I think this is exactly right. It’s a stupid power-trip move, designed to put you on the defensive (or at least remind you or make you believe you have to sit there answering their questions).
Just tell me what you need to tell me and ask me what you need to know.
I was passenging with a friend who drove in the gore point (sure, I know what that is now), and a cop pulled us over. First thing out of the cop’s mouth:
“What made you think it was okay to drive in the gore point?”
(Actually, he said it like one long, incomprehensible word: whatmadeyouthinkitwasokaytoddriveinthegorepoint.)
It’s a shitty way to start the interaction. It’s like saying, “I caught you, and you don’t have a clue what’s going on.”
My run-on sentence was indeed pretty clumsy. Basically I was stating that a traffic stop isn’t considered “police custody” in the eyes of the law. There can be consequences to refusing to answer reasonable and non-incriminating questions.
Essentially, if they pulled you over, they are trying to get you. When you say: “as far as I know I was driving within the speed limit.”, if he cites you for speeding, he will write your statement verbatim on the back of the ticket, in case you later try to fight the ticket and use it as evidence that you were not certain that you were obeying the speed limit.
Spend a little time in traffic court and watch how many times what the defendant said in response to that question is quoted by the citing officer. I don’t think its wrong for them to ask, but everything said at that stop can and, if necessary, will be used as evidence.
That’s all very nice, but the real question is: if any of those neighbor cops find that a fellow cop has broken the law or abused a suspect, will they speak out? I don’t want to deal even with “honest” cops until they show they’re willing to cross the Blue Line.
It’s not wrong for them to ask it, and this is something you can refuse to answer under Fifth Amendment grounds. The thing is, since you’re not in police custody (and not Mirandized), if you keep silent and don’t assert your rights this can be considered obstruction or otherwise be used against you.
Note: I’m not defending the arrest of this person. I don’t know PA law, but in WA where I live, obstruction is a misdemeanor. They could have ticketed her for speeding and additionally cited her for obstruction. There didn’t seem to be any evidence of a more serious crime so the arrest seems completely unnecessary.
How many police interactions every day are there in the continental US. A thousand? A million?
You pick the worst possible of them as the representation of all of them.
Again. I’ve said this before here. Awesome. Great. Good luck with that. That’s the same mind set of trump and his flock. Don’t let ANY person who is Islamic in the country because just one of them could be the next terrorist.
You want to be like him and his ilk. Go for it. I choose to live in a world of hope.
This is why when I get pulled over I tell the police officer to the mph how fast I was going. That and because I am not ashamed of it, surely not going to lie about it.
They’re so used to bullshitters, they just let me go and tell me to slow down.
I really think it may be time to take a breather. You’re amplifying what was said to you, making it about you when it is not, and it seems to be very personal to you.
yes, and so are you here. Taking a comment about someone else as a personal slight and assuming every thought someone has is a slight. Please consider that might be an accurate descripton? Not totally off base? I say it having been there, though not for a long while.
Please, go do something that makes you happy and bring that patient energy back with you when you return? 1minute? 10? whatever it takes. At least consider it, for the community you want.
again, a suggestion is not an order. Please, for some reason the words you read seem to be hitting you sideways, personally, and you seem to be making them bigger than they are. Try maybe using the same words.
I know, I know, “Don’t make suggestions about what I need or don’t need” just doesn’t have the oomph, but be fair. I didn’t order you, nor would I have that ability, even if I had the drive. Is someone ordering you around IRL or something? What’s up doc?
And, for the record, I don’t think the person you’re being nasty to is saying things as strong as you’re hearing them. In much the same way you;ve interpreted my suggestion as some sort of order, and brought your dad into it? Whats that about? Turn the gain down maybe? Take 5, it’s a friendly suggestion.
I’m not writing because it’s fun or makes me look smart or superior.
Im writing this because it is stressing me out to have empathy for you behaving that way. Stop changing words and holding folks responsible for the replacement word YOU chose, it’s inauthentic and worrisome to behold, for me.
I will look away now, as it seems to me you may have a chip on the ol shoulder, and I mean no harm.
Yeah, i’d say that out of any 10 cops I have met, two are fantastic public servants, one is a social climber, three are epic jobsworths, and three more are just trying to make it to their pension maturation without making waves, and one is an unrepentant violent asshole. Pretty much like the rest of humanity, i might add.
I don’t see how dismissing people who complain about that one asshole is in any way shape or form standing up for the other 9. It’s just covering for an asshole.
