Inspired by a recent post and given that I have been dishing the sh*t at some of our local constabulary, I thought I would share some positive encounters I have had as it pertains to CCW. In Rock Hill Missouri, a small municipality in an area that is rich with small municipalities, I was pulled over by the 5-0 for going too fast in a not-so-fast zone. As I was told a bajillion times by my cop stepfather, I kept my hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. I did not get my wallet out, I did not bend over and rummage through my glove box. I essentially sat at attention, hands on the steering wheel and watched the cop approach in my rear view mirror . . .
Thought not required by law, I thought that the cop would be in a better frame of mind to hear from me with my hands glued to the steering wheel that I had a firearm than to discover it in a pat-down. I said in calm, modulated tones “Officer, as a courtesy, I want to let you know that I have a concealed carry license, and I have a firearm on my person right now.”
The cop paused for a moment and asked to see my driver’s license. He did not ask to see my CCW. I responded, “My firearm is in my right pocket, my wallet is in my left. I am going to get my wallet out with my left hand.” The cop said, “Sure.”
After retrieving my wallet – slowly, deliberately – and handing over my license, the cop asked for my insurance card. I happened to have it tucked up in my visor, so after letting the cop know what I was about to do, I handed it over.
The officer returned form his squad car, handed me my paperwork and asked me to sign the ticket. He then said, “Thanks for letting me know about your gun. I support the Second Amendment and citizens carrying to protect themselves. You take care.”
Fast forward a year or two, into the little burg of Bella Villa, a minuscule patch south of St. Louis City. I think Bella Villa is a works program for cops given how many are in court. I was pulled over for expired tags, a mix-up with the DMV as it turns out. Same routine, no sudden movements, hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. Same polite announcement about my weapon. After letting the cop know what I was about to do, and slowly doing it, I dug out my paperwork. Like the cop in Rock Hill, the officer expressed support for the Second Amendment and thanked me for the courtesy.
YouTube has plenty of footage of street cops being weird about citizens exercising their rights. However, if I had videotaped the encounters above and posted them to YouTube, I doubt they would have gone viral. In my own experience with traffic stops now that I carry pretty much every day, street cops are supportive of our right to keep and bear arms. Johnny Law ain’t all bad.
Johnny Law not only ain’t all bad, I contend he’s overwhelmingly good. In the millions of contacts that peace officers have with civilians each day, the bad cops and contacts are exceptions to the rule. That’s why the unreasonable cop videos go viral.
Just as we all know that today’s “Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day” award winner is an exception to the rule, never forget that the vast majority of cops are hardworking, honest, fellow-citizens who do a pretty fair job of keeping us safe.
That’s pretty fair, but because of the powers that the police weild, we all need to vigilant about exposing those bad apples and having them expunged as quickly as possible. Also, appointed police chiefs and their spokesliars tend to be jerks, and we hear from them a lot more than we hear from the rank and file cops. Finally, cops are products of the culture in which they were raised when they were just little proto-cops, so it’s not surprising that cops in places like NYC and Chicago are mostly against armed citizens – they’re just reflecting the marority view in their home towns.
All valid points.
Gregolas, not true. All cops are part of the cover-up of the great many bad apples. They all watch their “brothers” in Blue as they mistreat citizens, beat up those who displeased them and, even, steal from drunks. “Don’t you be snitching ” is the only oath they ALL follow. An appliance is just as guilty as the bad cop. And they all are. BTW, in case you wonder I have never been touched by an officer on duty. I harbor no animus except that which comes from years of close observation in the court system. They have earned it.
I tend to agree, in most aspects, most cops are pretty damn good people… with one exception that negates ALL other. Even the ‘good’ cops will overwhelmingly close ranks and either actively help/defend the bad apples in their midst or at the very least look the other way and not pursue action against them. I don’t care if you are the greatest friendly, peaceful, responsible, rights-respecting, hard-working, life-risking peace officer in the world; you are scum to me and deserve to serve jail time if you even once look the other way and ignore a fellow officer who is abusing his power as a LEO to commit crimes, abuse the rights of those he’s sworn to protect, etc. And the sad fact is that that describes the vast majority of our country’s police force.
