Have you ever been harassed by a cop?

Do you mean your “tags” were expired? At least that’s what we call it in my state. In my state you are required to have your car inspected for safety and emissions issues and registered and you can either have it done/payed for for one year or two years. It is the law. Expired tags are a violation of the state statutes and if you are pulled over by the cops for expired tags it wouldn’t be “harassment.” The police would be well within their rights to pull you over and ticket you for it. I don’t entirely understand exactly what you are saying about having two insurance cards. If I were pulled over in my state I would be require to provide a valid license, a valid registration and proof of insurance. It’s not that complicated. If you were in violation of your state’s laws regarding any of those things then it is not “harassment.” It is simply, as annoying as it might be, the police enforcing the laws of your state.

@lillycoyote I think he was referring more to the fact that the cop seemed to freak out so badly (cuff him, etc.).

@DrasticDreamer is correct. The cop was in full rights to pull me over, but he freaked out on me even though I did everything he asked and did it calmly.

Nope. Never even been pulled over.

@DrasticDreamer Maybe the cuffing was a bit of an over reaction but I wasn’t there. I am not exactly a trooper booster but traffic stops can be some of the most dangerous circumstances for cops so who knows. In the end @mrlaconic was not ticketed or arrested. Unfortunately cops are not always well trained in dealing with people who have disabilities or are idiosyncratic for some reason. That isn’t good at all but I don’t know if I would go as far as to call this harassment.

I think the officer over reacted. I know they have to deal with some shady characters, but it’s too bad they can’t also be more attentive to particular situations and different people’s reactions. I think they look for any tiny thing that could be considered not complying. They’re primed for aggression, I suspect partly because they need to be in many cases, and partly because the profession draws people with that tendency.

BTW, I feel I was harrassed a few times after being pulled over, and never when I had broken the law. It wasn’t as bad as what you described, @mrlaconic… more like they were being an over-the-top a$$hole for no reason.

It’s a show of force; a way to get your attention. The only time I was ever arrested was when I was 18 and trying to get a fake ID from motor vehicle. They arrested me, cuffed me and escorted me out the front door that way. I thought it was a bit excessive and an overreaction buo the only harassment was from one of the DMV employees, not from the police. Police will sometimes cuff you. It gets your attention. If they cuff you and let you go without an arrest or a citation or jail time consider yourself lucky, not harassed.

Lets face it, you driving behind a dark building, before stopping, sent up a red flag for the officers defense mechanism to be on high alert. its hard to explain this process to you, since you have never been in a police uniform. each traffic stop puts an officer on high alert. dope dealers, drug addicts and wanted criminals drive vehicles and an officer never knows what he will face in a traffic stop. i can tell you this firsthand, that when an officer approaches a stopped vehicle and the driver waves a weapon in his direction, its officer survival that he is thinking about, NOT maybe hurting your feelings. the officer will take over the situation and be in command at all times. suppose you are the officer and are making this stop on yourself. how would you have handled it? you tell us that you were shaky and nervous. this can be expected in some violators. but, the officer has no way of knowing your medical condition and whether you are telling the truth. remember, you two are both strangers and pulling behind a dark building puts the officer at high alert for weapons and any other assault which may occur. do not be upset. this is normal procedure for the police.for all the officer knows, you may have just killed all your family members and are fleeing the scene. the officer was just doing what he was trained to do. its called Officer Survival.

@john65pennington thank you for your excellent opinion it gave me another way to think about it. It was day light and there were lots of people around but I the place I stopped still was probably a good reason for him to ask me to put my hands on the wheel.

But for something like expired tabs… it just seems to extreme to be yelling at me and cuff me only to let me go ticket free… so while I can appreciate the survival instinct, I did nothing wrong. I followed directions to the letter and he just kept getting more aggressive.

mrlaconic. have you ever just had a bad day? officers are just like everyone else. they put on their pants and breathe. they are human. i was not there, but in his behalf, i will apologize for any bad behavior you thought you were given, by this officer.

i know that if the cop “lights you up” he does not want you driving too far, because he might take that as he has to chase you. it’s always best to pull right over – maybe you could have pulled beyond the driveway to the side of the road, instead of going around the back of the building?

Yes I have – by my cousin who is a police officer – calling round to my home for cups of coffee and cake he is most welcome really

@jca I was in a school zone on a two way road with a roundabout I literally pulled over at the first place that I could… and because all the parking spots where full at the front of the building I did it safely at the first place I could.

@john65pennington no apology nessesary. Yes I have had a bad day. The difference between me having a bad day and the cop is this: If I have a bad day I control my temper and if I do explode I just walk away come back and apologize. He on the other hand could have cost me my job if he decided to arrest me… my boss always assumes the worse so if I just didn’t show up without any warning that would have been it. Luckily she was out of office yesterday.

@mrlaconic : could you not have stopped behind the parked cars and blocked them? i mean, you would not be leaving your car so it’s not like if someone needed to pull out you would not be there to move your car.

@jca I see your point and I guess in the future I will do that. I was just trying to not block anyone.

very good John…. and a very good reply @mrlaconic ! Like that.

BoBo, thanks. no two police officers are going to handle the same situation, the same identical way.

absolutely…. just like two insurance adjusters handle a claim just a like!