’ve been an officer for 15 years and I’ve seen blah blah blah.
Me- ok ok. But I don’t see a problem, what did I do?!
5.0- I told you what you did, it’s late at night and you’re acting nervous. You know I can call backup and then 8 officers will be here and then you’ll have a real problem spending a night in jail.

After that I played along as she handcuffed me, emptied my pockets with rubber gloves, went through my wallet and frisked me. I thought my best line of the night was when she asked for the fifteenth time “Do you do heroine or have any hypodermic needles on you.”

“No ma’am that’s not my thing. I ride bikes.”

My fixed-gear debut could not have been better.

that certainly doesn't sound legal.

Glad to see SD's Finest haven't changed since I fled that hellhole.

My first day In Boise a bike cop rolls up on wifey and me downtown.
"Hey, are those fixed-wheel bikes?"
"(Gulp) Uh, yeah"
"Wow, no brakes, huh?"
"(Gulp) Uh, no"
"Man, you guys are tougher than me. Take it easy" Pulls away with a big grin.

Awesome.

How old are you? and of course, what color is your skin?

I could have written EXACTLY what you did in that original post when I was a teenager. Used to happen to me a lot, and I was very straight edge and law abiding.

Spent a lot of time face down on concrete handcuffed for looking 'nervous', but still never gotten a ticket or been arrested in my life.


Hasnt happened to me a single time since i turned 20.

IF she did find heroin, most likely couldn't have done anything about it. sucks.

i kinda get scared carrying around green stuff in the city, evne for 5 minutes. 1) i've been arrested already for it and came out scot-free after fines, ''court fees'' (aka more fines) and **** 2) you never know when a cop in nyc will decide to pull you over for running a light or something, especially if they think you're a punk who could be a drug delivery dude...then you're ****ed.

yeah seriously that same stuff used to happen to me and all of my friends all the time. totally bogus but it's just one of those things.

i've been stopped more times in the past year at my school than i can count.
most of them are just "hey, get that thing back on the sidewalk!" or "why'd you run that yellow light?"

**** the cops. they're lucky none have really pissed me off yet or there'd be a pile of dead piggies up to the clouds.

I spent last year living in Italy and one day on my commute a cop pulled me over to say "bella bicicletta".

the trouble with police forces nation wide is that there's no one who polices them except other police. you can't really have a free country unless youi have that.

and people wonder why cops get a bad rep.

also, she must have pretty good vision to see you "looking nervous" at night as she drives by you in the opposite direction.

riding a bike is NOT probable cause.

Cops don't need probable cause to pull someone over. They need reasonable suspicion.
Being in an area known for drug activity at night on a bike would be enough reasonable suspicion to warrant an officer pulling someone over to find out if anything was going on. Nothing was, so no arrest. Yes, the officer bluffed, get over it.
If there were police to police the police who would police the police who police the police? And people complain about wasteful government now...

Yeah, that was illegal. Unless she felt that you posed a threat to her (acting nervous doesn't count - everyone gets nervous), she has no right to search you without consent. The first thing you want to ask in a situation like this is, "Am I free to go?" If you get a reply other than "No," leave.

Ive tried it. got nowhere fast.

but yeah, it works on TV i guess.

Another good phrase to use is "Are you holding me against my will?".

I had my headlamp, a rear red light and was in the street. She let me go when she didn't find any "knives, drugs etc."

The best part was when she told me that if I wasn't mean there wouldn't be a problem next time.

I can see the headline:
"20 yr. old man arrested for acting nervous and looking mean. Bikers beware!"

why is it I always see stories like this??

I work graveyard and get off around 2 or 3 am and have cut cops off ran red lights and stop signs right in front of them and never had a problem but there is this one

jerky bike cop in capitol park I have to look out for he will right you a ticket for looking funny

You are a martyr. When you die, we'll paint your picture on a wall.

Yeah, you know there's a former crack house next to that church on 6th just north of the freeway? Also, lots of homeless like to camp on that corner of Balboa Park. Maybe she was a rookie that has something to prove, and you being in that neighborhood gave her (im)probable cause.

You don't need police to police the police. You need an armed citizenry - be it with guns or some other form of controlling power.

A friend was riding the streets at dusk on his BMX a while back when a cop pulls him over and says "It's getting dark out. Does your mom know you're riding at night?" This guy's easily 20 years old and studying at the university, so he asks the cop "You DO realize that adults ride bikes too, right?" Officer didn't know how to respond and apologetically let him go. Funniest bike story I've heard in a while. I just wish adults riding bikes didn't carry an unusual stigma.

That happened to me once on a 3AM smoke run in my neighbourhood. The cops were pretty rude, even worse than in the OP's case. I'm still kind of annoyed about it but just about all my other interactions with the oinkers, oops, cops have been fine. So I try not to tar em all with the same brush, they do help keep civilization from collapsing and all that.

Too little info to say if it was illegal or not. If she's cuffed him, she has the right to perform a "cursory search" of his person for her own safety for weapons or disposable evidence (drugs). A bag or vehicle would probably not fly. The bag maybe, if she thought you were a courier. In most states, private citizens have a similar right to search for weapons if they've lawfully executed a citizen's arrest, which is why private security can search your person if they arrest you for shoplifting... all under the pretext that the person making the arrest, if it's lawful, has a right to take measures to secure their safety. Now, the parameters for a lawful arrest are a lot looser for a sworn peace officer, so unless there is proof of some sort of discrimination or habitual behavior from this officer, I doubt there'd be much recourse. Unless you know Johnny Cochrane or something. But if the OP feels like he was treated unfairly, he should've gotten a badge # (I prefer to read the badge, not ask for it) and filed a complaint with the dept.

Cops are scared too. They don't like losing control of a situation, so any kind of attitude or resistance seldom works in anyone's favor. They particularly hate it if you answer questions with questions. That's a great way to get on their crabby side.

power-drunk dickholes. pure and simple. and no one to stop them.