Several months ago I left work and headed to my son’s school so I could see him perform in his third-grade program. I was late and I was speeding. A cop pulled me over and gave me the usual routine, asking me for my license, registration and insurance card. As I fumbled through the contents of my wallet looking for my insurance card, the cop sarcastically retorted, “Good grief, you’ve got more credit cards than my wife!” My first thought was something like, “Piss off you smart-ass!” But since he was wearing a gun, I sheepishly laughed at his idiotic joke. Then he asked me if there was some reason I was speeding. I told him I was late for my son’s school program and he let me off with a warning, promising that he’d definitely give me a ticket if he caught me speeding again.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was speeding again. A police car pulled up alongside mine and, as we both drove down the street at 50 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone, a cop in the passenger’s side yelled at me out his window, “How fast are you going to drive today?” I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that question. I thought about it and yelled back, “Um, the speed limit?” Then the cop who was driving chimed in, “You were going over fifty miles an hour. What the hell are you thinking? You don’t want me to catch you driving that fast again.” I replied, ‘Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”
As I slowed down and they passed me I could see they had a “customer” in the back of the car whom they were apparently taking to jail. I’m guessing they probably would have taken the time to pull me over and give me a ticket if they hadn’t had this prior commitment. So instead, they satisfied themselves by screaming belligerent and useless things at me out their window.
OK, so I know I shouldn’t have been speeding. And I know cops are human beings who say and do stupid things like everyone. But why does it seem to me that a lot of cops are smart asses? Do they think the authority of their badge gives them the right to treat people disrespectfully? Or do they just think that people who break laws don’t deserve respect?
I really try not to have conflicts with police officers. When they speak to me, I try very hard to respond politely with, “yes, sir” and “no, sir.” Yet I sometimes feel that police officers are trying verbally to provoke me with their smart-ass comments. Shouldn’t cops be taught to minimize tension and not escalate conflict by verbally abusing citizens?
I wonder how many conflicts involving police officers could be avoided if the cops would simply disengage their sarcasm. Not everyone is congenial or mature enough to tolerate a cop with an attitude, gun or not. So when a smart-ass cop meets a smart-ass citizen, it’s always possible that their verbal conflict could escalate into something physically violent.
What have your experiences been like with police officers? Have you had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a smart-ass cop? And how did you handle it?
I don’t think all cops are smart-asses. I’ve also encountered many who have been very professional, courteous and helpful. Cops deserve a lot of respect for the sacrifices they make for the rest of us. And I know that being a police officer can be a dangerous and stressful job. But some of them could probably make their jobs a little less stressful if they would drop the smart-ass routine.
Comments (13)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 9:53 AM
You were speeding both times, you didn’t get a ticket both times and yet you still have to bitch about them having attitudes? Here’s your solution, don’t break the law thus making your interaction with cops a mute point.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:20 AM
Unfortunately, I must somewhat agree with the previous rude poster. You should consider yourself lucky you didn't get a ticket on both occasions.
I've only gotten two speeding tickets in my life, and they were within the same month of each other when I was around seventeen. The first guy wasn't terrible, but he wasn't nice either, to a freaked out girl who'd never been pulled over before. The second was a right-out bastard. Not only did he pull me over coming out of an area without a posted speed limit sign in a waiting-in-the-dark trap, he assumed some hecklers across the street knew me because they were shouting my name while the cop was at my car. My parents had given me the unfortunate gift of my own NAME on my license plate. The cop didn't believe me when I told them I didn't know them. I wasn't even from that town! My respectful-to-authority friend in the seat next to me even got pissed with the guy's attitude.
So I understand how you can be speeding and not realize it. Ever since that month of my driving youth, I've been much more paranoid of cops. My husband has dealt with plenty an arsehole cop who claimed he was going much faster than he actually was.
It's all about the power trip.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:21 AM
Unfortunately, I must somewhat agree with the previous rude poster. You should consider yourself lucky you didn't get a ticket on both occasions.
I've only gotten two speeding tickets in my life, and they were within the same month of each other when I was around seventeen. The first guy wasn't terrible, but he wasn't nice either, to a freaked out girl who'd never been pulled over before. The second was a right-out bastard. Not only did he pull me over coming out of an area without a posted speed limit sign in a waiting-in-the-dark trap, he assumed some hecklers across the street knew me because they were shouting my name while the cop was at my car. My parents had given me the unfortunate gift of my own NAME on my license plate. The cop didn't believe me when I told them I didn't know them. I wasn't even from that town! My respectful-to-authority friend in the seat next to me even got pissed with the guy's attitude.
