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Cop Stop....Yet Again....

#21
Bassamatic said:
It is a shotgun approach. They figure anyone out that late has been out drinking, and they are probably right a good % of the time, so they do random checks.
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Sometimes it's "you crossed the center line." This was the most common tactic where I lived in CO. Happened to me once and I was totally sober and know I didn't cross the line. So then, of course, after checking me out and I'm clean I get the "Well OK Mr.----, just tryand be careful out there and have a safe trip home."

Here in KY they have been using the tire marking thing for over 20 years. Saturday night I will be playing a club where they sit at the very back of the parking lot and follow people out.
 
#23
there used to be a woman officer, who patrolled near a bar I worked at, on weekend nights. She was gung ho about saving the world, and anyone who was not in law enforcement was a criminal. Too many complaints from private citizens resulted in a schedule change for her

It was so bad that every person who worked at the bar I bounced at new her first name, even thought she absolutely insisted on being called "Officer ______"

the funny thing was that she never pulled me over. She targeted my pickup when my lady was driving it, and then my ladie's mercedes two weeks later. I would ride my bike to work, then at 3AM I would fire up a ground pounding hot rod harley up, and ride through town unmolested, loud pipes and all.
 
#24
Bassamatic said:
It is a shotgun approach. They figure anyone out that late has been out drinking, and they are probably right a good % of the time, so they do random checks.

Not taking sides, but I am sure they find quite a few that should not be driving, and I am glad that they get them off the roads.
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I'm glad that profiling by law enforcement is not acceptable! :spit: If the cops can do it, why can't the TSA?


BTW - if the TSA had awards for their most outstanding employees, would they be called the "Gropies?"

Dan K.
Just in case you were wondering, the comment on profiling was sarcasm!
 
#26
I guess it was more of a rhetorical question and rant, due to (my perception of) increased hassle from the cops. Around here, I swear there is more late/early traffic from the big 24/7 warehouse/shipping center employees than from the bar crowd. Probably 2/3 of the local venues I played 10 years back are closed or doing more of the "steak night" thingee. At least BITD once you opened your window and the cop saw you were sober, then all was cool and polite. These days they seem to be going over everything with a fine-tooth comb looking for a violation.
 
#27
I get pulled over all the time when driving home from a gig, and I'll never stop getting stressed by it. I hate it.

I never drink much at a gig - coupla drinks or so, across the whole night, and I never drink beer so that they can't smell anything.

I don't know what this Cause stuff is that people are citing - but I get pulled over without the cop citing any reason. I have been given the inebriation tests - follow the pen, etc - with the cop never citing why I was pulled over in the first place.

I also have experienced what others cited with the cops parking. There are a couple of venues I used to play where the cops wouldn't even try to hide. They'd wait till late, wait till everyone got good and loaded inside the bar, and then just parked across from the bar. It sure increased taxi use.

[In this case, that was actually a Good result - except what it also does is chase people away in the future. When venues get a reputation for cops buzzing them, that's pretty much the beginning of the end.]
 
#29
This is one reason why whenever possible, everyone in my band rides in one vehicle to and from the gig with our teetotaler lead guitarist driving. Anyone in the band who has had more than 3 beers that night doesnt get behind the wheel and our BL is hardcore about that.

Around here a lot of times cops dont lurk immediately next to the bars (too obvious)... But they DO stake out the fast food joints with late night or 24/7 drive thrus.
 
#30
I notice stuff like this happening more frequently in small towns. It is getting so bad where I live that they are fining young adults with public intoxication while they walk home from parties.

This had almost happened to me once but luckily we were right next to a friends house and told the cops it was where we were going(we also had no alcohol on us).
 
#31
bryan gibson said:
I've been gigging off and on for over 20 years now and just have to ask if this happens to everybody else or only me....
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It's happening with greater frequency because we are quickly becoming a fascist society. And, as has been well documented here on TB, local music venues are vanishing because patrons don't want to risk their futures on the whims of some Barney Fife who will gladly ruin your life if you blow one one-hundredth above the arbitrarily established legal limit.

F these cops and the government goons who employ (deploy) them. The late-night shakedown of an innocent driver is a particularly odious kind of tyranny. You have my sympathy.
 
#32
freshcelery said:
I notice stuff like this happening more frequently in small towns. It is getting so bad where I live that they are fining young adults with public intoxication while they walk home from parties.

This had almost happened to me once but luckily we were right next to a friends house and told the cops it was where we were going(we also had no alcohol on us).
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We play small towns a lot -- festivals, street dances, weddings etc. -- and anymore its pretty common for cops / hi-pos to set up at damn near every point of exit from the town. Our lead singer is frequently asked to announce towards the end of the night where the checkpoints have been set up and frankly, absent any hotel or taxi service in a lot of these towns, I'm not exactly sure what a lot of those people do for the night. Its got to be like shooting fish in a barrel.
 
