Holy shit. I've seriously considered not signing the next ticket I get. Since it's simply a statement showing that I have understood the charges, blah blah blah, then they require my volunteered signature. Well, fuck them, to say it plainly. I will not volunteer my life to those bastards, even something so menial as a traffic ticket.
I glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. Seems to me that most of the people I know who went into law enforcement were either bullies or bullied in HS. Has anyone else noticed the same phenomenon? The bullies become cops so they can keep on being bullies and the bullied become cops to get even.
I used to think the cops were the good guys. 'Conservatives' need to wake up and realize that most are just state employees with lower than average IQs and guns.
The problem with LTL (Less Than Lethal) weapons like tasers is that it encourages this type of behavior. ANYTHING less than total cooperation and physical submission now results in getting zapped or sprayed.
The microwave thingy the army has developed is even worse, as it affects large areas and can be used from the air to drop people or disperse crowds.
The LA thing baffles me. Did anyone think to use a spike strip or shoot out the tires? At 35 mph, its not like anyone's life was in danger.
I want 10% of what that kid wins in court.
They showed part of the video on the news last night - I wonder how the story would've been told if that video didn't exist.
This is one of those "Just... Damn" kind of posts.
Cops Lie too. I would less believe a cop on the witness stand than almost anyone else.
" I wonder how the story would've been told if that video didn't exist."
I'll tellyou, they lost the one of my arrest, and lied his ass off. He admitted, had to, that there was a video, but they couldn't find it. He said he gave it to the police chief, and the police chief said he never saw it.
One hundred twenty rounds and the 'perp' is recovering? More than a few deputies need extra range time!
.
Nate, here's a story that backs up your assertion that police can't shoot.
Of course, how many hunters here wouldn't also send a few stray shots into nearby houses when confronted with a charging buffalo at 30 feet?
Story here.
Video here.
Harry
No they need to go get a spine at the spine store. They fired 120 rds because they are cowards.
Never hassle a cop that is issuing you a ticket. It's not worth it. They will always win. You will always lose.
The judge always sides with them. They look for excuses to add more charges. They are in charge of raising revenue for the state through traffic violations (among other things). Your insurance goes up, it goes on your record. You can't win. It's fixed. You can't change it.
Waterboy
I was going to mention that. 120+ rounds to drop 5 buffalo. Surely there was a patrol car with a higher caliber rifle in this town. or perhaps a neighbor, which would be better, cuz I dont want a cop running around with a high power firearm.
What tans my hide is the cop radioed in to tell his sarge she wouldn't sign the ticket and his response was "arrest her." Just like that. Lots of cops are cops because they are either too lazy or too dumb to do anything worthwhile. Then they get that badge and gun and the power goes to their thick heads.
The way I see it, if I witness a cop tazering a pregnant woman (or child or elderly person)and assuming that person isnt armed, then that would be a clear case of "defense of other" and use of force is clearly authorized in this country for such purposes.
Also the story fails to point this out clearly but it seems this woman is black. Cops racist? naaah (And yes I do realize the disparity in the crime rates.)
"F*** the Police"
That's right! Want me to send you the track by email?
NWA: Nate With Attitude.
Hey... I was in High School in 1989. Don't think that I don't know my share of NWA.
IMO, "Law Enforcement" attracts way too many overly authoritarian types. And, yes, there are cops who lie. Imagine my shock a few years ago when one did it in court. I think the judge was onto him, though, 'cause she threw the ticket out. Later, there was a story in the paper about this guy and how he had gotten into a pissin' contest w/ a family on his street and was telling lies about them.
I was all about to jump on the bandwagon with you, Nate.
Then I followed the link to a story about the Los Angeles Police Department, Compton, 'nuff said.
It's hard to tell which inmates in Der People's Schtaat of Californication are crazier, but they are all running the asylum into the ground.
Anything that is still actually "illegal" out there is only so because the bureaucrats aren't getting their cut.
Ted,
If it were relegated to places like Compton I would be more sympathetic. But hell man... stuff like this has happened 3 or 4 times in little Murfreesboro, TN!
It's happening all over the country in nice little towns and suburbs.
It's gotta stop.
Nate:
Tim Brady was harping on the radio in Clarksburg last week about how much he respected the police because on any given day they didn't know if they'ed be coming home or not.
I used to agree with him. Not anymore. Anyone with any sense, ability, or spine left the police force a long time ago. Everyone should remember this: An officer's job is to enforce the law. If the laws are no good, the job of an officere does no good. Can anyone honestly say our laws are worth anything anymore? The laws are now such that it's impossible to do good as a police officer. You can only minimize the damage, and that's not good enough.
That said, the Prophet is absolutely right. You can't win, and a wise man picks his battles carefully.
