so my friend recently wrote a note about his recent run-in with the police and shared it with me. now i have nothing against law-abiding and sensible police officers, but sometimes the word "pig" comes to mind when i do encounter the stray ones ...
so here's his story as he tells it: (he drives a modded evo8 MR)

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This is a story about DWA, or for those of you unfamiliar with the term; Driving. While. Asian.

So, I was driving down the infamous 'super-7' saturday night, on my way to tom's house last night @ 11pm... doing the speed limit (i'm rehabilitated, i swear), but more importantly, everyone knows what's up on route 7, so I know to do the speed limit.

We hit Richfield, and low and behold, a minute later, an officer runs up on me, tailgates me, flicks on his lights. Fine. I pull over, turn off my vehicle, put my hands on the wheel, trying to signal to the cops i'm not trying to run or do anything stupid.

Cop 1: "Do you know why another officer radioed me to pull you over?"
"I'm not sure, sir".

Cop 2: "I'm going to need you to step out of the vehicle, so I can speak with you." At this point, I move to the rear of the vehicle, and the interrogation begins. Where am I coming from, where I am going, who/where is tom/camden, why are you going there.

Then, he starts picking apart my car -> "Tell me honestly, have you done anything with your car, that muffler doesn't seem stock to me. That wing, did you put that on?"

"No sir, that came with the vehicle".

Cop2: "You look nervous to me, why are you so nervous"

I look around... i've just been pulled over, there's two cops lights flashing, officer has me step out of the car, i think to myself...there's nothing routine about this stop. of course. i'm nervous.

Cop2: "Do you have anything inside your vehicle?"

"There's nothing but a car jack, and a laptop officer"

Cop2: "Then you wouldn't mind if I searched your vehicle"

I think about this statement for a second. Then I remember seeing this ACLU video about surviving police encounters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

Now, don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for officers of the law; many of my friends are on the force in NY and many of my friends family members are also on the force, but when you get pulled over - doing nothing wrong, and are then interogated and treated like a criminal - there's just something that's not quite right about this situation. So as politely as I can, I respond.

"if you have probable cause, officer."

(Oh no he didn't...) This is when the officer just goes off on me. First, he threatens to sick the dogs on me, and my car. Then he goes off on how when he finds something, he will be forced to write me up, and that this is my "last chance to confess". He tries to justify himself by saying how I "look suspiciously nervous", and get this, he says that

"usually when people put their hands on the wheel like that, it's because they're in trouble with the cops".

Unbelievable. The officer tells me how he is doing me a favor, and being nice, by asking to search my car, but now I will be forced to sit and wait while he radios the police dogs. He asserts that I am making things difficult (for exercising my rights?) He even asks me if I am sure this is the "route I want to take".

Finally, he asks me to step inside the vehicle. The K-9 unit ciricles my car. 4 times. I overhear the officer "One more time boy, one more time".

And naturally they find nothing. The officer finally comes to the window and tires to reassure me that he's actually a "nice guy". and that I was acting suspicious, how i was giving him attitude, and that i could have just let him "search the car". At this point, I wonder what would have happened if I had actually let him search my car, what else he would he have accused me of? Illegal possession of tire pressure guages?! operating and using rubber floor mats with an intent to KILL?! Finding nothing, he acts like he has done me some big favor and is "letting me go this time".

I am certain this must be the case of the "bad apple", but I felt it was necessary to express my concerns about the type of harassment and police bullying that must be felt by commuters of super-7, daily. I have had run-ins with Danbury P.D., which have always been reasonable, and I have thus, gained more respect for them; reflecting that more recently, by not driving like a bat out of hell every time i come out of my driveway . As for Ridgefield P.D., and those "enforcing" the law on super-7, I no longer have that respect.

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so what's the takeaway?

some police officers need to learn more about cars and stop being so quick to try to act all authoritative and bossy.

he said he should have taken the officers' badge numbers and filed a complaint, but what's done is done.

