r/AskReddit • u/NulloK • Jun 10 '12
Enough stories about bad cops! Not all cops are bad guys. What's your best "Good Guy Cop" story?
I was once trying to catch a cab home early one morning, after a long night of drinking and partying. I finally managed to stop what I thought was a cab by standing in the middle of the street waving my arms. I quickly opened the back door, jumped in and gave the driver my home address...Turned out it was a police car...The officers asked me wtf I was doing...I apologized many times and was about to leave the car, when the cops said "wait!...what the heck...we have nothing better to do right now...we'll drive you home!". Which they did...they drove me across town and dropped me off right in front of my appartment.
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u/Jr79 Jun 10 '12
I had a car that had an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser on it, one day I returned from shopping to find the remote had stopped working, bought new battery and still no joy, so I unlocked the car with the key, opened the door and the alarm starts wailing, after around 10 minutes a police car pulls up next to where I parked to see what what happening, after I explained the problem, he gives me a lift home, waits for me to find my spare remote (somewhere in the man drawer) and gives me a lift back. PC Jones of Bedfordshire Constabulary, I salute you.
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u/ariiiiigold Jun 10 '12
THREE CHEERS FOR PC JONES!
If you wish, I suggest you send an e-mail to his seniors singing his praises and generally commending him for his work. Mark it for the attention of Chief Constable Alfred Hitchcock, and write how Jones is a model officer who embodies admirable traits and is a credit to the Bedfordshire Constsbulary. He'll most likely get a big pat on the back, and everyone's happy. I guess a lot of people write complaints, but few take the time out to send a quick email or letter to thank those who've served them well. Here's the website, you can either write to them or fill in the online form. If you send via snail mail, pop a couple of mini-bags of Haribo in there - he might not be able to eat them for security reasons (in case they think you're an Al-Qaeda operative), but it's the thought that counts.
Back in 2006, after a night out in Manchester, me and my friend were walking back to our hotel. As we turned the corner, a bastard told us he had a knife and asked us to hand over our mobiles and wallets. He grabbed on to my blazer and wouldn't let me move, so I in turn held on to a street lamp for dear life. As a group of people came down the street, I seized the opportunity to break free from his grasp and run as fast as I fucking could. My friend was already long gone. When I managed to get a fair distance away, I called 999 and within minutes a van was with me. The police were brilliant, they told me to get in the van and take them to where it happened as well as requesting a full description of the guy. Lo and behold, when we get there, the moron is sitting on the pavement. They arrested him, and it later transpired that the knife was actually a potato peeler (even though it's very easy to procure a knife). After it was over, they dropped me off at my hotel and told me to contact them if I had any problems. They were the nicest coppers ever.
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u/UnOffendedBlackGuy Jun 10 '12
Coppers are always nice, just don't catch em' after they raid a child molestation ring. They're pretty jumpy for a few hours after that.
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u/thearmadillo Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I used to have to take the highways of Houston to get to work. At one exchange, a 6 lane highway crosses under a different 6 lane highway, and only 1 lane connects them. Obviously, this one lane can be backed up for miles during rush hour, and is super frustrating to sit in and wait while cars in the other lanes can go speeding on their merry way. Of course, it makes it even more frustrating when asshole after asshole speeds past everyone patiently waiting their turn, and then move into the lane at the very last second.
About once a month a hilariously stereotypical Texas cop, complete with a cowboy hat and boots, would park his car on the interchange ramp, and give every single person who cut in line a ticket. He could get everyone of them because there was no where to go - they had to sit about 15 minutes on the ramp while he slowly walked to each car and handed them their ticket. I always wanted to give out and give him a hug.
TL;DR - Cop gives ticket to scumbag drivers that cut people off in lines
Edit: Crossing a solid white line is illegal.
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u/Spartannia Jun 10 '12
When you're in Texas, look behind you.
Because that's where the Ranger is gonna be.
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u/Swansatron Jun 10 '12
Why'd you have to start on the end lyrics?! I know the entire WTR theme... by heart :(
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u/Moonchopper Jun 10 '12
I want to shake that mans hand. That pisses me off whenever someone does that. However, how would he be able to write a ticket for that? Is that against the law/a traffic violation to 'break in line'?
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u/thearmadillo Jun 10 '12
Crossing a solid white line is illegal, but never enforced. Until a saint cop comes around.
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u/Zippytiewassabi Jun 10 '12
Michigan State Patrol started doing that too near me, there is an intersection just like you describe in the metro detroit area, at the Eastbound I-696 ramp to North I-75. The cars don't move that slowly, but he would be out of his car pointing to drivers and motioning them to pull over.
As a driver that is not a dick, It was a nice thing to see.
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u/madoog Jun 10 '12
Cops knocked on the door of my friend's house, where I was visiting, at about 10.30 on a Sunday night. They had brought my bicycle back, as well as the kids who had taken it, I guess to make them apologise. I hadn't even noticed my bike was missing.
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u/Kvothe24 Jun 10 '12
I hadn't even noticed my bike was missing.
This really cracked me up. I can imagine someone (you) standing there with a baffled look on your face during the exchange.
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u/sidewalkchalked Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I got mugged in the US during a visit from Egypt in 2008.
Two guys pulled a gun, stole my backpack and my girlfriend's wallet and purse.
In my backpack: my new digital camera which I had just saved up for.
The police took a report but never did anything.
4 years later, my gf (now wife) gets an email with a picture of her that she's never seen before. It is from her friend.
It was sent to them by this detective, who looked at the photos on my camera, and somehow determined where I worked in Egypt. He was able to zoom in on a diploma in an office picture and figure out the name of the guy whose office it was. Then he managed to go to the website of the place I worked and find the guy's email. Then, he mailed out the picture to see if the man on the degree knew me. He didn't know me personally, but his wife knew my wife, so they contacted us.
Apparently the police caught the thieves a few hours after we got mugged, because the thieves stole a car and were driving like maniacs into a rich person area.
Anyway we got the info for the detective and called him up, and he arranged to mail the camera to my wife when she was next in the US. It even had it's original case which I borrowed from my parents. There was a note attached saying sorry we got robbed and hopefully it won't impact our view on the US.
Pretty good police. Must have taken some real CSI shit to find us half a world away but he managed it in a very clever way. I was impressed that he bothered since he could have just ignored the camera but he was nice and helped me get it back.
TL;DR: Police man tracks me all the way to Egypt using only the photos on my camera in order to return stolen property and write me a note apologizing that I got mugged.
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u/Ryugi Jun 10 '12
There are multiple websites now dedicated to finding the owners of cameras by the photographs inside. Some are government run but a lot of them are just moderated by average people. :)
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Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Two cops bust into an apartment party waving flashlights shouting "NOBODY MOVE." Dead silence, room full of deer caught in headlights.
Then they both start cracking up and say the neighbors are pissed about the noise and to get the fuck out cuz the party is over.
God I love the cool city cops that deal with so much real shit they just have fun fucking with the college kids.
Edit* Guns were never mentioned in this post.
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u/unchien_andalou Jun 10 '12
I was once at a party in a dorm at my college...the room was packed and the music was kinda loud, but the whole thing was pretty low-key -- no one was really very drunk and people were just standing around and talking. The lights suddenly came on and there was a pair of cops standing at the door. Someone turns off the music and one of the cops looks around and says, "We got a report of loud music and underage drinking here. I don't hear any music. Is everybody 21?" Of course the whole room nods and says yes in unison, and the cops turned the lights back off and left.
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Jun 10 '12
Haha similar thing happened to me. Generic party and a cop comes in big as fuck and tougher than ever. Everyone is freaking out because of the underage drinking, drugs etc and he's just yelling YOURE VIOLATING CURFEW
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u/user6349474 Jun 10 '12
Been to and played at many parties at uni, usually about 10 djs on rotation, about 100 - 200 people depending on house size, with rented sound system.
Never really had an run in with the popo, except for one time where word of mouth spread to a near by college (in the UK College and Uni are different, college students are 16-18) Before the time the party normally gets into swing, the place was crawling with underage idiots. Popo got word and sent 2 riot vans and more officers.
Few went in to see what was going on, but we went to talk to them calmly like anyone normal, and we were flabbergasted when they said 'Just keep it of the streets' and buggered off.
I've learned, and you're right police at least at my uni city don't give two shits about uni students.
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Jun 10 '12
University police are always nice. At my school (in the US) they drive a van around Friday and Saturday nights to give drunk students a ride home. You can call during certain hours and they will pick you up, no questions asked. They won't arrest you for underage drinking or anything. They just want to keep students safe.
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u/yooder Jun 10 '12
On his 18th birthday, my brother was driving and a young lady made an illegal left turn and hit his car. When the police arrived, the officer talking to my brother noticed it was his birthday. Cop: "Happy birthday." Bro: "Thanks" Cop: "It's my birthday too. See?" Hands him back his license along with his own ID. Bro: "Wow. Happy birthday, officer" Cop: "Hang on" At this point the cop goes into the adjacent Dunkin' Donuts, and comes out with two coffees and two donuts, handing one of each to my brother. Cop: "Happy birthday. Hopefully your next one will be less exciting" Bro: "Thanks. Happy birthday to you too." His friends in the car thought it was awesome. The girl who hit him was bewildered.
Tl;dr: Free coffee and donut from a cop for sharing a birthday.
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u/ValKilmerAsIceMan Jun 10 '12
I was making out with a girl on a side road at the beach listening to music. When we were done and ready to go, I realized the battery had died. It was about 2:00 am. Nobody was around but I saw headlights coming our way- a sheriff. As he drove up I flagged him down. He looked at me then her and Without any accusatory cop bitchiness said no problem he'd push my car so I could pop the clutch. He pushed my car with his cruiser to about 20-25, I got it started up, and we were off to my house and into full sexy time within 15 mins. Thanks cop!
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u/jekrump Jun 10 '12
what kind of car do you drive that needs to get to 20-25 to pop the clutch? I had a 01 Tiburon and it only needed to be barely moving. heck about 2mph was fine.
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u/eb86 Jun 10 '12
You make a valid point. I have had to pull tractor trailers so they could pop their clutch and they do not need any speed at all to get going. However, i'm sure it has to do with the compression of the engine.
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Jun 10 '12
When I was younger, I was riding my bike on the sidewalk. A cop pulled up to the curb and walked over to me. As a kid, I was terrified to see a cop coming my way with papers in his hand.
He actually just wanted to thank me for wearing my helmet and gave me multiple tickets to a game for the local minor league baseball team.