Can't win? Can't win in traffic court. I'll grant you that. But Michael Jackson's as guilty as OJ... and somethin' tells me they'll be playin golf together before long... though mikey will probly bring a few little boy's along.. ahem... for the ride.
I've been angry all day after reading this post during breakfast. Damn it.
I'm glad I haven't had to speak with any policemen lately--my thoughts might get past the "Don't say THAT, dork!" filter.
I found this section of the article interesting:
She was found guilty of the first charge because she never signed the ticket, but the Seattle Municipal Court jury could not decide whether she resisted arrest, the reason the Taser was applied.
Since this is the case, the officer guilty of the tasering should have been punished severely. Using this weapon on an obviously pregnant woman for such a minor offense is a shameful act of evil. The whole department is disgraced by this moron's actions.
I have no idea whether the issuance of the speeding ticket was justified, but I find the woman's refusal to sign it puzzling. Signing the ticket isn't an admission of guilt, only a validation that she received the ticket & understood why it was written. That's all. Guilt--or lack thereof--can be determined on the court date.
Don't misunderstand. This isn't a defense of the idiot cop's behavior. He should be fired & prosecuted, IMHO.
I can honestly say that I have yet to experience a bad encounter with any law enforcement personnel.
Four times pulled over for speeding and three of them ended in warnings; only one ticket, and it was minor (~$45). I calculate fines into the cost of driving how I want to, and so far I've come out ahead.
My son is taking Criminal Justice courses at the local CommCol next Fall, with plans to become a cop. I've tried the tactful, logical approach with him but have not yet succeeded in dissuading him. I'd like to think that he will become a good "peace officer", but know the odds and the laws are stacked against him.
Erik, if you get any tickets from him in a couple years, don't blame me.
Waterboy
I figure myself lucky if I am not taken out and thrown around while handcuffed (like a friend of mine recently had happen to him for refusal to comply with an "officer's" command that he remove a license plate from a car he bought less then 24 hours ago.)
Inexcusable. Just another example of what JD was talking about up above...cops over-enforcing stupid laws, and abusing their power while doing so.
So what if he was supposed to remove the damn plates? Just send him off with a warning or, at worst, write a ticket. Why the handcuffs and the manhandling?
Like the man said, pick your battles. I don't think your friend chose wisely.
Tax-collecting bureaucratic janitors is all they have become. If we all stopped speeding they would ticket you for turn signal violations or whatever else is most common.
I remember once a few years back a state trooper pulled me over for not wearin a seatbelt. When I gave him my license, he refused to believe that it was mine as "the picture looked radically different." It never occured to the asswad that the picture was taken at age 16, nearly 10 years prior to the incident...anyway, he made me get out of my car, handcuffed me while he "checked my story out" and when there after he found out there wasn't anything on me (i suppose) he uncuffed me, fingerprinted me and took a polaroid, then wrote up the ticket for not wearing a seatbelt...asswad...
Where do you live where they can pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt?
Commie rat bastards.
criminey... west virginia ain't even that bad....
yet.
Nate, they can pull you over in TN now for not wearing a seat belt. In fact, they now have guys that stand on corners dressed like everyone else to look for non-seat belt wearing drivers. They radio cops and you get pulled over down the road.
You have GOT to be shitting me.
No I'm not:
http://tinyurl.com/7lqzw
Seat belts were made mandatory by the General Assembly last year. Blake at Nashville Files blogged about it:
http://tinyurl.com/e2bev
So, what effect did all that juice have on the baby? These are some seriously sick and twisted individuals. They ought to make the cops responsible for monetary suits. 40% of your paycheck until it's paid off, or until you're gone. I would assume if it wasn't you and I footing the bill for these assholes whenever they decide to hurt someone, it may stop, or at least ebb a bit.
There is only one way any of this is going to be changed.
Look on the bright side. 120 shots fired... 5 hits total... 4 on the confined target. Assuming these incompetnts did'nt reload, each having 15 shots works out to 10-11 cops.
You should be able to get 7 right out of the gate, reload and get the rest as they scurry for cover.
I've got good friends that are cops and they would rather shoot most of their own than hassle the public.
Nate,
Michigan has primary seatbelt enforcement too. They can use spotting scopes from overpasses and that does'nt constitute unreasonable search. I was ticketed driving my Bronco by a thug on a motorcycle. The judge did'nt see the contradiction in this and it cost $180 plus lost work time. Passengers can get you pulled over too.
Yeah.. but I expect that from the pricks in MEEEchigan.
Oh, Nate. That shit's been going on for decades in little towns...They call it "local custom" when it's a black dude their shaking down. Macon County Line ain't just a movie! Weird that they've upped it from robbery to murder, but when Cuzzin Jayeff iz chief o' poolice, and Cuzzin Cleyem is district attourney, an' Uncle Billy-Joe Bob's Justis o' th' Peace, Right & wrong are whatever you want.
"Absolute power...does WHAT?"
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