Seems some of our friends over at the university got an object lesson last week when the Salisbury cops raided their party, sprayed some people with mace, broke into one of the partier's car, and just generally made pigs of themselves.
Welcome to the Real World, guys, where the cops do whatever they damned-please unless you know both the magic words and the intonation.
First, never raise your voice to the police; that gives them reason to arrest you for disturbing the peace. Second, never argue, get angry or call them names. You have to remember the cops lobby has put a lot of time and money into a campaign to persuade the public they are both heroic and infallible. It's gone on for so long that even they believe their own press.
Now, one might think they are powerless against cops who bully people on the street, but that's not true.
If you want to keep a confrontation with the cops from spinning out of control, maintain a conversational tone-firm, assertive and quiet. Second, if things look as if they're not going to be resolved peacably, tell the cop you don't see him working to resolve the issue, and demand to see the shift commander. Then, shut your mouth. You have a right to not speak to the police. Take advantage of it.
If the cop on the scene refuses that demand, then call 911 and tell them you need the shift commander on the scene. If the cop says the commander is busy, tell him you have plenty of time and you'll wait. Now you've put him in an uncomfortable position and he feels more like civilized discussion and less like ubercop, because he's not resolved the issue, he's wasting time on a routine call and he has to explain his behavior to his superior. .... You may not have the upper hand, but at least you're now on level ground, so take advantage of it and resolve the issue without going to jail, or getting maced, shot or stomped.
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3 comments:
Excellent advice.
Sounds like someone had a bad expierence with the po po one time and now sterotypes the whole bunch. It is very easy to critize the police especially when you weren't even there. Im sure the repoter who broke the story was there too and that the cops were picking on the poor colleged kids.
I guess you could never understand what it is like to be on the other end. Hated for wearing a badge and risking it all everyday for the very same people who stereotype the whole for the actions of a few.
Yes, MMJ, I'm sure the police are put upon... but here'sthe thing... they VOLUNTEERED for the job, and they were adults when they did it. To me, that means they knew, or should have known the possible risks and rewards. ....It's called Due Dilligence... the concept that smart people determine the risks and rewards of an endeavor before they begin.....And even if the job is not what hey expected, there's nothing to stop a cop from finding another gig..... they weren't drafted or sentenced to do the job, and they can quit anytime they want...in the interim, they shouldn't whine, it makes them look like crybabies.
As to you comment that I could never understand what it's like to be on the other end..... I've ridden a lot of tours with a lot of cops... I know that fear that comes with entering a dark apartment on a hot summer night where a drunken couple are taking a trip to fist-city in the bedroom and you can hear glass breaking, heavy shit being thrown against the wall and backup is still 90 seconds out. And I know how that fear gets ratched up even further when the cop anounces himself as he crosses the threshold and slowly, quietly and fluidly moves his hand across his holster where his thumb flips the snap, pulls the weapon into his palm then lowers his arm so the gun is hidden behind his leg, while I gird myself for the possibility that this could take a really nasty turn in the next 10 seconds.
But I also know that almost giddy buzz you get when the danger has passed and the words start flowing like whitewater as you replay the events for one another and talk about the fear and the resolution. It's an adrenaline rush, like saving yourself from a deadly fall or skydiving. It assuming a risk so large that a good outcome gives a great buzz and a sense of power and confidence, while a bad outcome may won't even matter.
But it's still voluntary.
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