I have 3 that I still regularly think about.

the first: my friends were making fun of me at the dollar theater by comparing my name to an erection. this cop was hanging out in the lobby as well and decided to join in. like was he trying to impress the 10 year olds or what

the second: I got pulled over riding in a friend's car in high school because they hung out in a park where people did weed a bunch so the cop recognized their car. this dude busted a u turn on a residential intersection to follow us. he tails us for a few miles until we decide to pull off and force him to make a decision whether or not to stop us, which is a pretty shitty idea looking back on it

anyway he turns on his lights and starts interrogating a car full of 16-17 year olds. when he moves to me I ask him "am I being detained" and he says no so I hop out and start walking. unfortunately I decided to come back because the girl I liked was still there. he asks to search the car and they say yes for whatever reason. he finds a roach hidden in the back seat cushion and comes up to me and says "now you're being detained" because i was the only person he thought he could charge as an adult. he cuffs me and i'm in the back of the car knowing it's bullshit but also that I'm powerless in the situation.

after crying her eyes out for a while the driver admis it's hers so he has to let me go and call her parents. I walked for an hour and a half back to my house as the sun was rising and decided I really just didn't like cops much

the third: I got pulled over after going to the store for jalapeño chips and pineapple soda, yes I was high. I had a warrant for not renewing my plates so I knew shit was gonna be bad. luckily I was right down my street so I parked my car at home. I asked my mom to take my stuff inside and told her my new plans for the evening before I was cuffed.

the cop took me to the local jail and I sat in the cell feeling like a hardened criminal listening to the dude in the cell with me crying and calling his parents 20 times before trying to sell out his sister's boyfriend for selling drugs. like he was trying to cut a deal between sobs because he got arrested for hitting his sister. anyway the cops held me for about half an hour before they told me the ticket was written by a sheriff so I would have to go to the county jail. for a fucking expired license plate.

around 2 AM a guy loaded me into a van to go to the county jail and when I got there they did all the standard booking stuff like fingerprints and mugshots then had me sit in a room watching some awful movie and they offered me a meal which consisted of a bologna sandwich, refrigerated tortilla chips, an orange and orange drink. I gave most of it to some guy who was nice enough but I kept the drink for myself. around 4 AM I sign a piece of paper saying I'll go to court and they let me go. it sucked in the moment but I'm weirdly grateful to have personally experienced how bad jail sucks, even in that very limited capacity

anyway sorry I turned turn this into my diary, I just figured if I expect you to share something I should too

  • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    When I was 19, I was driving to see my then-gf at her school, which was two hours away. I was on the highway, in the fastlane, when I got stuck behind a cop going 72 mph. So I stupidly got in the right lane and passed him, only going about 2 mph faster than him. At the time, I figured he wouldn't pull me over for not even going 5 over, but he immediately turned his lights on.

    When I pulled over, he basically stuck his whole head in my window and immediately started screaming at me. "Do you see this badge???"

    "Uh, yes."

    "Do you see the words 'State Police' on my car????"

    "Y-yeah..."

    "Then why the FUCK did you pass me??? Who the FUCK do you think you are???? Why don't you just spit in my FUCKING FACE??"

    "I uh...I don't know. You were going kind of slow and I wasn't really speeding, and I just wanted to get where I was going. I'm sorry?"

    Then he told me to get the fuck out of his sight, and don't make stupid decisions like that again.

    In hindsight, it was really tame and I was a young white teenager with no record, so it doesn't matter in the big picture. But what a fucking prick.

    • spectre [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      He was obviously a fucking tool on many levels, and I know you know better now, but people should definitely be fully aware that cops can absolutely pull you over for 1mph over the speed limit, and it should be assumed that they will do this especially if you pass them.