nice encounter with a copper

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of a few and the magnification
of such events in entertainment. Get to know your local police and you'll generally find they treat
you better.

Robert Kercher said:

Yesterday night I was riding home in a *very* naughty way - no light, girlfriend on handlebars....
Then we see this funny guy with the bobby hat and the yellow jacket. 'Hi. we're in trouble,
right?' Nope, it turns out that I knew him from before - in fact over *one* year ago he took
details when my car was vandalized, he still remembered me!! So this whole thing turns into a
friendly chat and totally confuses me. Might have to change my attitude towards the police even.
Anyway, I am very pleased by seeing a friendly police officer, mind you, it might have something
to do with being in the UK, I always suspected things work a little different here.

Cheers

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of a few and the magnification
of such events in entertainment. Get to know your local police and you'll generally find they
treat you better.

Get to know your local police, and you'll be more likely to appreciate and respect them, and less
likely to misbehave and incur their wrath. :-)

Matt O.

Quoted message said:

Robert Kercher [email hidden]

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

this whole thing turns into a friendly chat and totally confuses me. Might have to change my
attitude towards the police even. Anyway, I am very pleased by seeing a friendly police officer,
mind you, it might have something to do with being in the UK, I always suspected things work a
little different here.

This strikes me as a troll but since it may not be.... have you had many encounters with police
officers in *other* countries or have your attitudes toward police been formed mostly by movies and
television?

Regards, Bob Hunt

Richard Adams said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional

Umm...occasional. Yeah, that's it.

Quoted message said:

bad behavior

Bad behavior? Not sure what you're talking about.

The acts I see by police that could be called "bad behavior", e.g. using color of authority to avoid
traffic tie-ups, hanging out &

not "occasional", but routine.

OTOH, things like unprosecuted murders of the premeditated-with-malice-aforethought type are
occasional. But I would not categorize them as simply "bad behavior".

Quoted message said:

of a few

Seems like every time I've witnessed a _whole lot_ of cops in one place, they were all actively
curtailing or violating several of the people's sovereign rights: speech, assembly, petition for
redress of grievances, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.

It seems that often, the more cops you get in one place, the worse they behave-- that's surely
evidence that the problem extends to more than "a few". Either that, or it's some of the most
colossally ill-conceived public relations maneuvering ever.

Consider that when hundreds of cops act like abusive, disrespectful jackasses towards tens of
thousands of the most publically aware citizens, it makes a deeper and more telling impression than
when one cop at a time acts like a normal decent human being in an ordinary situation. If cops want
the public to respect them, they are going to have to act respectably, even-- especially-- when it's
hard for them to do.

As it is, the police have blown it so bad, the only folks I know who aren't generally contemptuous
of cops are those who have negligible experience with them.

Quoted message said:

Get to know your local police and you'll generally find they treat you better.

Get to know your local burglar and he might spare your house, too-- so what? Cops have a duty to
citizens but not the other way around. If a cop wants a person's respect, he can earn it like anyone
else. But nobody owes it to him just because he's a cop.

Chalo Colina

"Hunrobe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Robert Kercher [email hidden]

This strikes me as a troll but since it may not be.... have you had many encounters with police
officers in *other* countries or have your

attitudes

Quoted message said:

toward police been formed mostly by movies and television?

Regards, Bob Hunt

A troll sure but which topic. Lights, unsafe riding, police, international relations. The only
things he missed were helmets and bad drivers.

Quoted message said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of a few

Some police departments have had to be totally dismantled by the DOJ because every cop was a
hardcore criminall in there and they just kept arresting groups of cops there one after another.

Quoted message said:

and the magnification of such events in entertainment.

Criminall cops are fair game with the media.

Quoted message said:

Get to know your local police and you'll generally find they treat you better.

Can you explain how this works? Friendly honost cops are almost always willing to make friends with
the public, so the fear of being mistreated by them is minimmal to none, and the ease of knowing
them is already built
in. (honost friendly people are easy to know)

Now the bad attitude self-hating criminall cops generally treats people bad, why would any honost
person wan't to get to know bad cops, just to be treated 'better' by them?