^ This!
That whole “I’m a good cop because I always follow the rules” is total BS if you look the other way on your fellow officers’ misconduct.
Yep, it’s like the “peaceful” Muslims who look the other way, or the Germans who looked the other way. Most Russians and Chinese and Japanese weren’t bad, but that didn’t stop Russia and China and Japan from killing over 100 million people. Just like the “peaceful” majority of those countries were irrelevant to the slaughter committed by the minority, so are the “good” cops irrelevant to the citizen abuse committed by the “bad” cops, especially if they look the other way.
Cops SHOULD be good. Cops SHOULD obey the rule of law and their department rules. We shouldn’t HAVE to point those out simply do their jobs without lying or violating a citizen’s rights. That should go without saying.
Well said.
Cops are just people doing a job. They tend to vary from location to location.
and like every demographic group, you get pretty standard mix of jerks, a$$holes and idiots. its statistics.
As stated before, though, you don’t get to pick which cop you have an interaction with.
Actually, about 99% of the time, you do. 😉
What RT said.
Blow a red light in a school zone at 40 mph and you’ll get a different kind of cop than doing 83 in a 65 on the freeway in light traffic. The guy who says “excuse me” tends to do better than the guy who says “go f$&@ yourself.”
I do my best to treat each person individually according to their actions, as well as if they are belligerent / drunk / unlicensed / on probation / parole / supervised release / gang tats / gang colors / mc cuts / cordial / etc.
Tickets are the least of society’s worries. It’s the corrupt PDs and cops we need to worry about, not speeding tickets. The Lincoln Heights, OH PD was so corrupt it was just shut down.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/lincoln-heights/i-team-lincoln-heights-police-struggle-with-corruption
Look at the following example. A Denver SWAT team does a raid. They had no warrant. They had no application for a warrant. They beat the crap out of everyone, throwing one teenage son through a window head first, only to realize they had the wrong people. It was an innocent family from a Mariachi band who had never been in trouble with the law.
When they realized their mistake, they conspired to make up charges that the family attacked the cops. They arrested them and falsified their reports. They were willing to send innocent people to prison–mandatory two years in prison–to cover up their mistake.
The entire SWAT team and leadership was in on it. It wasn’t just one rogue cop. The fact that all of them thought nothing of sending innocent people to prison for years tells you all you need to know about the agency, that they can do what they want and get away with it. Not one single cop refused to go along with this and tell the truth.
None of the cops involved ever faced any discipline for this. Not one. Just business as usual.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/t…denver-family/
Ever read the DOJ report on the NOPD? Corruption and rampant citizen abuse.
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/nopd_report.pdf
It’s not speeding tickets you need to worry about.
For more documented examples similar to those Danny Griffin provided, see the following:
Police State USA
http://www.policestateusa.com/
and
Cato Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project
http://www.policemisconduct.net/
The two times I disclosed to police that I was legally carrying, I never got an “attaboy” but what I did get were looks that said, without words, that the officers could not have cared less. No shots fired, no insults and no tickets.
Then again, I’m not black. A friend who had been pulled over for DWB proved to be an embarrassment to the officer when it turned out that said friend was a lawyer and a close policy advisor to the Governor. Oopsie daisy. But my friend, who is one of the world’s nicest people, forgave and didn’t try to get the cop in trouble. I guess that non-lawmen ain’t all bad.
I tend to move with purpose and my state tends to enforce speed limits vigorously, so I have had several occaisions to interact with LEOs while carrying. The most positive was a conversation where the officer bemoaned the switch from Sigs to Glocks, the funniest was when the officer (who had approached the car from the passenger side) asked where the weapon was and I pointed out that it was laying out on the passenger seat right in front of him (open carry is legal here).
Got busted on Manchester, didn’t you? 😉
I’ve interacted with very few LEO in St. Louis county, but I’ve had zero issues with any of them. IIRC, Missouri does not have a notification requirement, but if you’re being pulled over, the LEO has already run your plates, and will know that you have a CCW. So, it’s generally advisable to notify anyway.
