So, I just had a run-in with police...

[Twilight_guy]

I once got stopped by a security guard on my campus who was looking for a suspicious person who's description was, I kid you not, "A tall guy wearing a hat." On top of that, he never actually asked for my ID to prove that I was a student before he let me go. My college's security kind of sucked.

 

[bananafishtoday]

Three arrests. Each time, I spent 24 hours in central booking, and each time, the judge dismissed all charges because I hadn't actually committed a crime. One of those times it was was an outright dismissal day-of. The other two, the cops claimed to have audio/video evidence in an attempt to get a plea deal. Said no, the cases moved into the discovery phase (where the prosecution has to show the judge and defense their evidence) and charges were dismissed because they didn't actually have the evidence they claimed to have at the first hearing. (Dismissal is an admission on the state's part that there is no case to try. In other words, I have a clean record.)

This sort of thing is not uncommon. Police frequently arrest people for flimsy reasons or no reason at all. If they don't have a case, they offer an ACD ("adjournment in contemplation of dismissal.") That is, charges are automatically dismissed after six months, but if you're arrested for any reason within those six months, it's an automatic conviction for the previous offense. So the game the cops play is to get scared teenagers to take ACDs when they could get outright dismissals, then if they arrest them again within the time window, those kids go to jail.

Almost everyone I met in central was a young black or brown man who'd been arrested for possession of a gram or two of weed. Simple possession has been decriminalized here since 1977. Cops use stop and frisks (meant to be pat-downs for weapons if the cop feels their life is in danger) to conduct illegal searches, and if they find weed, they charge the person with "open display of marijuana."

So yeah, all y'all laughing about your *~*~hilarious*~*~ run-ins with the police, come see how the NYPD operate.

Edit: Just to clarify, I don't think my experiences with the police even come close to what many people in this city have to deal with on a daily basis. The reason I'm so indignant about this sort of thing isn't because I'm mad about the way I was treated. I'm mad about the fact that many, many people here are treated much, much worse.

 

[Kaez]

This "run in" was actually very recent. Also, there is a tl;dr version at the bottom.

It tells me my police are not very adept at their jobs. Also, yeah I'm pretty petty, but the line I crossed is not as bad as the other person in the incident.

So anyway, Super (my superintendent of my building) informs me that he didn't appreciate that I blocked him in with snow. I told him I hadn't, didn't believe me and insisted I did it on purpose, but he walked away and I left the argument alone(Btw, it was the plow, not I).

About 15 mins later I had this hunch, remember, I can be petty, that he would do something similar to me. I watched him for 15 mins and sure enough, he did. I had to go to work so got ready, walked out, didn't say a word to him as I passed, got in my car and went to work.

After my uneventful and very short shift I come home to find my car gets stuck in the snow. Now I was able to get my car out with no problem, and while it had snowed there wasn't a lot more of fallen snow on the ground. The storm was mostly over. But near the road was a larger pile than when I left. I look out my window in my car to see his door open, watching, and waiting to see what I'll do. I get out, grab my shovel and start clearing snow from under my tires, when it hit me, he must have done it after I left. So, being petty, I start putting it behind his car. If he wanted to blame me for something, at least I'd actually have done it this time.

So he comes tearing out of his apartment, and the first thing he says to me is "You better move that snow, boy". I didn't and just told him off. He then said "I'm going to get my shovel and beat you to death, boy". Sure enough he goes and gets his shovel and comes back.

I'm not the aggressive type so I don't intend to fight, but I will defend myself if need be. He rears up and looks ready to attack so I back off. He follows but he hasn't swung. Now our parking spaces aren't large and we're directly on a street, so now I've backed out into the street (not busy, storm). He follows and the causes me to go further back into the street. Still uttering death threats at me (god I wish I had a recording device on me at the time lol) his wife/girlfriend/something tells him to call the cops ON ME. So sure enough he backs off, and calls the cops. I go and shovel my car out somemore.

A cabby nearby comes out and tells me he had indeed called the cops on me and that I should do the same. I go ahead and call them, and they don't sound to happy to be called at all, from 911 to the officer I spoke with. And officer is dispatched and speaks to me first, who went back to shoveling out the parking spot. Then talks to the Super, and comes back and says he's giving us a warning and that he doesn't want to come back about this issue again.

So I felt disappointed, he did nothing and the lunatic wasn't punished either.

I found out the next day that he was drunk, and that when he called the cops, he told them I uttered death threats against him, but this neighbor heard the real threats against me. Yay witnesses. But it also explained why no actions were taken. Suffice to say, I'm interested in moving out because of this guy.

Oh, and for those who think this is tl;dr

Man blames me for improper snow removal, does it to me, I retaliate later, he threatens me, calls cops on me, called them on him, spoke to police, spoke to police again, spoke to neighbor about the issue the night before, found out extra things about the encounter, and looking for a new place to live.