Reminds me of this young woman who worked at a convience store, there were two cops in there and I
walked in, they were looking at me in a creepy shifty manner, they started trying to stash stuff,
among those was dougnuts. Yes doughnuts.

The clerk kept smiling at them like she was overjoyed by having them in the store.

They talked to eachother for a moment and then quickly walked toward the door, stuff in hand, they
both gave the clerk a look of death threat.

I said 'those cops were stealing stuff,' she said oh, I know, I give them free stuff so they hang
aroung, it keeps me safe.

I said yea but shouldn't they hang around anyway, without you having to pay for protection,
ect ect ect.

My point is cops are already there, as a service, paid by taxpayer dollars, nobody should have to
treat them any different than any other job to avoid or expect a certain type of treatment.

She was nice to them and they instantly turned on her whan they felt they got caught.

At this poing I think US cops are stealing all we have been giving them.

Quoted message said:

Anonymous Sender [email hidden]

wrote (major snippage):

Quoted message said:

Criminall cops are fair game with the >media. Friendly honost cops are almost always willing to
make friends with the public, so >the fear of being mistreated by them is minimmal to none, and the

Quoted message said:

ease of knowing them is already built

in. (honost friendly people are easy to >know) Reminds me of this young woman who >worked at a
convience store, there were two cops in there and I walked in, they >were looking at me in a
creepy shifty manner, they started trying to >stash stuff, among those was dougnuts. Yes
doughnuts. The clerk kept smiling at them like she >was overjoyed by having them in the store.
They talked to eachother for a moment >and then quickly walked toward the door, stuff in hand,
they both gave the >clerk a look of death threat.

Maybe you misunderstood and they were actually giving *you* an unfriendly eye.

Cop #1- "He (pointing at you) looks shifty" Cop #2- "Yeah, he looks like the kind of person that
would use anonymous remailers to sling mud on the internet." Cop #1- "Exactly. He's probably a bad
speller too."

You're right about one thing. Most good honest cops are fairly friendly to everyone. Why, some of
them even manage to laugh off silly insults!

Regards, Bob Hunt

Quoted message said:

Cop #1- "He (pointing at you) looks shifty"

Yes.

Quoted message said:

Maybe you misunderstood and they were actually giving *you* an unfriendly eye.

You sure are into creating scenerios.

Yes, one of the cops initially started to give me those looks, and the partner started nudging him
to stop, after that did not work, he started nudging him and said something. He stopped.

They then felt the threat of loosing their free cofee and items privillages, so thet put the threat
solely on "her" feet, not mine. That was 'her' problem.

Quoted message said:

Cop #1- "He (pointing at you) looks shifty"

Hey, I just walked through the door, the cops were accepting gifts for protection. Sorry if I have a
stareing problem.<

Quoted message said:

Cop #2- "Yeah, he looks like the kind of person that would use anonymous remailers to sling mud on
the internet."

While they are cramming dolly madison donuts where there isn't any place to put them, cop uniforms
don't allow for much cramming room.

I mean serious.

It looked like a reverse secenero, like some punks trying to stash weed.

Quoted message said:

Cop #1- "Exactly. He's probably a bad speller too."

Yes, and cops don't need a rocket science degree to become enforcers, almost all depts accept a
simple GED.

Quoted message said:

You're right about one thing. Most good honest cops are fairly friendly to everyone.

Quoted message said:

Why, some of them even manage to laugh off silly insults!

Sure, creeps, crud, pig, stinker, stalker, oinker, rapist, creep, habitual offender, streaks,
spots, ect.

I like cops, I even wave to them driving by, if it looks like they are not busy,! Return waves are a
good 60 to 90%!!

GREAT!!

Lately said:

Quoted message said:

Robert Kercher [email hidden]

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

this whole thing turns into a friendly chat and totally confuses me. Might have to change my
attitude towards the police even. Anyway, I am very pleased by seeing a friendly police officer,
mind you, it might have something to do with being in the UK, I always suspected things work a
little different here.

This strikes me as a troll but since it may not be.... have you had many encounters with police
officers in *other* countries or have your attitudes toward police been formed mostly by movies
and television?

