COP/SNORKEL story

[Ralph]

Don't use the bullhorn to inquire about my rig, just ask me.
I don't need the stress.
If he wants someone to talk to so bad he can go extort a prostitute.
No one sends someone to my office to talk to me all day.
Thats why I have all of you.

I always wondered what you looked like. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bgcntry72]

Again...

Being pulled over is one thing, but to order me back to the cruiser over the P.A. system like I am wearing a vest of hot dogs and wire is another thing entirely.
Have a nice day, in a nation with less liberties.
Hasta.

 

[TC]

I dunno BG, after meeting you I figured your kids probably expect to see you pulled over from time to time. I can picture them yelling "Use the stick! Use the stick! TC

 

[biscuitboy87]

treading the fine line

if a cop pulls you over and is only curious about your jeep, it would seem to me a good time to educate and make friends. if you ever cross paths again you'll probably get the ol' get out of jail free treatment, which is better than getting the citation...say for speeding. i'm sure we've all experienced some sort of power trip from those who carry the badge...but you gotta roll with it.
if the kids were in the car...well...i cant comment on that cuz i dont have kids...it would piss me off tho...

 

[dogtired]

I wonder what he would have asked this Jeeper?
Pic Two Pic Three

awww right, I'll bite... just what the freakin heck is those two red things stickin out of the hood of that Jeep? :huh:

missles? :viking:

 

[wek91xj]

my guess would be that he dropped a new engine of somt sort in there and put some exaust stack up there haha

 

[RNMedic]

I dunno BG, after meeting you I figured your kids probably expect to see you pulled over from time to time. I can picture them yelling "Use the stick! Use the stick! TC

:roll:
:roflmao: :clap:

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Well, I'll offer up my take on this subject and speak from 13 years of being a Cop ig: (aka "doughnut puncher").

First, Scott - Dude, you need to chill and enjoy life brutha! You must have some serious hate issues. But, I agree with you about your "core" issue. The Cop was very wrong for stopping that person for a non-Law Enforcement reason.

Beez, I don't think you're giving that cop enough credit - I'm SURE he saw right through you and realized that a ticket wouldn't get yer dander up. He perfectly determined that a mind-numbing, time wasting social interaction would be fitting punishment! :clap: :moon:

Eagle and some others were dead on about how to handle the situation - write a letter to the Cop's Supervisor. I am a Sergeant with a Sheriff's Department and I would never approve of one of my guys doing what that Cop did. The letter should not be written out of anger or accusation, but simply to inform that you didn't appreciate being "made" to stop for a non-enforcement reason.

There simply is no excuse for a Cop to use his "powers" just to satisfy his personal curiosity. He took away that person's freedom - just for a moment, but he created a situation that wasn't voluntary by using the police lights. And it's a whole 'nuther thing to make that person to get out of their vehicle - especially by using the P.A. :nono:

What he shoulda done was pull along side at a traffic light and ask him if he'd be willing to talk about his jeep for a moment - kinda informal-like. That way, there's no question about his intentions, the person has the ability to choose wether or not to talk to the Cop, and a cool public relations situation can take place. :thumbup:

 

[Eagle]

Yellaheep, actually I was opposed to going the complaint route.

I agree that the officer was out of line, but it doesn't sound like he actually harrassed the person, just chose an inappropriate way to initiate a conversation. As a veteran officer, what's your take on the capacity of officers to "get even"? Maybe you have a different breed of police officers out west, but around here if this situation involved me and I complained, I am 110% certain that I would be targeted for "additional enforcement" for a long, long time. It's not right, it's not fair, and it's not legal, but that's the mentality of the cops around here.

Of course, they don't practice racial profiling around here, either.

 

[GSequoia]

I think that would depend a lot on the indivitual department Eagle. For instance, Torrance (where I grew up and still halfway reside) had a bad rep for years and years, I've had some run in's with them that I feel were very wrong. Lately though they seem to have reformed. I've noticed a different attitude among officers I've run across (I'm speaking at 7-Eleven here ), some have even offered me help. Plus I haven't been pulled over in years there either, even when I drive the same vehicle I used to...