 

[Lonewolfm16]

Can they do that where you live? In Sweden they aren't allowed to search your bag just like that. I would have been upset at having my bag checked even after another cop has confirmed that I am not the suspect.

Captcha: all dancing - yeah that would probably have been better

I don't know the exact rules, but generally they are not allowed to search without "probable cause" or permission, but most people just give cops permission if they ask, since they would rather not give them any reason to be suspicous.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Oh I have a fun story.

So it was a Saturday morning about a week after the Sandy Hook shooting and I thought to myself "Yo self, going innawoods and shooting a bit sounds like a grand idea!". I packed up some guns, impromptu targets and was off to a little spot by a river I've used many times for camping and shooting. Its off a dirt road that runs from a little fishing ramp in the middle of nowhere. Now I get there and sling a rifle over my shoulder and get my box of stuff and start to try and find a way to walk though a road that had gotten flooded and therefore impassable due to the many ruts and holes that even my jeep has a hard time with. Long story short I have to turn back. Now I drove for about 20 miles to get here and I wanted to do something.

I go back to my car and put everything except my AK and go down the bank on the other side of the river(it curves around) to basically just look around. I'm doing this for about ten minutes and head back to my car to leave. I'm just about to load up and head back home when I see a sheriff cruiser just blaze into the parking area like a bat out of hell. I just think to myself "Well thats probably for me". I quickly take out my magazine and lay it and the rifle on the ground. I was expecting the deputy to be on edge but I was still a little surprised when he jumped out of the cruiser and immediately[/i[ drew his sidearm on me. I tense up a bit and make my hands more visible. He asks me to come toward my car and empty pockets and all that good stuff. I show him my ID and point him toward my rifle so he can see if it's been fired recently since he was called specifically for "Someone shooting a AK-47". Luckily for me I didn't get to shoot that day and it lacked the smell a firearm gets after firing.

While he runs my ID and car to make sure I can legally have the thing I talk to another deputy about why i'm out there and such. He informs me that the land I have been shooting on actually belongs to the Sheriff. Whoops. My ID comes back clean but my Jeep does not. Due to accidentally hitting my father's patrol car (he works for the local PD) it was connected to him and made it appear that my car had been involved in everything my father has worked as a police officer. Thats a lot. After awhile though everything gets straightened out, they confirm me legally being able to keep the rifle and that I hadn't broken any laws. We talk a bit about my car's "record" and some local shooting ranges I can hit up instead and everyone leaves. Nice guys all things considered.

On my way out I notice a minivan parked with someone on the phone inside looking a bit...agitated. I assume that its the idiot who lied about me and called the fuzz so I make sure to give a friendly wave as I leave with my scary baby killing assault weapon in my passenger seat. Such is life in Georgia.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

I've only had 2 run in's with the police and both times were actually pretty funny,

A few friends and I were in a mall and these two security guards were being assholes to some random shopper claiming that he'd better be careful so as we were walking out they yelled at us to come back here because we were standing around looking shifty, so my friend said okay one second he called over a cop that was wandering and asked if what the mall cops were doing was legal, the actual cop said no and that since he was the one with a badge we could all leave.

The other one was same group of friends but we were messing around with a ghillie suit at a park and there were two cops sitting in the parking lot, they call me over on the loud speaker and at this point I'm fairly worried just because, so I go over and the one in the driver seat is asking me questions with a strained face and after less than a minute the one in the passenger seat starts laughing hysterically and then the one in the driver side starts laughing too. After a few minutes they say they just wanted to make sure I wasn't insane or anything and since I seemed normal I could go but just to be careful.

 

[DrunkenMonkey]

This was in another country, but I remember I had a terrifying run in with the police.
There was a robbery of a meat vendor where a bunch of bums managed to get a kid to squeeze through an opening in the shack and get all the meat out of there. Police suspected the kid was around 8 years old, and at the time I was 7 and loved to shop for bubble gum with little stickers as prizes. I remember I bought the gum went between the gum store and the robbed meat store to open the gum in privacy. When all of a sudden a scary looking police officer stops me and tries to grab me.

Me being a scared simpleton tried to run away and fight off the cop, but alas I am just a kid. I get dragged to one of their trucks and questioned as to why I tried to run, if I knew who could have possibly stolen the meat, (basically asking me to rat out my neighborhood friends) I of course didn't know anything. So they threatened me with jail time for lying to them, and of course I cracked and started crying my little eyes out and started blaming the dirtiest looking kids at my block.
I never felt more terrified and later ashamed in my life ever. It was not a good day, the silver lining is at least I didn't crap my pants, so yeah, good times...

