Cop Confiscates Cigars.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by olotti

Sounds to me like a cop who smoked cigars and knew if he kept them you couldn't do anything about it or else like you said he could have caused you alot of trouble.

But you could do something about it. Police Departments don't tolerate thieves in their ranks. This isn't 1970s New York or Chicago. As CdC said, many people who complain about constant "harassment" are people who bring it upon themselves. But I won't say that 1 out of 2...because I don't have facts to back that up, it's just a bullshit statement made from limited experience and conjecture...sound familiar, CrazyFool?

[CrazyFool]

Originally Posted by icehog3

What a crock of shit. 1 out of 2 cops is crooked? You need to get your papers checked. Looking forward to seeing that study.

Originally Posted by icehog3

...because I don't have facts to back that up, it's just a bullshit statement made from limited experience and conjecture...sound familiar, CrazyFool?

Tom relax. no need to give me a ' ' Im just speaking from m own experiance. I had a brother in law that was crooked and stole from DARE, a best friends dad that was dishonorabley discharged for planting evidence, a hockey team mate that was fired for luring two 16 year boys in to his home and then i had 2 very real and very scary run ins with power tripping poilce. so from what i have gathered in life so far is simpley not to trust police. i have no choice but to give them the benfit of the doubt and by my own choice i respect the good ones... but i wish there were more.

Im just saying, ladies, even men: dont pull over late at night in the dark, in a barren or seculded area. im scarred for life because i trusted a cop and he... well ill save that for my shrink*

And i know theres background checks, IQ this and that but my point was any human in this world could be a pedafile, stalker etc we just dont know, and ANYONE can take that course and if they are a sociopath with a clean record, there in.

put your 's down, im a BOTL too

EDIT: *too much info from me. dont judge a BOTL for making a quick comment, they could have been seriously hurt or damged by the subject at hand. Sorry if i offended anyone

[Franksmith]

Originally Posted by icehog3

What a crock of shit. 1 out of 2 cops is crooked? You need to get your papers checked. Looking forward to seeing that study.

STRAIGHT UP Tom!!!

That is the biggest pile of burning I have ever heard CrazyFool

You have turned out to be very appropriately named... I hope (seriously) you wake up and get a new name. And as Fletcher had to tell his client.....

clicky

[Caballero del Comercio]

Originally Posted by CrazyFool

Tom relax. no need to give me a ' ' Im just speaking from m own experiance. I had a brother in law that was crooked and stole from DARE, a best friends dad that was dishonorabley discharged for planting evidence, a hockey team mate that was fired for luring two 16 year boys in to his home and then i had 2 very real and very scary run ins with power tripping poilce. so from what i have gathered in life so far is simpley not to trust police. i have no choice but to give them the benfit of the doubt and by my own choice i respect the good ones... but i wish there were more.

Im just saying, ladies, even men: dont pull over late at night in the dark, in a barren or seculded area. im scarred for life because i trusted a cop and he... well ill save that for my shrink*

And i know theres background checks, IQ this and that but my point was any human in this world could be a pedafile, stalker etc we just dont know, and ANYONE can take that course and if they are a sociopath with a clean record, there in.

put your 's down, im a BOTL too

EDIT: *too much info from me. dont judge a BOTL for making a quick comment, they could have been seriously hurt or damged by the subject at hand. Sorry if i offended anyone

Too much information, nothing. I respect you a little now that you have taken the time to explain your reasoning in depth. My opinion stands, but it is true that in any position of power, there will be those who are able to circumvent the process, and there are those who will abuse their responsability. When I am not working alongside a police officer as a reservist, I am working in our state prison system as an analyst of prison gang threats, and in that capacity I see more ex-officers on the inside than I care to give a number to.

I'm very sorry if this happened to you; all I can say is, that sort of thing is punished swiftly where I work.

[Franksmith]

Originally Posted by CrazyFool

Tom relax. no need to give me a ' ' Im just speaking from m own experiance. I had a brother in law that was crooked and stole from DARE, a best friends dad that was dishonorabley discharged for planting evidence, a hockey team mate that was fired for luring two 16 year boys in to his home and then i had 2 very real and very scary run ins with power tripping poilce. so from what i have gathered in life so far is simpley not to trust police. i have no choice but to give them the benfit of the doubt and by my own choice i respect the good ones... but i wish there were more.