#33
millsbass5 said:
The cops use some type of felt-tip marker with invisible ink, that is until it's hit with headlights or, a spotlight. They take the marker, and run a mark across the rear ends of vehicles while they're parked in the parking lot of the clubs.
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Whoa! I never heard of that. That's sneaky.

You should get your own UV marker and, when the police stop
to mark cars, you should mark the police car! :p
 
#34
Bert Slide said:
Sometimes it's "you crossed the center line." This was the most common tactic where I lived in CO.
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A cop once told me that he could stop anybody just by saying
they were "weaving in the lane." They didn't even have to
cross a line. Every car weaves to a certain extent. He could
pull over any car with that bogus probable cause.

By the way, even crossing the line is not illegal. A solid, double-
yellow line means "no passing." It doesn't mean your wheels
can't touch it.
 
#35
My friend is an Army MP and is teaching me a bit about profiling. I can see it's uses now, even if i don't think it's fair, or even works. It *is* however quite a bit more than just how someone looks when you first see them. He can watch someone for a bit and tell you a fair amount about them w/o even talking to them. I cant wait til he gets home to take him out for a few beers and discuss people we watch.
 
#36
Yep, sure, you're all cop haters, for now. Until someone you know and love gets killed by a drunk driver who walks away from the wreck with nary a scratch. You'll sing a different tune then, I bet.

Stats are that at any particular time, one in ten drivers are drunk/over the limit. That stat increases incredibly every Friday and Saturday night. Police officers I know are trying to stop the carnage, not increase revenue, which around here anyway doesn't go to the department that makes the arrest. The department WILL eat any overtime required for processing, etc., however. And don't believe any cop wants to spend the wee hours of Sunday AM dealing with an idiot instead of going home at his regularly scheduled time to be with his family.

To make a legal stop, the officer has to have probable cause. It can be a light out, driving erratically/over the line (warnergt, where'd you get your info? In NH, that doesn't fly), anything other than "normal" operation. And if you've done nothing wrong, you'll soon be on your way. Be glad someone is looking out for you and trying to make sure the REAL drunks get caught before they kill someone. Whether you like it or not, driving is a privilege granted by the state. Sure, there are over-zealous cops, and they make mistakes, and they can lose their jobs in short order if they keep making mistakes. Losing an otherwise good DUI case on a stupid technicality is no good for anyone except the drunk, and doesn't solve any of the problems. Departments can't afford, in every sense of the word, the liability of bad cops.

I can't count the number of times I've seen cars veer into my lane and swerve back out; I'm sure the operator was trashed. And if you all have been out there when you say you have, you've seen the aftermath of *those* crashes - the ambulances and the sheet-draped figures along the road. You want to drink and drive? Please stay off the road *I'm* on.

Rant over.
 
#37
jeffbrown said:
To make a legal stop, the officer has to have probable cause. It can be a light out, driving erratically/over the line (warnergt, where'd you get your info? In NH, that doesn't fly), anything other than "normal" operation.
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Ok, did you get that rant out of your system? Did it really sound good to you, in your head...


I hope so, because this quoted part made me laugh...and I am going to repeat it to a buddy who is a CA highway patrol Officer.
he has no problem admitting that law enforcement invents reasons to pull people over, all the time. He has even admitted that some bars he watches, and others he is more lenient about.
 
#38
jeffbrown said:
Yep, sure, you're all cop haters, for now. Until someone you know and love gets killed by a drunk driver who walks away from the wreck with nary a scratch. You'll sing a different tune then, I bet.
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Typical specious/straw man argument. No one is advocating drunk driving. What many argue against is a police state, where you have to prove that you are "legal." You could eliminate drunk driving entirely if the law required every driver to be accompanied by a cop at all times. Sure! Why not? You'd advocate that if a loved one was killed by a drunk driver, right?
 
#39
I come from an entire family of cops. One of their favorite tactics,and something they're actually trained to do,is to create a reason to stop someone. I've heard or experienced all them. It's not you,not your vehicle,not the time of day or night..it's what they're taught to do. Their second favorite thing to do is delay people..I've found the whole annoying process to go quicker when he says "I'll be right back with your info" and I say "Take your time,my house isn't going anywhere"..it's no fun when it's no inconvenience..
 
#40
I have an idea for stopping drunk driving accidents...


Have you ever heard of a drunk hitting another drunk?...NO... Drunks always hit sober people...so get all the sober people off the road before all the bars close. 2AM, and only drunks are allowed on the road...no sober people for them to hit, no problems...LOL

I cannot wait to see who takes this bit of satire seriously. It will only be someone who WANTS to argue
 

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