Terminalcoffee discussion

Have you interactions with the police been negative or positive? When has a police officer helped you? When have they been rude or courteous?

I haven't had that many interactions. I've called them a couple times for bad neighbor behavior and was usually satisfied, except the one time a guy was sitting in the mall parking lot across the street from me playing his car radio loudly at 3 a.m. I called the police, they drove slowly by, and didn't even stop and talk to the person. Fuckers!!

I haven't been beaten with a truncheon, pepper sprayed, tased, or hog tied, thankfully.

I was only ever arrested and hauled off once. Oh wait ... make that twice. But the two were closely related. I was only 20. Hasn't happened since. I'm always very polite to people with guns and handcuffs on their belts.

Small town cop - next town over- gave me a ticket for not using the 'chicken lane, you know, the one in the middle before merging. I said there wasn't another car on the road to merge`with. Ticket anyway- "tell it to the judge" I did and the judge said the ticket said I impeded traffic. I didn't. He said he was the judge, the man in the uniform was a sworn peace officer and I was nobody. The judge also said that the State is broke and this is money they need for cops' and judges' salaries and pensions. $285 and traffic school! They are all crooks! And, no, I would never call them if I needed help.

Mostly negative, in particular with those manning the border between Detroit and Barb's beloved Canada.

you know, for the most part any negative interactions i have ever been in with police have been circumstances where i was guilty of something (speeding, vandalism, drinking, etc) so i really can't complain too much. even if the cops were j-holes i still for the most part put myself in the situation to begin with. i do have a couple of friends who are cops (i know clark, chumming up to the man) who are good guys so i know they aren't all bad. our police chief is an old friend.

one positive experience though: once i was flying through an intersection at a high rate of speed in my truck at about 11am on a weekday. a cop pulled me over, walked up and asked "where you headed in such a big hurry?" i said "golfing". he looked in the bed of my truck and saw my clubs, paused and then said "be careful" and walked back to his car. i love cops who golf

Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "you know, for the most part any negative interactions i have ever been in with police have been circumstances where i was guilty of something (speeding, vandalism, drinking, etc) so i really can't ..."


Me too... Still, when they send enough cops to put a serious dent in the day’s receipts at Dunkin’ Donuts for something like a simple traffic stop, that frosts my cajones.

i got into an altercation with a cop and his brother (also a cop) at a bar once (the cop was married to my sister briefly and i was trying to shut his fat mouth for talking smack about her) and they ended up sending like 4 cars and 7 or 8 more cops. i love the ones who have black leather gloves on and sunglasses on a hot summer night. real Reno 911 looking. they all were doofs

Combination of positive and negative. I've never gotten a ticket I didn't deserve, but the cops used to show up to hassle us at local concerts when I was in High School. They never arrested anyone or had any valid reason for being there; they would just show up, push kids around and leave.

Amber ~Geektastic~ wrote: "Combination of positive and negative. I've never gotten a ticket I didn't deserve, but the cops used to show up to hassle us at local concerts when I was in High School. They never arrested anyone ..."


In the grand scheme of things - especially around here - should hassling pot-retarded kids at concerts who just want to bang thy head really be a priority?

Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "i got into an altercation with a cop and his brother (also a cop) at a bar once (the cop was married to my sister briefly and i was trying to shut his fat mouth for talking smack about her) and the..."

Who says chivalry is dead?

That's the fucking problem. The bastards travel in packs. Back in the early 90's, I was playing in a 30-and-over hockey league (we played at night) and one of the teams in the league was comprised almost entirely of cops. Granted, my play is what former "Hockey Night in Canada" announcer Howie Meeker would call "chippy," but those dicks were gutless, dirty, and a bunch of crybaby prima donnas. A lot of stick work...

Why am I still pissed about this 20-some-years later?

Some things just linger and fester like that.

I haven't had any problems with them in the US. One time my car broke down on the highway and a Mass. state trooper stopped and asked if I needed a "wreckah." I asked him to repeat that several times since I didn't know what he was talking about. He was getting pissed, but I finally figured out he meant "tow truck." I grew up in Massachusetts and had no idea what a wrecker was.

Cheri wrote: "Small town cop - next town over- gave me a ticket for not using the 'chicken lane, you know, the one in the middle before merging. I said there wasn't another car on the road to merge`with. Ticket ..."

That's what happens when you go driving in Mayberry!

There are good cops and bad cops, just like any other profession. I’ve always worked very closely with various police services, had loads of contracts with them both in my current position and past positions. I deal with power-drunk jackasses and some that are great. Certain types of people just shouldn’t be allowed to have a badge, it goes to their head.

It’s also very hard to keep your head in a good place when you deal with some of society’s worst members on a daily basis. It become difficult to see the good in people. I can say that based on personal experience, but perhaps those people should look for another job- like I did, or get some therapy. I don’t work with the general public anymore for lots of reasons (PTSD being one). I still do investigations and catch bad guys, but I rarely have to interact with them. Basically, I do the background work and find evidence, so I’m still doing what I trained to do, but I don’t have to talk to scumbags in dark alleys anymore.

