STOPPED BY A COP
As the cop
walked toward my car I thought, “What the fuck does this asshole want. I stopped, and I wasn’t speeding? Am I about to get a bull shit ticket just to
fill his quota?”
I pulled out
my driver’s license. As he
approached I rolled down my window. My
registration and insurance card were in my glove compartment. I left them there as I have heard cops do not
like to approach a car and have the driver duck down and reach for something
that they cannot see. I put both of my
hands on my steering wheel where the officer could see them when he approached.
When the
officer leaned by my window I responded, “My registration and insurance card is in
the glove compartment if you need them,” as I thought, “What did I do, and what does this prick want from me.”
“No need for
that sir, I pulled you over for an expired inspection sticker, but I see that
what I thought was a five is really an eight.
You are good to go, sorry for the inconvenience. You have a nice day now.”
“No problem officer, you have a nice
day too.”
My skin color had
nothing to do with this traffic stop. My skin color had nothing to do with the officer’s demeanor. If I was black, I think I would have thought
otherwise.
nice of him to admit his mis-read.
ReplyDeleteGood story Joe. Been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteCops are people too!
Great post. Yep, you did all the right things too. Domestic violence and traffic stops are the two biggest fatalities for cops.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
That's probably so. I'm glad there was nothing more to it though.
ReplyDeleteI'm saving my "who me? a lil ole harmless, ditzy granny?" card to play if I ever need it. But it just occurred to me that the same "grandpa" version might not work. Officers are human too and come to work with a preconceived notion that granny is probably just packing cookies, but grandpa might not be!
ReplyDeleteStill, tickets for "rolling through" a stop sign? Doesn't your town have any bank robbers to catch?
That's why you should NEVER say to a cop, "YOU'RE A JERK!!"
ReplyDeleteI've told the story elsewhere of the time I was pulled over by a young Kampus Kop wannabe in an obvious trolling move, because I had a broken tail light. When I pointed out that I had taped it over with, you know, Tail Light Tape, the kid said, with a straight face, "It's the wrong shade of red." I am not making this up. . .
ReplyDeleteWell, it does depend on the state and neighborhood in which you live if you are seeking racism...MOST of the time. I wonder if he was a bit afraid of stopping you?
ReplyDeleteA cop that would be afraid to stop me would not last very long. I believe that racism between the police and those that they police exists on both sides and there needs to be more respect on both sides for it to subside.
DeleteNice to hear the cop apologized. Still wonder if he was telling the truth. So much mistrust on both sides of the badge.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I got pulled over I was in a school zone. 25 mph. Luckily for me there was no school that day. I politely informed the officer of that, so he let me go. I am white. Actually, I have a bluish tinge going on. I'm part Avatar.
ReplyDeleteOur stop by a police officer was when we made a right turn on red after stop. What we didn't realize was that there was a sign that said we couldn't do that. It's my job to read those signs but I sure missed that one. The officer was very polite and I told him it was my fault. He checked our licenses and then just gave us a warning. Very nice guy. But we were very nice to him also. Works both ways. And I learned to read signs really good.
ReplyDeleteThey need to do their job.
ReplyDeleteWe need to stop at the stop signs no matter how ridiculous they may seem. We had a couple of them in our old neighborhood too. My husband learned his lesson after paying tickets a couple of times. Oh well.
Your final paragraph saddens me. Skin colour shouldn't be an issue.
ReplyDeleteWe're in the 21st century for gosh sakes!!
We're all people, skin colour should NOT still be an issue. Never should have been either.
Sadly in this country people of color feel they are not treated fairly by the police, not without some basis in fact. Sometimes they are treated unfairly because of racism, some of it is a result of a culture of disrespect to the police. Both police and those they police need to change and learn proper respect to end incidents like those that have brought about recent protests.
DeleteYour demeanor had everything to do with the cop's demeanor. Luckily he couldn't read minds.
ReplyDeleteI believe how to properly respond to being pulled over by a cop should be part of the drivers license exam.
I had an instance where a cop pulled me over for failing to yield, even though there was no one in sight to yield to...until I saw HIM.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to brag, but I have been stopped many times by the police. In all but one of those 7 instances, I was the instrument of my own apprehension. In fact, by the next-to-last traffic stop, I didn't even try to explain.
ReplyDelete"Do you know how fast you were going?"
"Pretty fast."
Yeah. I'm reformed now. But one of those traffic stops was entrapment. I was driving down the old outer road between Cuba (Missouri) and St. James. A car came up fast behind me. It kept getting closer and closer, riding my bumper. I did what any normal person would do, and sped up. Still, that car kept crowding me. Faster. WHOOP WHOOP red lights and siren!
There I had been, minding my own business on a weekend drive, and somebody needed to meet his speed trap quota.
I could claim that all those officers simply sensed my hotness and wanted to interact with me in person back in my younger days, because now that I'm old I don't get pulled over. But I think it might have something to do with driving the speed limit these days.
Glad your encounter was a smooth one that didn't involve a ticket in any way. There was a time a few years ago when son drove a 1993 Cadillac and was profiled a lot by the police because of the car (older Cadillacs here are infamous for being associated with drugs). He got stopped a lot for the most interesting of infractions, none of which he ever got written up for except the time he didn't have his seat belt on. The police got to know him pretty well. He happened to be on probation at the time for a stupid thing he did as a juvenile so they could search his car if they wanted; never found anything. But it got ridiculous how many times he was stopped in a short period of time. Thankfully he never "copped" (no pun intended) an attitude with them and complied with everything they asked even though sometimes their methods were less than stellar. I try to remind myself they are just doing their jobs.
ReplyDeletebetty
A peaceful encounter, fortunately. I have met some police who would obviously prefer to be in a police state; others who actually care about protecting people. The police are inevitably a reflection of society.
ReplyDeleteHey Joe, There are some out there who have manners and can admit a mistake, I'm just happy you didn't dive for the glove compartment.
ReplyDelete