#myNYPD Twitter callout backfires for New York police department

[Ideologue]

That's no joke.   Unless you're at the extreme of shooting back at them and have made peace with your gods, there's no point in doing anything but complying 100%.

Last time I got pulled over was okay, though.  Tail light went out and turns out my license had expired (I forgot ) but he let me drive home with the promise to go to the DMV the next day.  Good fellow.

[Capetan Mihali]

The ideal is to find some way of manifesting total deference while also safeguarding your rights against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches.  The answer to "Then you don't mind if I look around your car/pockets/house?" has always got to be "Yes, I do mind," delivered as politely as possible.  So many people end up trying to talk their way out of a police encounter and end up completely sinking their chances to beat the case later.

[Barrister]

The ideal is to find some way of manifesting total deference while also safeguarding your rights against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches.  The answer to "Then you don't mind if I look around your car/pockets/house?" has always got to be "Yes, I do mind," delivered as politely as possible.  So many people end up trying to talk their way out of a police encounter and end up completely sinking their chances to beat the case later.

In my experience people get out of a police encounter exactly what they deserve.

When I was in a fraternity while in law school, I set down some very basic guidelines for the brothers if they ever dealt with police (and we did, from time to time, for noise complaints mostly).  It was to be unfailingly polite and courteous, to go along with any request, and to politely not allow police to come into the house.  The guys followed my rules and never had any issues.

Contrast that of course to the numerous files I see where the person speaking with police starts with "fucking pigs!" and it degenerates from there...

[Ed Anger]

I'd tase Beeb if I was a cop.

[Ed Anger]

Good thing I fixed that autocorrect. 

[Ideologue]

Good thing I fixed that autocorrect. 

[garbon]

The ideal is to find some way of manifesting total deference while also safeguarding your rights against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches.  The answer to "Then you don't mind if I look around your car/pockets/house?" has always got to be "Yes, I do mind," delivered as politely as possible.  So many people end up trying to talk their way out of a police encounter and end up completely sinking their chances to beat the case later.

In my experience people get out of a police encounter exactly what they deserve.

When I was in a fraternity while in law school, I set down some very basic guidelines for the brothers if they ever dealt with police (and we did, from time to time, for noise complaints mostly).  It was to be unfailingly polite and courteous, to go along with any request, and to politely not allow police to come into the house.  The guys followed my rules and never had any issues.

Contrast that of course to the numerous files I see where the person speaking with police starts with "fucking pigs!" and it degenerates from there...

Yeah when I got pulled over for driving my mother's BMW and got told that I was swerving in and out of lanes and my eyes were contradicting my statement that I wasn't drunk or on drugs, that's exactly the treatment I deserved*.

I don't see why I should have to be polite to someone who is being a jackass but I'll do it rather than risk the consequences.

*meanwhile my mother had been driving ahead of me and was a witness to both how the cop had doubled back to pull me over and to the fact that I wasn't swerving through lanes like he suggested.

[DGuller]

You have to remember that Barrister can't wipe the beaming smile off his face for the next two days after hanging out with policemen.

[Valmy]

I always find and this is only this forum, that Americans here seem to have a far more deferential attitude to the police and, so, different limits on what's acceptable. The attitude seems very different from a British (and Canadian?) 'policing by consent' view.

I have a deferential attitude (yes, massah) because I don't need to be hassled. Resistance is futile.

Yeah I do the same thing.  Asses will be kissed whenever I have the misfortune to run into a cop.  Best to just avoid them.

[garbon]

I always find and this is only this forum, that Americans here seem to have a far more deferential attitude to the police and, so, different limits on what's acceptable. The attitude seems very different from a British (and Canadian?) 'policing by consent' view.

I have a deferential attitude (yes, massah) because I don't need to be hassled. Resistance is futile.

Yeah I do the same thing.  Asses will be kissed whenever I have the misfortune to run into a cop.  Best to just avoid them.

Actually the same for border crossing. I saw this man getting all heated when they were asking about his telescope and I was like that is the wrong way to play that, sir.

[Jacob]

Actually the same for border crossing.

Oh god yes. Don't fuck around at border crossings.

[CountDeMoney]

I've never heard of such / plenty of people do it. Still as an officer seems problematic given that he appears to have a gun on him?

They are allowed to take their guns home with them.  But I suppose you shouldn't be able to doze off on the way home from a 16 hour shift.  That should go in his performance jacket.

[CountDeMoney]

Deny it all you want, but I could tell a difference after Giuliani took over.  Perhaps you've fallen in one of those "too close to see it" type paradoxes.

I saw reports of studies that attributed the decline in crime in NYC to demographic and economic factors; it was mirrored by similar declines in other places that had a similar trajectory as well as a general decline in crime on a national level.

