#myNYPD Twitter callout backfires for New York police department

[CountDeMoney]

I'd lock up Ide on general principle, toss his ass in the back of the wagon hit every curb on the way to Central, though.  Tasteless Movie Reviewing with Intent to Distribute.

[Razgovory]

I've never had problems with the police, even when I had in fact committed a crime.  I was cuffed by never arrested.  Calm polite explanations go along way I suppose. On the other hand, my brother always has problems with the police.  I suspect the police didn't respond any better to his shrieking insults any better then I did.

[MadImmortalMan]

I haven't had any terrible experiences with cops, even the one who arrested me (DUII) was decent.

I was 17 and with an idiot friend (he was ~20) driving around downtown Portland; we had a 12 pack of beer and he made the dumbest illegal left turn in the history of dumb illegal left turns.  The cops were on our ass in seconds and we got pulled over right in front of Pioneer Square on a summer Friday evening.  The cop asks for our IDs; I hand him my Oregon Driver's License that clearly shows I turn 18 in ~3 months.  He says to me that I am lucky that I am 18, or else he would have to call my parents and they would have to come get em released or something.  That was weird, but I agreed with him.  He then told me that it might be OK for an 18 year old to drink on Army Bases, but it was not OK here in Downtown Portland.  I have no idea why he might have thought I was in the Army, but my hair was very, very short, almost shaved., but I gave him a very polite "Yes, Sir!" and he handed my ID back.  He then made us pour all of our beer out on the side of the street, with hundreds of people milling/cruising/walking by.  The whole thing was funny, even at the time.

If that happened to you today it would go very differently. Life: ruined.

[grumbler]

I never saw the need to fuck with people any more than was necessary at any given moment, but that was just me.  Not everybody saw it that way, and yeah, there's the asshole aspect of the culture.  I usually tried to make the average encounter as easy as possible, because my very presence was an escalation in situational tension, and I didn't--and still don't--believe in unnecessary escalation for the sake of escalation.  That's not being proactive.  That's not being productive.  That results in unnecessary paperwork and ass beatdowns.  But sometimes attitude beget attitude, and people look for unnecessary confrontations, and get themselves a ticket when 3 minutes earlier they would've just gotten a warning, or get a warrant check because of their hateful vibes and surprise! there's a child support warrant, or their mouths get themselves locked up when they don't follow instructions, like being told to leave the fucking house you don't fucking live in.

Yeah, that's kinda how i see it from the outside, as well.  Most cops are just trying to get through the day; they have always been reasonable with me.  The cops that are trying to get their jollies by showing their contempt for "civilians" (which I always thought kinda funny, given that "civilian" is what I considered them when I was in the service) always were reasonable with me, because I didn't give them shit and they were looking to end their encounter with me and find someone who was going to give them the shitty attitude they were looking for.

I know that, for some people, being uncooperative with cops is a matter of pride.  Given their histories, and the stories they have grown up with, that's probably as reasonable for them as being cooperative is for me.  As you note, they get what they expect (and even hope for).  Like asshole cops, asshole non-cops get vindication from being abused.

[CountDeMoney]

I know that, for some people, being uncooperative with cops is a matter of pride.  Given their histories, and the stories they have grown up with, that's probably as reasonable for them as being cooperative is for me.  As you note, they get what they expect (and even hope for).  Like asshole cops, asshole non-cops get vindication from being abused.

Most of the time, it was the everyday, non-important bullshit that caused the most grief.  And yeah, I could always understand how from somebody's point of view they think you're just fucking with them when they're "not doin' nuffin'" out in a convenience store parking lot, but the store management doesn't want you hanging around not doin' nuffin'.   
Can't begin to count how many loitering issues got blown up bigger than responding to domestic violence and bar fights.  Christ, what an unnecessary pain in the ass exercise in bullshit.  Getting my BP up just thinking about it.  Fuck already.

[derspiess]

Oppressor.

[derspiess]

Anyway the gas stations in the bad parts of town seem to be getting good results out of blasting classical music as a means of preventing loitering.  Always like hearing Vivaldi or Mozart when I stop in to get an energy drink or coke zero.

[CountDeMoney]

That's just to lull you into a false sense of relaxation so you don't realize how stupid you've been to buy into the "Drill Baby Drill We're Gonna Be Net Oil Exporters Yay Shale Oil" bullshit that will never affect the rising prices at the pump you will continue to pay the rest of your life.

