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gigag04 wrote: Again, I'm convinced you have no idea what cops do. We can agree to disagree, but I find your opinions on "PR" as it pertains to LE odd.

Good morning Gigag04.

I also don't really know what it's like, but I have had a few LEO friends over the last 30 years give me some pretty good hints. I also know that out of the four speeding tickets I've received in my life only two of them were legitimate. Two of them were outright lies.

The first one, I panicked and tried to run and hide. The officer just kind of shook his head and was very kind to me and only gave me a speeding ticket and didn't mention the attempt to evade him. The next one, I had exited the base I was stationed on my motorcycle going over the bridge and down to a road that was the end of a short highway that came to a traffic light. While waiting at that light a motorcycle officer came up behind me and around three other cars waiting behind me to pull up next to me and ask me to finish the left turn when the light turned green and pull into the parking lot. I did and he wrote me a speeding ticket. When I asked him why he said not to argue with him because he'd been following me for the last couple of miles. When I asked him what he was doing on my base he got really irritated. I wanted to go back to the gate and have the guards verify to him that I had just exited, but he wanted nothing to do with the truth. I ended up paying over $400 for that ticket because I was young and didn't know how to handle it and I was leaving for a six-month cruise and the court issued a warrant for me for failure to appear. One LEO very understanding and helpful and the other one a flat out liar that cost me money for something I didn't do where there shouldn't have been any contact at all.

That still doesn't matter, though. If I ever found myself in the position to help an officer, I would without hesitating.

gigag04 wrote:So...person tries to flee (leave) when I'm trying to contact them for a transportation code violation...this makes me a jerk and is bad PR?

Some of you have absolutely not a clue what police work entails or how these things play out in real life.

One of my favorite times at work is when a crack dealer jaywalks. I realize finding minor violations to harass drug dealers and burglars is off of your radars, but it's how this job works and it's fun. People slinging crack don't just stick around when cops are in an area. They like to non chalantly walk off. Knowing simple violations to get a valid car/person stop is fundamental to interdiction.

I deal with such contacts on a daily basis at work. I've already put two drug dealers in jail this month. Where's the PR campaign there?

Not sure how bad cops came up in the post.

Gigag04, seriously, I do respect all LEOs until they give me a reason not to. And even then, while I may not have any respect for someone in authority, I'll still obey all of their lawful orders.

To me, fleeing and leaving are two different things. Your contact with someone for an actual violation certainly wouldn't make you a jerk. Making contact with someone who has not violated anything wouldn't either. I think preventing someone from leaving who hasn't done anything, that you know of, wrong would and might also put you at risk for a civil rights violation law suit.

Even the judge from the OPs link stated that had the DUI guy could have just driven away. And one of the guys here, Alexrex20, related a story where, not having done anything wrong, an officer was asking him to get out of the car because he was waiting for a friend. I have to wonder where that officer would have taken that contact if he had complied. Probably no where, but there still wasn't any reason to ask him to get out.

speedsix wrote:...no different from someone being a jerk to a waitress...or a loan officer...or a barber...or your wife...in this life, things can be easy...or not...depending on your attitude...basic life lesson...

...you can get a lot of slack on small infractions...or not...been there, done that...gigag04's right on...

...and then you hear: "Why didn't the police DO SOMETHING..." Cops, unlike politicians, don't live by the latest opinion polls...they do what it takes to get the job done...

I wouldn't do it, but I don't understand what the problem is.

Keith B wrote:

alexrex20 wrote:But true, there aren't many instances where a cop would "question" you without good reason.

One time in Austin (figures) I was parked along the curb in the street, waiting for my buddy who was inside a store. He was on crutches so I got the car and waited for him up front. A cop knocked on my window and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was waiting for my friend. She asked me to move my vehicle. I told her I didn't see any "No Parking" signs. She stared at me, so I stared back. She went back to her car and sat there, probably running my plates, then came back to my car and asked me for my ID. I told her I'm not required under law to show my ID if I'm not doing anything illegal/being detained. My friend finally hobbles out of the store, gets in the car, and I drive off, leaving the cop who was parked behind me.

Know your rights.

There are a lot of folks who, like you, push their 'rights' in these types of scenarios. Being a horses behind to a cop my be legal, but will usually cause them to look further into things, which may become unpleasant. There is a old adage about 'You catch a lot more flies with honey than you do with vinegar'. That can apply in these cases where if you are just pleasant and enter into a nice 'adult mode' conversation with the officer, then you neither one get ticked off and everyone goes away happy in the end.

I am not anti-LEO by any means, but doesn't anyone think that after Alexrex20 answered the officer's question that she wasn't being a horses behind by asking him to step out of the vehicle, obviously just fishing for something without any probable cause? There could have been more to it than that, but if there were I'm sure she would have gone after him.

Actually, this sounds pretty reasonable, although I'm not quite sure what happened to his DUI conviction in the end.

An officer may just strike up a conversation with anyone, but they cannot search them without RAS or permission. Some will advocate just walking away without saying anything or asking the officer if they are being detained. As the article said, if the officer is not blocking the car and would not be put at risk by just driving away then it's now different than walking away. All this may be easier said than done, but on paper it looks reasonable.