Im just saying, ladies, even men: dont pull over late at night in the dark, in a barren or seculded area. im scarred for life because i trusted a cop and he... well ill save that for my shrink*

And i know theres background checks, IQ this and that but my point was any human in this world could be a pedafile, stalker etc we just dont know, and ANYONE can take that course and if they are a sociopath with a clean record, there in.

put your down, im a BOTL too

EDIT: *too much info from me. dont judge a BOTL for making a quick comment, they could have been seriously hurt or damged by the subject at hand. Sorry if i offended anyone

Dude.... you can say a quick little sorry at the end all you want but your post above your token "sorry" is pure







I'm out of here.... this stupidity is about to make me blow a fuse

[icehog3]

Paul...nobody is saying that are aren't bad cops out there...all you have to do is watch the news. That being said, it's rare for the TV news or newspapers to report on a good cop doing his job...which in my eyes means protecting those who can't protect themselves. But they love to jump all over the "bad cop" stories...

For every bad cop I have known or read about, I've seen 100 good ones who truly have ethics, integrity, and the desire to keep good people safe.

That being said, I have no personal "bad will" towards you for your opinion...I just think that the overgeneralizations that you and another person have made in this thread are miles from the real truth, and an insult to a few good cops that I know are members of this communit(The Jungle).

Tom

[TU09]

I am originally from Virginia and the police in the areas I lived were highly professional and an excellent community resource.
Living in NOLA, however, I have seen the other side of law enforcement. As a university student down here, the first thing I was told to do if I ever had to deal with NOPD was call the university police department so they could intervene and control the situation. I have witnessed several acts of brutality, recklessness, and rudeness by the NOPD, I have also seen them diffuse some very dangerous situations with amazing skill. I am certainly not saying that many NOPD officers venture outside the law, but it happens frequently. These officers form what is probably a tiny minority but they do exist and create a tense relationship between law enforcement and the law abiding community. A great deal of the problem stems from a limited pool of potential officers because of residency requirements, a broken system, and the obvious consequences of Katrina. The fact that these men and women deal with some of the most unsavory characters on a daily basis probably colors the tone of their interactions with the larger citizenry and I certainly understand that they have bad days like the rest of us but that does not justify causing largely law abiding citizens to fear getting the s**t beat out of them for minor infractions.

[Throb]

I was going to let this one go...until I read that crap about 1 in 2 cops is crooked...

Well I'm a cop and 1 in 10 people I come in contact with would have no problem putting a bullet in my head and driving off, letting me slowly bleed to death, choking on my own blood on the side of the road because they were too busy enjoying their smack high. Talk to any convicted cop killer and you will hear the same thing. "I killed him because I could (or he gave me the opportunity)"

I deal with all walks of life. Everyone gets treated the same...at first. I treat everyone with respect and politeness, with a plan to kill them if I have too. Every traffic stop could be my last.

I have ticketed and arrested people that told me, "Thank you" and "I'm sorry for what I did". Those people get treated well. When they get dropped off at booking, I make sure to let the detention deputies know the guy (or girl) was friendly. Still getting arrested...but they are treated decently. I give what I get.

Then I get guy like the one I had last night that just begged me to take him to jail. When you start off a traffic stop (for an 1 year expired vehicle registration!) with "Why the F@*K did you stop me?" don't expect me to back down. Net result of the stop: 1 punk taken off the street for DUI, possession of marijuana. It was his third DUI (1 prior was with injury to another). Past history of Aggravated battery on LEO (that would be with a weapon). Given the opportunity, I'm sure this model citizen would love to file a complaint, hurt me or kill me.

So CrazyFool...why should I think you are an innocent law abiding person like the first example and not a knife wielding psycho telling a very slanted story about all the corrupt cops you know?