Regards, Bob Hunt

Bob,

at least you give me the benefit doubt. And yes, I have lived also both in France and Germany,
including encounters with the law. And no, I don't even have a TV. How do you usually identify the
common troll?

Cheers,

Robert

Quoted message said:

--
You are either with me or against me ....no, wait, I can handle someone disagreeing with me.

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of a few and the magnification
of such events in entertainment. Get to know your local police and you'll generally find they
treat you better.

Like this: portland.indymedia.org274967.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org700.shtmlOpen ↗ ftaaimc.org902.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org889.shtmlOpen ↗
media.portland.indymedia.org275027.jpgOpen ↗

"GWB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of a few and the
magnification of such events in entertainment. Get to know your local police and you'll
generally find they treat you better.

Like this: portland.indymedia.org274967.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org700.shtmlOpen ↗ ftaaimc.org902.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org889.shtmlOpen ↗
media.portland.indymedia.org275027.jpgOpen ↗

Or like the thousands of police/civilian interactions that go on every single day with little
fanfare, excitement or antagonism.

Pete

"GWB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of a few and the
magnification of such events in entertainment. Get to know your local police and you'll
generally find they treat you better.

Like this: portland.indymedia.org274967.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org700.shtmlOpen ↗ ftaaimc.org902.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org889.shtmlOpen ↗
media.portland.indymedia.org275027.jpgOpen ↗

It would be more convincing if you presented non-biased coverage.

Matthew

Lately said:

Quoted message said:

Robert Kercher [email hidden]

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

Bob,

at least you give me the benefit doubt. And yes, I have lived also both in France and Germany,
including encounters with the law. And no, I don't even have a TV. How do you usually identify the
common troll?

Cheers,

Robert

My question was an honest one. I thought your phrasing was a little odd so I asked. I'm sure that
encounters with police can be uncomfortable and even downright scary, especially if there's an
even slight language barrier. Perhaps that may account for what you apparently viewed as less
satisfactory encounters with police in France and Germany. One thing that puzzles me is how some
people- not necessarily you- can have so many unpleasant encounters with police, motorists, bus
drivers, rude clerks, whatever and yet it never seems to occur to them that maybe the problem
isn't with all those people. Maybe *they* are actually causing the unpleasantness. After all, at
least insofar as contacts with police are concerned, most people manage to go about their daily
lives without any police contact for very long periods of time. They must be doing something
different than most people.

Ok, it seems me who is biting the trollbait here, but anyway:

German being my mother tongue I would find it odd if a language barrier could be found to be the
cause of any problems when dealing with the police. Concerning the attitude of people, I fully agree
with you in that I make the same observation almost every day. Probably that's why I usually get
along very well with others.

So for the more tricky situations. A good friend of of my tries to get from one station in Paris to
another. Note that this person does not have a dubious appearance in any way, being very well
mannered and polite. Suddenly to policemen in plain approach them effectively frisking them for
unknown reasons, the full job with spread legs against the wall. This is not the friendly world you
describe where we are all friends. I have not yet received such thorough treatment on the hands of
the french police, but in my opinion, you can very well judge the general attitude of the police
force by their looks.

- Have you _ever_ tried approaching the average policeman in Italy? And I mean average here, I don't
preclude that there are honest hard-working policemen in Italy. Hint: to find the average version,
look for Carrera sunglasses (the big ones).
- Do you know the Guardia Civil (military style police) in Spain?

To come back to my inital point, I just wanted to mention that I was pleasantly surprised by the
British police in comparison to other countries. As others have pointed out, _their_ appearance
might also have something to do with this fact. They don't carry any guns, remember?

Quoted message said:

As for identifying common trolls, one thing I look for is the use of innuendo and implied insults.
Phrases like, "the godlike Hunrobe wrote" are usually but not always good indicators.

This amazes me very much as I did not use this phrase until after you decided my status as troll?
Believe it or not, this is my default setting for quoting, regardless of whether I plan to criticize
or agree with you.

Cheers,

Robert

--
You are either with me or against me ....no, wait, I can handle someone disagreeing with me.

