The worst morning of my life... The police just doing their job?

I was driving up the M1 this morning to a meeting, traffic was moderate and I was listening to the radio minding my own business at about 75mph. I was in the middle lane as there were a few lorries coming up on the inside when suddenly a silver volvo sped past me and then infront of me and braked forcing me to slow to about 50mph. I just thought "nob head" and went to overtake but as I checked my mirror a marked police car pulled along side me and at the same time another right up my arse. The blue lights came on and i realised they had boxed me in and were directing me to pull onto the hard shoulder.

I did as I was told and as I came to a stop with a little bump from behind the two officers in the silver volvo jumped out with guns drawn. As most innocent people would, I almost shat myself. The car at the side moved forward allowing another officer to open my door and practically pull me out of my car! I was turned to look at my roof and I heard the clink of handcuffs. Something then came in over the radio and one of the 6 or 7 officers said "it's not him, wrong car" or something like that. They apologised, jumped back into their cars and sped off.

I was left on the hard shoulder shaken and very confused and humiliated!

Should I take this as a simple mistake or should I take it further? I have never looked down the barrel of a gun until today and don't want to ever have to again!

When you say,

I did as I was told and as I came to a stop with a little bump from behind the two officers in the silver volvo jumped out with guns drawn.

Am I right in thinking they hit your car from behind?

Terrible mistake, but it's just that. If when they realised it wasn't you they wanted they left without even saying anything then they were after someone pretty dangerous indeed.

The violent behaviour from them I would guess is because they were looking for an armed person and needed to have control of him before he could do anything.

Just doing their jobs mate,but sue them anyway for harrassment, whiplash from forcing the car to brake so suddenly and mental anguish

i would at least ask for a written apology and explanation from the chief cunstable

The police, for some reason, are consistantly pulling arms on innocent people.They did not even give an explanation in this case as to why they pulled a gun on him.Even if they were after a violet criminal (which we do not know) it is no excuse to let them get away with this. If it were me, i would go to the media first, then the police complaints commision. I have wondered if they do this kind of thing on purpose,hoping the victim will go to the media. This way they get the message that they want to give out to the people, which is, 'this is how policing is done in the uk now, get used to it, because there's nothing you can do to stop us'!. But something MUST be done to stop these arrogant thugs from harrassing and threatening the lives of innocent people.

50-50:

You are not alone. While not as great a story as yours, mine does show that the coppers make mistakes also.

Over the recent Holiday Weekend, on Sunday evening, 7/6/08 around 8:00 pm or so, I was traveling home thru some side streets in my neighborhood.

On the other side of the road traveling towards me was a copper with his windows open. I observed the copper speaking with a few teenagers that were walking on the street. I slowly passed the copper and the kids and continued on my way. (I didn't want to hit anyone.)

I got about 3 blocks down, when in my rearview mirror I see two coppers turn their cars around, lights came on, full speed blowing past 3 stop signs, coming in my direction. I knew they were on to me.

I came to a stop sign, and moved to my right in the hopes that they would just pass me by. Nope. They pulled up behind and in front of me, came out of their cars, with guns drawn, and approached my car.

I opened the door, and with my hands in the air, I slowly got out, asking "what's up fella's"?

One copper asked if I was throwing fireworks out my car window. I said no. Their guns were still pointed at me. I was asked to step away from the car towards the sidewalk, and one copper looked thru my windows to see what he could see/find. They did not care what I had to say, they were too concerned with my car contents.

While one copper was looking, and the other one was watching me with his gun pointed at me, we all heard the police radio say that they had a vehicle description.... a small silver foreign car was observed going in the opposite direction still tossing fireworks out the car window. They were traveling in a different car and direction than I was. (I am driving a gold/tan colored mid-size Dodge Intrepid.) The coppers hear this, and quickly put their guns away, ran back to their cars and screeched their tires while turning around in pursuit of the perpetrator. No explanation. No "I'm sorry". No words after "step away from the car."

I was stopped because they didn't have a description of the car that was tossing fireworks, and I was the only observable car at that moment. So they figured it had to be me. Deplorable!

I resent that! Guns drawn!!! Really....Why? It's too much I tell you!

I live in a middle-class residential neighborhood in Long Island, NY.

-EyesII

Yes, the police in America seem to pull a gun for almost everything nowadays, but here in the UK, they are not supposed to pull a weapon unless there is a threat to themselves. If they were, and it's a big IF, chasing an armed man down a moterway then they would very likely be in a huge rush.

And belive me they don't need the guns on an un-armed person, behind my house is an acre large field; straight in the middle the poolice arrested someone who then try to ran, one hit and they had to drag him all the way to the car because he could not use his leg.

Rather leave one man confused but free than another dead because they took too long.

[edit on 9-7-2008 by umbr45]

Contact the Police Complaint Commission and give them full details of what happened. Whilst the police were doing their job, you at least deserve a formal apology and small compensation for inconvenience etc

www.ipcc.gov.uk...

I guess in your case they were after someone in a car the same as yours and, as others have said, the person they were after was deemed armed and dangerous hence they had to act accordingly. They should have apologised though and ideally the officer in charge should have given you his details. Though maybe they were in rather a hurry.