You have lumped me and 50% of my co-workers into the "a$$hole power hungry, geek in high school, etc (I have heard it all in the last 10 years) cop". I have never taken a dime from any prisoner (even though they stole their money or got it from the sale of drugs) nor will I ever. I have never lied on any of the thousands of reports I have filed (even though I have had several anonymous complaints filed against me that were proven to be PURE fabrication). I work hard every night and just like every other person, I have good days and bad...more productive and less productive nights. I want to come home and enjoy my TV, Cigars, drink, wife and family (not in that order). I have been spit on, shot at, battered, assaulted, cursed, demeaned and lied to (the lying occurs nightly) yet I still go out there and do my job.
To be called a THIEF is the last straw.

To RumblePen: I don't know your customer. I don't even know how well you know your customer, but I can tell you I find things out about people that even their spouses don't know. From the story you told, I gather neither one of you knows the cop. While I can not deny that there are corrupt cops out there, I would love to hear the story from the cops point of view. The old "I was stopped for no reason" is, after 10 years in the business, very old.

Was your customer "weaving" or possibly swerving? Just how much did he have to drink? Doesn't alcohol affect judgement? How fast was he going? Does he shop for drugs late at night in a crappy part of town with a shiny BMW? Is his license valid? Was there something else in the bag he wasn't telling you about? It is very easy to "save face" and tell a story about some bully cop that stole his cigars instead of saying, I got busted for DUI/Pot/ suspended license, when the cop is not there to tell the other side.

I have no tolerance for Thieves. I don't care if they are a cop or not.

I have arrested over 500 DUIs. Most say they were driving straight and call me a liar. When it comes to court, I too say they were driving straight....just on the wrong side of the roadway...

End of rant. Back to my coffee.

[Throb]

And as Fletcher had to tell his client.....

clicky


Oh damn...now that's funny. . That is being sent to a lot of Florida cops!!!

[CrazyFool]

EDIT: ya know what? i am genunily sorry for upsetting anyone. i made quick and harsh comment and am comming across as someone who dosent respect police officers when i play hockey with a group of 7 guys from the Daytona force and there all good guys like most poeple and policemen are. im a dick and im sorry. no ISOM for me tonight

[DownUnder LLG]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Paul...nobody is saying that are aren't bad cops out there...all you have to do is watch the news. That being said, it's rare for the TV news or newspapers to report on a good cop doing his job...which in my eyes means protecting those who can't protect themselves. But they love to jump all over the "bad cop" stories...

For every bad cop I have known or read about, I've seen 100 good ones who truly have ethics, integrity, and the desire to keep good people safe.

That being said, I have no personal "bad will" towards you for your opinion...I just think that the overgeneralizations that you and another person have made in this thread are miles from the real truth, and an insult to a few good cops that I know are members of this communit(The Jungle).

Tom

Tom, and especially Throb. I f I was "the one other person in this thread" then please accept my apologies. At the time it was a tounge in check remark which I made off the cuff. Upon reflection it was certainly in bad taste. As Throb has said, their are no other facts to this storey and we have no real idea of what went on.
I to have a number of friends who are police officers and when I think about what I said I to have degraded them. These people are great, stand up guys who put their lives on the line every day. On the other hand their has been occasion where I have met one or two who could not lie striaght in bed. But that is no excuse to make a generalization about all police officers.
Their are people in all walks of life that can be catagorized, but to do so unjustly is not fair. Again please accept my apologies if I offended anyone.

[JasonI]

Here is my experiance,

Most cops are great guys, I hang out with a local cop and we shoot, hunt, and camp together. Him and his family are great. I've been pulled over by a Tenn. Highway patrolman who was one of the most polite cops I've every seen. I was doing 20 over the posted limit, he could have been a total jerk and I would have deserved it, instead he was polite and friendly.

Then you get the other side of the coin, the cops that even other cops don't respect, some of our local Illinois State Police and one of the local towns "barney Fife's".

What I'm trying to say is, cops are people, some people you meet are very cool, some are jerks. Most of the time (not all the time) if you treat them with respect they will treat you with respect, the rest of the time just bite your lip if possible and play nice, he probably has just had a bad day, I would too if I had to deal with all the worlds low lifes.

just my

[theromulus]

Originally Posted by Throb

I was going to let this one go...until I read that crap about 1 in 2 cops is crooked...

