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I Was Pulled Over Tonight

tangentmusic

tangentmusic

A figment of our exaggeration
Aug 17, 2007
4,872
12,351
Reno/Tahoe
#1
I was on my way home from picking up a few items at the health food store this evening and was pulled over by an officer of the County Sheriff's department. Great..

As he approached my vehicle, he was very cordial, greeted me and said I was doing 65 in a 55 zone.
I said I was just keeping up with traffic and hadn't realized I was speeding.

He asked for the usual documents, which I handed over. He also asked in a rather comical way if I had any guns, knives or nuclear weapons with me. I chuckled and said no sir.
His demeanor was actually pretty cool, not the "authority gone to his head" power tripper attitude I've experienced in the past (that's another thread topic). Whew..
He said "sit tight for a minute" as he went back to his SUV unit to run his check on me.

He took longer than I thought he would.
I'm thinking here comes the ticket. Great..

He returns, hands me back my license, registration and insurance form and let me off with a warning.
Wow - very unexpected. Thanks.

Now that the pressure was off, I mentioned to him the recent police murders in Dallas and some of the recent shootings of citizens by cops. Yes, right there on the side of the highway with cars passing and people thinking "poor dude's getting rousted". He said "there's good and bad on both sides". I agreed and said I appreciate the tough job they do, and reached out to shake his hand. I could tell he was taken aback, and he said they don't get many people say that when pulled over and he appreciated it.

As I was putting my stuff back in the glove box and wallet, he pulled away first and gave me a wave as he drove off.

I don't usually have many interactions with cops and try not to, like most of us, but I felt I needed to give this guy some props since he seemed truly like one of the good guys. And not just cuz he didn't give me a ticket.

Next time you get a chance, and if he/she is deserving, give some cop a good word. Make his day..

image.jpeg
 
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#3
Yeah when I was a youngster the LAPD would pull us over, band guys before weed or drugs were popular/available. Sometimes they would wave guns in our faces, inappropriately and dangerously. Sometimes they would line us up and ask us to blow our breath in their direction.

I keep those experiences as a guideline. I'm not white and it is a different world for us. Peace for peace officers, yes sir!
 
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#5
Cops and teachers. Two invaluable, under appreciated and underpaid tough tough jobs. I applaud you for giving this man a moment of pause in his day. These guys never know if they are walking up to a level headed person or a drugged out loonie. If more folks followed your lead we wouldn't have the crazy problems we have these days. Bravo to you sir.
 
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#6
I was let off only one time.

It was back in the late 80's. In Garden Grove, CA every year around Memorial Day they have their Strawberry Festival. This one year, I was going to my favorite model train shop in the "old town" part of Garden Grove which is near where all the festivities are. The usual place to park was full so I went around the corner and found a spot where a bunch of other cars were parked, but there was a no parking sign. I parked anyway and went to the store.

When I came back, a cop was behind my vehicle writing a ticket. I stopped and he asked me if that was my vehicle. I said yes. He asked me if I knew if this was a no parking zone and I said yes, but because of the festival and all the cars, I thought they were letting cars park there for that day. He said there was no exception for that day and asked me if I'd ever park there again and I told him "No, sir". He tore up the ticket he had started and let me go.

As I was driving away, I looked in my rear view mirror and he was behind the next vehicle writing a ticket. There must have been 10-15 cars there. I got out of that ticket only because he had that many more to write and wasn't looking forward to it, I reckon.

I have recently been let go after being told of a warrant I have for an outstanding ticket I forgot about from a few years ago. I got pulled over taking my daughter to school. The cop gave me the ticket and told me about the warrant. He said I should get that taken care of as soon as possible. I agreed and went on to drop my daughter off at school. Just a few weeks ago my father-in-law had a diabetic episode and found himself at the guard post of a Dept. Homeland Security building near where we live. The cops there used his cell phone to call my wife to come pick him up. When we got there the cops took our licenses. One of them motioned me aside and as he handed me my license back said, "Take care of your warrant". Yes, sir. Whew. I really need to get that warrant taken care of.
 
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#7
When I was a youngster in the late 70's I was zipping across NY state doing about 90 in my Triumph. A NY State trooper pulled up beside me and through his radio PA reminded what the speed limit was. I immediately braked until I was doing the speed limit. By the time I reached it he was long gone, I don't think he even slowed down.
 
#9
Aberdumbie said:
Cops and teachers. Two invaluable, under appreciated and underpaid tough tough jobs. I applaud you for giving this man a moment of pause in his day. These guys never know if they are walking up to a level headed person or a drugged out loonie. If more folks followed your lead we wouldn't have the crazy problems we have these days. Bravo to you sir.
Click to expand...

