I got cuffed by the fuzz this morning..

[Roon]

I was walking home from the store and I was walking on the street because no one knows how to shovel their walks.

A cop pulled up and started hassling me for walking on the street instead of the sidewalks. I flipped him off and told him "fuck you"..next thing I know I was in cuffs.

He ran my ID and found nothing, I demanded to speak to his supervisor, his boss was totally on his side so that did no good.

I cussed them both out for about 15 minutes.....They finally let me go...Stupid cops..It was because it was so early in the morning and the cop was bored..that is all it was.

I still will walk down the streets instead of the snowpacked sidewalks.

[TZ]

1. We've had a few people die from hit and runs

from walking in the street due to snow on the sidewalks. What you are doing is NOT a good idea. The cop was hassling you for a good reason, IMO.

[Roon]

2. The speed limit on the street is 15mph

I doubt it.

[Iggo]

10. To be fair, people die from hit-and-stays, too. (n/t)

:P

[rug]

15. Not to mention cracking your head on an icy sidewalk.

[Iggo]

26. Oh yeah!

We don't get a lot of that here in SoCal.

[WitchyWoman57]

3. Why?

Why didn't you just say "The sidewalks aren't clear"?

What's the point in being agressive and obnoxious?

[Roon]

4. The cop was being agressive when he engaged me

I returned in kind.

[Throd]

5. That always ends well.

[seabeyond]

6. flip off and fuck you is a respond in kind? you telling him sidewalk not clear

while he lectures on safety walking in street is responding in kind. you escalated

that being said

as far as i am concerned if no law broken with a flip and a fuck you he should not have taken it any further. if no law broken you walking on street instead of his preferred you walking on sidewalk should not have been taken any further.

so i agree with you

[proteus_lives]

7. No shit.

First you did something stupid by walking in the street then you mouthed off to a cop.

You still walk in the streets? Wow! You're such a rebel, you should change your name to James Dean.

[Roon]

27. It's a neighborhood street..speed limit 15MPH

during the summer kids play 500 on this street and are never hassled.

[dysfunctional press]

8. i got mine caught in my zipper once....hurt like hell.

:shrug:

[rcrush]

9. I'm surprised you aren't in the emergency room.

[Lil Missy]

11. I would expect to get arrested for behaving like a jackass. n/t

[Roon]

14. I was acting like a jackass, totally

but I won't stand trolling police officers. I will stand up to them every time.

[MiddleFingerMom]

12. Coming out of a college bar at closing time...

.
... and one of the people I was with started mouthing off to one
of the cops outside about how they had better things to do than
hassle students.
.
He stayed pretty mellow and she escalated. I started towards her
in the hopes of taking her gently by the arm and leading her away
from what seemed more and more likely to be an invitation to spend
the night at government expense (she was more than a little drunk).
.
I got a few feet away when she hit him with the ultimate example of
boydidyouEVERjustfuckup -- "Listen, MISTER... I PAY YOUR SALARY!!!"
.
Yeah, yeah... I know. Cops really appreciate being reminded of who
their "benefactors" are. It makes their day worthwhile.
.
Plus, she was lying her ass off. Mommy and Daddy were putting her
through school and she neither earned a cent nor paid one in taxes
at that point in time.
.
I veered off JUST a leetle bit and passed by, trying not to let the
officer see me as acquainted with her in any fashion. I later found
out that she wasn't inconvenienced in the least despite her behavior.
.
There are pigs out there. Horrendous abusers of authority. There's
also a lot of ordinary folks doing a job that would have me scared to
death every moment that I was on the street. Almost NOBODY deserves
a "fuck you" and a flipping off -- that's pretty emotionally assaultive
behavior -- even IF they're annoying you.
.
At least that's how I'd perceive it if it were directed at me.
.
It would be SO easy to make something up and totally justify running
you in for the night. The fact that that didn't happen tells me you
probably went ballistic on one of the more decent cops.
.
And oh, yeah. There have been times in my life when I have been doing 45-50
mph in a 15 mph speed limit -- on snow-covered streets. Not sober, neither.
.
You may have seen me.
.
I may NOT have seen you.
.

[MiddleFingerMom]

13. And, oh yeah, I've been cuffed by the fuzz before...

.
... but once and ONLY once.
.
Getting cuffed by the fuzz makes the agony of waxing a joyride in comparison.
.

[kayakjohnny]

16. Hahahahaha....

Dang it, I was right behind ya...
:rofl:

[Gabi Hayes]

17. lemme guess. you're how old. 50? 60?

Off the pigs!

Power to the people.

seriously, though

great story

I yelled at a cop last week, from my car to his.

only thing is, he was plainclothes, and I didn't realize it til after I yelled. he almost ran into me, then blamed it on me for not signalling (which was true, though I was half way into the lane into which he was zooming, well ahead of him)

[Midlodemocrat]

18. Wait!!! You didn't taser him? Roon. I am bitterly disappointed in you.

Your lack of regard for the rest of us in this lawless state is depressing. And sad.