P.S. How many TTAG folks are in the STL area? Seems like there are quite a few.
yes, Missouri does not require CCW disclosure, but it is tied to driver’s license, not license plate.
Okay, so I took a shortcut. 🙂
Plates -> Registration -> Driver -> ID. Unless you’re driving a car not registered to you, the LEO’s going to know before he ever talks to you.
That section of Manchester at the bottom of the hill must fund 80% of the city of Rock Hill’s operating costs. And yes, STL is well represented here.
No joke. When I moved to St. Louis in 2002, I worked at Hanley and Litzsinger (which, through sheer coincidence, is where I am now, as well – different company though). One of the first things I learned from my co-workers was to drive the speed limit along that stretch of Manchester, or the motorcycle cop would get you.
Zeigler retired about 5 years ago, after writing more than 150K tickets over his ‘career’ in that lovely little speed trap.
To be fair, if you were a wanted felon there was nobody better to be lit up by. Unless you were supremely sketchy, he never ran you, he just cranked out a ticket in 5 minutes or less and you were on your way.
Rock Hill is always getting people everytime i drive through there on the way to work. I just smile and keep it at the limit, I get paid by the hour and don’t get reimbursed for traffic tickets.
Yup – right by the Goodwill. Short, older cop. Probably working on retirement #2…
I had a strong dislike (hatred, maybe?) of cops in my youth, but I’ve let that go. As long as they remain a moderate amount of courtesy towards me, then we get along. I do get upset if they’re dicks or lecture me about my life, but that hasn’t really happened in awhile.
These two encounters are a far stretch from reflecting positively on Johnny Law.
Good press for Johnny Law in my opinion would be police officers confronting and/or correcting fellow belligerent officers in favor of law abiding, second amendment citizens during law enforcement encounters.
God forbid Johnny Law protect the law abiding from someone infringing on their rights, Police Officers included.
While it’s nice to hear about an encounter with a cop that doesn’t end horribly for someone, I think I agree with this sentiment. Essentially, all these two officers did was do their job relatively efficiently. That shouldn’t be celebrated, it should be expected. We’ll know we’ve turned a corner when, as you said, good cops are actually policing their own and shutting down the “bad apples” (a phrase I really dislike because it’s so dismissive and cavalier) without being forced, kicking and screaming, to do so. Sure, it’s great that the majority of police aren’t abusive assholes, and we should acknowledge that as often as possible, but as long as they tolerate the abusive assholes in their ranks, they’re not quite “good cops” in my book.
I do expect professionalism from cops, but these were noteworthy in that in both cases there was a positive acknowledgement of support for the 2nd Amendment. I’ve been pulled over more than twice in my life, and I cannot think of a cop who was rude.
I guess an ataboy is a good acknowledgement of our second amendment rights in two instances, which is far from an accepted standard of professionalism, it should be the standard. Especially when the negative reaction in this case is a thug pointing a gun at you with no legal recourse but to pray he took his meds, or just have your hands at 10 and 2 while he fades you to darkness.
Excellent story. I’m more than a little tired of hearing the rash of cop bashing since Ferguson.
Ha! My first Karate’ instructor, Bob Yarnall, had been a STL city cop and then became the “chief” of Bella Villa. I put that in quotes because the chief was the only full-time cop in the municipality. Ironic that it is only a stone’s throw from Ferguson.
Pretty sure you mean Bel-Nor, not Bella Villa. That, or you have an artillery piece for an arm.
all 5 times I have been pulled over in Missouri, cops didn’t write me a tix and only gave me warnings. So much for DWB since these all occurred in predominantly white areas. Driving in Indianapolis once (alas, not on my way to see Shannon at work), I did get a tix for speeding, but the cop didn’t care about my .357 magnum.