The last few years I have to say, my non-work related interactions with police have been wonderful. I had a two year stretch a while back where I managed to get 6 speeding tickets. Each time, I was doing well over the posted limit, each time I was apologetic, friendly, and most of all- not angry at the officer for doing his job when I was clearly in the wrong, and they dropped every ticket down so they wouldn’t come to the attention of my insurance company. I was very grateful, so much so that I stopped speeding.

I have had several issues with Immigration/Border Officials when crossing in and out of the US. On both sides, US & Canadian and have been detained twice for losing my temper, once in Canada and once in the US. In both cases, the assholes were wrong, and just to clarify- Border Officials are not police, they are peace officers and their powers of arrest exist only at the international crossing... once they’re away from their post, their powers of arrest are the same as yours and mine.

My experiences with border officers has been mixed. I've had the most problems going to Canada. Coming back is usually a breeze (naturally, as I am a citizen).

One time in Vancouver the Customs person got really angry with me for seeming to be evasive about her questions (I just answered her questions -- and didn't offer more information, as I've learned that doing so often leads to more difficulties). In the end she let me go, but was pretty pissed at me for some reason.

When you go into Canada, and are there for business, you have to be very careful about how you describe your "work". I watched the guy in front of me one time who got angry with the officer. He was immediately sent over to the immigration line where they took his passport and demanded that he have a copy of his work contract faxed before they would let him go. It was after 8 pm. That'll teach him to get angry, right?

One time I said I was trying to sell consulting work to a Canadian firm. I got the immigration window, passport taken treatment that time. It took some fast talking to get by that one.

They are very protective of their jobs up there. I understand how that works -- but it can be stressful on the person crossing for business.

I've had both good and bad experiences......mostly due to my lovely jack ass of an ex-husband. Well, and my tendency to go the fuck off on them just like I would anyone else trying to jack me around for no damn good reason. I have to say I'm damned tired of being stereotyped, though. I am pierced and tattoed. Why does that automatically make me a menace to society? My poor husband really has to deal with police officers treating him with disdain. He's a big bald headed, heavily tattoed and pierced dude who rides a big ass motorcycle. He also abides by the law, except his tendency to speed; and who the hell doesn't do that on occasion?

The Immigration (Passport Control) people are bast**ds on the US side. I travel a lot out of the country and the US officals make me embarrassed to hold an American passport. And I am a white middle aged woman. I can't imagine what a person of color or a young person might have to endure. When I go through Passport Control in other countries they are polite and act as if they are happy you are visiting their country. Our guys are rude and hateful and want to share that. When the husband goes back to the UK to visit family, the Passport Control officers always say, "Welcome home, sir". Why do our guys have to be such shitheads?

They are often rude. I had one woman lecture me about my (then) boyfriend (now husband). She asked where exactly in Buffalo I was going, when I told her she said “Nobody good comes from there. Why don’t you find yourself a nice Canadian guy. Does he have a job?”.

The guy that detained me entering the US was someone that I dealt with all the time. He knew that my boyfriend lived in the US and one day he spotted the engagement ring on my finger- then he started interrogating me about our future plans, every single time I ran into him and explaining how there are procedures in place, I can’t just move to the US, blah, blah, blah big rant. One day I lost it, ‘You do realize that I am Canadian, right? I was BORN in Canada, I am a Canadian citizen- what the fuck makes you think I’m dying to move from Canada to Buffalo, New York? Really dude? Have you ever been outside Buffalo? It’s way nicer just about everywhere else”. And then I got detained for several hours. In my defence, Buffalo really does suck- well most of it. There are some nice places, I guess. Sort of.

The company I used to work for would often banish managers (who pissed off the Sr. VP) to Buffalo.

I have had many run-ins with the police while engaged in my life of crime. (Past-tense, yo.)

First, the officers that have arrested me over the years were professional and humane. Even though I was oftentimes a nightmarish wreck of a woman, they never treated me like the P.O.S. I was at that time. It made it difficult for me to talk mess about them, since all of my experiences had been positive despite my being arrested on most of these occasions.

Second, I do know (personally) some sick and twisted officers - both police and corrections - who enjoy lording their power over others. I have found this to be the case one-third of the time, but more common with correction and detention officers.

Finally, I like to believe that as a group, peace officers do start out with the intent to serve and protect. I interact with the po-po on a regular basis now that I volunteer with a non-profit dedicated to assisting offenders in their release from prison, and I can say the ones that really care don't hesitate to show it. They are a part of our community; they live here just like we do.

At the end of the day, you just have ask yourself: "Are the consequences of this choice worth the benefit of pulling it off?" And if your answer is yes, then DON'T GET CAUGHT!