And firemen. Somehow though firemen get the glory and the budget gets balanced off the teacher's salary and pension. It's weird to me..

I can't imagine being a cop. All that danger every day if you're in the big city, and about two thirds the pay of an electrician or minor manager. Work holidays, bad hours, only to find people can't stand you because of something someone else did. I applaud them. And I wonder why they would put themselves through that.
 
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#11
El Güero said:
The last time I was pulled over a policewoman asked me that very question and I answered, "I figured it was to compliment me on my driving." She told me why, and let me go.
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I'm stealing that one! Probably gotta be careful on the delivery though, could be easy to come off as a smart@$$.

Don't believe the media, the majority of cops are good. If you get a ticket it's usually becasuse you're being the d!ck.
 
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#13
When I get pulled over I try to make it easy for the cop as he has no idea who I am as he approaches the car. I put both hands on the top of the steering wheel so they are in view. When he ask to see my DL and registration, I tell him, (or her) that they are in the car's console and I slowly remove them. Also, I treat him with respect and it is yes sir and no sir. I think they appreciate this. Many times I just get a warning even though I was truly breaking the traffic law. There is no way in the world I would want that job. With that said, they are the first line of defense against total mayhem in our society. God bless them.
 
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#14
Just a word of warning - most police officers don't want you to try to shake their hand or touch them at all. They are trained to see such gestures as potential threats and it forces them to go into caution/defensive mode.

Most of the time, they just accept the handshake and smile, knowing that you are simply being friendly, but it really does make them edgy.
 
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#15
If you are dealing with the police, in their official capacity, it is probably not the best thing that will happen to you that day. Whether you are stopped by them or had to call them, something is not right with your world. It is usually not going to be their most enjoyable experience, either.
 
#16
I was in EMS for a few years and got to know quite a few police officers on a personal level. Not surprisingly, I learned that they are as human as everyone else. Most are good people who want to do well at their job and treat people with the same respect and dignity they hope to receive from others. A few are the bad apples who ruin the reputation of the whole bunch.

That being said, I have been pulled over many, many, many times since I started driving at age 16 and most of the time it's because I've been profiled. It seems that I resemble some kind of street thug or drug dealer or just someone who is likely to have warrants (see my avatar). Knowing this, I make every effort to obey all traffic laws and I never drink and drive and never have anything to do with drugs or other contraband.

Still, most every time I get pulled over, I get the '20 questions' treatment so they can fish for some kind of incriminating information. When they are satisfied that there is nothing illegal going on they bid me a good day and send me on my way. But there have been some occasions when the questioning turned to harassment and I've even been ticketed for a violation I didn't commit. I've been lectured by officers for engaging in criminal activity that they "know" I'm engaged in and they wanted me to know that I wasn't welcome in their town.

These are the few bad apples that I tend to remember and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have to constantly remind myself that most police officers are decent and behave professionally and don't act like douche bags.
 
#17
hbarcat said:
That being said, I have been pulled over many, many, many times since I started driving at age 16 and most of the time it's because I've been profiled. It seems that I resemble some kind of street thug or drug dealer or just someone who is likely to have warrants (see my avatar). Knowing this, I make every effort to obey all traffic laws and I never drink and drive and never have anything to do with drugs or other contraband.
Click to expand...

Try getting a haircut you damned hippy. jk :)
 
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#19
hbarcat said:
I was in EMS for a few years and got to know quite a few police officers on a personal level. Not surprisingly, I learned that they are as human as everyone else. Most are good people who want to do well at their job and treat people with the same respect and dignity they hope to receive from others. A few are the bad apples who ruin the reputation of the whole bunch.

That being said, I have been pulled over many, many, many times since I started driving at age 16 and most of the time it's because I've been profiled. It seems that I resemble some kind of street thug or drug dealer or just someone who is likely to have warrants (see my avatar). Knowing this, I make every effort to obey all traffic laws and I never drink and drive and never have anything to do with drugs or other contraband.

Still, most every time I get pulled over, I get the '20 questions' treatment so they can fish for some kind of incriminating information. When they are satisfied that there is nothing illegal going on they bid me a good day and send me on my way. But there have been some occasions when the questioning turned to harassment and I've even been ticketed for a violation I didn't commit. I've been lectured by officers for engaging in criminal activity that they "know" I'm engaged in and they wanted me to know that I wasn't welcome in their town.

These are the few bad apples that I tend to remember and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have to constantly remind myself that most police officers are decent and behave professionally and don't act like douche bags.
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I've had that happen to me a couple times, I work just down from a bunch of half way houses and my wife put a big bright green kind of high looking smiley face on my car.
 

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