I've experienced a couple of cases of 'mistaken identity' over the years - once when walking in the Scottish Highlands when a police car pull up alongside me (I was backpacking up a road at the time) because they were looking for a vagrant who matched my description - they immediately saw I was not the person they were looking for and after a brief friendly chat were on their way - and more recently when a constable came into my shop to question me about an incident that had taken place in a village pub and which a witness (presumably a customer of mine) had said the perpetrator looked like me. Again, had a brief friendly chat and the constable left certain it was not me (and I heard no more).

Law enforcement is compelled to pull guns on people because, if they don't, they end up dead.

These people were obviously looking for a felon and you fit the profile. It's sort of the cost of living in today's society. That doesn't mean that it's necessarily right, but that's how it works these days.

Until people stop murdering each other over petty things like french fries (Illinois-brother killed brother over a single fry), we will not be safe. That means the police need to protect themselves from the git-go during confrontations they know may turn out badly.

When they pull you over they don't know if you're dangerous or not. They're covering their bases.

I once ''almost'' suffer from a cop mistake.

When I was younger, me and my friend were going to the cinema to meet some girls.

While waiting for the bus, we went to the nearest store to buy some popsicle.
We get out only to see the bus coming.

So we start running to the bus stop. We got there just before the bus. So the bus stop just in front of us but refuse to open the door. So I knock on the door to get an explanation then someone yell at me ''DON'T MOVE!''

While the bus was leaving, me and my friend look back at the guy who yelled at us wich was a police officer. He then start running at us with his female partner.

He handcuff us even before I could ask what was going on. So in the car he start telling us our right. When he finish I ask ''Hey what going on here? Why do you arrest us? What have we done wrong?''

The guy behind the wheel told us something about a us doing some graffiti then running away when we saw the police cruiser.

So I told us our version. He was intrigued. Then I ask him to go take a look at the graffiti he thought we were doing. If we were doing this, the paint should be fresh. But the paint was dry so It was obvious he arrest us for no reason.

He then kindly gave us a lift to the cinema

The girls were really impressed to saw us coming in a cop car

Hmmm after calming down and reflecting on it, I don't think it is worth the hassle making a complaint or anything like that. The first reply asked if i meant my car was hit from behind. Yes is was but only a minor bump as i came to a stop, I checked before I got back in my car and there was no damage.

If they were chasing an armed criminal then I suppose they can take no chances but surely they should make sure they have the right person first. The time it took them to locate my car and organise a TPAC (Tactical Pursuit And Containment) and then the time after they had stopped me must have taken considerable time which the actual criminal could have got away! I suppose it was quite exciting anyhow

I got to have the terrible feeling of laser dots bouncing all over my chest one cold night in 2005. I felt like I was violated, there were no less than 10 cops aiming at me. That is a lot of potential for accidental death if nothing else.

I was pulled over and my vehicle was literally torn apart from the inside because a dog thought I had drugs on me. This was in vegas. The police gave no reason for pulling me over and followed me for almost 20 miles outside the city before stopping me.

I have called the LVPD on numerous occasions to file a complaint and never have had a response from them.

In Philly, I was boxed in on my front, back, and both sides by cruisers. They took out their guns and aimed at me and my friends. When they had me outside the vehicle they all kind of laughed and took off. One woman stayed behind and let me listen to her radio about a car that looked just like mine being pursued by cruisers. Wrong guy.

The first situation still angers me. Some cops are just fanatical rednecks who will do anything to be "in charge" of someone else. Arizona was the same way.

For the most part, cops do their jobs and it is a thankless job. On the other hand, some places with a more "small town" mentality have officers who take their jobs to another level entirely and just use it as a vehicle to harrass.

Originally posted by sayzaar
The police, for some reason, are consistantly pulling arms on innocent people.They did not even give an explanation in this case as to why they pulled a gun on him.Even if they were after a violet criminal (which we do not know) it is no excuse to let them get away with this. If it were me, i would go to the media first, then the police complaints commision. I have wondered if they do this kind of thing on purpose,hoping the victim will go to the media. This way they get the message that they want to give out to the people, which is, 'this is how policing is done in the uk now, get used to it, because there's nothing you can do to stop us'!. But something MUST be done to stop these arrogant thugs from harrassing and threatening the lives of innocent people.

This seems to point up a common trend by police to never explain and never apologize, a trend that I believe is alienating them from the communities they work in and eroding public support for their work.

The original incident is excusable if they honestly thought they were dealing with a dangerous individual. However I think the error they made was just leaving when they realized their mistake It would have been much better from a community relations point of view if at least one office had remained with the original poster, apologized and helped him to get over the trauma of the experience and on with his day.

This sort of "customer service" may only have take ten to fifteen minutes, but it would have done wonders to restore some of the trust that might have been damaged by their actions. Unfortunately this sort of callous treatment of the public is creating a real air of confrontation between civilians and police. I am surprised at how many people now see the role of the police as "to enforce and intimidate" rather than "to protect and serve"

Community support is essential for the police to do their jobs effectively and to make their work safer. Police departments really need to work harder to make their communities see them as "our" police rather than the way police are seen in many totalitarian states -- as agents of the state. And they have to see themselves as part of the community and not as a force separate from it.

It's lucky you didn't have your pet dog in the car with you, they'd probably of shot it in the face!

You should complain. You should be angry and unafraid. You should not just take it in the rear. They damaged your property for this they owe you. They roughed you up as the got the wrong guy and you want to say its ok no harm mate... Your inaction makes it worse on the next guy they happen to "wrongly" rough up.