 

Some cops are just like that... not much you can really do. If that's exactly how your friend handled it, there's not much more he could have done differently.... short of just letting him do the search in the first place. If he really had nothing to hide, the cop would have no choice but to let him go... except sooner, and without the dogs.

Then again, with him calling in the dogs and finding nothing, it just makes him look like an ___.

Did they ever say why they were "radioed" to pull you over?

 

this story was not needed to prove your point

i already know that cops are douche bags donut munching good for nothing tax collectors. u dont gotta give them respect

 

^^^ then you missed the point.

 

also, check out

www.flexyourrights.com

Good stuff there too for suriving police encounters. The thing about dogs though is, the handler, if he wants to search your car, can order the dog to give a false signal.

 

A couple years ago, I was out with a couple friends on July 4th. Apparently, the cops were trying to crack down on the amount of drunk drivers on the road. Admirable, sure... but then they pulled over my car.

Which was parked in a subdivision while we waited for a friend to come outside.

Literally, "You guys doing anything illegal? Any drugs I need to know about?"

"No." I've never had to fight the urge to facepalm so hard.

It goes on like that for a minute or so, and then the inevitable "well you wouldn't mind if I search the car then."

Now, my first car wasn't exactly... well, clean. Like you couldn't see the floor clean. At one point there was food buried in the crap burying the floor. That night was one of those points.

"Uh, you really want to?" He looked in the back seats (which were occupied by people who were fighting back laughter and fright, as we were all teenagers being questioned by the po-lice with a driver who was clearly showing great disdain for the entire situation), and I'm pretty sure once he saw the food, he just gave up.

So, Pro Tip: Don't want the police to search your car? Make it freakin' gross.

 

Personally evosky, I think the hands on the steering wheel thing was kinda weird. If I was a cop I would have found that suspicious as well. I don't think the cops did anything wrong. If your friend did have something in the car, those threats might have worked. The best thing to do is to try and understand what they do and why they do it and then it won't ____ you off as much if it happens.

 

i thought it was a bit weird at first, but if you watch the video, it all makes sense. the cop was doing the "bait and catch" technique subconsciously. i can pretty much guarantee that every single cop you meet will do this because it's just easy and natural. the cop didn't do anything wrong per se, but he was going about the situation in completely the wrong manner. definitely not the law's finest moment.

 

In my previous profession I dealt with many officers in many different states and it seemed the longer they were on the job the more crooked they became

 

The few times I got pulled over, I put my hands on the top of the steering wheel so the cop is reassured that I'm not going to reach for anything. then, when they ask for your license and registration, you say where they are and that you'll get them right now. It's a sign of respect b/c they deal with a lot of crap out there.

As far as what happened to your friend evosky, well it sucks. There are good cops and there are bad cops. Sounds like that one had nothing better to do and clearly doesn't know his cars. But, because no one was there and sometimes people do talk with an attitude and dont even realize it (seriously, i have a friend who is so sarcastic, that if you didn't know her, youd think she was a beotch), maybe, just maybe the cop had his reasons. Still sucks though.

 

This is the stuff that gets me mildly upset. I have close friends in law enforcement, and I work in the field as well(currently trying to get into road patrols). This is why people think all cops are _______s. You get some young jerk that throws out the attitude with the whole, "I know my rights(or the laws) and you can't do anything about it" bit. Guess what, if you actually knew all of this wonderful knowledge you would know that a cop CAN pull you over on suspicion, and can request to search your car using the same suspicion. On top of that, he can arrest you for giving the attitude because it can be written up as obstruction or even harassment.

I'm not saying you have to kiss the inside of his/her _______, I'm just saying don't be so quick to judge someone for the profession they work in. Just like everywhere else, there are some bad apples. You can almost bank on having someone not give you too much of a hard time if you talk/act respectfully, and most of all innocently. You get defensive and start talking trash, they are going to think something is out of place. It's not a racial thing or a d-bag thing. It's part of the training.

 

Tell your friend to lose the wing and the cops will leave him alone. That thing draws so much negative attention to the car.

