ARGGGG, I hate the police!!! OT

[MurphyStout]

Sorry guys I need a legal, safe way to vent. I can't standing fecking cops.... This last month has been too much but I don't want to talk about it. My own stories and attitudes on cops go way back and are too long to go into but the short of it is that they drive around all day long just waiting to cost some poor chump money, and when you need one they are never around or take an hour or two to get to you. They are a freaking organized gang, they have too much power, they are an expensive and unnecesary form of taxing, they are overpaid, and dammit I'm tired of living in such a FECKING Police state!! ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!! For those of you who can't relate, visit California.

So below, feel free to share your own feelings and stories regarding cops so I don't have to feel like the only one.

On the other hand we might get shut down by homeland security.

[raindog1970]

I'm tired of living in such a FECKING Police state!!

You might as well get used to living in a police state... the Earth is being turned into a <A HREF="http://www.prisonplanet.com">prison planet</A>!
If you think Michael Moore is a nut job, just get a load of Alex Jones!

[Flyingcursor]

I don't have anything against the police in general. In fact I've a couple friends who are police and one cousin. I'll tell you what, if you've got to pick up someone from a crime scene it's good to have the police there first.

Interesting web site. I saw a couple articles about taser abuse. It's getting far more frequent for police to taser people who have the audacity to disagree. I think they either need to be outlawed or givin the same constraints and legal ramifications as using a firearm. Clearly there is going to be a backlash over the abuse.

[Martin Milner]

Using a Taser against a six year old?

Using a Taser against a 14 year old who bites an adult when being restrained?

I'm wondering who has most lost their grip on reality.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Murphy...I know that you really do not wish to get into it, but I am curious what has given rise to your opinion of Law Enforcement Officers? My personal experience has been varied, and has usually been related to the goegraphical area I have been in...ie...in the south (central Florida) I have noticed them being a bit more aggressive, whereas in the north (central Minnesota) they have tended to be a little more relaxed. Also, I suppose it might have something to do with the nature of whatever it is that has them dealing with an individual.

Sadly, in this day and age where little kids are gunning down each other and everybody else, where terrorism on the homefront appears to have increased and where the majority of crime seems to have become chiefly centered around the carrying and use of firearms (in some cases, weapons whose destructive potential exceeds those carried by police officers), Law Enforcement is hard pressed to find a way to deal with it while protecting both the public and themselves. I don't think excessive force or increased (or preventative supression) are the answers, but I am also at a loss in figuring out a way where these issues can be dealt with safely and effectively.

[rh]

my wife's family is afro-cuban, and my brother in law is in his twenties and quite dark-skinned. i've had to get him from the police station in the middle the night when i know for a fact he was just driving home from work and the only charges were minor traffic offenses that might have warranted a $50 ticket. he's also been pulled over and had his car searched just for DWB (driving while black) -- some crime had been committed and the perp was a black guy driving a car so the police stop anybody matching the description. he's had his car impounded for basically no reason and we've had to pay a couple hundred dollars to get it out. there's more, this is just an example.

so yes, especially for people of a certain age group/skin color/hair length/manner of dress, there are clear patterns of abuse of authority. some people get a uniform, a badge and a gun and they use it to push other people around.

on the other hand, i don't know that they're overpaid; i don't think i'd want their job, at least in my neighborhood. i live just blocks from one of the poorest areas in Chicago, and the Area 2 police HQ is down the street. can't say i'm unhappy about seeing the police cruising the av here... but then again i'm a homeowner with a young child and i'm concerned about safety, with the occasional eruptions of small arms fire within earshot.

i've also had several people around here mistake me for an off-duty cop, and i have done nothing to dissuade that particular notion

[OutOfBreath]

...just waiting to cost some poor chump money, ...

Somebody got a ticket! Nyah, nyah!

I've had my share of tickets and I've "deserved" every one in that I was indeed breaking the law for which I was ticketed. Even lost my license at 17. Was it that nasty ole' cop's fault that I was doing 95 in a 45 zone? Nah, don't think so. In fact, he was nice enough to drop the charge to 75 in a 45 so I'd have one point left on my license - sure wasn't his fault I already had too many points from prior tickets so the judge took my license anyway...

That's part of the cost of impatience. If you don't want to get tickets then don't speed or break other traffic laws and you won't get tickets. I know people who have been driving for 40 years without a single ticket. I don't have that kind of patience so I just figure I'm going to be paying a ticket every couple of years for the priviledge of driving how I want to drive.