I find most cops are cool with you if you are cool with them. Just say yes sir or no sir, hands on the wheel tell them what you plan to do, and things should go well (unless you are a black guy in South Carolina and there is a dash cam). . . . cops do want to go home to their families at end of shift. . . make sure you telegraph you appreciate that little fact and the encounter should turn out fine
“(alas, not on my way to see Shannon at work),”
Should have read –
“(alas, not on my way to see Shannon at home),”
Anyways, on getting pulled over –
A cop I met in a non-LE capacity gave a few tips on getting pulled over. At night, the very FIRST thing to do is switch on the interior dome light. As in the first 2 seconds. And when your hand comes off the switch, put it on the steering wheel at 2 o’clock. He told me with those two things it lowers the stress level of the cop a huge amount.
Indeed – my stepdad was a railroad detective, but h made it clear that it was very easy to not get your ass kicked by the police. Yes sir, no sir, hands where they can be seen at all times, no sudden move. No smart assery.
For me, it works. That said, I did not have a bad attitude towards cops. I have a little one now, but mostly I am disappointed at how many idiots have a badge, not towards cops in general.
100%
I’m the kid on the bench impressing my friends by asking the lone policeman who ostensibly pulled up just to say hi “hey, do you guys get training in being smart arses?” (i thought it was a reasonable enquiry…) rather than “excuse us officer, but can we help you or do you have a reason for stopping to talk to us, and do we need to understand we have a right to remain silent before we speak to you?”
And 100% again; is there not anywhere in the world with a minimum education requirement for employment as a bailiff of the state?!
Not taking anything away from your charm factor, but c’mon…
I’m trying to remember any Officer of the Court that I know who ever got a ticket for anything in the STL. I’m coming up dry. Sure, they’ll take you for an .015 DWI, or being reeeeaaaaallllyyy high, but a less-than-40- mph-over speeding ticket? They know you’ll pick up the phone and it will be a parking cite in 5 minutes.
Your only mistake was speeding in Rock Hill… They will nail you for doing two mph over on Manchester, seriously.
I got a ticket on Manchester in Rock Hill too. 30 mph zone, what BS. My driver’s license used to state CCW in big red letters. Handed it to cops twice, they never even asked if I was carrying. Most cops are fine.
Most police are only as bad as the mainstream media make them out to be. There are exceptions, but, they are few. I speak from experience from both sides of the cars’ driverside window.
Like the recent post these are examples of someone doing their job correctly. That is great and these positive CCW encounter scenarios have been examples of what most legal gun carriers want. Personally I have had a mix of good, bad and indifferent but I don’t dispute the possibility that more LE do their job correctly in this specific area than do not.
The problem is that LE treating a legal carrier as though they have broken no firearm law should not be seen as remarkable. Besides an extreme exception it is my personal choice to never call LE unless legally required but I am also not trying to bash every cop. I certainly respect the words of a lot of the LE that post here as well as some I personally know. I also know some LE that are very friendly towards CCW holders and preach the 2A with the best of them that are also all too happy (enthusiastic even) to be part of no-knock raids for any reason. “It’s a rush”
Wait ’till you see the cell phone video of DWB in Hammond,Indiana. A black man could have been killed for a seatbelt violation. They smashed his passenger side window and tased him for essentially NOTHING. Yeah he could have been a bit more polite. It’s pretty graphic. I myself don’t have problems but I’m an OFWG who buys & sells for a living.
Yea, I saw that. I hope he wins a huge judgements.
He won’t win anything. The Supreme Court decided in Maryland v. Wilson that passengers must exit the vehicle if told to do so during a traffic stop. Our friend with dollar signs in his eyes had every opportunity to exit the vehicle. While it was not a deadly force situation (so police couldn’t shoot him, obviously) I seriously doubt that using a taser will be considered unreasonable, given that he made police pull him out of a window.
Classic case of someone who thinks he knows his rights but doesn’t know the law (someone doesn’t have the right to demand a ‘white shirt’ police officer come to their traffic stop).
The vast majority of LEOs are good peeps. It’s that one bad apple or six that spoils the bunch.
But it’s the jackasses that get the lion’s share of attention, same as with any other group.
