(Via the Woodpile Report)
We’re on #10 and working hard on #11. #12 is already underway as well.
One reason I love the Woodpile Report is that it gives me all sorts of new blogs I want to read. The thing I hate about the Woodpile Report is that it gives me all sorts of new blogs I want to read. #FirstWorldProblems, right?
I was raised to respect and more importantly trust the police. Fed a steady diet of Dragnet, The FBI, Adam Twelve and Hawaii Five-O, the cops were heroes, The occasional dirty cop was an aberration of the worst sort and was quickly dealt with. Yeah, 60s and 70s TV. The media probably lied then, too.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen too much, heard to much and experienced too damn much to have much respect for or trust in law enforcement these days. Daughter went through two-ish years in a major metro in our state where she was constantly pulled over while driving because her car was the same make and model as a local drug dealer. Making matters worse her license plate was one digit off the bad guy’s as well. Of course, my short, rotund, white daughter didn’t look much like a black man in his mid 20s, but that made no difference.
She suffered this in silence save for the first occurrence, dealing with it and the constant threat of “driving while mistaken for someone else” until it got out of hand right in front of her university. One of those “ruthless agents of the state” pulled her over. Out of her car, she stood her ground and refused to allow him to search it. (And yes, I’m damned proud of her for taking a stand.)
Then he ran the plate and found out the vehicle was registered to her mother. Mrs. Freeholder has a concealed carry permit. So now he believes he has probably cause to search for the gun he is convinced is there. Daughter demanded that he get his superior on scene forthwith, but wisely allowed him to search the car. The longer he looked the angrier he became, because he couldn’t find anything.
About the time he arrived, one of her business professors saw what was happening and went charging in to the rescue, and introduced himself as “Daughter’s attorney”, which at the moment due to his bar license and her good sense to accept the offer, he instantly became. It helped that the supervisor was, by her description, one of the “old cops” that I refer to as “peace officers”.
By the end of this entire sorry story, she had apologies from the agent of the state, the peace officer and the chief of police. Amazing what the threat of a lawsuit for “harassment under color of law” will do.
That weekend, she came home and told us what had happened. As quickly as possible we transferred the car to her ownership, got her insurance and a new tag. Problem solved.
Except that there is now an entire family who has seen the dark side of law enforcement Dr. Weiner refers to. And what is seen can not be unseen.
The sad thing is that 99% of every LEO I’ve ever interacted with has been a reasonably good person as far as I could tell. Courteous and as helpful as they could be, the front man or woman for “To serve and protect”. But that one bad apple has caused all of us to be on our guard every time we have an interaction with the cops, especially if we don’t start it. We never know when that 1-in-a-hundred will show up.
We now live in a time when we can’t trust most of our government or our media. Lying politicians, government agencies out of control and the obvious, blatant attempts to subvert the legal process for political gain ought to be enough for anyone to lose faith in the system. I pretty much have.
I can’t wait to see Part 2 of Dr. Weiner’s series.
I have been pulled over 5 times, twice was for speeding ironically driving (with permission)other folks vehicles. Once by a state trooper and once by a city cop. This back in the 1980's when by and large it was different. In the 1990's pulled over twice by city cops, once because someone had damaged my plate and once because I was in a dark blue car and the suspect was reported driving a dark green car. At night in low light they look the same. When I stopped under a light the officers realized the mistake and apologized. These two were in the 1990's and again things were different. Then once for expired tags. This was in the 2000's and was a deputy sheriff. In all cases officers over the decade's were polite and professional. I and I do know the difference because growing up 1960's-1980's both my parents were cops.