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

#41
Lee H said:
CA highway patrol officer ... 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.
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And there it is: the problem with the police state. Under the noble rubric of ridding the world of drunk drivers, we get the reality of dimwitted agents of the state who pick and choose their targets. It's just an excuse for the government goons to subjugate us.
 
#43
I had a buddy pulled over one time,
Why?
The cop said that it was because he only had 2 screws holding his license plate on!
(there were only 2 holes in the bumper)

Cops can - and do - fabricate reasons to pull people over all of the time!
 
#45
No, of course not, and you know it. And don't counter one straw man with another. ;-) I do presume you know no one who has had a loved one killed by a drunk?

And we are SO far from a police state, and you know that, too. What I'm saying is that there are way too many drunks on the road; that law enforcement has been tasked with getting them OFF the road by the citizens of their communities, and yes, sometimes SOME cops get a bit overzealous - and as I said, they usually don't last long. You don't have to "prove" anything. The cop DOES have to *prove* you're doing something wrong.

If you've had a problematic encounter with LE, sorry, but that's your problem. I've found that if you treat a cop with respect (whether you think he/she deserves it or not), you'll leave the encounter unscathed, and probably relatively promptly, unless of course you're guilty of something illegal - you aren't that, are you? If all you're doing is bitchin about da man, well, cool on you. It seems to be fashionable in certain circles.
 
#46
Back when my woman was tending bar at night, she would get pulled over regularly.
usually around 3 a.m.

Once the cops got used to seeing her vehicle on the road that late, they knew that she was just going home after work.
they eventually left her alone.
 
#47
Lacuga said:
And there it is: the problem with the police state. Under the noble rubric of ridding the world of drunk drivers, we get the reality of dimwitted agents of the state who pick and choose their targets. It's just an excuse for the government goons to subjugate us.
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Hah. Goons? Dimwitted? You have stats to back that up? IQ scores? I think not. Subjugate?! Seriously? Again, departments cannot afford cops who, for whatever reason, mess up. I'm sure you are college educated, no? I'm sure you think you could make it through any of the states' Academies?

Cast all the aspersions you wish. I "hear" sour grapes.
 
#48
we used to have a local officer who made it a point to pull over every biker he could get behind. I was one of his favorite targets because he used to tell on me and get our parties busted, in high school...and I made a point of regularly beating him up for it. years later he had a badge, and he felt it gave him a license to get even...
now they have him checking the potheads.
 
#49
I was in a group that used a van plus a trailer to get to and from the gigs. Local Cops would pull us over and make us unload all the gear and open all the cases - they were sure we were smoking or carrying weed. It would take more than an hour each time, and the cops would drive away, leaving us to repack all the gear. The last time, the cop pulled us over for going too slow- that is, 5mph under a 45mph speed limit. He stopped us, and two more cop cars pulled up and they all stood there at 3:00 in the morning, lights flashing, while we pulled everything out of the trailer. all so sure they'd catch us with that evil weed. That was the first thing they said to us when they pulled us over- "where's the reefer?". The singer's wife's sister was married to a state police cop who really liked the band, and didn't like the shake downs. He said something to somebody and suddenly the local cops left us alone for good. The reason we were targeted? Our guitar player was black.
 
#50
Here’s hoping none of you are advocating driving drunk. I no longer drink alcohol, and was never an alcoholic, but my brother was. Some of you (and rightfully so) are worried about our rights of freedom. What about other’s rights, like being on the road safe from someone too impaired to be driving? Back when I played in bars, a large percentage of the patrons had no business driving home, but most of them did. Bars in general are in the business of making money (no kidding) and alcohol sales is their obvious “cash cow”. Having personally experienced the whole bar scene (legal and illegal) for almost twenty years, I am glad to hear police are using tactics they hope will keep not only drunk drivers off the road, but also encourage bar patrons to drink responsibly or use a sober friend to do the driving.

Another experience I have had was being involved in an auto accident where someone was killed. It was not my fault, and I had not been drinking. I will never completely get past the events of that accident, nor will I ever forget seeing the woman lying there dead. Neither will I forget meeting her parents and her four year old daughter – in a courtroom.

It is easy to throw around clever words, and to create a rouse about losing our freedom, but our greatest right is to life itself, and putting a drunk driver behind the wheel of an automobile, or even defending his “right” to do so, is absurd.
 