I have been pulled over many times in my life and been in some predicaments with police in the area. I have always treated them with respect for what they do and put up with. I think it is all about attitude. I have never had a situation where a police officer was even rude to me. Most of the time we end up talking about something pleasant. I have had a lot of close friends that were cops. I don't have any power tripping friends. I think for the most part it takes someone cut from a pretty good piece of fabric to make the grade.
Treat everyone with respect and courtesy and you will get it back.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by DownUnder LLG

Tom, and especially Throb. I f I was "the one other person in this thread" then please accept my apologies. At the time it was a tounge in check remark which I made off the cuff. Upon reflection it was certainly in bad taste. As Throb has said, their are no other facts to this storey and we have no real idea of what went on.
I to have a number of friends who are police officers and when I think about what I said I to have degraded them. These people are great, stand up guys who put their lives on the line every day. On the other hand their has been occasion where I have met one or two who could not lie striaght in bed. But that is no excuse to make a generalization about all police officers.
Their are people in all walks of life that can be catagorized, but to do so unjustly is not fair. Again please accept my apologies if I offended anyone.

Jason...I PM'ed you...but for the public record...you were NOT the other poster I was referring too....

Tom

[RumblePen]

Originally Posted by Throb

To RumblePen: I don't know your customer. I don't even know how well you know your customer, but I can tell you I find things out about people that even their spouses don't know. From the story you told, I gather neither one of you knows the cop. While I can not deny that there are corrupt cops out there, I would love to hear the story from the cops point of view. The old "I was stopped for no reason" is, after 10 years in the business, very old.

Was your customer "weaving" or possibly swerving? Just how much did he have to drink? Doesn't alcohol affect judgement? How fast was he going? Does he shop for drugs late at night in a crappy part of town with a shiny BMW? Is his license valid? Was there something else in the bag he wasn't telling you about? It is very easy to "save face" and tell a story about some bully cop that stole his cigars instead of saying, I got busted for DUI/Pot/ suspended license, when the cop is not there to tell the other side.

You know, I probably do know the cop. He's probably one of my customers. A lot of cops are regulars in my shop (even though the department made them sign a contract forbidding them to smoke or hey loose they're job--what bullshit is that? I guess they can still drink if they want to, or get as fat as they want to at Mickey D's ).

I wouldn't call the guy crooked. Atleast not for that one act. That's a bit strong. I do believe the reason for pulling over the guy was that he was thought to have been smoking pot. If it were something else, why would the cop ask to see the cigars?

My customer isn't the least bit suspicious looking. Just an average working stiff in his 30's. No bling. No bmw with spinnas. My take was that he got off with a break. He lost $10.50 worth of cigars, would he rather have had got a ticket instead, or a DUI? I even told him this. But I guess it's debatable that he shouldn't have even been pulled over in the first place.

Even though Crazyfool may have put his foot in his mouth and made a pretty gross generalization, remember, it maybe different in your area, but there are some towns where his 1 in 2 ratio is actually more than generous. Cops are human beings. Human nature really hasn't changed much in the last 1000 years, let alone the last 30. Serpico didn't rid the world of corruption in law enforcement in the 70's.

To me cops are our countries true unsung heros... they risk their lives every day for us whether there is a war on or not. Protecting us from our enemies is an obvious example of the heroes of the military and an incredibly tough job. Protecting us from ourselves is maybe an even tougher job sometimes when you factor in politics, customer attitudes, court, working hours (most cops put in a insane amount of hours) etc etc.

That's just as bad as Crazyfool's generalization. A cop's uniform, a soldier's uniform, or even a fireman's uniform doesn't automatically make someone a hero. There are plenty of heels in the world wearing all three. Me, I judge people on a person to person basis. I'm not going to thank someone for violating my rights by pulling me over and letting me off with a warning when I haven't done anything wrong in the first place (which happens a lot today) simply because the guy chose a risky job. And I firmly believe people shouldn't have to rely on the police to protect them. Until they start administering super serums to the force, they simply aren't able to in most situations when you need them. And about those insane hours you speak of? How much of that do you suppose is voluntary overtime so they can get $40+ an hour to wave traffic on by?

Let me make something clear though. I'm not a "F'CK THA POLEESE" nutjob. Quite the opposite. If I wasn't hardset on being a writer, I'd be working on becoming a detective. I guess if I fail at writing I could become a private investigator (I ALREDY GOT A FEDORA).