I've also had more warnings than tickets - I wonder if maybe it's 'cause I treat cops as people and don't freak out over the occasional ticket.

[emmline]

When I was in 7th grade my geography teacher told us that girls are lucky because all we have to do is smile at the cop and we'll get a warning.
I got pulled over once, 10 years later (late for work,) smiled at the cop, and got a warning.

Don't know what it's like in California. I know I'm often comforted by the presence of cops. The one whose beat is my kids' high school is very well liked.
Obviously there are abuses, people feeling pushed to their emotional limits, people with a power problem who are drawn to the field...but it's like public school in a way. There's good and bad, and hard to know how to fix the problems.

[Phil Hardy]

Tell me about it.
A few years ago I was with my wife in California on a beach near Torence.
The wife was hungry so I said I'd go up to the shops for some food.
the shops were only five mins away from the beach in a really nice town.
I was driving a hire car and came up to a crossrads where to the right of me was a large truck stopped at the junction.I stopped to let him go but he didn't move so I carried on straight across the junction...wrong move!
Before I knew what was happening the cops were on me sirens howling behind me.I pulled over and ...in the UK you must turn your engine off and get out of the car...wrong move! By the way I was only wearing some swimming shorts and flipflops.Well,the cops musta thourght I was Bin Lardin,they had their guns out and were behind the door of the P/car ,put your hands up etc.Remember ,I'm standing there almost naked,empty handed wondering why I'd been pulled over.The insults that I receive from then on are unrepeatable,needless to say that I was told that if I couldn't drive a car I shouldn't be in their F~~~~g country in a hired car.I had just driven from Mendoceno to LA the previous day and was not in the mood for this sort of sh*t,so I said this and also said that the truck had not moved so I thought I should go.It would have been obvious to a maggot that there was nothing to be concerned about the these animals obviously suffered from having very small dicks and the desire to pull out their weapons at any occasion.
Jeez,that event will be with me for the rest of me life,nearly shot dead for getting out of the car and being polite in a pair of shorts.
Beware of the LA PD.

Phil.

[jim stone]

The one thing one can ask of the police is
that they be professional. Often the hope
is dashed.

[TomB]

The one thing one can ask of the police is
that they be professional. Often the hope
is dashed.

Unfortunately, that can be said of the folks in many walks of life.

All the Best, Tom

[Nanohedron]

I'm unsure what this is all about, but I just want to mention that I used know a fellow who considered laws to be "un-American" in that they infringe on "freedom". He'd change lanes without checking traffic, hunt waterfowl out of season, trespass, drink beers while driving, and dump illegally and decry the state of the environment at the same time. He'd raise havoc in bowling alleys, get kicked out for his trouble, and then go on about how rules and regulations are ruining the country and the original intent of the Founding Fathers. He considered himself a real patriot. Whatever. He refused to train his dogs, too, as this was contrary to the free and natural "dogness" of dogs. What he wound up with every time was a neurotic beast who, not having the parameters of rank to guide him (which issues are normally inherent to a dog's makeup, and without which confusion reigns), usually wound up calling the shots and winding up in the pound on at least a weekly basis. Other than all that, he was a really nice guy. I just had to distance myself from the chaos; he was apparently okay with it. He despised cops on principle.

Don't know what brought on your post, Murph, but I, too, wouldn't want a cop's job. I've had to deal with uniformed jerks (to put it mildly), too. I've just found them to be the exception. Then again, I live in bucolic central Minnesota. Interesting note: now that I've been growing my hair longer again, I've noticed an increase in informal police scrutiny. That should come as no surprise, really, and for a variety of reasons. I expected that. It's my choice, and human nature follows.

[missy]

I live in an area where the cops are constantly "second guessed" on their actions. I would NOT want their job for ANY amount of money.
It is totally incomprehensible to me why someone who runs from the police can't understand if they are tazed. If you did nothing wrong, why are you running?
And, please, don't tell me about the 15 who have been killed by the police in this area. At least 3 of these 15 also killed officers (one of these 15 was a 12 year old!) before they themselves were killed.

My son just got his first speeding ticket. It really wasn't his fault - he was driving my car instead of his truck, he was going down a LONG hill, and the officer was at the bottom. In his truck, he wouldn't have been going over 35, but in my car, you have to ride the brake to stay at 35. He wasn't. We went and paid the fine - it wasn't worth getting upset about.

[lyrick]

A lot of police have an intuitive sense of whether you fear or hate them, and I'd bet you're more likely to have problems with them if they sense that. I don't have issues with the police, and I've never been stopped for anything, even when my hair was long.

