#myNYPD Twitter callout backfires for New York police department

[Josquius]

The subway stuff is bizzare, falling asleep on trains happens, they're the perfect environment for that.
Sometimes a nap is a good way to make the most of the dead time too, if you're capable of it

[Monoriu]

In HK, it is an offence to use offensive language in underground trains.  In theory, passengers can be fined for saying the f-word.  Though in practice it is never enforced.

[celedhring]

My best police story:

That happened in Badalona, a suburban town near Barcelona, when I was 17. It was one of our friends' birthday and we decided to throw him a surprise party. We have a few drinks over it and the genius plan emerges: dress up as women in bondage and go fetch him at his home and then take him on a binge. Simple minds, simple ideas.

So we go and buy the costumes. Wigs, fake breasts, wips, bonds, the whole lot. We decide - naturally - not to dress up yet so we stash the costumes in the trunk of the car and set to drive to our friends house.

Now, this was a time (mid 90s) where there had been a major spike in design drug trafficking in the area - there were some pretty major discos there that guzzled them by the wholesome (I have a Darwin Awards story about that too) - so police had been stepping up efforts to try to curb it. And so it happens, we were stopped by the police.

Now, the driver hadn't had a drink, but the rest of us were a bit smacked. So the policeman asks us where we are going, checks that the driver is okay. And then asks: "Do you mind if I check your trunk?".

And then we think, The breasts! The wigs! The bondage apparel! And our alcohol-addled brains make us scream. NO YOU CAN'T!!!! 
"Why not?" Says the policeman. Then uncomfortable silence, as we were aware we couldn't look more suspicious if we tried now. But oh, we CAN try - one of us says, in a bout of stupidity - "because you can't see what's in there!!!"

Long story short, we were marshaled to the station, our costumes were found, searched for hidden drugs (They even brought the dogs as they were surprised they didn't find any given our behavior) and our friend was left without birthday party.

Fortunately we avoided them calling our parents since at the end, the only thing they could pin on us was being stupid.

[Ideologue]

Was Franco still in power?  I'm not 100% up on my Spanish history.

Actually, I dunno, all that might meet probable cause in the U.S.  I don't think it would.

[Eddie Teach]

Was Franco still in power?  I'm not 100% up on my Spanish history.

Actually, I dunno, all that might meet probable cause in the U.S.  I don't think it would.

"Francisco Franco is still dead" - SNL sometime in the 1970s

[Richard Hakluyt]

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...

Depends on the police. What you say generally works in places like Canada and the UK, probably not in NK, Uzbekistan and the like. Then we have the arguable cases, say a scruffy black fellow on the subway and the NYPD, is politeness enough for him to receive decent treatment?

[celedhring]

Was Franco still in power?  I'm not 100% up on my Spanish history.

Actually, I dunno, all that might meet probable cause in the U.S.  I don't think it would.

Franco had been a corpse for 20 years. And I'm sure our rights were infringed upon, we were too scared and stupid to realize.

[Camerus]

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...

Depends on the police. What you say generally works in places like Canada and the UK, probably not in NK, Uzbekistan and the like. Then we have the arguable cases, say a scruffy black fellow on the subway and the NYPD, is politeness enough for him to receive decent treatment?

I've only had 1 encounter with cops, but I wasn't particularly impressed.  When I was about 20 in Toronto, some friends and I were driving late at night and pulled over by the police (my friend was using a legal temporary license plate), and the police were absolute dicks.  One of the first questions the cop asked my mixed-race friend was, apropos of nothing, "what's your race, son? Mulatto?"  Though we had done nothing wrong, they were pretty rude and abusive the whole time before letting us drive off.

[jimmy olsen]

Mulatto? Really?

[grumbler]

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

In my experience people get out of a police encounter the lessor of what they deserve and what the cops wants to hand out.  Many (though not, in my experience, by any means most) cops are cops because they get off on the power, and endure the shit parts of the job because they get to experience the power portions.  No one who runs into those cops gets what he or she deserves.

[grumbler]

I've only had 1 encounter with cops, but I wasn't particularly impressed.  When I was about 20 in Toronto, some friends and I were driving late at night and pulled over by the police (my friend was using a legal temporary license plate), and the police were absolute dicks.  One of the first questions the cop asked my mixed-race friend was, apropos of nothing, "what's your race, son? Mulatto?"  Though we had done nothing wrong, they were pretty rude and abusive the whole time before letting us drive off.

Best answer to "what's your race, son?" is "the 200 meters, sir!"

[DGuller]

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

In my experience people get out of a police encounter the lessor of what they deserve and what the cops wants to hand out.  Many (though not, in my experience, by any means most) cops are cops because they get off on the power, and endure the shit parts of the job because they get to experience the power portions.  No one who runs into those cops gets what he or she deserves.

Even with dick cops extreme politeness is usually the best strategy (though understandably pride may get in the way of it).  One of the aspects of power is discretion:  you don't get off by fucking with everyone, you get off by choosing who you want to fuck with.  Letting someone off for being submissive to you can give as much of a power boner as fucking with someone for pissing them off.

[grumbler]

Even with dick cops extreme politeness is usually the best strategy (though understandably pride may get in the way of it).  One of the aspects of power is discretion:  you don't get off by fucking with everyone, you get off by choosing who you want to fuck with.  Letting someone off for being submissive to you can give as much of a power boner as fucking with someone for pissing them off.

No question.  Belligerent attitudes towards cops of either persuasion is a bad idea.  With a good cop, though, repsect will garner you respect.  With a bad cop, respect will garner you contempt.

Better to have your own teeth than a bad cop's respect, though.

[Ideologue]

Was Franco still in power?  I'm not 100% up on my Spanish history.

Actually, I dunno, all that might meet probable cause in the U.S.  I don't think it would.

Franco had been a corpse for 20 years. And I'm sure our rights were infringed upon, we were too scared and stupid to realize.

I was being silly, I know Franco died in the 70s.

[mongers]

In all of my various encounters with coppers, be it late night in some city centre, at demo or with regard to motor vehicles, I've never had a single problem, though I guess there's always a first time.

I think being generally confident and friendly with people/officials one encounters helps to illicit trust and confidence on their part.