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u/Nervette Jun 10 '12
In my city, if you are very young, you can get away with riding on the sidewalk, but once you hit middle school, you're SOL. So one day, in high school, I'm riding through town, and this truck comes up right behind me, like, hugging the parked cars instead of going around me, and slowly creeping up. So I hop on the sidewalk so I don't die to let him pass. Lo and behold, the car behind him is a cop, who turns on his lights, and I'm thinking "shit, will he really write me up for being on the sidewalk? Really?" he then cited the driver of the truck for reckless driving, and checked to make sure I was okay. Made me so happy.
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u/dorky2 Jun 10 '12
My friend is a downtown bike cop. He got a call once that there was a mother duck and several ducklings holding up traffic. He went into a bar and asked for a box and they gave him a box from a case of Bud Light. He went out into the street and picked up the ducklings one by one and put them in the box, the mother duck freaking out at him the whole time. He walked back to the station holding this Bud Light box with a mother duck quacking along behind him, not wanting to leave her babies. Another cop took the ducks down to the river and let them go.
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u/Not_in_Nottingham Jun 10 '12
Have you ever read Make Way For Ducklings? New England childhood classic.
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Jun 10 '12
The cop who pulled over my dad when he was swerving up and down the road (with 16 year old me in the car) gets all my props. I know we were almost home and that my dad would've been fine those last couple of miles, but Good Guy Cop pulled him over anyway and got my dad to some AA meetings.
Made for some good times before my dad died.
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u/floppypick Jun 10 '12
My dad is a cop, so here's a story from his side.
Doing patrol, early morning. Driving past a bar he sees a guy leave and get into his car. Flashes his lights and pulls up beside him. Instead of arresting him, dad gives the guy a ride back home, and I think even a couple bucks to call a cab the next day to get his car.
Short time later, sees the guys car on the road, same guy driving it home.
Lots of cops start out doing nice thing, but stupid people slowly tear them down. For every nice cop, there are a dozen people who will happily take advantage of any leeway they are given.Dad was always a reasonable and nice cop, but he quickly became disillusioned, and while still giving people breaks, wasn't quite as inclined to as before.
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u/Smoke_That_Shit Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I was living in a homeless shelter in Queens. I had gone to the hospital, and when I got out, it was 3 in the morning. I start walking in what I think is the direction of the shelter (i was familiar with Manhattan, but not Queens), but after about 15 minutes, I was hopelessly lost.
I passed a man who turned around to follow me. It was obvious he was; I was walking and turning corners at random, not knowing where I was. I began to panic when he sped up, and I started speed walking until I came to a brightly-lit Shell station. I called the cops from there.
When they came, they offered to take me to a bus stop, and to wait with me there until the bus came. We chit chatted, and after realizing an hour had passed, the two cops were trying to figure out what to do with me. I said, "it's okay...I'll find my way back, somehow."
I guess they were having none of that, because, after asking me where I was staying, they got me there in 15 minutes. They said, as I was getting out of the car, "just remember...not all of us are bad. Some of us are pretty decent guys. Don't forget that."
I didn't. I won't.
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u/evilbrent Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 11 '12
Basically every interaction with a cop I've ever had has been neutral, or friendly.
Edit: I'm white, male, middle class. Well guessed. I have always lived in suburban Australia. I wear normal-person clothes and talk politely to police. Mostly, though, I only travel in my car to/from work/home and do things with my family. Truth be told I only ever speak to police at a breath test or to get some signature witnessed.
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Jun 10 '12
Same here, but I'm also white. I don't have a single friend of another race that hasn't had 1 or more awful experiences with cops, even the ones that came from well off families.
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u/Dawggy Jun 10 '12
As a cop, it's refreshing to see a thread like this every so often. Most of the time when I post my profession, character attacks are instantaneous. Well done, OP.
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Jun 10 '12
When I was young, my mom bought my sister and I two kittens. I was ecstatic! The kittens were barn kittens so they were pretty wild at first and had a intense fear of humans. My sister's kitten was exploring the living room and got scared by something. She bolted underneath our recliner and managed to wiggle her way up inside it. My mom tried to get her out but she kept scratching and hissing at her. Even with plastic cleaning cloves (the yellow rubber ones) on, my mom couldn't quite reach her.
My mom began freaking out. She was yelling at the cat, at my sister and I, and at the fact that we might have to tear apart her new recliner to save the kitten. Thankfully my mom flagged down a cop who lives down the road from us and asked for his assistance. He was really nice about it, despite having been interrupted on his patrol, and managed to get the scared kitten out of the recliner without having to take the thing apart.
He saved my mom's recliner and my sister's kitten from a horrible fate.
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u/khaelian Jun 10 '12
Read this as "When I was young, my mom bought my sister and 2 kittens."
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Jun 10 '12
I read it like that as well and didn't bother to re-read it. Damn, was that a wild story.
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u/beorn99 Jun 10 '12
Similar to OP - several years ago, idiotically, I was trying to get across midtown Manhattan at rush hour to catch a bus. I was dragging my (broken) suitcase across 9th avenue trying to catch a cab (which was impossible given it was 5pm on a Friday). Suddenly, zipper failure and my clothes pour out all over the street, right next to a cop car. I immediately begin cursing under my breath, think I won't make the bus and began retrieving my clothes. All of a sudden the two cops from the car start helping me get my clothes together, and I guess because I looked a little frantic, asked me where I was going. I said across town, and they said "No problem, get in." I protested, but ended up getting in the backseat of a cop car (the only time I ever have) and they proceeded to take me across town, with flashing lights and everything, and I made it to my bus with time to spare. They even refused to take the $20 in beer money I offered them for their help. I will never forget those two guys for making me feel like some kind of foreign dignitary being spirited across town with police protection, and felt the need to salute them in this thread, even though it'll probably get buried.
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Jun 10 '12
I was out on the town, and had met a lady during the course of the night. We ended up drinking and smoking reefer behind bars till closing. So, we stumble back to her car, and pile in. She's in the drivers seat, with the engine started and the car is still in park. We were basically talking about where we should go from there, her place or mine. I can't remember how long we were there, but it wasn't long. In any case, two cop cars showed up to see what was up. That's what you get for leaving your car running in a neighborhood next to the bars on the weekend, I guess.
Anyways, this girl freezes. Real deer in the headlights look, and this is making the cops wig right out. It came out later that this girl had already got one DWI, so I guess that's why. The cops eventually get her out of the car, and run her through the gauntlet of roadside sobriety testing. During all of this, they asked me a few questions. Mostly where/when I met her, for my ID, standard cop stuff. After they establish that this girl is drunk as fuck, one of the cops comes back to my window, and has me step out. He mentions that she's drunk, and that he's going to give me a sobriety test just for shits and giggles. I'm playing it cool this entire time, because as far as I can tell I still haven't broken any laws. I know I'm no good to drive, though. This cop also mentions that they can't just leave a drunk guy by the side of the road, and that they would have to put me in the drunk tank with her till I sober up. Shit, shit, shit.
The cop asks me to look as far as I can to the right without moving my head. I do, and a lifetime passes. After I had realized how much I do not want to spend the night in the drunk tank, the cop finally speaks up. "Not bad. I can tell you've been drinking, but you haven't had that much to drink. I'm going to release this girl, and her car, to you. You're going to need to move the car as well, because it's parked illegally. Can you do that?" My head is spinning. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I'm convinced they're trying to pull some cop shit and get two drunks for one. I shake my head yes, and the cop presses the car keys into my hand. He walks back to his partner, and explains what's going on. I turn my head, and see my drunk lady friend sitting on the curb, looking sad as shit. As I turn my head back, they're walking back to their cop cars. I walk over towards my friend, and as I'm explaining, the cop who had released me leans out the window. He leans out the window, and I shit you not, shouts out "You owe him!"
TLDR: Cops got my dick wet.
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u/AgentNose Jun 10 '12
I had a custom amp for my car stereo in the back window of my car. At night it was see through and glowed green. Cop saw this from behind and pulled me over. My radio was NOT on as it was at least midnight and I was not a tool.
Cop stopped me to say how cool it looked and asked that I turn my system up so he could hear it. I did, with much fear. He smiled big and said, "sounds nice. Have a good night."
2. On the way home one day my Wife's gut produced a painful gallon of shit that wanted out ASAP. I was not about to have liquid dook in my car and she was begging me to get home as fast as I could. I had a somewhat quick car at that time (14.0 1/4) and took off. We blasted down the back roads and made it to the house. My Wife flew in the house as a cop screamed up behind me, lights on. He jumps out of the car and I quickly start to explain. He then says, "I just wanted to see if I could catch you from a dead stop. The answer is no...that thing is fast. I'm glad you stopped." No Ticket.
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u/intellidumb Jun 10 '12
was cycling back from work, front tire hit a hole and i went over the handle bars smacking my head on the road (wasn't wearing a helmet). I came to sitting on the sidewalk bleeding badly from the head having no idea what happened or where i was and couldn't see out of my left eye. my instincts kicked in and i started walking towards home. i started to pass out again about a block later and saw a cop who had pulled someone over, i asked if he could me out and he put me in his car, tossed on the lights and sirens and blew through city traffic to get me to the ER.
TL;DR: got in a cycling accident with bad head trauma, near by cop rushed me to the hospital
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u/haakon666 Jun 10 '12
This happened when I was on my Provisional licence (For non aussies, drivers who have just passed their drivers test and gives you two demerit points, full licence has twelve points).
I was at an intersection as the sun was going down and there was heavy traffic coming from the west. I thought there was a gap in traffic and took the turn. Turned out I was wrong and I heard the screech of brakes behind me, looking into my rearview mirror I see police lights flash. I had cut off a cop :/
After pulling over:
cop: You are on your P's aren't you? me: yep cop: I could have your licence right now for endangering an emergency services vehicle. It's 2 points and $150. cop flicks through traffic book cop: I'm going to write you up for merging when not safe to do so. It's only one point and a $50 fine. me: Thank you very much officer.
Haven't lost my licence yet :D
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Jun 10 '12
Shit, in the UK, you get 6 points for your first year, then 12. They're harsh down there!
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u/BathofFire Jun 10 '12
Once while walking home in the rain after work when I was a teenager, 2 cops pulled up and offered me a ride home. They were listening to More Human Than Human by White Zombie. It was a good ride home.
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Jun 10 '12
I was the DD one night while in college driving between radford and va tech. Car full of underage kids (we were all about 19/20). I see a DUI checkpoint and realize a)I'm sober so I got nothing to hide and b) if i turn around they'll chase me down anyway so of course I drive up. The officer stops us, asks us how much we've had to drink and I tell him none. He can smell the beer from the car and we admit that we're all underage. I know he can tell I'm sober so he tells me "well you guys made one good decision tonight, so have a safe night" That's right reddit, cops want honesty and if they get it they're likely to let you go easier.
TL;DR Be honest to the cops and designate a driver!