So don't fear or loathe them, have some compassion for the danger they're exposed to (every traffic stop could be a nut who's going to blow them away), and realize they're just vulnerable human beings like the rest of us, and I bet you won't have as many problems with them. (Oh, and cut your hair, too, and don't drive at night in Caucasian neighborhoods if you have dark skin, and drive a beige late model family car with a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker and an American flag in the window.)

[lixnaw]

you should emmigrate to ireland boy, read this

http://www.unison.ie/kerryman/index.php3?issue_id=11674

Garda guilty: drunk drivers are innocent

Garda Tom Noonan: found guilty at a Garda Tribunal of dereliction of duty


ELEVEN drivers whose blood and urine samples showed they were over the legal alcohol limit will never be charged or brought before the courts because Listowel Garda Tom Noonan, currently suspended from the force, failed to process their files.

Garda Noonan was found guilty at a Garda Tribunal of dereliction of duty in failing to prosecute the drivers, despite having blood and urine sample readings from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety that showed them to be over the legal limit. Garda Noonan, who was unable to attend the tribunal because of illness, is appealing the verdict to the Garda Commissioner.

One of the drivers suspected of drunk driving, Maurice Flavin, 11 Rusheen, Ballylongford, was stopped by Garda Noonan on October 4, 1999. A urine sample given by Mr Flavin at a garda station and subsequently examined by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety showed the driver to have been three times over the legal limit. Mr Flavin’s reading showed him to have had a concentration of 389mgms of alcohol per 100mls of blood.

None of the drivers can now be brought before the courts to claim their innocence or to plead guilty to allegations of drunk driving following the incidents in question. The DPP cannot file a drunk driving summons with the court after six months from the date the motorist was stopped by gardaí.

Files in relation to a total of 17 drivers were not processed by Garda Noonan over a two-year period between 1998 and 2000. The Garda Tribunal, headed by a Chief Superintendent from Roscommon, investigated a total of 19 cases of suspected drunk driving which involved Garda Noonan. However, the Tribunal found that in one of the cases, involving a driver from Castleknock in Dublin, the motorist had not exceeded the drink driving limit. In another case, the tribunal found that the driver had exceeded the legal limit and was prosecuted in court.

Killian Deasy from 2 Racecourse Road, Tralee and originally from 60 Maryborough Avenue in Douglas, Cork, was stopped by gardaí on April 18, 1998. The Kerry Group employee’s blood sample showed him to have had an alcohol concentration level of 182mgms of alcohol per 100 mls per blood, The legal limit is 80mgms of alcohol per 100 mls of blood or 107mgms of alcohol per 100mls of urine.

Kevin Greaney from Tournageehy, Listowel, was stopped on July 13, 1998. His reading indicated a level of 194mgms of alcohol per 100 mls of urine.

Maurice Enright (Junior) from Dromerin, Listowel, was stopped on July 11, 1999. His blood sample returned from the Medical Bureau showed a reading of 180mgms of alcohol per 100 mls of blood.

John Mulcare, with an address in 1999 of Ballyeigh, Ballybunion, was suspected of drunk driving after he was stopped by gardaí on August 15, 1999. He provided a urine sample which showed him to have had a concentration of 232mgs of alcohol pr 100mls of urine.

Jahs Foley of Fourhane, Listowel, had a reading of 261mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood – over three times the legal limit. He was stopped by gardaí on October 5, 1999. Mr Foley is since deceased.

Kelvin Coyne, Dromconnig, Abbeydorney, provided a blood sample after he was stopped by gardaí on May 26, 2000. The sample showed a concentration level of 141mgms of alcohol per 100mls of blood.

Brendan Whelan (Breandán) Banemore, Listowel, was stopped by gardaí on May 29, 2000. His sample showed a concentration of 224mgms of alcohol per 100mls of urine.

Pamela Beasley, Gortacreen, Listowel, also provided a urine sample after being stopped by gardaí on suspicion of drunk driving. Her reading showed a concentration of 110mgms of alcohol per 100mls of urine. She was stopped by gardaí on July 9, 2000 and has since left her address at Gortacreen and moved to Kilkenny.

Noel Lynch, Clashmealcon, Causeway, was suspected of drunk driving on July 17, 2000. A blood sample examined at the Medical Bureau showed a concentration of 96mgms of alcohol per 100mls of blood.


Patrick Nolan from Moybella, Lisselton, was stopped by gardaí on September 21, 2000. His reading showed a concentration of 235mgms of alcohol per 100mls of urine.