Having a cop as a best friend means that you often get to hear the wonderful stories about how folks act like idiots when they get pulled over. He’s often told me of the things that I should do if I ever get pulled over (besides handing them the PBA card). The site he references has a full article that’s worth reading as well, as he’s only giving you one portion of it.
Secret Road Tactics for American Drivers
How to react in case you do get pulled over for speeding:
(a) 90% of the cops out there are NOT assholes.
(b) 90% of the cops out there are NOT assholes.[.. snip ..]
[Listening to: Many Too Many – Genesis – A Trick of the Tail]
Current Mood: 
amused
amused
Speaking as someone who has been drawn on, I agree with almost everything in his entry. I want for my liscense and registration too fast, when I was 17, and faced a gun in my window. Yeah, they have a touchy job, and I respect tham for that, and don’t act the fool when I’m dealing with them.
But…
“They can take your license, your car, your freedom and if they feel so inclined your life. They have the ultimate power. Accept this.”
No.
That sounds a little too close to, “Judge, Jury and Executioner.” I have a handful of friends who are cops (from local law enforcement up to federal), and I respect them and the job they do, but…I can’t accept that they have “ultimate power.” Their authority is immediate and direct, certainly, but none of them can blast away with impunity.
Just looking back at my reply, I thik its badly worded, what I was trying to convey…
I think I understand what the writer was talking about…yes, I imagine they can do what needs to be done. I’m reacting, I think, to the attitude I’ve seen from someone I went to high school with, who became a police officer. I remember him saying, when I’d run into him and talked a bit about his life as a cop while I was in college, “We can do what we want…we’re cops. Try to stop us.” I never understood where he developed that attitude…I can’t imagine many mature police officers acting like that, and I’m certain that its not a policy taught in the police academy. But I remember thinking, “Wow, that’s an attitude that would make me want to join a militia…”
I know its the minority, but it just takes a berk like that to mess it up for everyone, ya’ know?
I think the important thing to realize here is that, at the time the cop pulls you over, he’s in control.
If you try to be the wise-ass, or threaten him in anyway, he’s got the power to do those things to you.
It’s more in the spirit of cooperation.
Walking around the rest of time thinking that they are God is another matter altogether. Look at this article from the stand-point of a single car stop. it’s a microcosm that has its own set of rules and behavior.
Every single time you stop a car, your life is in danger. Think about the amount of pressure that puts on you.
It’s real simple. Don’t fuck with the cop who pulled you over and be on your best behavior.
Be nice. Grit your teeth. And keep it to yourself that while that asshat bobbing and weaving just ahead of you only 5mph over the limit is more of a danger than YOU moving 10-15mph too fast, you have been busted.
Also good to note – if you have license/registration in the glove box, or any other larger compartment (mine’s in my CD holder on the back of my visor) – LET THE COP KNOW that is why you are going there. “My insurance is in the glove box” will help put them at ease – you are reaching for paperwork, not a concealed weapon.
My father puts the one line more simply – police are armed and dangerous…remember that, and treat them with the proper ‘respect’ as such.
“Look at this article from the stand-point of a single car stop. it’s a microcosm that has its own set of rules and behavior.”
That’s one of the reasons I wrote my second reply…looking at perspective.
I had one cop (this past spring) thank me for my attention and co-operation…”By the looks of you, I expected a fight.” Okay, I looked like I could have been an extra for “Mad Max” that day, so I understand what he was talking about.
What’s a PBA card?
Policeman’s Benevolent Association
Its folks who support the police officers, sometimes financially. So as a friend/family of the police officer, the officers have a certain number of these cards which identify you as such. Basically the card has their name on it, and a little disclaimer stating that the person bearing the card has been cited as a safe and courteous driver.
It’s an unspoken ‘get out of jail free card’. By identifying yourself as a friend/family of an officer, other officers are more-likely to just give you a warning. Technically, they are supposed to take the card and prevent you from using it again, because at that point you’ve done something wrong.
So its nothing official, it’s just a nice little “How ya doing Officer, my friend’s a cop too, why don’t you just scold me for being bad” kinda thing…