If you have a particular encounter with another citizen or LEO, post it here.
 #29176  by Tony T
 
Imo the officer handled the situation the way I probably would have.

But, in hindsight it might have been better for the cop to just give the guy a warning despite his ignorance. Instead of convincing the oc'er that his fears were unfounded with an act of forgiveness the guy's irrational beliefs were reenforced.

Was it the dudes own fault, absolutely. Could the universe have been in more balance after the stop, imo yes. I can picture the cop giving the guy a second chance and the guy realizing what an ass he'd just been, offering an appology, and having a change of heart followed by a pleasant conversation with the officer.

Oh well, he got what he deserved. :pointlaugh:
 #29177  by DMac
 
TonyT,

Thank you for posting this encounter. I'm sure that it, along with subsequent information in the thread, will be helpful to many.
 #29181  by Tony T
 
I found it interesting as well, D. And I just wanted to present the other side for a change.

As we recently discussed at length, we tend to discuss the negative things LEO's and politicians do and rarely get their side of the story.

That thread would have been even more interesting had the oc'er shown his face, assuming that he was most likely a PAFOA member.
 #29201  by LordJim
 
So, "Be Nice" when you deal with LEOs. When you do so, you will not only be presenting yourselves positively, but all other OCers as well.
I'll take this one step further and just say "Be Nice" when you deal with anyone. Take the high road, there's nothing to be gained and everything to be lost by being an ass.

-
Jim
 #31169  by GatorDude
 
crawfish wrote:In my opinion, he was rude to you, but you hassled him afterwards, which was probably why he was rude in the first place.
That's some majorly faulty logic. A person can't react to something that hasn't happened. Here, the OC'er reacted to nothing. Of course, the LEO then reacted in his own way. The OC'er reacted because he stereotyped and generalized and jumped to conclusions--not because of anything the LEO actually did or said.

At the same time, I also agree with Tony's comment about the benefit that would have been gained if the LEO did give a warning to the OC'er in spite of the OC'er's stupidity. Of course, it may have had zero impact on this particular OC'er given his predisposed attitudes.
 #31199  by George
 
I never recieved a warning for any traffic violation, and I'll be damned if I would ever ask for one. either I deserved it or I didn't
 #31209  by stephpd
 
I don't think expired tags are technically a traffic violation.

And after giving the LEO a hard time for nothing I certainly wouldn't be asking to get off with a warning. :?
 #31349  by wargroom
 
being new here this one caugh my eye right away, so here's my two cents. While I mostly like LEO's I have several friends at home who were/are LEO's. In talking with them and observing them over the years I have learned that they dont look at the world the way a civilian does. I have also learned that you dont come up on thier radar for no reason, they are constantly evaluating everything around them. That being said, The OC'er was an idiot. a polite enquiry by an LEO should get a polite response, even " depends on the question" would have been better then an outright no, they guy was inviting it to become more than it was. Overall I'm impressed with the restriant shown by the LEO. Having considered becoming one myself, even to the point of having a slot at the NYPD academy when my first enlistment was up. After seeing what my freinds at home were becoming I decided that I did not have the restriant I would need to do that job, this being the case I have a high reguard for those who do, and do it well. The flip side is some LEO's can be a bit too full of themselves ( probobly like I would have been...laughs) I must admit I have on occasion given a cop grief when I didnt need to, such as when stopped at a dui checkpoint and asked either where Im going or where I am coming from, usually just polite conversation to evaluate me but I usually respond to that with my index finger or thumb "that way"
Courtesy seems to have gone out of style, and it is the lubrication that keeps us from rubbing each other to destruction, certainly those of us who are carrying a wepon openly should be a bit more courteous...untill it becomes time to not be courteous and get a sight picture.
 #31359  by stephpd
 
You know that technically the police are civilians. Only folks in active military are not considered civilians. That's because they have to answer to a whole different set of laws (UCMJ).

Many seem to forget that little tidbit. They are supposed to be held to the same laws they are entrusted to enforce.

Yeah, LEO's have a difficult job. One most of us don't have the temperament for.

As far as being aware of your surroundings and adjusting we have Col. Jeff Cooper to thank for what we call situational awareness (and the color codes). It's an easily learned behavior that most of society seems to ignore. And one of the main reasons folks do foolish things that get them hurt. Unaware of their surroundings they'll live life as if nothing bad can happen to them. When it does they are totally unprepared and always end up the victim.