I guess it ain't over til you almost get arrested.
I'll admit, I walked right into it. Yes, most parks close at sunset. But the gate was open and there were boaters there still coming in from a night of fishing. Yes, it was midnight and I wasn't wearing a shirt, but I was just coming home from a pool party. I guess I should have known that cops like to hang out in public parks, waiting for trouble to come to them.
I don't want to dislike the police. I try really hard not to. Their jobs are important and appreciated. I just wish sometimes they weren't so confrontational. "To protect and to serve," right? Not harass and demean.
In all fairness, I was pulled over a couple months ago for 40 in a 25 and after an apology the officer let me go. She was courteous, polite, and dare I say friendly. She made me feel like I was still a human being.
This is in stark contrast to this evening, however. All I wanted was some pictures of the night skyline, and the best view was from the beach in the park on the way home. No more than 30 seconds pass before I get a flashlight and an "Excuse me, what are you doing here?"
"Just taking some pictures of the night skyline," I squinted, flashlight directly in my face.
"Are you aware that the park is closed?"
"I'm sorry, the gate was open."
"Yeah, they leave it open most of the time. Do you live here?"
"Yes, I live just down the street," I said, providing my address.
"What's your name? Date of birth? Address? Is there anyone here with you? Is that your car?"
I answered all the questions, giving the address a second time. It went on like this for a few minutes. The whole time I kept reminding myself, "You're not doing anything wrong. You're not a criminal. The worst you're guilty of is trespassing. Stay calm, be polite."
When my interrogator had gathered all the information she could think of she said, "Stay right here." I stood there as she walked off, inspected my car, ran my plates, and called in my address. Her partner sheepishly made small talk as we waited.
She eventually returned, satisfied that I was indeed a god-fearing, tax-paying, law-abiding local.
"Ok, finish taking your pictures and then you can go."
"Thank you, ma'am."
So all's well that ends well, right? Why am I even writing about this?
Because I always feel like less than a person when police are involved. Apprehension doesn't begin to describe it. I sweat bullets. Thinking of bullets. It's rare when a cop is nice, and that bothers me. Most of the time it seems like a power trip. God knows the pay isn't worth it, so maybe it's the authority that draws people to the profession. Or maybe it's the ability to break the law to enforce it (read: speeding). If your lights aren't on, I don't think you should be able to drive faster than I'm allowed to. I asked a cop about this once and he said it was because sometimes the lights freak drivers out and they get in the way. Whatever.
All this is simply to say that cops make me nervous and uncomfortable, and I've never even committed a crime. Sometimes their actions can be frustrating and patronizing as well. Why is that? I know they deal with some pretty rotten people on a daily basis, and that would probably get to me too. But in these situations, it always feels like I'm guilty until proven innocent. And god forbid I try to invoke my Miranda rights. That's a one-way ticket to an overnight jail stay. Instead I just stand there, give all my personal information willingly and politely like a good sheep, and get off with a warning. And for what? Trying to take some pictures? I know it would have been stupid, but sometimes I wish I had the courage to stand up for myself when questioned by cops. Sure, I'd probably have a record, but maybe then I wouldn't feel so slimy and spineless. What do you think?
Posted by George at April 30, 2005 01:11 AMamen, brotha!
you have just put into words what i think about ALL the time! seriously. i especially go nuts over the "to protect and serve" nonsense - i have never felt protected or served when police are involved. just demeaned and berated. sad.
i would love to see our public servants balance their hyper-vigilance and toughness with some quality skills in assessing the tone that is needed to address a given situation. light infraction by a nice local? polite tone and courteous treatment. high-speed highway chase? approach the sucker with your gun pulled out of its holster. match the tone with the seriousness of the situation, but don't pull me over because you *think* my tags are expired, condescendingly lecture me for 20 minutes, and then gruffly write me a ticket all the while scolding me. bleh.
and yes, i'm up past my bedtime. what's new.
Posted by: delara at April 30, 2005 03:25 AMSo Thoreau was in Jail, and his friend Emerson comes by to seem him and says "Hank, what are you doing in there?" Thoreau looks back at him and says "Ralph, what are you doing out?"
::grin::
Posted by: Scopi at April 30, 2005 02:26 PMSuburban cops are orders of magnitude worse than big city cops. Cops in real cities have actual crime, disturbances and citizens to protect. The only time I was pulled over in Chicago was when I was driving on the wrong side of the road to beat traffic. I should have gotten a ticket but did not. In contrast to that, I've had 3 tickets in the last 6 months in Chicago's northern suburb, evanston. No mercy for me from the suburbanites. At least they believe that the car belongs to me. I guess it doesnt take much convincing i could own a 92 accord. My friend Nate, however, got carted off to the station when the officer would not believe his car was actually his.
Posted by: greg at May 1, 2005 05:44 PMWhat does Nate drive? An Evo VIII?
Posted by: george at May 2, 2005 08:40 AMyeah, i echo everyone's anti-cop statements. i should also add, georgie, that you shouldn't feel any inclination towards righteousness, bravery, conscience, etc. when interacting with arrogant, self-important, and yet ultimately useless officers such as the ones you encountered recently.
i say don't be all courageous and stuff, because it really won't serve you. there's no point in struggling against that system in a noble way, since you will not make its agents feel the self-loathing and pettiness they should be feeling, you will not improve your prospects (you might actually worsen them in terms of tickets, fines, jail, etc.), and you will not fundamentally alter the functioning of the system.
so yeah, don't let yourself be mishandled or anything. but be compliant, don't make things worse for yourself than they are... and if you really want some subsersive validation during such unjust situations, just use some big words to confuse them. :)
Posted by: nas at May 4, 2005 05:22 PMOk. So
a) thanks for the advice (especially since I'm always looking for an excuse to exercise the ol' vocab) and
b) if you can't change the system from the ground up, how can you? Is it even possible? What to change it to?
P.S. D, go to sleep!
Posted by: george at May 4, 2005 10:55 PMHow timely!! Just got pulled over for doing 51 in a 35. My pops (my dad) and I caught him in a lie to boot. When I asked him about why he stopped me and not another car, he said.. I was the only car that "passed through his beam". What the *&)$@ does that mean??? I explained how the road is one lane and turns into two and I could not have been going 9 mph faster than the car in front of me, I would have hit it. He then said I was wrong there is was not a one lane where I was coming from and said that the car in front of me was doing 47. Since when is 47 from 51 = 9???? George, you work at NASA, is this true (51-47=9) D'lara, please testify on my behalf, it is one lane!!!! Anyway, he did get uppity with me and I apologized (wuss) for my questions, I just needed to know why me and not the dudes around me. WHY ME??????
Posted by: Paul J at May 5, 2005 11:55 PMI feel your pain, dude, but it's like Nas said. There's no use arguing with a cop.
Posted by: george at May 6, 2005 08:43 AM