I have only one experience with an encounter with the law while carrying. Got a speeding ticket on the Ohio Turnpike for going to fast in a construction zone with no construction going on. I couldn’t remember if Ohio required it so I told the trooper I had permit and was carrying. He was very professional and just asked me to keep my hands on the steering wheel. When he came back to hand me the ticket and conclude the formal business he asked me what I carried. We went our separate ways. He omitted the speeding in a construction zone and saved me $250
They ain’t all bad, but when they are, people tend to lose their lives.
A bad batch of burgers at a fast food joint can end your life. A bad doctor can end your life. A bad lawyer can make you wish your life was over. A sleepy truck driver can kill your whole family.
What point were you trying to make?
When Jack In The Box had a problem with food safety in the PAC NW back in the 90s, they almost disappeared. When your plumber, doctor, lawyer, or sleepy trucker almost kill you (or do) there’s legal remedy in the form of a fat lawsuit – and perhaps jail time to boot.
When a cop kills you while reaching for your wallet, generally all is forgiven.
I think that’s the point he was going for.
So we’re supposed to applaud these cops for… What? Not beating the shit out of you or otherwise oppressing you when you’re pulled over? That’s their damn job. You don’t give them an attaboy for not beating you shitless. The sad fact of the matter is, there are so many jackbooted thugs out there nowadays, that when we hear about a cop actually doing the duties they swore to our reaction is to applaud them. Pathetic.
I like the one where people cry “but nobody reports when cops do good!” I don’t get a gold star at work for DOING MY JOB. For that, I get a paycheck.
I’ve been pulled over 3 times in 35 years. netted me 2 tickets. Each time the first 3 words out of my mouth were, “Good morning/afternoon/evening officer” Never had any problem.
Attaboy!
Way to be a good, well-trained sheeple.
This story is how they are SUPPOSE to act. Why is this example given like it is a pat on the back to LEO’s? Raise your standards McNabb.
I make a habit out of letting people know when other people do a good job. I tip waiters for good service. I tell folks about my plumber if he does a good job. In the environment we are in, I see no harm in letting people know when cops do a good job.
In my experience, acknowledging good things is a good thing, it makes me less of a bitter, cynical ass.
What I’d like to hear from is people who’ve actually had a bad cop. A first hand encounter, not some he said, she said internet crap.
No sovereign citizen crap about speed limits and having to obey the same laws all of us do. Real live first hand accounts of bad cops wrecking your day.
Every time I’ve been pulled over by a cop I knew why before he told me. And in spite of the fact that I was in plain violation I’ve had exactly 3 tickets in over 40 years.
I’ve also been busted twice for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. Once in WV and once in slave state CA. Both times the cop let me and my gun go.
I worked in a prison for a year. Almost without exception the inmates were not man enough to admit they were at fault. It was always the cops fault.
I understand RF’s cop hate He got spit on by a cop while he was on a date when he was 16. He will tell you why. What about the rest of you? Let’s hear personal stories. Not some generic anti storm trooper left wing bumper sticker slogans.
Why rely on unverifiable anecdotes, when you have options like this:
Cato Institute’s National Police Misconduct Reporting Project
http://www.policemisconduct.net/
That should keep you occupied for a few months.
The police have been good to me at times. I got some death threats, and the Chicago PD put some extra patrols around my house. But my law firm was also paying the commander for PI work, so that may have had something to do with it. I have also sat through trials listening to Chicago PD lie through their teeth. It’s all about the individual police cultures. I live near Chicago now, used to live in it, and I don’t trust them one wit. But I am a downstate Illinois boy with many LE as family and friends who I would trust without hesitation. Perhaps it is bias from my youth, but the bigger the city, the less I trust the cops.
Last interaction with a cop I had (FL, OCing, fishing) I spent incessantly hitting on the lady cop while her partner gave me the stinkeye.
Want to get rid of the cops? Just be an extremely pleasant, friendly, absolute jackass. I ain’t never seen white people move like they did back to their cruiser.