I do feel that the officer in question was wrong for abusing his authority though. On one hand it's a good story to sit around and tell your buddies, but on the other hand them bright and flashies are to be used for official purposes only. I don't feel he should be canned for it, just disiplined and perhaps watched a bit to make sure he isn't abusing it in more harmful ways.

Sequoia

 

[Hunter-LynchburgVa]

i like knowing their intent. i got interviewed about my jeep one snowy day by a game warden hanging out at the roadside trail head of the AT that we were parking at for a full on winter outage. the conversation went from "how much lift do you have" and me giving an underestimated answer of 3 inches....to 5 mins later the guy asking if i had been smoking dope, and insistently asking to search my vehicle. luckily i knew my rights and we got the hell out of there!

Hunter

 

[bgcntry72]

Well, I'll offer up my take on this subject and speak from 13 years of being a Cop ig: (aka "doughnut puncher").

First, Scott - Dude, you need to chill and enjoy life brutha! You must have some serious hate issues. But, I agree with you about your "core" issue. The Cop was very wrong for stopping that person for a non-Law Enforcement reason.

I was waiting for you to weigh in on this, Yella.
Much appreciated.
I agree that when certain things get to me, my anger level can only be described as 'nuclear'. I have had some run-ins with the law enforcement community in my past, and while I take full responsibility and ownership of my actions, there have been times where I have been done wrong on more than one front. I have a family and a different life now, but some memories die hard. As you may well know, experience changes a man, and no amount of goodwill can return what has sometimes been lost when ones civil liberties have been violated.
I stand by my point about abuse of power, even if it is a small abuse.
I, for one, know what small abuses can lead to.
Thanks for listening.
Hasta.

 

[Spudboy]

awww right, I'll bite... just what the freakin heck is those two red things stickin out of the hood of that Jeep? :huh:

missles? :viking:

Look like Cherry Bombs to me! If you don't know what Cherry Bombs are, you are too young

Seriously, they are glass pack mufflers probably attached to a V8 engine, (maybe a V6). In the '60s and early '70s, Cherry Bombs were the poor man's answer to no-muffler citations. You could get one for less than ten bucks and kind of graft it into the exhaust system. On V8s, they sounded pretty good, on sixes and 4-bangers they sounded more like a continuous fart.

I think I've seen ads for Cherry Bombs recently, but couldn't tell you where.

 

[bgcntry72]

I need a ride...

Anywhere but this thread, please.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Eagle, sorry If I put words into yer mouth :doh:

Anyway, I still feel that a letter directed to his supervisor is very appropriate.

To address your other question about Cops "getting even", well, that's a tough one. You hit the nail on the head with the thought "Maybe you have a different breed of police officers out west" - I whole-heartedly believe that as fact. I've briefly visited areas like Chicago, Atlanta, and Florida. I completely understand what some of our members have stated about those cops out there. There's still quite a large contingent of cops out there that still grasp the "old-school" policing philosophies and/or are fulfilling some stupid egomania. It's gonna be a big task for any administration of a large department such as those to weed-out that demographic from their ranks - but it can be done over time.