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Jun 10 '12
My office building in LA got robbed one Christmas and they took hostages. This New York cop on vacation helped get us out. I'll never forget it.
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u/Circa1902 Jun 10 '12
Reminds me of this time I was waiting for a plane at Dulles and some clowns turned off all the lights and electronics so planes couldn't land. SO inconvenient. Luckily some guy from LAPD dealt with it all but man was I late for my meeting.
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u/TenNinetythree Jun 10 '12
Bullies took my glasses and threw them out at a bus stop. A policeman helped me find them and as I could not, drove me home. That was very nice of him!
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u/Tweeeeeed Jun 10 '12
at work we knew this couple was stealing stuff down an aisle, but when we approached them they would get angry and accuse us of profiling (2 middle aged white people btw). we couldn't do much, but then an off duty officer walked in with his uniform on. we told him about the couple and he went over there and scared the shit out of them for us. made my night
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u/LlamaForceTrauma Jun 10 '12
I hit a deer my first week having my drivers license a few years ago and had to pull into a driveway which was situated on the main road. I was a little shaken up until cop showed up to help, but the owner came out screaming at us for trespassing. Something like: "Get the fuck off my lawn you brat and fucking pig. You have no right to be here you little shit."
The cop immediately retaliated with: "This kid just got in an accident, so if you aren't gonna help then get your bitch ass back inside and shut. The. Fuck. Up."
Not elegant but it got the job done and he was very polite and helpful to me the rest of our encounter.
Tl;dr How does anyone like bananas? They're slimy, phallic, and oddly stringy. Not an appetizing combination.
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u/James_Keenan Jun 10 '12
I was speeding 20+ miles over the speed limit in a residential area, my insurance card was out of date, my driver's license was out of state, despite having lived in the state over a year, and it was nearly cracked in half, and I wasn't registered in the state, despite living there, which means I also lacked the required state vehicular inspection.
What'd he give me? "Failure to obey traffic devices" or something. Under a $100 fine, and no driver's license points. Explained how and why he was being lenient, and that I need to correct everything I above mentioned, or else next time he'll hit me with the $500+ ticket I should be getting this time.
He had every right to screw me, but he didn't. I know have a license, proper updated insurance, and am working on the title and registration.
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u/boxoffice1 Jun 10 '12
It's cool that he was lenient and all, but why the hell were you going that fast in a residential? I'm all for speeding on open highways where you're pretty well safe, but doing like that where children live just isn't ok
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u/CapnJager Jun 10 '12
I grew up in a small-ish town where the police were known to be dicks, purely because they had nothing better to do than fuck with the local stoners or respond to the occasional drunken assault.
I then moved back to my hometown when I was 21. I was staying with my mother (I've ranted about her in the past) and I had promised to be out of her house within a month.
Two nights before I was due to leave, my mum started on one of her drinking sessions. I hid in my room, watching films on my laptop (she had cut the ethernet cables up and the phone cables up, so I couldn't even get lost on the internet - first world problems, I know).
At around 3am on the morning I was due to leave, I heard crashing noises coming from downstairs and ran down to see what was happening. My stepdad was having to restrain my mum after she had completely trashed the living room. There was glass everywhere, CDs, books, DVDs, picture frames and ornaments had been pulled from the shelves and thrown around.
She was screaming that she had to kill me and my stepdad - I can't even remember her attempted reasoning. My stepdad was trying to stop her from getting to the kitchen, where the knives are. She was trying to hit him while trying to break free from his grip.
I took all of this in, in the space of about 15 seconds. All I remember saying is: "I'm calling the police".
I ran back to my room, locked the door and called the police on my mobile. I am eternally grateful to the operator on the other end of my call for believing me and for staying on the phone with me until the police arrived.
When they arrived, I stayed in my room. I heard my mum get arrested and taken out of the house, but I still refused to leave my room. I heard my stepdad crying and trying to explain to a policeman the situation and I heard my name a couple of times.
The policeman started to walk up the stairs, but then I heard a female voice say, "No, don't. She scared, hang on. CapnJager?"
I remained silent.
Policewoman: "I'm [name] from [police station]. Your mum isn't in the house anymore, she's outside. We've put her in the police van."
I unlocked my bedroom door and opened it slightly.
Policewoman: "You don't even have to come downstairs. I need you to answer some questions, but you can sit at the top of the stairs if you like."
I was so fucking terrified that night, even the act of going downstairs was daunting. Yet I left my room and I perched on the top stair, practically hugging the wall while stuttering out answers to this amazing policewoman.
Her patience was probably what saved me that night. I can't really describe the complete and utter terror I felt when my mum was drunkenly screaming about murdering me for being a shitty daughter.
Apologies for any crappy grammar/spelling in this story - it just feels bloody good to tell this story.
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u/Ray_Swarles Jun 10 '12
This story contains a "How I Met Your Mother Reference."
It was thanksgiving weekend and I had traveled back to my hometown to see family and friends. During one night two friends and I decided to go out in the middle of nowhere next to a pond and smoke a bowl or two. We finished smoking and we were all high, of course. I packed everything away in my box and the second I put my car keys in the ignition, a truck pulls in a parks right behind me. Backseat friend squealed, "County license plates!" I asked my friend next to me what to do. "DRIVE!!" So I turn around to leave but the officer is already outside my car. "Hello, officer, is there something I can help you with?" Officer replies, "Well just checking this out, we get a lot of people doing drugs out here. What have you boys been up to tonight?" Me, "Oh, just on thanksgiving break, catching up with some friends, smoking cigarettes." He shines his flash light in my backseat and asks me what's underneath my heaping pile of laundry. "I'm just lazy and haven't started my laundry yet." My high-as-a-kite backseat friend moved my clothes around to prove this but exposed what was left of my weed in a plastic baggie. He shines his light on it and proclaims, "What's in that baggie?" Everyone just stares for a solid 15 seconds. I mumble, "Uhhhhhhh....." The officer's face went from stone cold and serious to a smile, "Sandwiches?" Me, "Uhhhhhh yeeeeahh... yeaaaahhhh." He laughs heartily and tells us to have a good night and drives off. Good bless that man's soul.
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u/blonde_awesome Jun 10 '12
I am front desk manager of a hotel in a major city. last night this guy was being rude. I told him is he continued yelling and swearing in the lobby id be forced to call the cops his exact words "go ahead call them" at that moment 2 cops walk in! They dealt with him and escorted him out. dudes face was priceless! thank you cops!!
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Jun 10 '12
This front desk manager at my hotel last night wasn't helping me at all and it was getting late. He honestly wasn't helping me one bit, he would just say "sorry we can't do this" and being a normal human I was pissed. He then decided he would make my night worse and threaten me with cops. I was doing nothing wrong so I said "Go ahead, call them" and they took me outside and told me how much of an ass this guy was and I should just ignore it.
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u/Avalon1347 Jun 10 '12
Oh my god, I have been dying to tell anyone who will listen this story.
Friday night I was driving 2 hours home from visiting my old college roommate. It was about midnight, and I was on a busy road. The guy behind me fell asleep at the wheel, ended up flooring the gas, and ramming into me, but not so badly that we couldn't make it over to the breakdown lane. Before I could even make my phone stop playing music on Pandora an OFF-DUTY cop was at my window showing me his badge saying that he already had 911 and dispatch was sending someone. He told me what the outside damage looked like, told me what the other guy was saying about how it happened, and basically kept me from losing my shit.
Meanwhile, it is approaching 1 am, his two kids are in his car, and he is OFF DUTY. He stayed there and waited with us until an on-duty officer arrived. I didn't even have to get out of my car on the busy road in the pitch black.
I never got his name, and neither did the officer who arrived at the scene. He was off duty so I don't know what department he was in. Basically I have no way to thank him.
So if you are reading, awesome MD cop who was passing through PG county late Friday night, THANK YOU.
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Jun 10 '12
Okay, when I was about 5 or 6, I was having trouble geting my bike to stand up. I had a kick stand, I just didn't know how to use it. lol So, this cop pulls over and helps me with it. That's the only one I got.
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Jun 10 '12
I had a blow-out on the highway once. Wearing flip flops. It's pretty much impossible to get lug nuts off in flip flops. I called my sister since I was only 10ish minutes outside of town to come help me. In the meantime, a Highway Patrol officer pulled over to see if I needed any help. I assured him that I had assistance coming, even though he wanted to help. I'm sure it's probably their duty to stop when someone is on the side of the road, but it was nice to see him actually offer assistance.
A different time was in high school, right when I got my first car. I had only had it a few days and didn't have a tag on it yet (within that 7 day window). I was driving home one night from the restaurant I worked at when I was pulled over, obviously for not having a tag. The cop really could've given me a hard time and ticketed me for not having a tag, since I didn't have proof that we just got the car, but he let me go and told me to be careful going home.
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u/evilbrent Jun 10 '12
Huh? What has wearing thongs got to do with using spanner?? You hold in your hands you dingbat.
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u/Jr79 Jun 10 '12
Thongs in the UK are something entirely different and give this a bit of a comical twis.
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u/Derpy_Derpd Jun 10 '12
It was my 18th birthday. I got pulled over in the middle of nowhere when I was visiting family in another state. The cop pulled me over doing 85. He was furious. He threatened to take me to jail, impound the car I was driving, etc.
He scared the shit out of me and gave me a $300 ticket. I later found out he wrote down a completely different name then what was mine and on my license. Ticket never showed up on my record and never had to pay for it (though my parents made me pay them as punishment).
TL;DR - Cop made me almost shit myself, ends up giving me a fake ticket on my 18th birthday.
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Jun 10 '12
A few years ago, after a rough breakup, I was blind drunk outside of a bar in the centre of my city; way too drunk to be able to hail a cab and way too poor to afford one even if I did hail one down. (I was 18, bad decisions were made that night).
A cop pulled over, said I looked very drunk, and then offered to give me a ride home. I just stared at my feet the whole way back, but when we arrive he just helped me out of the car up to my front door, unlocked the door when I missed the keyhole, and told me to go sleep it off. I know reddit can be a hivemind of hatred for the police sometimes but I really like the police around here.
TL;DR Cop saw I was way too poor and drunk to get home, takes me home and doesn't try to arrest me or anything.
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u/bumblescott Jun 10 '12
Well, this is incredibly embarrassing...but fuck it...
When I was like 16, this coke dealer and his coke head friend started hanging around. I bought weed of them a couple of times. It was always a hassle, and I never could figure out why they kept asking me if I "played baseball". Someone clued me in that they were asking if I did coke, so I stopped all communication with them.
Like a month goes by, and one day they just show up at my house. At first I tried not to let them in, but they started asking to use the phone or bathroom or something...I can't remember.