I use a similar routine when pulled over, as I know what they are looking for when they walk up to my car. In 5 stops since getting my CHL 4 or so years ago, I’ve gotten warnings all but once. Prior to that I had received zero warnings in my lifetime.
In the small town I live in, there are 2 decent cops, and 2-3 that I hear are “pricks”. I’ve never had the chance to have any sort of conversation with, other than a friendly wave when I pass them on my way somewhere, so I couldn’t say one way or the other. One of the decent cops offered the use of his garage and tools, and even offered to help if I needed to make repairs on my vehicles. The other bought my family a big jug of Pine-Sol after my wife mentioned during a conversation that we were broke and needed some to mop the floors.
Anyway, most of the people in my town that b*tch and complain about the local cops are usually ones most visited by said local cops. Repeat offenders, if you will. One guy would complain when the cops drove past his house and claim they were harassing him. This coming from a guy who was constantly in trouble for stealing stuff from people’s yards to sell as scrap metal.
A few years ago when I lived in NE Oregon and had a CCL I got pulled over for speeding between Pendleton and Weston/Athena (a small rural farming county populated primarily by politically right leaning folk). I did very similar to the author, kept my hands on the wheel and at the first opportunity informed the officer I had a valid carry permit and was in possession of two loaded handguns, even though state law did not require it. He asked where they were and to see all my pertinent documents including carry permit. After making sure everything was in order he asked, out of personal curiosity, what I was carrying. We had a short but pleasant exchange on the subject and he let me go with a verbal warning about my speed.
Being from a small town I knew a few cops personally and at least one was a “gun guy” while the rest weren’t particularly interested but were not against people owning weapons.
It’s important to remember that for the most part on a personal level there is no difference between a cop or anyone else. They have lives, families, interests, and hobbies like anybody else. But every now and then you get a bad egg who lets the badge go to their head and make the rest of them look bad.
I’ve been carrying a handgun since I was lawfully able to do so at the age of 21. I’m now 46. In the intervening 25 years, I’ve had plenty of interactions with LEOs while armed. Almost all of them cordial and professional.
Based on this, I its very ill advised to, in the course of a minor traffic interaction, announce that you are armed. Whats the point? No good can come of this. If you are lucky, the officer thanks you and brushes it off. If you aren’t, the officer will get you out of the car, relieve you of your gat, call for backup and generally take much longer to simply write you a ticket.
If the officer asks you to get out of the car, then its time to disclose. But until then STFU.
Don
I have never been pulled over by a cop where I didn’t have at least 5 minutes to retrieve my license and registration (and CCW permit), and have them visably in my hand (glued to the steering wheel) long before the cop got there.
This is not the first time I’ve heard someone describe a police encounter this way. What do you do while waiting for the cop to run your vehicle? Twiddle your thumbs? Why would you rather retrieve your info when the cop is right there and jumpy?
My worst run ins were with campus police in college. There were two separate incidents where they gave me a really hard time, neither of which I was actually doing anything wrong.
I get pulled over a lot… My state and the adjoining state I travel to daily for work do not require you to announce if you’re carrying. I keep my license, insurance cards, and CCW card in the exact same pocket in my wallet, so if I’m carrying and asked for license I simply had the documents over in that order. Typically the officer spends about 5 seconds looking at the license, about 2 seconds on the insurance card, and about 2 seconds on the CCW Permit followed with:
Officer: Are you carrying?
Me: Yes sir.
Officer: Where do you keep it?
Me: Inside my right waistband
Officer: Okay, just don’t waive it around.
That’s pretty well the end of it. One time a Texas Magistrate pulled me over for going 70 in a 55mph zone out on some old country road and let me off with a warning.. He started glowing after looking at my CCW card, so I’m convinced that helped my case.. That and being from out of town.
I keep mine the glove box. I think the last time I took it out was to exchange the information with the update. I would probably have to dig to find it. The last time I was asked for insurance information was about 12 years ago during a stop.
Sounds like Tim likes to go fast 😉 since he is ready to go with that insurance card at all times.