[dps]

I never had trouble with cops here in Toronto, even as a long-haired, scruffy, pot-smoking teen whose hobby was hanging out late at night with gangs of buddies getting high.

Either the "being White" thing worked its magic, or "being generally polite and non-confrontational" did; or, alternatively, I was just lucky in the cops I encountered.

Maybe you were just too stoned to notice the beatings and taserings.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The metropolitan police did try and fit up a mate of mine once. We were walking around Soho about 2 in the morning when we spotted a policeman's hat in the gutter, my mate went and picked it up, big mistake............we were swooped upon by half-a-dozen armed police. Luckily we had only finished work at midnight, so were sober, also my friend had some legal training which helped in the chat that followed. He pointed out that I hadn't even touched the hat and they had jumped us before we even had a chance to discuss our find, so they let me go and no arrest was made, useful if you want to travel to the USA on visa-waiver. However, they did arrest my friend and charged him with theft. He hired a barrister; we had to miss a day's work chatting to him, then another shift for the trial. I was a witness so missed most of the 20-minute trial. The boss of the cops was in the anteroom where I waited for my turn on the stage, an inspector or some such, he remarked "well this is a damned tuppeny-hapenny affair!". I had to agree.

The magistrate found not guilty of course and awarded £50 costs against the cops (the real costs were much higher of course). He then gave a pompous little speech and advised us not to wander about town in the small hours 

I like to think the commanding officer of the cops gave them a bollocking for this; armed cops were very rare in those days, they were supposed to be doing something much more important with their time; but doubt that any action was taken.

[Ideologue]

I never had trouble with cops here in Toronto, even as a long-haired, scruffy, pot-smoking teen whose hobby was hanging out late at night with gangs of buddies getting high.

Either the "being White" thing worked its magic, or "being generally polite and non-confrontational" did; or, alternatively, I was just lucky in the cops I encountered.

Maybe you were just too stoned to notice the beatings and taserings.

Malthus' adolescence predates the Tom Swift electric rifle.  Possibly also Tom Swift.

[Malthus]

I never had trouble with cops here in Toronto, even as a long-haired, scruffy, pot-smoking teen whose hobby was hanging out late at night with gangs of buddies getting high.

Either the "being White" thing worked its magic, or "being generally polite and non-confrontational" did; or, alternatively, I was just lucky in the cops I encountered.

Maybe you were just too stoned to notice the beatings and taserings.

The stuff we got wasn't that good. 

[Malthus]

The metropolitan police did try and fit up a mate of mine once. We were walking around Soho about 2 in the morning when we spotted a policeman's hat in the gutter, my mate went and picked it up, big mistake............we were swooped upon by half-a-dozen armed police. Luckily we had only finished work at midnight, so were sober, also my friend had some legal training which helped in the chat that followed. He pointed out that I hadn't even touched the hat and they had jumped us before we even had a chance to discuss our find, so they let me go and no arrest was made, useful if you want to travel to the USA on visa-waiver. However, they did arrest my friend and charged him with theft. He hired a barrister; we had to miss a day's work chatting to him, then another shift for the trial. I was a witness so missed most of the 20-minute trial. The boss of the cops was in the anteroom where I waited for my turn on the stage, an inspector or some such, he remarked "well this is a damned tuppeny-hapenny affair!". I had to agree.

The magistrate found not guilty of course and awarded £50 costs against the cops (the real costs were much higher of course). He then gave a pompous little speech and advised us not to wander about town in the small hours 

I like to think the commanding officer of the cops gave them a bollocking for this; armed cops were very rare in those days, they were supposed to be doing something much more important with their time; but doubt that any action was taken.

Something like that happened to a buddy of mine - he was waiting in the subway to meet some buddies (including me), when he spotted a telephone receiver ripped from its cord lying on the ground. He picked it up, thinking to make it a conversation piece - only to be pounced on immediately by a cop who had obviously staked out the fallen receiver and was just waiting for some idiot to come along and pick it up. Cop threatened to charge him with a long list of crimes, vandalism, theft, etc.; the cop searched him and found he was carrying a very expensive dope pipe and some hash on him, which of course was the nucleus of a whole list of other charges ... but after reducing buddy to a scared puddle, he decided to let him go - confiscating the pipe and the hash, which went into the cop's pocket. 

[Ideologue]

Your friend was robbed by a man under the color of lawful authority!

[Malthus]

Your friend was robbed by a man under the color of lawful authority!

I guess he could have gone to the cops and made a complaint, demanding his pipe and hash back.  What could go wrong?