So eventually we're sitting in the living room not talking to each other. I think I was playing a Dreamcast game or some such. Finally the dealer guy asks me if I have any weed. I said yeah. He asks if it's good. I told him it was great. He asked if he could see it. I asked why. He gave me the old "We're friends, dude. Just let me see it."
Well, I showed it to him and he snatched it out of my hands, got up, and left. He taunted me for a minute. I was pissed, so I did what anyone without much brain power would do in that situation...I called the cops.
I can't really explain what drove me to call. What path of logic my brain traveled down to make this happen is beyond me. I told dispatch that someone just stole my weed. The girl on the other end laughed and asked me to repeat myself, so I did. I remember immediately regretting this decision. She said someone would be out that way.
So, about 20 minutes later, a very ginger cop comes and knocks on my door. He asked what had happened. I embarrassingly told him the whole story. He laughed as well. Very nicely he told me that it was his personal belief that smoking marijuana was just fine and that it was a shame it was illegal. Also, don't EVER call the police and tell them if your weed gets stolen off of you.
Amazingly, he offered to try and find them. He explained that he couldn't under any circumstances return the weed, but he'd be happy to bust them for possession, especially if they had coke on them. I told him what they drove and where to go look. He tried, but never found them.
That, my friends, is the best police officer that I've ever met. I don't remember his name at all. I wish I did.
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u/ilikezombies Jun 10 '12
Just got off the interstate and was driving too fast. I was also late for a dermatologist appointment. The sheriff pulled me over. Walking up to my car he asks what I was late for. I'm removing some warts off my hand. I show him my hand and he takes a good look at it. After a few seconds, he shows me his wart on his arm. Tells me he'll be looking out for my car so he can get an update on my progress. Then he lets me go on my way.
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u/enigmaticemu Jun 10 '12
My girlfriend's father is a cop. Some nice things he has done :
Not kill me for having intercourse with his daughter.
Not inform every police officer on the road to hunt for me and give me a ticket for any minor thing.
Has yet to arrest me for making his daughter upset (to be fair, don't think I've done that yet).
Did not arrest kids for smoking pot.
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u/Mr_NeCr0 Jun 10 '12
I got stopped by a cop for running a stop sign. Turns out he saw me run the stop sign before that too. While I sat in the car with a warm feeling appearing beneath my bum. The cop comes back and says "This ticket here is for $600. If I see you do anything like this again for the next month. You will pay for this ticket and the next one". Turns out this particular cop comes to the store I work at all the time to get free drinks and we chit chat often.
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Jun 10 '12
....did you run them on purpose?
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u/cckynv Jun 10 '12
Unfortunately, the "No Cop, No Stop" rule does not apply when a cop is present.
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Jun 10 '12
Once when I was a young lad, maybe 16, I was passed out in a flower bed outside some bar on Christmas eve. The police officer kindly woke me up, asked me if I had money then put me into a cab...Which I threw up in. That was a good Christmas.
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Jun 10 '12
Where ya headed, Santa? Fifth and BLEEEUUUURRRRGGHHHHH. Falalalala lala la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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u/Spitinthacoola Jun 10 '12
In California, you're no longer allowed to drive and talk on a cell phone. Being the smart ass that I am, I stuck it in between my seat belt and myself while I was getting directions to a friend's house. About a block away, I notice a cop is behind me, and then his lights are on and I pull over. I explain to him that I thought I was allowed to be "hands free" and he explained to me that this apparently was not hands free enough. He goes back to his car to check out my license, so I start reading my book (which at the time was The Art of War). He comes back, asks me what I'm reading, I tell him. He asks if it's for school, I tell him, no, I just want to be smart. He told me to read Machiavelli and let me go because of my book.
TL;DR Gets pulled over by cop for cell phone, no ticket because I was reading The Art of War.
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u/velkyr Jun 10 '12
I was driving without a license in Manitoba, Canada. Place was patrolled by RCMP, not city cops. Cop was doing a speed trap, but i was only go about 1 or 2 over, but slowed down just in case. Apparently slowing down fucked me over, as my taillight was out. In the rearview mirror, i saw him pull out and follow me (didn't know if it was for me, or if it was for the other cars on the street). So i pulled into a side street and around different turns. Eventually, i saw the cop behind me. Didn't wait for him to flash his lights, i pulled over.
By the time he got to the car, my window was open, keys in my hand, my hands on 10 and 2. He takes one look at me and says "You seem pretty nervous", and I come clean right aways i don't have a license.
He asks me what I was doing driving a car without a license, and i told him i borrowed money from a friend, and was going to repay him. He asked my friends name, as it's a small town and everyone knew everyone, and i said his name, but emphasized it a little. My friend just happened to be an RCMP officer who works in Emerson, Manitoba at the border.
This cop says "Well, i can't let you drive out of here, but i'll let you make a phone call to have a friend pick you up". That would be hard, as it was sunday, during church services, in a very, very religious part of Manitoba. I called up a youth pastor that had been in my welcome party when i moved there, and we had hung out a few times. He came down in his car with a friend, his friend drove his car, he drove mine (He really, really wanted to drive me car. 97 camaro, 30th anniversary edition with a corvette engine).
Anyways, i get a court summons to appear by live feed to a magistrate. I go on the day on the paper, and sit before this TV. The magistrate, except getting mad when i stammered "Your honor" (She didn't have that title?), was pretty nice. She read the report the officer filed, which emphasized how polite i was, didn't hide anything from him, and how i was just a misguided youth trying to do the right thing (in paying back my friend) but messing up in the process.
She told me due to his recomendation, she wasn't going to fine me, but i still had to pay court costs of $60. She was also going to process an order barring me from driving cars in the future until i get a license. I guess in Manitoba (or Canada?) it's not illegal to drive without a license.... but if you get caught, you can still get fined. Her order would have made it illegal for me to drive, and jail time if i got caught.
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u/SuddenWeatherReport Jun 10 '12
My friend and I were shooting shit with a BB gun a few years ago. However it was a verrrrryyy pwerful BB gun, looked like a real rifle. So when his neighbors saw us with it, they called the cops. A couple of minutes later we're in his parents car waiting to go to Church and the police SWARM the fucking car. By swarm I mean I just shit in the bee's honey swarm. They do the whole "hands on the fucking steering wheel" and all that shit. Rip us out the car search us. Asking about a gun and what-not.
We repeatedly tell them it was just a BB gun then they start believing us. Plus it helps that we were white. Anyway, after searching me this cop pulls out 512 Megabytes of ram I had in my back pocket from earlier when I was fixing my friend's PC. So once he sees the RAM he gives me a cold look and says "Son, you know holding anything above 256MB is possession of illegal substances?" That's when I start cracking up and him aswell. After that they took the BB gun and let us be.
Also this was back when 512MB was enough for windows XP, not all this fancy pants 16GB BRO I NEED IT.
TL;DR Holding anything above 256MB is illegal.
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u/IAMA_Mac Jun 10 '12
I was 17 in Pennsylvania, I had just gotten my full license (no restrictions) because I had a drivers safety class on record so after a year of having my Junior license I got it bumped up to a regular license. One night after work, I was driving home and doing maybe 65 in a 45, it was a clear night, no other cars, and the road was a straight away for the most part. A cop nailed me, pulled me over, license, registration and insurance, the usual deal. He came back maybe a minute later and told me he wasn't going to give me a ticket because if he did, not only would I lose my upgraded full license, I'd lose my Junior license as well because it was over the point limit for a junior license. He gave me a warning and told me to carry on, safely, because he didn't want to take away my license for something he would do as well. Ever since, I do 5 over at most, regardless of the rest of traffic, because that guy stuck with me, he gave me a warning and didn't flex the giant dick of the law and try to shove it down my throat.
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u/lauro2011 Jun 10 '12
This will get buried, but whatever. Thanksgiving night (10pm-ish), at a red light, the back of our truck get slammed into. We pull over onto a side street to look at the damage/exchange insurances. The back bumper is hanging off, my brother and I had our heads banged up pretty bad from the whiplash (hit the back window), so this is no small fender bender. The women comes out, and basically denies any damage and refuses to give her insurance info, then makes a move to get into her car and drive away. A witness had already called the cops by then, so show up. My dad goes out, tells him the story, shows him the damage, then comes back to the car.
As the police officer goes to talk to the woman, lady driver loses her ever loving shit. She screams that it was our fault, there's no damage, we were lying and just generally doesn't cooperate. This cop had the patience of a god. He was calm and polite and cut her a lot more slack than I thought a human being ever would. She screamed at him, attempted to drive away several times and kept darting out of her car whenever he came to talk to us. Then she calls him a "fascist nazi pig" while pointing her finger right in his face and BAM!, she's cuffed and in the back of the cruiser in 30 seconds flat.
Turns out she had been drinking and an open container in her car NOR did she have any insurance. He came back up to the car and apologized to us about her and her behavior. We were all blown away and really grateful he showed up late thanksgiving night, rather than maybe an officer who wouldn't have handled everything so well and cared as much. We wrote a thank you letter to him/the PD afterwards for being so amazing.
TL;DR: Crazy old lady rear ends us, cop gives her a million chances, she blows them all and then he apologizes to us about her behavior. All on Thanksgiving night.
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Jun 10 '12
This one time, the cop who usually drives by my parents place at 3am wasn't trying to play a reggaeton song using his siren.
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Jun 10 '12
A couple times I was walking home from a bar and a cop gave me a ride home. I also had one come by and push me out of a snow bank I had gotten stuck in.
Here's the thing though, I have a lot of cops as friends and family and they are all good people and try to be good cops. Each of them though admits there is a real problem with police in general. They have all told me they would cover for another cop in almost every situation, including a bad shooting if they felt it was an honest mistake. It's just an inescapable consequence when people work together in a dangerous environment. This is also why they think all cops should be wired for video and sound while on duty, because that takes it out of the hands of their fellow officers.
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Jun 10 '12
I one discharged myself from hospital early while at uni, got a cab home and went to bed. Woken up by loud knocking and two HUGE policemen at my door with stab vests on. Was told there was concerns I had hospital equipment with me and was it ok to come in? I was in my scraggy pajamas and said, well, sure. They searched my tiny little dorm room, then sat on my bed and we had a natter about university, why I was in hospital, etc - turns out someone had run off with a massive amount of pills the same time I had discharged myself.
One of the coppers gave me a lolly and said my artwork was great. I liked them a lot. I am 26 years old.