In article <[email hidden]>, "GWB"

Quoted message said:

But it happens in a big way, regularly. It's happening right now in Miami. ftaaimc.orgftaaimc.orgOpen ↗

I don't have the bandwidth available to fully appreciate that site, but I noticed on the main page,
several references to "Direct Action".

If that's what I think it is, those guys are heatbags. The remotest suggestion of any connection
between the protest and the words "Direct Action" is going to arouse the cops. Maybe it was
contrived that way, to stir things up?

Anyhow, "Right on!" to the sincere, non-violent, non-destructive protestors.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

"Pete" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"GWB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Police in the US have been vilified by the occasional bad behavior of

a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

few and the magnification of such events in entertainment. Get to

know

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

your local police and you'll generally find they treat you better.

Like this: portland.indymedia.org274967.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org700.shtmlOpen ↗ ftaaimc.org902.shtmlOpen ↗
ftaaimc.org889.shtmlOpen ↗
media.portland.indymedia.org275027.jpgOpen ↗

Or like the thousands of police/civilian interactions that go on every single day with little
fanfare, excitement or antagonism.

You're right, the police brutality, repression of free speech and right to assembly that has been
occuring consistantly regarding activists of all kinds, workers, minorities and immigrants goes on
with little "fanfare, excitement or antagonism". Admittedly this is not entirely a police problem as
much as it is societal one in general, aka who's directing and paying for them, not to mention the
consumerism and apathy of the masses that fuel and silently condone these actions through lack of
awareness, denial and even justification. But it happens in a big way, regularly. It's happening
right now in Miami. ftaaimc.orgftaaimc.orgOpen ↗

In article said:

Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:16:20 -0800, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

Anyhow, "Right on!" to the sincere, non-violent, non-destructive protestors.

Yeah, gas 'em anyway. Maybe that'll convert them.

geocities.comcp031113.htmOpen ↗

Everybody gets tarred with the same pepper spray. Remember the masked, window-smashing "anarchists"
in the Battle of Seattle? Okay, there was no window-smashing during our APEC protest and the pepper
spray was nevertheless flying aplenty. So the APEC protestors are, in a sense, mini martyrs. But I
doubt this Direct Action thing is so innocent, and I believe their presence (real or implied) spoils
the whole protest message, and incites the authorities to respond with BF&I.

The last thing we need is the start of yet another war, but that seems to be exactly what Direct
Action ppl want.

I tried looking for some tv coverage of the Miami protest, but all I got was a bunch of Michael
Jackson razmatazz.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:16:20 -0800, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

Anyhow, "Right on!" to the sincere, non-violent, non-destructive protestors.

Yeah, gas 'em anyway. Maybe that'll convert them.

geocities.comcp031113.htmOpen ↗
--
zk

"Tom Keats" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article said:

Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:16:20 -0800, <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Keats) said:

Anyhow, "Right on!" to the sincere, non-violent, non-destructive protestors.

Yeah, gas 'em anyway. Maybe that'll convert them.

geocities.comcp031113.htmOpen ↗

Everybody gets tarred with the same pepper spray. Remember the masked, window-smashing
"anarchists" in the Battle of Seattle? Okay, there was no window-smashing during our APEC protest
and the pepper spray was nevertheless flying aplenty. So the APEC protestors are, in a sense, mini
martyrs. But I doubt this Direct Action thing is so innocent, and I believe their presence (real
or implied) spoils the whole protest message, and incites the authorities to respond with BF&I.

The last thing we need is the start of yet another war, but that seems to be exactly what Direct
Action ppl want.

Direct action generally means constitutionally supported but locally illegal assembly. Often it goes
as far as blocking streets. I have never ever seen where its purpose nor affect was to cause or
incite violence other than by armys of riot cops.

Quoted message said:

I tried looking for some tv coverage of the Miami protest, but all I got was a bunch of Michael
Jackson razmatazz.

Rarely have I seen any massive protests have barely a mention in mass media except how it is an
inconvenience to the normal consumeristic activities of the masses who don't care about what is
happening to the world around them.