 

[Shocksplicer]

One time a friend and I were out clubbing in The Valley (Basically the Nightlife district here in Brisbane, you pretty much only go there at night if you're there to drink), walking along a backstreet between clubs when a police car pulls over next to us and the cops inside start asking us if we've been drinking. We say something to the effect of "well yeah, we're in The Valley...". The cops ask us if we're 18 (Drinking age in Australia), as we are both 19 it would be reasonable if I wasn't quite beardy, and my friend well over 6 foot. They kept us there for about 15 minutes asking questions and wasting our time, and by the time they kindly fucked off neither of us were in the mood for any further fun.

 

[Vykrel]

the only run-in ive had with the police was when my brother and i were riding his ATV back from the dirt mounds near our grandmother's house. i was riding on the back and he was driving it very responsibly, the only thing is that we had to cross several streets in the neighborhood.

anyway, a cop stops us and starts ranting about how it is illegal to drive ATV's on the roads. again, we were only crossing the streets, and the rest of the time we were driving on the grass next to the roads. it didnt really amount to anything, but he threatened to arrest us both if he "caught" us again. i was like ten years old.

 

[SoulSalmon]

I have something drug related on my record cos a police dog sniffed at my crotch -.-
I don't do drugs of any kind so they didn't find anything on me, nor did they do any kind of test to check if I have done any, but apparently "The dog can't make mistakes".

I spose being a male with long hair makes me a jobless drug addict in their eyes though.

 

[sunder202]

so the police want to run you through the system and search you without a warrant or probable cause........and you just let them, way to exercize your rights lmao.

 

[thiosk]

You had me at 57%.

Not to be mean, but where is 57% passing?

Actually, a lot of science graduate programs. The whole grading scale can be weird too. Its really all up to the professor's discretion. I was in several courses with brutal examinations, with averages under 60%. No student received less than a C+. But just to be clear, a C+ is a kiss of death in many graduate programs. Might as well pack your bags, because you done, chum.

so the police want to run you through the system and search you without a warrant or probable cause........and you just let them, way to exercize your rights lmao.

You've clearly never been black before.

 

[MPerce]

Only run-ins with the police I've had are when I've been a witness to a car accident or robbery, which has happened an unusual number of times over the last year. Never been singled out or harassed, though.

And thus, Scrawny White Middle-Class Man wins the day, again!

 

[uzo]

Once when I was drunk at university I was walking around on the golf course (my uni had a golf course).

Anyway, this nice taxi pulled over and offered me a lift home. I said I didn't have any money and the nice taxi men said 'that's ok mate, just tell us where you live.' So I told em. And the nice taxi men drove me home. I told them about my neighbour who was also a taxi driver. What a small world eh! Three taxi drivers in one town ! Wow!

Seemed funny that they had wire in the back of the car ... and when we stopped I couldn't find the door handle ... and one of the nice taxi men had to open the door for me ... and that there were 2 of the ....

And the next morning I was rather rudely awoken by my girlfriend demanding to know why I was brought home by the police.




The moral of the story is that the vast majority of cops are just doing a job, and the vast majority of that job is looking after the rest of us, because the vast majority of us are too damned stupid to look after ourselves.

 

[BaronUberstein]

All the fucking time.

I've been pulled over by the Riot Squad whilst walking home from school during my last year.

Not to be mean, but where is 57% passing?

Anything over 50% is a passing grade. It's a shit grade sure, but still passing.

If you get below a C- in a class at my college, you don't get credit for the course. Where the hell is an F a passing grade?

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Was sitting on a bench near a bus stop (like 10 feet from it) wearing a hoody (it was -5 >.<) reading a fucking book. When a cop pulls up and asks me what im doing, i explained i was waiting for the bus. He said there'd been a report of a young person acting suspicious right where i was, and added that "you have to admit you do look suspicious". I look like pretty much every male student at the university (hoody, backpack, coffee), but apparently young people just dont look right sitting on a bench reading a book.

Also in my town there's this old angry german cop who'll drive around on his days off and pull over anyone with an N or L (a sticker new drivers have to have on their cars in Canada) and either nitpick about their driving (like you were going 25 when you made that turn, you shoulda been going 20) or just remind them to drive safe.

 

[Doclector]

Honestly, being the kind of person that I am and how distrustful I am of anyone attached to the government, I'd probably get myself in a whole lot of trouble if the police spoke to me in the capacity for attempting to run/beat them the fuck up.

Of course, that'd be stupid, but I'd probably panic, and panic doesn't know such a thing as "a stupid thing to do".

 

[solemnwar]

All the fucking time.

I've been pulled over by the Riot Squad whilst walking home from school during my last year.

Not to be mean, but where is 57% passing?

Anything over 50% is a passing grade. It's a shit grade sure, but still passing.

If you get below a C- in a class at my college, you don't get credit for the course. Where the hell is an F a passing grade?

At my university, an F is anything below 50%. 50-59% is a D, and while you won't get a credit for the course, it's still a technical "pass".

OT: No run-ins with the police. The joys of being a small female.