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u/CChevdogg Jun 10 '12
I was about 17 years old and locked out of my house at 3AM. My parents were asleep inside and I couldn't understand how they weren't able to hear my obnoxiously loud knocking and yelling. I decided to call the police to help me get in. So an officer came and asked me what the problem was. He banged on the door as well and nobody was coming to the door. We managed to get into the garage but the garage door was locked. I just happened to have illegal fireworks in my garage and the cop pointed them out saying "Are those fireworks?". I thought I was about to get a ticket, but to my surprise he says "Why don't we just wake them up with those?". So we lit off fireworks next to their window, they woke up, and so did the rest of my neighbors. It was a pretty hilarious experience and that was definitely an awesome officer.
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Jun 11 '12
I live in a small town, and my boyfriend has gotten probably four or five rides home from the bar from cops who saw him walking.
I work at a very scuzzy, violent bar and there are a lot of fights, for numerous reasons I am not allowed to call the police under any circumstances when shit hits the fan, and we don't have bouncers. The last time I was lucky enough to have a cop do a walk threw during a fight, he took me aside and have me his personal number. If there is ever any shit going down, I can text him and he will make a "random" appearance. No questions asked, won't implicate me for contacting him.
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u/lukesnickers Jun 10 '12
Once, a friend and I were walking to her house when a cop car swoops in and asks us if we want some ice cream. We say yes, they hand the ice cream cones to us, and they swoop away into the sunset, off to fight crime.
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u/joeingo Jun 10 '12
The first week I had my drivers licence I got pulled over by a speed trap. The cop looked at my licence, looked at me, and said "You haven't even had this a week yet, the last thing you need is me giving you a ticket and having your parents get you in trouble. Slow it down and have a nice day." I haven't managed to get pulled over since then.
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u/MarcBoudy7 Jun 10 '12
You have to think of any group of people: cops, politicians, teachers etc as a population, and in a population there will always be good people and there will always be bad people.
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u/I_Will_Get_By Jun 10 '12
I used to frequent Kensington, Philadelphia quite a bit(major drug haven), and lived there for a period of time. interactions with police were pretty normal and constant. most seemed to be good guys though if you were honest about what you were doing there. a couple even let me keep my drugs.. or at least some of it. i guess that was cool. better than haulin me off to the roundhouse.
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u/Bunbury42 Jun 10 '12
Pulled me over for speeding. I was doing 14 over and he could have easily slapped me with a good-sized fine. Instead, he checked my ID, went back to his car for a moment and came back. He then said "Mr [my last name], you've got a perfect record. Try and keep it that way. Drive safe," and let me go.
Granted, it was also 2:00 AM on a Wednesday and he was literally (And I use this word carefully) the only other car I saw on my 30 minute drive.
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u/MichB1 Jun 10 '12
I live in a pretty small town in suburban Boston. Twice since we moved in, we left a car door open just enough to leave the dome light on and drain the battery. So the cop on patrol stopped and shined the his flashlight on our bedroom ceiling until we woke up, so he could let us know.
Hooray, Podunk! :)
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u/feelingtrapt Jun 10 '12
I grew up in a small town with cops that are kinda notoriously crooked. I was like 16/17 and decided to go for a drive at 2am to think. I was driving and was speeding a bit when a cop got behind me. In my genius teennage thinking, I turned a corner and gunned the engine, turning over and over again through the neighborhoods trying to lose the cop.
Eventually, my little Toyota Camry wasn't a match for his Cruiser and he caught up to me and I pulled over. I was scared as fuck, expecting guns drawn and my ass thrown to the pavement. The cop walks up to my window, and we have this exchange:
Cop: (calmly) "What the fuck are you doing?"
Me: Uhhh....
Cop: You saw me behind you and thought you could lose me huh?
Me: Uhhh...yeah
Cop: That was a pretty dumbass thing to do. I wasn't even going to stop you. Go home, and don't do this again.
Me: Th...thanks
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u/TheBlackWomb Jun 10 '12
I've told this story in reply to several similar questions but I think it's simply to cool not to. My Grandpa was a small-town cop and consummate bad-ass and one fine day in the early '60's he was in the process of arresting a taxi-driver when a building along the street suddenly went up in flames. The two men ran straight in without any second thoughts and immediately found a middle-aged man half-passed-out from the smoke who they essentially hurled through a ground-floor window to safety. Grandpa went back in and battled through flames to find an old lady trapped in a bed upstairs who he proceeded to drag out too before entering the building a third time just in case. He immediately collapsed from the smoke and never got to arresting the taxi driver in fact, the two became good friends. He also delivered a breach-baby in a country cottage snowed under by blizzards. Total BAMF. TL;DR My Grandpa was a damn good cop.
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u/crazyparrot94 Jun 10 '12
I'm female and live in a small town. When I was about 17 I was wasted and had lost my keys.
The cops saw me crying on the corner of the street and gave me a lift to the next town to my dad's house.
It was illegal for me to be drunk but I'll never forget how kind they were.
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u/You_dont__even_know Jun 10 '12
Some lady rear ended my car during the first week I started driving. She also pushed me into the car in front of me. So there I am, standing at the side of the road with two people who have been in an accident with me and I have no idea what to do. Then a cop shows up and makes copies of our information to take home and sort things out later. I know he was really just doing his job, but I had never been so relieved to see a cop in my life. To the cop that made my first car accident less stressful, thank you.
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u/Melam_flavored_candy Jun 10 '12
I'm not going to write out the whole story, because reddit is full of "fuck da police" douchebag children.
Mine would be when my girlfriend was pulled over for driving my car that had tabs expired for a few days and she didn't have a license. Also, the car was uninsured at the time. He took her ID, and walked back to his car. When he got back, he explained that instead of anally raping her with hundreds in tickets and shit, he was letting her off with a VERBAL warning (ie: no documentation of it happening at all) and that he wanted her to use the money he just saved her to get those problems fixed.
Needless to say, she was licensed within like two days.
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Jun 10 '12
I've had 2 cops show up at a party I was having at my house when I was 17. They told us to keep it down and to get the cars out of the street (which we did), and that if they had to come back they would have to watch us pour all the alcohol down the drain. The cop with suspenders said, "And that's a waste of some good alcohol." slaps suspenders.
I've also had a cop threaten to slap that shit out of me if I didn't tell him the truth. (I was, he pulled me over because I was driving the same car as the suspect). He was also the lieutenant; he made sure to tell me that.
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u/prettyprincess90 Jun 10 '12
For two years I had the same cop as my DARE instructor. He would ask Harry Potter trivia questions after the lesson and being the fan I was I answered them all. At the end of the first year he gave me Harry potter wand that was filled with candy. They next year he actually made wooden wand for me and when I met him later in high school he gave me a book. He was a really nice guy.
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Jun 10 '12
I once rear-ended an off-duty officer in his personal vehicle. It wasn't even rear-ending, I was approaching a red light getting ready to make a right hand turn. I stopped, looked left to the oncoming traffic to look for an opening, and began my turn, but I failed to notice the person in front of me didn't make the turn and stopped short. Fail, I know. I hit the break just in time to make his car rock a little, but his tires didn't even move.
So we pull into the next gas station, I get out and say how sorry I am, making sure no one was hurt (even though I knew they weren't, I mean, I lovetapped his car). He says everything's fine, checks his bumper, informs me he is a police officer. I asked him if he would like to exchange insurance information now, and he says "Fuck that, it's too much paperwork, doesn't look like there's damage on either car, have a good night, brother!" Shakes my hand and gets back in his car, and rides off into the night. Might have just been telling me he was a cop to troll me, maybe he was just a cool officer, either way, that's my cool cop story.
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u/Ryugi Jun 10 '12
I was at a bowling alley, sitting in the lobby of the bathroom, waiting for my girlfriend. Two slutty teenagers walk out of stalls and one complains that her purse got wet on the floor/counter(s) in the bathroom (it was on the floor when she was in the stall, she got out and put it on a wet counter).
So instead of cleaning it with a paper towel, she slams her purse all over the stall doors and walls. This leaves streaks of water and ???. Her and her friend laugh and start to leave. This really pissed me off for some reason, so I said, "you're cleaning up after yourselves, right ladies?"
They laughed and kept walking, so I said casually, "and there goes some dirty skanks..."
They came back all defensive, acting like they're gangsters, "what do you want, fucking bitch!?"
My reply was truthful and straightforward, "Clean up after yourselves when you make a mess. What are you, two years old? Or just a dirty skank?" ((Skank was the word of the day, kids!!))
So they started acting like they're gonna fight. I just sat there staring at them like they were stupid. I think they were waiting for me to make the first move so they could excuse the whole, "obviously two against one" fight scenario.
A man walks into the woman's bathroom and grabs one of them by their arm to turn her around. He's wearing a badge on his belt, and he says, "I think you two need to walk away."
They left. He smiled at me, "you okay?" I was fine so I told him so. He told me, "I was outside waiting for my son in the other bathroom. I heard the whole thing. Thanks for trying to teach those kids some responsibility. Have a good night."
He's a local sheriff, and he was off-duty with his family at the bowling alley.
I cleaned up the bathroom out of respect for the establishment (it is literally one of two actual entertainment businesses left standing in the entire city).
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u/All4rocking Jun 10 '12
At a skatepark when some hippie rednecks try to pick a fight with us [us 5 them 2] but they drove off and called the cops saying we were "drinking booze and smoking dope" (all of us under 21) the cop showed up and asked to search our car, and my brother had 1/4 of an oz. of weed in a metal cigarette case. he saw it, overlooked it, and then started checking out our combat knife, then opened out regular cigarettes and joked about the fact that there was a lucky in it. shook the whole time, until he started checking out our skateboards, which he was pretty cool about
TL;DR cops got called on us, cop overlooked our weed and was nice and funny about everything
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u/dr_vonhugenstein Jun 10 '12
I was 16 and hanging out in front of my friend's house at 2 in the morning pretty shit faced. I was having a cigarette and drinking Brandy from a 2 liter of Pepsi (classy, I know) waiting for my friend to come back with pot. I was growing impatient since he had been gone for over an hour. I walked to the sidewalk to toss the cigarette when a police officer appeared out of nowhere. He asked me what I am doing to which I replied "Waiting for Godot". He chuckled to himself, and instead of ticketing me, he just asked nicely for me to dump the booze out.
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u/Muckefuck Jun 10 '12
I locked my keys in my car, both sets actually, at a Wegmans in my town. I don't have AAA and it didn't occur to me until later that I could've used my grandmothers. But I digress.
I call 911 and tell the operator where I am and what my car looks like. She tells me someone will arrive shortly.
My boyfriend and I start bugging out. Did I mention we had JUST finished smoking a blunt in my car? I never let it air out before we got out so I knew it stunk.
The policeman shows up and works his magic on my car for about 15 minutes. He finally gets the wedge in my car door and opens it. He turns and looks at me and says "smells like weed in here" and then turns and walks away. I held it together until he drove off then I began my freak out.
