I was just interrogated by cops as a show of power

I agree with the members that are saying that she asked about your country of origin without malice. Maybe she was creating small talk, or wanted to see if she has visited that country. Heck, maybe she was flirting with you.

I have an accent, so people ask me all the time where I'm from. I've been pulled over by cops very few times, but when they do, they do ask me that question just to tell me "I love your country, I've been there plenty of times."

I agree that there is a big percentage of LEOs that go on a power trip all the time. Some others are circumstantial. And there is that small percentage that are always courteous.

I am of the mind that I am a servant to the public; I am here to protect. I want people to be glad that I'm there, not to fear my presence.

I recently showed people working with me ( I was involved in a special operative in which I had to have contact with the public creating difficult, and sometimes, stressful situations-unintentionally- in order to achieve the goal) that if you don't let your ego get in your way, if you put yourself in their situation you can always be courteous and change people's attitude at the end. The people working with me couldn't believe how much I put up with without losing my smile, raising my voice and catching an attitude myself. 90 per cent of the people I interacted with changed their attitude, said sorry and thanked me for the job I was doing.

reply to post by VitaminQ


Well that was a pointless waist of the few minutes it took me to read that opening post.

Asking where you are from is hardly an interrogation as a show of power and by being so awkward about it is just pointless. Really what harm is there is saying “meh Finland” that would have saved you a bunch of time and let the cop get on with her job and at the end of the day that’s all it is a job. Might not make her the post popular person on the earth, I don’t really like police either but they have a job to do and I will quite happily let them get on with it.

Why be so arrogant, it’s just not nice she might have been saying “where you from”, “Finland” “oooo I love Finland you have a wonderful accent sorry for stopping have a good day now” or some other pleasantry. You were just being a word I am not allowed to use on ATS but it starts with a C.

Asking where you are from is not a show of power, has she put you in a cell for 12 hours and raided your home over you being so arrogant (something I would love to have done to you) then you could say it’s a show of power.

reply to post by signalfire


I completely agree with this poster. Asking for country of origin is outside of the realm of the job. She has seen the license. It is a valid license. She wanted to see what else she could "make" this citizen do. When he resisted (AKA knew his rights) she decided a pissing contest was in order.

Why be so arrogant, it’s just not nice she might have been saying “where you from”, “Finland” “oooo I love Finland you have a wonderful accent sorry for stopping have a good day now” or some other pleasantry. You were just being a word I am not allowed to use on ATS but it starts with a C. Asking where you are from is not a show of power, has she put you in a cell for 12 hours and raided your home over you being so arrogant (something I would love to have done to you) then you could say it’s a show of power.

WOW! That escalated quickly!

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


No no no. You're missing the point. First, stopping cars for no reason at all is an infringement on personal liberty. You're conditioned to accept random stops so you see nothing wrong with it.

Second, now having been randomly detained, there are legal BOUNDARIES that are supposed to be observed as the officier interacts with the citizen. The officer is going to try to move those boundaries in their favor every time. If the citizen dares to know and mention where those boundaries are, he opens himself up to retaliatory tantrums in the form of further detention or fines etc simply by exercising his right NOT to be hassled.

This OP is about holding the line and keeping those officers in check.

reply to post by VitaminQ


I was a former cop, to be honest if you were a smart ass I could find a hundred or so reasons to hold you up, like you said I got paid by the hour, I could give you at least 5 worthless tickets that after it wasted countless hours of your time, they might have got tossed. How about a little respect and answer the questions without the BS, cops have lifes also, wife or husband troubles, bad kids, sick loved ones etc etc.

You portrayed yourself with your own words as a smartass, you will reap what you sow, it could have been worse.

reply to post by Urantia1111


BS my friend, police in all jurisdictions can stop you for any reason they wish, this could have been a simple vehicle safety checkpoint, it could have been an active amber alert, the reasons are countless. Being disrespectful to anyone in authority is stupid and childish. Grow up and move on.

?Was she a cute cop. If she was i'd talk to her all day, know what i mean.

I`ve found that in general police aren`t very sociable so if you want them to let you be on your way as quickly as possible just start a sociable conversation and they will send you on your way faster than if you had the plague.

you should have just told her what country you are from and then immediately follow that with questions to her, like:
" have you ever been to finland? you really should go it`s a great place"
"have you ever been to any europian countries?"
" you look like you have europian features are your parents from europe perhaps?"
"maybe your grandparents were from europe?".....

I guarantee you that she would have sent you on your way as fast as possible with no more questions asked of you.
She would have found all the questions very intrusive and annoying but there`s nothing illegal about being sociable to a police officer so she would want to get away from you as fast as possible.

reply to post by Urantia1111



What rubbish, I know that in the UK the police must have probable cause but that can be just about anything so by extension they can stop you for anything.

The OP could have prevented anything and the whole thing could have been over and done within 5 minutes if he just told her where he was from. If he were to have acted like that to say someone he met in a bar he would be called rude and might have got a sore face for his troubles.

Why do people have to act so rude.