 

he needs the wing because he rallies. it does draw attention, but hey, it's there for a purpose. i dont think the wing is the only thing that cops care about on his car ... usually it's the exhaust since it's so loud.

 

And we CAN sue his butt. And we CAN win. And we CAN take other steps. They CAN be out patrolling bad neighborhoods instead of sipping coffee behind a billboard. For every murder, rape, and robbery, I'd be interested to know how many speedtraps were located within a mile vicinity.

You call them young jerks, but if a kid wants to have a nice car, with a wing and some legal mods, that's his perogative. Why should he have to remove his wing if he doesn't speed? Maybe it's for show. How many cars with brush guards drive through brush?

Remember the DC sniper? They were in a rusty blue Malibu or something. Jeffrey Dahmer? White guy in suburbia. Scott Peterson? Loving husband. But yet profiling works? Why? Cause sometimes the cops find a joint in some kids car? The OP's friend had it right... a simple case of DWA, or DWB(lack), or DWH(ispanic), or even DWCALTR,WATSO,AAHAC (Driving while white and listening to rap, with a tupac shirt on, and a hat all crooked).

We all have our profiling stories man. It doesn't matter how much of a respectable member of society I am, if I'm driving a nice ride, the cop is more likely to pull me over for 'reasons'. If you ask me, the people we should be profiling are 40-something white guys, living in the suburbs with a missing wife and 3.1 kids.

 

The hands on the wheel thing was just in an import magazine as a way to not get shot-police are nervous as it is with what they have to deal with (yeah, they took the job but still it takes guts to pull someone over these days).

It shows the officer that you are not reaching for anything and he can see your hands so he relaxes.

I agree that this story (if accurate) tells the tale of more than a few police that have a problem-be it low quota, bad tactics, anger issues-whatever. It is hard to know what is going to happen.

Ever watch that movie "strangedays"-it's a really cool movie but it all starts over crap like this gone wrong.

 

LOL I've got 1 police Officer, 1 sheriffs deputy, 1 detective, and my brother is a reserve police officer and I can guarantee you that none of them do that. As a matter of fact, one time my cousin pulled over a guy that he has pulled over before because he was driving 40 in a school zone which allowed for 20mph during school hours. When he talked to the kid, the kid said "Officer, school hours for the day are over." My cousin looked at the time and said "Have a nice day" and let him go right then. I don't like people stereotyping or generalizing with police officers because I've met some that were absolutely amazing people.

Oh, and in my hometown police officers don't have a quota of traffic tickets they have to get. The only department that does are the Oregon State Police and their quota is only for speeding semi's.

 

understood. i personally have friends with relatives in the force. nothing against them at all. and yeah, everyone makes mistakes or forgets something. no big deal. props to your cousin for being cool about it. i don't like it when people generalize about hating on cops either. i just tell it like it is

 

and honestly, i did try to give them some respect and try to understand that there will be bad apples anywhere you go. however, almost every cop i encounter, i see a donut munching pheggot who sits behind large buildings when they do not want to work. i'd rather see them trying to crack down on real crimes other than busting out a OPERATION BLACK and ASIAN.

 

wow that sucks. Some cops are cool some are not. Just today i was driving home from my gfs house around mid-night and im waiting at the intersection of the main road for a car to pass so I can get in, that car happened to be a cop. I'm sure he heard the HKS as I pulled out onto the road, Then I pull up next to him on an intersection, the intersection was kinda slanted so he was a little ahead of me, I look over and I see him looking at me, Then he looks at my HIDs, looks back over at me (My interior blue lights were on with the radar detector on the windshield too) looks at my HIDs again, then starts to chuckle, looks at me shakes his head then just blows through the red light. He could have most definitely pulled me over and ticketed me for the HIDs especially with all that other stuff too which just tends to attract cops. It really depends on who you get.

 

Absolutely. I don't condone being offensive to them, but at the same time, treat people with some respect, too, and less altercations would happen. And don't hate on kids just because they got a nice ride, cause if I coulda had something like that growing up, believe me, I would have.