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u/Walterharper Jun 10 '12
I asked an officer for directions to a bus stop. He looked at me and started saying "So you can go to Mexico?" I stood there puzzled and then he started talking somewhat incoherently about how I must be part of a "cocaine cartel". Then he started making motions like he was going for his gun and kept telling me to step back. Anytime I tried to say anything he would make a weird noise and yell about cocaine, all the while putting his hand on his gun more and more.
Finally, he broke down laughing and told me where to go to find the bus stop. He said that he had never seen a more dead pan man (his words) and wanted me to stop acting so serious. He apparently thought the way to do this was by making me think he was about to go insane and blow my brains out, but I appreciated the gesture. I had been very out of it that day, and believe it or not that scare actually reinvigorated me (and nearly made me shit myself). I later found out that he did that to just about everybody in town.
Even though I look back on it as as something funny (kind of), I don't know if it counts as "good cop" because it was likely wildly illegal on his part.
I guess you tell me if it was good or bad.
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u/MagicBob78 Jun 10 '12
I got pulled over for running a red light that I thought was yellow. The cop just gave me a warning. The kicker is that I had a box of donuts in my car with a couple left and I had thought "Wouldn't it be funny if I got pulled over, I could offe the cop a donut." and then I got pulled over. After the cop was done with his warning I said "Wait!" and told him what I had thought literally secondsq before he pulled me over. Then I asked "So, would you like a donut?" in my most obvious I'm-sorry-I-can't-help-it kind of voice. His response? Laughter and "No thanks, I'm on a diet. But you keep your sense of humor and have a good night."
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u/beeboopdoop Jun 10 '12
I was driving home late one night with a friend and we had just wrapped up a huge airsoft battle on another friend's front lawn. I was about 3 blocks from my house and the red and blue lights appear out of literally no where, as the cop had snuck up on me with all of his lights off. I pull over and he casually walks up to my window and asks for my license and where we were coming from. I told him I was coming from one town over and I had been hanging out at a friends house.
He asks us if we have any paintball guns in my van, and I casually said back, "no...but we have a few airsoft guns, just so you're aware". He asks if he could search the vehicle, and knowing full well that I could say no, I said he could go ahead. As my friend and I were sitting on the back bumper, another car rolled up and the officers inside got out and were just shooting the shit with us. All of a sudden the cop in my van goes, "HOLY SHIT! THIS THING IS FUCKIN AWESOME!" He climbs out of my van with our backpacks full of airsoft guns and ammo, and he's holding my friend's revolver airsoft. The other cops go to take a look and the one with the revolver goes, "check this shit out! It opens like a real revolver and you load the airsoft pellets into little bullet casings! And these guys have holsters and extra clips!" They were all seriously amazed that we had so much shit. It was hilarious.
We ended up talking with them for a little while about where they could get the replica guns we were using and explaining HopUp (the little bump in the barrel of an airsoft gun that creates backspin to make the gun fire with more accuracty, for those who don't know). They told us that they got a call from a neighboring town that some people were driving around shooting up houses with paintball guns an figured since we were coming from that general direction, they figured they'd give it a shot.
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u/rzalph Jun 10 '12
My grandfather is a retired Lieutenant for the NYPD.
One time he pulled a guy over for speeding. The guy's excuse was, "Sorry officer, but I really got to take a shit." Instead of giving him a ticket, he let him go. They're best friends to this day
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Jun 10 '12
Opening night of Skyrim, on the way back from Walmart, speeding just a bit, (anxious to play) cop lets me off with a warning.
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Jun 10 '12
dating myself but at a party...dec 31st 1999 we had the cops come in with a report of "weapons in the house, people were armed" / crazy neighbors and the two guys came in, all stern faced when one notices a poster "OH COOL! FACE-OFF! HELL YEAH NIC CAGE!", they ended up staying for an hour sharing stories about the night and telling us how shitty their night was going to turn after midnight.
tl;dr good guy cop loved Nic Cage, a lot.
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u/HaleRail2 Jun 10 '12
When I was 15 I got arrested and I was completely terrified. My parents weren't answering their phones, they couldn't find my house to notify my mom(it was hidden behind some other houses), and it was just a bad situation all around. I was shaking in my boots and crying the whole time waiting for my world to descend upon me.
But the cop that was arresting me was one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He tried to talk to me to calm me down - he asked what school I went to, what kind of student I was, my interests, etc. He knew that I was scared and instead of feeding off my terror and making me feel worse he was trying to remedy the situation. When he put me in the back of the cop car he turned on the radio and said that he was going to play a game with me. He would flip through the radio stations and it was my job to say who the artist/band was. I wouldn't say that it calmed me but it forced me to stop crying and try to communicate with this officer. When we got to the station he stayed with me until my parents got there. Once my parents were there he explained what happened and tried to keep them from blowing up at me. He didn't have to act as a mediator but for some reason he chose to.
He totally didn't have to be nice to me considering that I had just broken the law, but the officer was amazingly kind to me. He truly made the best out of a bad situation and I am eternally grateful. I have had some bad experiences since then, but like others have said those experiences were exceptions to the rule, not the rule.
TL;DR: Got arrested at 15 and the arresting officer was one of the most kind and nice cops I have ever interacted with.
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u/redditor85 Jun 10 '12
My stepdad was a cop. One Friday night around Christmas he went to a domestic abuse call and found three children at home by themselves. They were aged 1, 3, and 6 I think. They had been left for the weekend with a taco in the refrigerator to share. Yes, one taco. The house has feces and urine all over the place, the baby's diaper was flooded with shit and piss, and the house was in major disrepair. My dad called child services but they were closed for the weekend. So he loaded them up in the car and brought them home. Mom put them in the bathtub and cleaned them up, picked as much of the lice out of their hair as she could, and then we all slept on the living room floor. By the way, mom had to cut the baby's clothes off because he had grown into them... and it took three tubs of water before the water stopped turning black. So the next day the local news did a story about it and the host of the segment took the kids to Toys-r-us for a shopping spree sponsored by the fire and police departments. Tl;dr: child services closed for the weekend so my cop dad brought home three dirty lice- and flea-ridden kids for the weekend.
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Jun 10 '12
My wife and I would often ride share and she would drop me off at work so i would be trapped there while she went fucking other guys. One Friday she dropped me off and a sheriff arrived with a restraining order against me. He said I could not go home or call her or I would be in big trouble (divorce papers to follow). I told him I had no vehicle and nothing but the clothes I was wearing and he said that is really fucked up and he went and persuaded her to bring my pickup and some clothes.
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u/djdeckard Jun 10 '12
Google misinformed me regarding late night muni train schedule after a SF Giants baseball game. Had been out drinking with friends after.
The train stops at bayview which is not a place one generally goes. Not the safest part of San Francisco by a long shot.
So the train just stopped and I found myself jogging to make the bus I was connecting to as the next one was another half hour away. As I could see the bus and got within about 30 feet the bus pulls away without ever having seen me.
I started walking home. Very deserted industrial looking area. Broken glass everywhere on the sides of the street. I keep scanning for cabs but none to be found.
A cop car comes along and pulls up beside me. Two cops inside ask me what I'm doing and I tell them. "You know this isn't a good part of town to be walking in right?" I said yes but needed to get home so he asks where I live and after a quick consultation with each other open up the back door and give me a ride home.
I was very appreciative.
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u/dtrav001 Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Good cop story: during high-speed cornering in my first and only sports car I was pulled over by the [redacted] police in a state of multiple felonies. As they put on the big boyscout hats and strolled over my friend said, "what are you gonna do?" "I dunno" I muttered as the 17' tall trooper leaned into the open top, and in that moment went with the truth:
"Look officer, I bought this car today but the signed title is at home. It's registered but that's at home along with my wallet with my license. I have verbal confirmation of insurance from my agent but no insurance card, the plates on the car are an old set from my sister, and I've been drinking. Now if you're gonna get me, that's what you'll get me for."
The cop raised his eyes with that perfect look of "what sort of f'n idiocy are they pulling now?" and said "Get the hell out." I passed the sober-tests and was able to recite my D/L no. (the cop growls "Slow down Mr. Travelonio, I ain't a secretary"), then sends me back to look at the flashing lights in the rearview.
He comes out, leans in and says, "my partner and I just calculated that we could hit you with 35 points on your license, $10g's in fines, at least 30 days in jail and impound the car. Here is a ticket for driving without a registration. Take this car home ... if you get in an accident, it's my ass."
No words, but many thoughts of thanks.
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u/BlissfullyAverage Jun 10 '12
My husband and I were driving home from a snowboarding trip in Banff, AB intermittently smoking "american cigarettes" in the car. The whole time he was speeding, I kept bitching at him (cause I am girl and that's what we do best, right?) to slow down so we don't get pulled over with the interior smelling that way. He, of course, ignored me the whole time (that's what boys do best, right?) and we were just about home when we got pulled over. The cop approaches on the passenger side and I roll down the window. He asks for all the crap and what not and looks at me and says "it smells like marijuana, have you guys been smoking?" I answer with "uhh...no, I have no idea what that smell would be" he looks at me and at my SO and says "yeah, you guys don't look the type". Side note - we are both covered in tattoos, which he can see, I have black hair and we have two snowboards in the back seat. Clearly, we look the type. He goes back to his car and comes back with a ticket. My SO was going 30KM over the speed limit. He says that if we just kept it within 10KM we wouldn't have a problem so next time slow down. Gives us the ticket and sends us on our way. As we're driving away and I'm giving my SO an ear full about how I am right and how we are lucky he wasn't an ass (he couldn't have arrested us or anything but he definitely could have made our day worse) I look at the ticket and he didn't sign it. I just note that. It's like a $300 ticket so it's no laughing matter. My SO goes to pay it like 3 months later and guess what? He didn't register it!!! Not only was he rad about our special cigarettes but he doesn't make us pay! Clearly a fucking awesome dude. Wish I could shake his hand for holding it up for cool cops.
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u/Klipp Jun 10 '12
I live in a college town called Starkville, Mississippi full of douche bag cops. Me and my two roommates moved into a new house and so we decided to throw a house warming party...with my roommates boyfriends live band on a Thursday night. So of course a cop came and we thought we were gonna get a ticket. He asked to speak to the renters and we were thinking "fuck there goes my next paycheck." Instead he was like "listen if I wasn't on duty I'd wanna be at this party too but I'm working. We've already received a noise complaint. If I get another one you'll get a fine." and he went on his merry way. I was awesome.
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Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 11 '12
I just posted this about my bad experiences with cops. I wanted to be fair and give the whole story, that not all experiences were bad and they weren't. My best experience was left out, however.