When I was newly hired and working in the jail, my wife (fiancee' at the time) was stopped for speeding going to work by a State Patrol Motorcycle Trooper. As most women do, she cried and probably did irritate the Trooper by trying to talk while sobbing, but her story to me was one that infurriated me. This Trooper apparently couldn't handle her reaction and for some outrageous reason, decided that physical stimulas was the way to snap her out of her sobbing. When he told her numerous times to stop crying, the then resorted to grabbing her left arm at the wrist and squeezed very hard. He leaned into the car and told her to "shut up" and "quit being a baby - it's just a little ticket". Well, this made things worse because now she was scared of him. He finally left and she sat parked on the shoulder for several minutes - she didn't want to try to drive until she composed herself. Well, apparently she began to hyperventilate and luckilly, a State Road Maintainance crew pulled up behind her car to see if she needed help. They called for an ambulance and after receiving some oxygen, she was able to calm down. To make matters worse, this incident caused her to be 1 1/2 hours late to work. I got a call from her employer asking where she was, so I headed out to trace her route to see if she was broke down. I eventually got a call from her, that she went home. When I went to her house, heard the story, and saw the 5 finger-shaped bruises on her wrist.... well, I wanted blood. I did call that Trooper's supervisor who was receptive to my concerns and said he'd talk to the Trooper about it. I then talked to my Supervisor about it and I wanted to pursue a formal complaint for discipline. I was encouraged not to "you don't want to ripple the water between us and the CSP do ya?" was what I was told. That was 10 years ago - and I believe it would be handled by the CSP much differently if it had occurred today. (But then again, if this had happened today I would have addressed that Trooper in person and one of us probably would lose our job..... :twak: )

Some Sheriff's Departments in California and the NYPD have taken severe measures to correct the years of corruption in their areas - and are now all the better for it. I'm not saying that they've eliminated all the "old-school" or egomaniac cops, but the new policies and measures taken by their Internal Affairs divisions seem to be helping to curb their overt activities.

Out here in Denver, the Chief of Police is still working hard to clean up the pinheads in his organization. Outside of that organization, my experience with the other metro area agencies out here is that the majority are very professional and focused on the task at hand - not pursuing their own personal agenda's. I for one would come down VERY HARD on my guys if they decided some person needed to be "targeted" for additional enforcement simply because he was mouthy or inquisitive during a traffic contact. I'd imagine that's kinda hard to uphold when dealing with the small-town department though. The Cops there don't have alot to do to occupy their time. I know a bit about that because my cousin lives in a small town in Nebraska - and in the same town, I had another relative from the other side of the family that was a Deputy. It was pretty interesting to listen to my cousin tell his version of why the cops were harassing him, then hear my relative tell his version. (Yeah, they dealt with each other quite often and it did seem to mirror the ''Dukes of Hazzard" series pretty closely) :laugh:

But to get back to the issue, I would encourage anyone to write a letter to the supervisor of any Cop that has acted inappropriately. But I'd also encourage you all to write letters that commend their professionalism too. Good letters get directed to those Cops during briefings to help promote good work. Bad letters are addressed behind closed doors and it does work to put peer pressure on a Cop to NOT be the guy that's always being directed to his supervisor's office.

 

[Çrestfa||en]

awww right, I'll bite... just what the freakin heck is those two red things stickin out of the hood of that Jeep? :huh:

missles? :viking:

Those are cherrybombs dude, I bought mine at shucks for 14bucks they sound cooler than regular exhaust but I think my cat is still limiting the straight pipes effect.

 

[wek91xj]

just to clarify... im not mad at the cop, i mean i thought the story was kinda of humorous, and as the night went on it got even funnier... we talked about my jeep and all that stuff for 15-20 minutes, and he was a pretty cool guy... ended up gettin a few of the sites that i got my stuff from and now whenever im around hell wave and let me be... i mean the only think i was kinda mad about was the fact that he trailed me for a mile and scared the shit out of me makin me think that i did somthin wrong... after it all i just look back and laugh... i dont think athat any letter or any action is necersary on my part.

 

[EMTJeepers]

I've been pulled over by NJSP to talk about my jeep, and where to get parts.

Not a big deal...

 

[Danno]

you are right about the Chicago cops!

my ex-son-in-law had an uncle that's a senior detective with the city of Chicago PD. He was riding with him to a Bears game and they were stuck in traffic so his uncle used the siren. Same thing later on when he went to the airport to drop Pete off. That probably happens a lot i expect!

 

[Mac5005]

The cop was just wondering what it was, he was just gaining information about the offroading industry, and by "boys" in this story, he means friends, bc everybody in the jeep was the same age. And in NC there is only a limit to how high lights can be used on the the road, and that is that the top of them has to be 54" or lower.