[LisaM]

19. Why don't they ticket people for not shovelling their walks?

I can't really say that I agree with your response - you could start with an explanation. But in Seattle, they're supposed to ticket people who don't shovel their walks $250 and they refuse to enforce it.

[Quantess]

20. No charges, right?

It doesn't sound like there was anything to charge you with.

[Roon]

21. Nope, no charges

The cop was trolling for trouble and he found it.

[Roon]

25. He could have busted me for disorderly conduct

I would have taken it to trial and have the charges dropped. Just like I used to do when I got busted with weed.

[jobycom]

22. I've heard a lot of my cop friends describe such encounters from their angle.

Wish you could see their side. :( It's like walking into a restaurant and cursing out your server for telling you to put out a cigarette.

[Skittles]

23. yup

[Roon]

24. I have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years

and I have walked down the streets every winter all winter. Cops have driven past me countless times,they never stopped me.

This cop had a bug up his ass and busted me.

[jobycom]

37. You never know why he's doing it.

He may have had a report of a prowler, so he was checking you out. Or he may have just come from a fatality hit and run and was over-sensitive. Or they may have gotten orders to crack down on people walking in the streets and he didn't like it, and you thought it was about you. Or he may have been angry at his wife and wasn't aware it was showing. Or that may be just the way he thinks he's supposed to act. You can't control him. All you can control is how you act to him. Try being nice, and the next guy down the road might get treated better for it. If he's just a bad cop they'll figure that out soon enough and promote him. :)

[Kali]

34. eh I see a difference

a public street and dangerous sidewalks, more like the server, no make that the bouncer - came out to your car in the parking lot and started yelling at you to put the cig out.

[jobycom]

38. The similarity is that both are just doing what they are paid to do.

And getting cursed out for doing it.

[Kali]

40. I'm not sure the cop was "just doing the job"

sometimes they go WAY out of their way to "do the job" and they do it a little too enthusiastically, like putting bullets into some poor (black) immigrant with a cell phone.

more like the server in your example getting all aggressive and in someone's face, maybe even physically grabbing the cig out of the customers hand or mouth, as opposed to simply asking nicely. Sometimes the person "just doing their job" does it in an aggressive and assholish manner. Sometimes they deserve no tip, sometimes they deserve a complaint or even losing their job.

Both of us just speculating of course because neither of us was there - I'm just arguing as devil's advocate here.

[hobbit709]

28. Rule Number ONE:

No matter how wrong the cop is, the second you argue with him makes you more wrong.

It's best to keep mouth shut and let your mouthpiece do the talking afterward.

[blueamy66]

29. "The second you argue makes you the one in the wrong?"

Says who? Oh, the cops. Not fair.

And who is going to pay for my "mouthpiece"?

It's rough out there these days...

[hobbit709]

31. As James Burke remarked in one of his Connections episodes,

"The Pope has the power of thumbscrew"

Fair has nothing to do with it-life is extremely unfair.

Never start a battle at a time and place where the opposition has the advantage.

[whistler162]

30. No the stupid one is the one you look at in the mirror!

[Puglover]

32. There are nasty cops

just like there are people that over react. Looks like one of each met in the street this morning.

[Kali]

33. Since we weren't there and can't actually know how attitudes were expressed,

and I hear Roon plainly admitting he acted assholish, I tend to believe it WAS in kind and in response to the same or worse behavior from the cop. No charges says to me no justification for the hassling either - arresting proves the abuse of authority I am seeing.

I also thought police officers were at least minimally trained to make observations about the environment both for their own safety and for further documentation in cases that go to court. I am assuming it was obvious the sidewalks were iced up.

I will argue and stand my ground if somebody with an over inflated sense of authority starts giving me shit. (you should see me with the fucking border patrol around here)

Still, in a situation where one could get an ass kicking or even killed I would try firm and calm over cussing and flipping off. Best might have been a written complaint to a supervisor ccd to local elected officials.

[PVnRT]

35. Your response is the problem

Had you grabbed your junk and said "SUCK ON THIS, BITCH!" things would have gone so much smoother.

[LeftyFingerPop]

36. Let's see...

I probably would have said..."Officer, the sidewalks are not shoveled and I am afraid of falling and cracking my head open".

If he gave me shit, which he probably would have, I think I would have said "OK" and walked up on the sidewalk, followed up with a call to his supervisor later.

I think Roon over reacted, but yet, I know how he feels. I hate getting my balls busted by authority when I have done nothing "wrong". But, you have to pick your battles. The cop may have been an asshole, but unfortunately, he has the power to turn your life into a mess.

[cherokeeprogressive]

39. You remind me of "Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker" from Kentucky Fried Movie. n/t

[Deep13]

41. Reminds of of something a traffic cop said to me once.

I was driving downtown in Cleveland early on a Saturday morning and the place was deserted. I wasn't sure where I was and had slowed to read cross-street names on the sign. A traffic cop yelled at me, "You're supposed to be driving, not looking!" I shouted back, "Do you have any idea what you just said?!"