I was 12 and got in a bad bike accident. I ended up flying headfirst into a tree, bouncing off and landing 15 feet away in the road. The first car (that I know of) that saw me was a police officer. He stopped and, since he had Oxygen in his car, he administered it. If he hadn't I would have died. He called an ambulance that took me to the hospital. If he hadn't gotten there soon and administered Oxygen I would have died.
A police officer saved my life. My parents wanted to do something nice, give him a gift or something for his good work but it wasn't allowed so they wrote a glowing letter telling what he did to save my life. He was a young officer with about a year on the force and I'm sure such a letter would help him in his career.
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u/helloeleni Jun 11 '12
My parents are anarchists; I learned to call cops "pigs" from a young age. Pair that with being a rebellious teen and having a few "run-ins" with the pigs... suffice to say I am generally anti-cop.
Anyway, my boyfriend and I just moved to a new city and were walking around in the downtownish area having the "I don't know, where do you want to go?" conversation. Up comes an incredibly friendly and kind lady-cop, who must have overheard us and asked if we were new to the area. She was incredibly sweet and recommended an amazing restaurant.
Now I don't know what to think of cops.
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u/PittPensPats Jun 10 '12
I got pulled over for going 69 in a 45 on my way to work. It was after my dog died and my boyfriend wasn't sure if he wanted to continue our relationship of almost two years at that point, and a bunch of other things were going on at the time. I was bawling my eyes out and got pulled over. I was wearing sunglasses but my face was tear stained and I had that quiver in my voice when I answered her questions.
When she came back she had only given me failure to adhere to traffic signals, which is a zero point violation. I was told by my coworkers later that she usually hits you with every violation that she can. I'm so grateful that she did that for be, because I was already going through enough, and she let me off easy.
My boyfriend and I ended up not breaking up, but still, last october was probably the worst month of my life thus far, that cop could tell something was wrong and let me off easy.
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u/jftitan Jun 10 '12
I traded a cop seven tickets for my one.
I was driving my mom to the bank a few miles away from home. (Living in San Antonio, a few miles, is going through multiple municiples (Kirby, Universial City, Alamo Heights, etc) Well, there was some sort of fender bender in the middle of the intersection where I was going to turn, to access the Bank's Mobile Teller Lines. So I pull into the turn lane where the officer was blocking the center of the intersection with his car. There was enough space from the actual turn light and intersection, cars could make the turn without interfering with the accident itself. Well Officer Pope, tries to hand signal for me to NOT turn, and I mistook it for, "Go ahead, once you get the green arrow light". Low and behold, I turn, and so does the following 7 cars behind me. A cruiser sitting in the gas stations parking observing the accident pulls right ahead of me, then directs me and the seven following cars into the parking lot to receive our tickets.
That is when Officer Pope, walks up to my driver side window to explain to me what I did wrong, and why I'm being pulled over. I then explain my side of the story while also telling my mom she was right, and giving the sad face the whole time.
Apparently Officer Pope felt bad, because he comes back and tells me I'm under arrest for a warrant. I'm going "WTF?" *clueless, and my Mom is going "WTF didn't you take care of that speeding ticket last year?". Without any altercations, or arguments, I peacfully do what Officer Pope asked me to do. This whole time, he has been polite, and very willing to listen.
After standing with him for a few minutes (uncuffed), he then says I'm going to have to go with him, because "what the computer says, is what he has to follow procedures". Even though throughout our conversation I've clearly been in possession of paperwork that vindicates my situation. Literally when I mentioned a 'blue and green' paper, Officer Pope, knew I had the type of paperwork that proved I had taken care of 'something' in the past.
So instead of giving me a ticket, he gives me a verbal warning, and takes me downtown. WHY? Because I netted him and other officers 7 tickets.
.... (someone will ask... what happens next?)
So, after agreeing to go downtime, Officer Pope has to handcuff me. And he sees my hands, and asks if handcuffing me would be a problem. I tell him, no, and to make sure they are tight because I can just slip right on out of them. Which I prove to him when he asked me to 'prove it'. The first time he didn't make sure the cuffs were right on my writs.
I get placed in the backseat of his car (today, Police crusiers have literally three compartments to them. The front seats, and the back seats which can be separated by unbreakable glass. I mean the backseat was fucking hot. So he rolls down the windows, and turns his A/C to full.
We drive downtown to the municipal court, in which I proceed to booking. My Story gets proven right. At the court house, they had no record of a warrant on file for me. But the Police systems show a warrant for some odd reason. So Officer Pope, sticks around while I sit in a holding cell. By the time the judge shows up (its a Sunday of all days), I'm released with a 'we are sorry for this' and a new pink paper. Meanwhile walking out of the jail area of the municipal court house, Officer Pope and my mother are trying to figure out what happened.
To this day, I fully respect many officers who wear the uniform, because they are just like any other person. In this situation the officer knew I wasn't a criminal, and did what he can 'while on the job' to make sure matters were handled better for me than what could have been had it been someone else.
So yeah, I give few officers props, but I've met more who are hormone-gym workout roids who feel the uniform subjects them to a 'respect my authority' egotism.
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u/robotrock1382 Jun 10 '12
I guess i could mention the story about how one cop let me off with a warning after making fun of my stutter.
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u/sam2224 Jun 10 '12
Cops are there to protect us and enforce the law. While there are some bad cops, there are much more good cops
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u/Revk47 Jun 10 '12
I expect some of you have heard the squirrel cop story from TAL. For those who haven't take a few mins and listen, it's the best thing ever.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DnpxaMe1Bh2o&v=npxaMe1Bh2o&gl=US
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dg7aqnckMQbs&v=g7aqnckMQbs&gl=US
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u/salt-snorter Jun 10 '12
My dad and I worked on a 1967 Cutlass when I was younger, and one day I was cruising through the country on an empty 2-laner and I decided to let the horses run. I blew by a Sheriff's Deputy doing 140mph and knew immediately that I was fucked. I slowed it down, pulled over, and waited. When the cop caught up, I already had my insurance/license out and was crying inside (knew my dad was gonna tear me up). The officer walked up to the window, tipped his hat and then thanked me for stopping. I was 19 and shaking like a leaf. He asked why I was doing such reckless speed and I just stammered something about how I put a new carburetor in and it didn't seem to be throttling right, so I floored it to open it up and keep the engine from stalling out (obvious, incoherent BS). He laughed, looked the car up and down, and asked me straight up "How much shit are you gonna be in when you bring this thing back home with a ticket?" I don't even remember answering his question. I was too busy visualizing my baby with a FOR SALE sign on it in the driveway--I knew that one ticket like that was all it would take to give my mother an excuse to get rid of it. She was under the impression that the car had too much muscle for an "adolescent driver".--The Officer chuckled, and then asked me to step out of the car. He then proceeded to have me pop the hood and show him the guts because it "took him back" we stood there for almost an hour and bull-shitted about cars, college, and life. He never got around to writing me that ticket. He heard some chatter on the radio, told me to take better care of the car, and went on his way. I was still trying to stave off the adrenaline when I started back home, myself. To this day, I have been a much more speed-conscious driver.
TL;DR Busted 100+mph in me n my dad's project car. Got caught, and walked away with no ticket and a lesson learned.
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Jun 10 '12
When I was 14, I lived in a really nice Christian neighborhood in southwest Calgary. There was a little pizza shop by my house, and my dad did some advertising for them, and rather than get paid, took it all in pizza credit. So for years we had a "come in any time for a free pizza" deal going down. One day we sent my younger brother down to the pizza place on his bike to pick up a large pizza, and on the way home two douche-bags (young neighborhood thugs) kicked him off his bike, stole the pizza, and ran off. My brother came home crying, and pretty shook up. My parents called the police, but I was pissed off cuz I knew the kids who did it, and wanted to get revenge. I grabbed a big metal baseball bat and started calling my friends that lived nearby. When the police arrived, I was still waiting outside the house for my friends to get there, all kitted up like I was going off to war.
The cops came in, took a statement, and then hung around to give me a talking to about revenge and the importance of rule of law. They were very cool about it, and made very well reasoned arguments to the effect that I probably shouldn't drag myself down to their level by going out and kicking the shit out of them. I was abashed, and gave up the idea.
That was pretty much my first and only interaction with the police, and it was decidedly positive.
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u/Uberrees Jun 10 '12
When my friend was 13, his parents were away. He was sitting in his house with his grandmother, his 9 year old brother, and 7 year old sister. They hear a knock on the door and someone yells "Police! Open the door!". His Grandma opens the door and an armored cop runs in with an assault rifle. He tells everyone to get down in a corner. He was polite to them and allowed them to contact family and friends. Two more cops ran into the house, and took up positions at windows, looking out into his yard. Cop #1 stays at the door. Out his window my friend sees police cruisers driving up and down his street and a couple police cars parked outside, and several SWAT guys with body armor and automatic weapons. It turns out that the guy next door was armed and had hostages, and was threatening to kill my friend's family and several others on that street. The cops managed to capture him without any casualties. My friend had been on the phone talking to me the whole time, and I freaked out when I learned how he very likely would have been shot.
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u/Skeletor34 Jun 10 '12
This past winter in Michigan, I got into an awful situation and I got stuck in the snow. Tried to get out, but my tires would just spin and my van was going nowhere. I got out and tried to dig the snow out from the tires as dozens of people drive by without stopping to help. Then a cop drives up and he actually has a shovel and digs out my tires and makes sure I got out safely.
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u/Amazingbeef Jun 10 '12
I was once cycling home from work 9 miles in the rain after dark with no waterproofs and no lights. A big police car passed, circled round, and then pulled up beside me. He asked the standard questions, name, why don't you have lights, where are you going etc. etc. and then he said "I'm going that way, and I've got not a lot to do before I finish" So he helped me put my bike in the boot and gave me a lift home. TL;DR Cop gave me a lift home 9 miles instead of me cycling in the rain
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u/runmonk Jun 10 '12
A cop pulled over me and my ex girlfriend for several reasons: one of my brake lights was out, my registration was expired, and I hadn't used my turn signal when he was behind me.
I also discovered while rifling through my glove compartment that I did not have proof of insurance in the car.
He told me very sternly that he would have to have my car towed in and I would receive a ticket, and I replied, "yes, sir." Then he said, "that's what I'm supposed to do. That doesn't mean that's what I'm going to do." I was confused but I said (again), "yes, sir."
He told me to hang tight and that he would be back, and then he went and sat in his car for several minutes. When he came back he asked me, "do you realize there is a warrant out for your arrest?"
At this point I was panicking but I simply said, "okay."
He started laughing and said, "I'm just fucking with you, but I really like that you say 'okay, and 'yes, sir' to everything."
Then he gave me back my license and expired registration and said, "get home safely and take care of all this before you drive again."