For ANYone to paint with a very broad brush ALL cops as being bad is more full of themselves than should be allowed. There are MANY MANY Cops out there working their butts off trying to keep the peace as best they can. Most American Citizens DON’T know that the ratio of cop to citizen is around 10,000 to one. That’s 10,000 Citizens to one cop. That’s the national average and yes some areas the ratio is more around 1,000 to one. Now when an honest cop sees a brother cop abusing the rights of citizens, the honest cop tries to intervene, then he makes his notes of what he saw, what he did and what the abusing cop did. The honest cop then goes to his supervisor and reports what he saw and almost always without giving out the particulars as to who.
The Supervisor/Shift Commander then whispers in his boss’ ear that one of their own is probably “on the take or has the shiny badge syndrome.” The Shift Commander’s boss. then takes that rumor up the ladder and reports what he has heard. Ultimately the Chief gets apprised of the potential abuser. By the time the Chief gets the report, he almost always has heard the abuser’s identity. This process typically takes a few days, depending on the shift rotation, it might take up to a week.
Now I know many nay sayers are saying something negative here but let me be perfectly clear here, I know how the program works. It might sound like a week is a very long time and to the victim of the abuses, it seems like an eternity but, when an allegation is made, the Police must be very cautious to keep a lid on the issue UNTIL they can get a clear picture of what is going on or has gone on. Usually by the time the Chief has gotten the message that abuse has happened the victim or victim’s friends and or family have made their complaints very clear and plain. This serves the Presiding/ranking Official within the Department very well because now he has a name(s) to go with the allegations from within. The process takes time and it is often frustrating to the public and yes sadly the number of incidents of abuse by the authorities is rising rapidly.
It also seems that the Police are NOT being held to the higher standard they were just a few years ago and that really exacerbates the problem exponentially. In the larger Municipalities and it is spreading and extending down in to ever smaller departments and agencies is the Police Union. The Po-lice Unions have used their intimidating power to run rough shod over individual agencies and oh so sadly the rank and file Line Officer is all too quick to jump on the picket lines, walk outs, blue flu etc..Behind the vast majority of Police abuses and the seemingly snails pace at which they are investigated and prosecuted when the laws call for that, is the Wall of Silence, patrolled and enforced by the Unions AND the Blue Code of Brotherhood.
Most honest Cops who file the initial reports will find themselves in front of Brotherhood’s tribunal(metaphorically speaking) because at some point the anonymous reporting by the honest cop must become public at least within the Department. The honest cop is then shunned, left hanging on dangerous calls without benefit of backup or other support and he will likely have his family threatened either overtly or covertly.
So being and honest cop comes with some serious baggage and fortunately each and every department has within it, it’s band of brothers who are honest and they almost always keep the abusers in check. The times that the thug wannabe cops get ahead of the true good guys, are not only becoming more pronounced and frequent but they are running off the honest cop because the Unions, politicians and Community leadership have learned that if they can sweep the issues under the rug and settle quietly with the victim/families, the cities, counties, states and federal agencies then skate along UNTIL the abuses make national headlines such as in Ferguson MO.
Then when those abuses hit the airwaves, we all whip out the big broad brush and begin to castigate anyone carrying a bag and label them all as jack booted thugs. Unless and until, you have been in the shoes, riding on the patrols, chasing the bad guys, picking up the good guys, answering the calls from the little old lady hearing something trying to get in to her house and upon arrival it turns out to be her TV that she had on in another room and had forgotten that it was on. Until you respond to crimes in progress to see a young girl after a brutal rape by her Uncle or Stepfather or neighborhood gang or you get the call to respond to a car wreck with fatalities or serious injuries only to realize upon your arrival that one of the dead is a cousin, sibling or other family or close friend, you have NO idea of what the cop has to endure day in and day out. The thing is, the Cop NEVER knows when he gets in his uniform, what his shift is going to bring. The Cop never knows that when he kisses his wife and children goodbye as he is leaving for work, it might be his home that gets broken in to and his wife and children harmed and or killed. That weighs extremely heavy on the cop and the abuser cop as well as the honest cop all feel the same things and face the same problems. Almost always in the case of the abuser cop, IF he wasn’t already a brute when he hired on, he becomes that way out of frustrations for the way the system favors the thugs more than the good citizen. They then get the taste of blood so to speak and they almost always get worse and worse until they are discovered, are killed or kill themselves.