Originally posted by DOLCOTT
reply to post by VitaminQ

 

I was a former cop, to be honest if you were a smart ass I could find a hundred or so reasons to hold you up, like you said I got paid by the hour, I could give you at least 5 worthless tickets that after it wasted countless hours of your time, they might have got tossed. How about a little respect and answer the questions without the BS, cops have lifes also, wife or husband troubles, bad kids, sick loved ones etc etc.

You portrayed yourself with your own words as a smartass, you will reap what you sow, it could have been worse.

I agree with this

I'm in the process of becoming an officer myself, I also know a lot of officers...and most of the time, they aim to be friendly and make some small talk...yet most of the time, theyre met with the douchiest, self-righteous people that learned their "rights" from a YouTube video they saw

I see this story as cut and dry, a female officer was making small talk, OP had an opportunity to be decent, maybe even get laid...and he blew it to go home and play WoW

reply to post by DOLCOTT


Well jeez I had no idea we were friends.

Police officers aren't an authority I recognize in the capacity under discussion here. If I have committed a crime, then you can act like my dad and ask me all the relevent questions you like. If I haven't, then if you force me to stop, I consider that an infringement. I'm not talking about whatever crap the politicians have written down to allow random and unnecessary harrasment of citizens for their own personal amusement.

ETA a cop in this circumstance is nothing more than a cashier. You're not protecting anyone by asking what country I was born in.

reply to post by VitaminQ


So you have a finnish name and she asked where you are from based on that or something else? Pretty typical police chatter afaik.
Also, pidä ittes miehenä

Originally posted by DOLCOTT
reply to post by VitaminQ

 

I was a former cop, to be honest if you were a smart ass I could find a hundred or so reasons to hold you up, like you said I got paid by the hour, I could give you at least 5 worthless tickets that after it wasted countless hours of your time, they might have got tossed. How about a little respect and answer the questions without the BS, cops have lifes also, wife or husband troubles, bad kids, sick loved ones etc etc.

You portrayed yourself with your own words as a smartass, you will reap what you sow, it could have been worse.

And there you have it folks, the mindset of the cop: I'll do whatever I like and there's not a damn thing you worthless civilian can do about it. Obey or we'll make your life miserable. Obey or be punished. Don't you dare say anything to a cop except "Yes, sir", "No, sir", "I surrender, sir."

And you portrayed yourself with your own words as egomaniacal power tripping thug. Just another bully with a badge. Reap what you sow.

She was just asking you because she couldn't even begin to know how to pronounce your name perhaps?
Listen, the police are the good guys. If you haven't done anything illegal, why get snippy with them? It was your attitude that irked her. What has a cop ever done to you? They have enough to worry about, they sure don't need someone acting like a kusipää.

Originally posted by VitaminQ

Originally posted by SpaDe_
I wouldn't call this an interrogation at all. I have been interrogated before (long story) and I can safely say that you were not interrogated by this officer. Around here being a jerk to an officer will more times than not get you a ticket for something totally unrelated to the original stop.

I was not a jerk to the Cop, not at all.

I was like Jesus LOL.......passive resistance

Hey Next time I will say, I will anwer your question if you answer mine.

I am from Finland, AND YOU MY DEAR LOOK IRISH, so shall we have tit for tat

Pretty certain you are not like Jesus at all.. just reading your posts/threads allows me that much. You say from Finland, but in another comment you mention 'our America' (which may mean nothing..but..). You missed an opportunity, but I'm not going to let you in on it, because you won't let the Americans in on your great knowledge-so tit for tat there.

Yes, by all means-next time say "I will answer you if you answer me".. see where that gets you. It wouldn't have hurt you to offer her your free burger.. and just FYI, it's a good plan to choose any battles wisely instead of choosing every thing to be a battle.

Could she not tell from your papers just where you were from?

reply to post by VitaminQ

I being polite declined to answer a question which is my right.

A cop decided to make a Fuss about it and kept me for 30 minutes drilling, saying things like driving is a privilege

but I guess haters are gonna hate

I don't care much for most cops, but that doesn't mean I like the civilian any better simply because he's not a police officer.

edit; That 30 minutes was probaly her running your plates.. since you didn't want to answer her she found out in her own way... which is why it wouldn't have hurt to just answer her in this situation.

reply to post by VitaminQ


You bring up a good point. Young people often say things like "I don't have to do X if a cop asks me to" or "Cops can't do X". Theoretically this is true, but anecdotally it is not. It has been my experience that a cop can do whatever they want, and they often do. It might require some embellishment on their police report is all.

It is very dangerous to stand up for your rights to these thugs. The best thing you can do is comply and hope to take legal action after the fact.

Note that I respect and am thankful for their service. Most are actually good people of the community. But it just takes one bad apple.

Plus they are downright tricky! They don't ask "do you know how fast you were going?" for conversation.. they want to get you on record admitting fault. The only answer you should say here is "yes".

My current philosophy when dealing with the police is to comply with what they say. Answer nothing (if possible). Speak only the following: "I do not consent" and "am I free to go". But always do so politely.

An experienced police officer tells you why you should never agree to be interviewed by the police.

[I]nteresting video that explains the importance of the 5th amendment for everyone, expecially the innocent.