Don't bring statistical analysis into this, Jacob.

[CountDeMoney]

The ideal is to find some way of manifesting total deference while also safeguarding your rights against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches.  The answer to "Then you don't mind if I look around your car/pockets/house?" has always got to be "Yes, I do mind," delivered as politely as possible.  So many people end up trying to talk their way out of a police encounter and end up completely sinking their chances to beat the case later.

In my experience people get out of a police encounter exactly what they deserve.

When I was in a fraternity while in law school, I set down some very basic guidelines for the brothers if they ever dealt with police (and we did, from time to time, for noise complaints mostly).  It was to be unfailingly polite and courteous, to go along with any request, and to politely not allow police to come into the house.  The guys followed my rules and never had any issues.

Contrast that of course to the numerous files I see where the person speaking with police starts with "fucking pigs!" and it degenerates from there...

I've said it once, I've said it a million times:  more often than not, people get themselves locked up.

[dps]

The ideal is to find some way of manifesting total deference while also safeguarding your rights against self-incrimination and unreasonable searches.  The answer to "Then you don't mind if I look around your car/pockets/house?" has always got to be "Yes, I do mind," delivered as politely as possible.  So many people end up trying to talk their way out of a police encounter and end up completely sinking their chances to beat the case later.

In my experience people get out of a police encounter exactly what they deserve.

When I was in a fraternity while in law school, I set down some very basic guidelines for the brothers if they ever dealt with police (and we did, from time to time, for noise complaints mostly).  It was to be unfailingly polite and courteous, to go along with any request, and to politely not allow police to come into the house.  The guys followed my rules and never had any issues.

Contrast that of course to the numerous files I see where the person speaking with police starts with "fucking pigs!" and it degenerates from there...

Yeah when I got pulled over for driving my mother's BMW and got told that I was swerving in and out of lanes and my eyes were contradicting my statement that I wasn't drunk or on drugs, that's exactly the treatment I deserved*.

I don't see why I should have to be polite to someone who is being a jackass but I'll do it rather than risk the consequences.

Yeah, the correct approach to, for example, not giving the police permission to search your vehicle is, "No sir, I don't consent to a search of my car", not "Fuck no, dickhead" no matter how much of a dickhead the guy's being.

That said, sometimes I can't resist pushing the boundaries.  I think I've mentioned this incident before, but once, years ago, I got stopped at a checkpoint while driving home from work.  At the time I worked at Taco Bell, and we didn't close till midnight IIRC, so it was probably between 1 and 1:30 in the morning.  Anyway, there were several cars ahead of me, so I had my license, registration, and proof of insurance already out by the time an officer got to me, so he didn't have to wait for me to fumble around for them or anything.  So when he asked for them (first thing, no preliminaries or such), I said, "Certainly" and haned them over promptly.  After he looked at my paperwork, he asked why I was out at that time of night and I told him that I had just gotten off work and was on my way home.  Then he asked, "How much have you had to drink tonight" and I answered, "None, sir" which was the truth.  At that point, I thought everything had gone OK and he was just going to wave me on, but instead he said, "I don't believe you.  I think you're a lying SOB.  What do you have to say to that?"  I said, "Well, whether you believe me or not, it's the truth."  At that point, I still hadn't said anything that I could see as smarting off to him, but then he said, "Well, what if I take you to the station for a breath test" and I said, "Meh, doesn't matter to me.  I'm not in any hurry to get home.  You can take me in and give me a blood test too if you want, but you're going to look awfully silly when the test show I haven't been drinking.  You want to waste your time, though, I don't care--like I said, I'm in no hurry".  I kept a polite tone, but at that point I was definately baiting him.  He made me get out of the car and frisked me, and told me to stand there while he got in his cruiser.  I kind of thought that he might actually go through with taking me in, but he came back after a few minutes and told me I could go. 

Another time, I had gone with a friend of mine to where he worked to pick up his paycheck.  He parked and I waited in the car while he went inside.  The space he was parked in was marked "reserved" but didn't have a name posted on it.  Right after my friend went inside, a cop pecked on the window.  (Keep in mind that I was in the front passanger seat.)  When I rolled down the window, he asked me, "Is this your parking space?"  I answered, "No, 'tain't my car, either."  The cop asked, "Whose car is it then?"  and I said, "It belongs to a friend of mine."  He asked, "Well, where's this friend?" and I said, "He works here.  He went inside to get his paycheck."  So then the cop asked, "Is it his parking space?"  and I said, "Beats me.  You can ask him if you want to wait around for him to get back."  The cop decided he didn't want to bother waiting and left, but told me to tell my friend not to park there anymore if it wasn't his space.  I didn't call the officer any names or anything like that, and I wasn't exactly rude, but on the other hand my answers did have a pretty mocking tone to them.