#51
jeffbrown said:
Hah. Goons? Dimwitted? You have stats to back that up? IQ scores? I think not. Subjugate?! Seriously? Again, departments cannot afford cops who, for whatever reason, mess up. I'm sure you are college educated, no? I'm sure you think you could make it through any of the states' Academies?

Cast all the aspersions you wish. I "hear" sour grapes.
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maybe you should rethink this argument... I know one person who has passed the academy, and I would not hire him to sweep the floors in the machine shop. I know a second who is a little brighter. He can probably spell his own name correctly in less than three tries...

There are intelligent people and there are culls in all walks of life. if you are going to toss out an accusation like that, you must consider the lowest common denominator, or statements like that can come back to bite you in the posterior
 
#52
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....

While on the way home from last night's gig I was (yet again...) pulled over by the trusty Illinois State Police. No I wasn't drunk, no I wasn't speeding, no I wasn't doing anything stupid. I was told I DID however have a non-functioning license-plate light. Huh? I can understand them looking for drunks etc, but twenty minutes alongside the highway at 2:30 am? Gimme a break. I had no booze on my breath, I was clearly driving in a straight line, and we do have lots of local traffic at this time of night due to some 24 hour warehouses, etc.

Last month I was pulled over for no apparent reason-by a cop that was LEANING ON THE HOOD OF MY TRUCK 5 minutes before outside the venue and we even had a polite conversation about said drunks inside the building. The month before that, my "front wheel touched the centerline" and I was pulled over by the ISP dude that lives in the same small town (150 pop) that I do.

Long story short, I have an immaculately clean CDL, with exactly ZERO tickets and/or accidents in the last 15 years, and no legal issues of any sort EVER. So I've just gotta rant a bit and ask if anyone else has repeated cop delays on the after-gig commute? On a similar topic, do you think it's getting worse recently or just my normal crap-luck?
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You hang out at place where people get drunk and then leave to drive drunk. ... guilt by association.
 
#53
jeffbrown said:
And we are SO far from a police state, and you know that, too.
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I know nothing of the kind. Hello, TSA. It is, actually, remarkable how many more cops there are now on the roads as compared to when I was a kid.

What I'm saying is that there are way too many drunks on the road.
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It seems to me that one drunk is one too many on the road. But that is not the issue. The cost of ridding the world of drunk drivers, that is, empowering individuals with lethal force to instill fear and intimidation on the populace, is not worth the cost. At least, to me. And it is not clear that they are succeeding in achieving their goal. No surprise, really.

If you've had a problematic encounter with LE, sorry, but that's your problem.
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Never had a ticket in more than 30 years of driving. No criminal record (or charges) either.

I've found that if you treat a cop with respect (whether you think he/she deserves it or not), you'll leave the encounter unscathed, and probably relatively promptly, unless of course you're guilty of something illegal - you aren't that, are you?
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Why should my liberty be interfered with when I have done nothing wrong? Why should I be forced to treat with respect a man (usually) who has stopped me using the threat of force for no cause? I have nothing to hide, but I do not wish to be coerced into answering to an agent of the state for no reason. Do you? That you apparently are willing to do so belies the motto of your own home state, Live Free or Die. Your cheerful willingness to submit to the state is ... interesting, I will say. Good luck with that.
 
#54
I've never been pulled over on the way home from a gig, but If I was I would thank the officer for trying to keep the drunks off the road, and gleefully prove to him that I was not among the ones that shouldn't be on the road. I haven't had a drink in over 10 years, and have NEVER driven with a drop of booze in my system.

I think the cops need more power to get the drunks off the road, not less. Book em Danno.
 
#57
Lacuga said:
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.
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:rolleyes:
 
#59
tuBass said:
I've never been pulled over on the way home from a gig, but If I was I would thank the officer for trying to keep the drunks off the road, and gleefully prove to him that I was not among the ones that shouldn't be on the road. I haven't had a drink in over 10 years, and have NEVER driven with a drop of booze in my system.

I think the cops need more power to get the drunks off the road, not less. Book em Danno.
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Good for you! Tell us, do any of the guests at your gigs drink? Why do you play for them if they take will take to the streets afterward with alcohol in their blood?

It won't matter soon: when the goons are done with us, there won't be any more places to gig, and we can stay home playing bass alone, along with our favorite MP3s.
 

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