The way to stop this, is to use wisdom, courtesy and honesty when dealing with a Cop during a traffic stop especially. Remember, that Cop NEVER knows what he is going to face when he approaches that vehicle. He might recognize the car as belonging to a family member or friend or even co-worker and the instant he lets his guard down because he knows who the driver SHOULD be, that driver turns out to be the thug who just murdered the owner of the car and is about to murder himself a cop. When the cop who is normally docile has had a hard day/night where he has ridden extremes in adrenalin, first one second he is pumped up from a shootout with an armed robber or he has just rescued a young child from a burning car at a wreck or he has just chased a rapist about 10 miles in his car and on foot, and then sees a guy speeding in an area where speeding is more critical infraction than elsewhere, that cop is agitated, sometimes at the point snapping and when a smart mouthed driver pops an attitude or acts as if he is ready to fight, the Cop then goes on HIGH alert and his adrenalin has just spiked to the top of the charts. The driver then finds himself on the receiving end of verbal abuse or worse when all it would have taken is for the driver to have remained courteous and understanding that the cop standing right outside their drivers window just might have come from something horrendous. Another time when Cops are at their worst is when they hit the wall in their career, they get burned out, stressed beyond normal limits and like ANY human, they reach the end of their rope. That cop then becomes a ticking time bomb and all too often the Department did not catch the changes or did not recognize the changes as going on the downhill slide with greased sleds.
I see lots of problems with the things you stated in your post.
The honest cop then goes to his supervisor and reports what he saw and almost always without giving out the particulars as to who.
So a supervisor is going to listen to allegations of citizen abuse without bothering to find out which one(s) of his officers did it? Problem #1.
The Supervisor/Shift Commander then whispers in his boss’ ear that one of their own is probably “on the take or has the shiny badge syndrome.” The Shift Commander’s boss. then takes that rumor up the ladder and reports what he has heard. Ultimately the Chief gets apprised of the potential abuser.
So they are playing Chinese telephone saying “we’ve got a rogue cop working for us” and no one knows who or investigates? Problem #2.
The honest cop is then shunned, left hanging on dangerous calls without benefit of backup or other support and he will likely have his family threatened either overtly or covertly.
We are told that there are only a few bad apples, but the reality is that the honest cop has his family threatened by the other cops and the union, and the other cops won’t back him up on calls. In reality it’s only a few GOOD cops, because all the rest are AGAINST the good cop. Problem #3 and bottom line..
That reminds me of when I picked up my handgun at the (semi-randomy by location chosen) FFL I purchased online. I realized he was a cop when I showed up to pick it up.
Great guy. Real friendly. Must just do the ffl as a side gig, haha.
Am I the only one here who has a problem with the “yes sir, no sir, hands on the wheel” bullshit that people keep talking about?
The police chose their line of of work, it’s not up to me to make them “feel safe” or to give them some level of respect that implies they are superior to me.
A cop drawing his gun or firing cuz someone is reaching for their license or registration during a traffic stop is a crime. They only get away with it because of police immunity.
If someone is walking his dog on the edge of my property and it poops and he walks away, I can go ask him to pick it up. If he reaches into his pocket to grab a bag, I can’t pull a gun on him saying “oh I thought he was going for a weapon”. The police have no more rights in this regard.
The police chose to become police. The danger they are in is why people view them as heroes. The same for doctors or nurses or paramedics or firefighters. Anyone who, as their job, chooses to put themselves in danger for others can be seen as heroic.
Imagine if doctors refused to treat anyone with contagious diseases for “doctor safety”?
My point is not that people can’t or shouldn’t consider making a cop’s job less stressful by trying to be polite or keepings hands visible. My point is simply that we shouldn’t feel like we have to do this or we’ll end up with all sorts of harassment and bullshit charges.