So I understand how you can be speeding and not realize it. Ever since that month of my driving youth, I've been much more paranoid of cops. My husband has dealt with plenty an arsehole cop who claimed he was going much faster than he actually was.
It's all about the power trip.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:33 AM
i suppose we should all feel appreciative that -- despite post-9/11 rhetoric, ominous germanic titles (one man's "homeland" security is another man's fatherland über alles) -- the stormtroopers have not yet cowed us into submission.
the previous smilepolitely.com Hassled By The Man entry -- chronicling an encounter with the meter maid -- similarly, and fortunately, excluded any beatings, imprisonments, habeas corpus issues, waterboardings, and forced confessions.
this is good.
moreover, the reader might infer from either of the essays that The Man's hassling bore a causal relationship to actual law breaking.
this, also, is good.
we are thus instructed, through the smilepolitely community, that those of us seeking encounters with The Man need only break the law. the downside, we learn here, is that enforcement might not be so strict as to prompt better behavior among miscreants.
that's probably the reason my neighbor's dog continues to bark incessantly.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 12:15 PM
at least they didn't taze you bro.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 12:52 PM
moot?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 1:48 PM
Yes Moot. But the other will work better for robs neighbors dog.
Thursday, October 9, 2008 5:50 AM
Basicaly you are trying to reduce someone in authority who is the first to respond to a dead or mangled body in the road from someone speeding, who is also the first person to tell a mother her child is dead or in a hospital, who is the person who must stare at the many bill boards of fallen officers in Decatur with their family in the car, to a ...waitress, maid,personal employee, taking the "public servant" title to a literal sense.
You sir took the polite efforts of some one warning you rather than billing you, to a public complaint. You sir have an issue with authority. You sir are a big baby. You sir more than the risk of life is why we have to pay so much a year for these people to work for us.
Do people who break the laws deserve respect? But what you are describing you want is not respect, but the representation of a lack of authority and that is not their job.
And why are you carrying so many credit cards?
Thursday, October 9, 2008 11:18 AM
I agree when we are breaking the law that we shouldn't expect to be treated like royalty. However, respect is still possible in these situations. I've been pulled over three times in over ten years of driving, and only one cop treated me respectfully. He still let me know his authority (with his tone and whatnot), but overall he was respectful. For my other two experiences, the cops were completely unrespectful and rude to me, and nothing I had said or done to them warranted that behavior. I was respectful to them when they pulled me over, and didn't give them any grief about pulling me over. Thus, I think it is within our rights as citizens to request the same from them. I agree with this writer that cops should be taught--and then absolutely display--ways to avoid escalating unnecessary conflict. When they can't, or won't, do that, it certainly makes the general public wonder about their need for such an ego trip. Then, it makes us wonder why we would want such insecure people in an uniform.
Thursday, October 9, 2008 7:50 PM
I agree that police officers run the risk of escalating conflict if they cop a snarky tone (pun intended). Maybe they're bored? Maybe they just assume that everyone else is an asshole as well? I think if the offender is respectful, the whole affair should simply be respectful and a lesson learned.
I must mention U of I police officers. I myself have encountered them a few times through work, as well as being pulled over one night for forgetting my headlights. Every time the officers were friendly, understanding, and helpful. I have heard stories though, of some U of I cops using completely unnecessary profanity, threats, and sass when it was (I was told) unprovoked. I know it must be tough to deal with idiotic privileged children all the time, but that does not mean everyone is an idiotic privileged child (and drunk). Reacting that way to a drunk kid is simply asking them to fight back and get in deeper shit than before.
I respect police officers, and expect them to return the favor.
Sunday, October 12, 2008 8:50 AM
When was the last time someone spit or kicked you at work who was armed?
Sunday, October 12, 2008 4:57 PM
It seems to me that the first cop was just trying to make a (friendly?) joke. I dunno, this doesn't seem like a big deal. If all you have to complain about is that a cop is a smart ass to you, you don't have much to complain about at all. There are so many other reasons to distrut Champaign/Urbana 5-0, and there are lots of people in America who wish that their only complaint was that the cops made fun of their excess of credit cards.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 4:35 PM
I agree with most of the other posters. This is a tiny, tiny problem.
As it happens, I got pulled over two days ago for doing 39 in a 25. I'm not particularly sympathetic to cops or their jobs (they volunteered, and there are plenty of good reasons they did - including driving a Charger with a hemi). But this guy was polite and quick and told me to slow down or next time he'd give me a ticket.
I note that of all the people who wrote in, no one had personal experience with bad cop behavior. Somehow, we all hear of truly bad behavior that others have had with cops. I wonder why that is.