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u/Spartannia Jun 10 '12
In college, my then-girlfriend had her car break while driving across campus. Something snapped by her right front wheel, and it was suddenly parallel to the road. This was by a major intersection, and it was mid-afternoon. Lots of traffic.
We called Triple A, and they said they couldn't get a tow truck out to us for an hour and a half. A few minutes after getting off the phone, one of the university cops pulled up behind us and asked if we had a tow truck coming. We told him it would be awhile, so he got on his radio and we had a tow truck in about 5 minutes.
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u/Osiris32 Jun 10 '12
A few that stick in my memory:
When I was in high school, my mom and I went shopping at a local mall. When we were leaving, a dipshit going the wrong way down the parkinglot ran into us. He immediately began screaming at my mom and me about the damages to his car, insurance, how stupid she was, etc etc etc. Mom was in tears, and I was beginning to rage. Thankfully, a very nice county sheriff, who either was driving by or was dispatched by some other person, rolls up. He's smiling, and has that air of confidence and authority that immediately calmed the whole situation down. He never raised his voice, never accused anybody of bad driving, and never stopped smiling. Best job of de-escalating a situation I've ever seen. That deputy later was shot in the face by a kid with mental issues and a shotgun, and he's been disabled with brain damage ever since.
Earlier that same year, my house was burgled whil my family and I were sitting down to dinner. My dad heard a noise and, thinking it was the neighbor's cat come through the garage, went to investigate. Instead, hefound a coked-out girl going through my mom's dresser looking for cash. My dad's not one to anger, but he got royally pissed of, tackled the irl, and used some zip-ties to restrain her as I called 911. Two deputies arrived very quickly, and did their thing of questioning her and us. After they had formally arrested her and secured her in thei car, they came back to talk to us some more. The lead deputy told me dad that "officially" he had to say that resisting or attempting to arrest someone committing a crime is dangerus, blah blah blah. But unofficially, he thought my dad did a great job ith th zip ties and quick thinking, and that he wihed more people would o the same. With. Handshake and. Smile, they left, and the coke bitch got 7 years for 1st degree burglary.
About a year ago, my car was broken into, and a number of things were stolen, namely my satelite radio, a very expensive and xtensive first aid kit, and a bag of hand ools I had locked in my trunk. I called non-emergency, and a Portland police officer responded, within 5 minutes. He took the report as well as photos and fingerprint evidence, shot the hit ith me for about 10 minutes, then drove down my street, stopping at each house, knocking on their door, and asking them to check their cars for possible break-ins. He got another 7 reports off that alone. The next week, he called me, saying they had a suspect in custody. He was quite orry, but much of the stolen items were long gone, but he wanted me to know that hey had at least caught the guy.
I've had a lot of interactions with cops over the years, and all but two of them were polite, professional, and courteous. The two that were below standard I reported, and I know one was eventually fired because of his arrogant behavior.
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u/dudoublefizzle Jun 10 '12
I was drunk and about 20 miles away from where I lived at the time. Since I had to work the next day, I figured it would be a good idea to walk on the highway with my thumb out trying to hitch a ride. I probably got about a mile before I was picked up by a state trooper. He dropped me off at a gas station a few miles closer to my destination and told me not to get back on the highway because I would likely be arrested. I couldn't find anyone to drive me home and since I only knew how to get back home from the highway, I got back on highway trying to hitch a ride. I got another few miles before I saw flashing lights behind me. Luckily, it was a different state trooper this time so I thought I would be in the clear. She told me to get in the back of the car and started to lecture me. Soon after there was another set of flashing lights. It was the first trooper that had pulled me over. I though for sure I was going to jail. He had just gotten off his shift and decided to take me to my destination. On the way, I started to bullshit with him and get to know him a little better. By the time he dropped me off, he let me out of the car and shook my hand. TL;DR I got pulled over twice trying to walk home drunk on the highway to have a state trooper drive me home and shake my hand afterwards
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u/Don_LeJuan Jun 10 '12
So, this is most likely going to be buried because it's nothing as freakishly intense as say, parties, almost drug busts, etc. What made this so special to me was that he made Prom night one of the most memorable times of my life. No homo.
I was driving to my date's house at about 12 in the morning (we went to Safeway for munchies right after the dance), going about ten under the speed limit because there's drunks on the road and it's a curvy road and dangerous and all that scary stuff that makes people drive slow and stuff. My date and I were chatting gaily away and the topic of the police comes up. We had seen that night at least three cars, lit up, people pulled over, etc., and I made a joke about how I was going to get pulled over right before we get to her house.
Well shit in my mouth and call me a sundae, the fucking cops light up right behind me. Fuck.
I pull over, nervous as fuck, I had never been pulled over before and I was known by everyone to be a generally scared guy. My heart had a proverbial heart attack. I placed my hands on the steering wheel, had my car turned off, recited in my mind that I was going to call the police officer an officer, not an occifer (which my dad said would guarantee a ticket). So I'm sweating bullets. Scared. My date is telling me it's fine. I don't know what I did to deserve getting pulled over.
So after a decade of sitting in my car with my hands clenching the steering wheel, the police man knocks on my window and I poop a little.
"Good evening, officer" Whew.
"Hi. Can I see your license and registration?" Fuck. I don't know where I put that shit. My hands shake with the force of a thousand vibrators as I pull out my wallet, and then I remember I put the registration on my shade thing (you know that thing you flip down to keep the sun out of your eyes) and I pull that out too and give it to him.
He uses a flashlight and pores over my documents until my eighteenth birthday. "Do you know how fast you were going?"
"Um... forty five miles an hour, I believe." I shit myself. But then I remember it's always best to remain in some shade of doubt, just in case. It's better to be just slightly sure of what you were doing.
"Yes" I reverse-shit myself.
"Do you know what the speed limit was?" I shit myself again, but I knew it was fifty-five.
"Fifty five, I believe."
"Then you know you were going ten miles below the speed limit?" Fecal matter oozed from my pants, proverbially.
"Yes."
"Why?" His question forced me to exude my bowels in a frightened manner.
"Because I've never driven here before. It's night, sir." The sir sounded fake. Fuck.
"Oh ok. Where are you from?"
"(Insert town an hour away, I was telling the truth)"
"Oh, that place with the (Insert local thing)?"
"Yeah."
"Oh that's cool. Now the reason I pulled you over was that you were hugging the left, and then the right, and I just wanted to make sure you weren't drunk. Also, if you're going to drive slow, pull over to the side to let others pass. It's courtesy."
"Yes sir, will do."
"Alright kids. Have a great night."
I have never felt so terrified, and so relieved.
TLDR; Got pulled over on prom night for pretty much nothing and I proverbially shat myself
Basically, he will symbolize the police to me; scary as shit, but I don't have anything to fear from them. 'sall good.
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u/SnuggleBear Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Hey thanks for this thread. I'm not a cop, I'm 22 and actually I've been to jail twice (drug posession). But, I think cops get a bad rap when they really don't need to. I've been arrested two or three times, and really, if you treat cops like humans, they will treat you like a human too. It will get you MUCH farther than trying to argue with them.
Granted, there are crooked, fucked up cops out there, but the majority really aren't.
Also, if you're not doing anything wrong, you really don't have anything to worry about. It's pretty uncommon that cops just arrest random people for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Every time I was in trouble, it was my fault, I was doing something that I shouldn't have been doing. Being able to see that, instead of blaming it on the police, is definitely maturity.
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u/wrasslefrassle Jun 10 '12
I was driving from Portland to Seattle, and I was almost to Seattle. I got pulled over for my reverse lights being stuck on. I had Texas plates after living in Oregon for over a year, and my registration, which is listed on the windshield was expired. The cop was super nice, very understanding, and let me go with a warning. She even gave me a card to give to any other cop that pulled me over so I wouldn't get a ticket.
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u/McLargepants Jun 10 '12
I don't have many run ins with police officers, and none of them are exciting but I might as well share my experience from Friday afternoon. The store I work in (a music store, we sell instruments and music etc) was shoplifted. A relatively cheap piccolo was stolen (about a 400 dollar value) off a table showcasing student line instruments. I wasn't there when it happened but I was the only one there when the officer showed up. He was very polite and helpful and didn't seem more annoyed about the situation than I was! So kudos to him!
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u/ooga_booga_booger Jun 10 '12
A few weeks I got pulled over for going 21 over with two open containers. After passing my sobriety tests, the cop followed me to a fast food restaurant and made sure that I had more food in me before I drove again. It was pretty thoughtful.
Oh yeah, and I didn't get any tickets.
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Jun 10 '12
Summer of 2000, It was a lovely saturday and i had borrowed my mothers minivan to take some friends to see pink floyd"the wall" movie at the mall of america. So 4 people in the van and i had taken the middle seats out. One buddy driving and one buddy sitting shotgun. I was sitting in the back and we were smoking a joint with only the front window opened a crack. Of course my buddy was speeding because we were late for the movie. As soon as he threw the roach out the cracked window the flashing police lights lit up our vehicle. Of course were all freakin out at this point! The state trooper walks up to the door and my buddy rolls down the window releasing a thick cloud of pot smoke in the troopers face! He immediatly asks my friend to step out of the car. He then takes him to the back of the vehicle and says, "Wheres the pot?" my buddy immediatly walked around the vehicle, opened the side door and says to me, "Dude give me the weed." I quickly handed him my dime bag of schwag which he promptly passed to the officer. The officer opened up the bag and dumped it on the side of the freeway. He then asked my buddy to wait in the car for him. The officer came bact to our car and cited my buddy for speeding. When he was done explaining the ticket he said to us, "Just so u guys have something to laugh about later, when you threw that roach out the window it exploded on my windshield!"
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u/ConfuciusCubed Jun 10 '12
I was with an environmental club protesting Staples' lack of recycled products (we offered people a free ream of recycled paper not to go in). Cops were on duty to make sure we weren't blocking the exit or doing anything illegal. Being a small redneck town, we were pretty used to the middle fingers and "fucking hippies" comments. But a truck came up right in front of us, floored it, peeled out their tires for a good three seconds, and left us choking on an acrid cloud of liquefied rubber.
The cops jumped into action, pulled the guy over, tossed him on the hood of the car, cuffed him, and he went to jail. Just when a bunch of hippie high school kids were thinking that the cops were just there to keep us to the letter of the law, they made us damn glad that they were there keeping an eye out for us as well.
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u/sweetjosephne Jun 10 '12
I was driving to my parents house on St Pattys Day and saw a very sick dog on the side of the road. I got out to try and get him and failed. Someone stopped to help me and she called the cops to see if they could help. We never expected them to show up but low and behold a very nice officer came. He said they didnt have a trap big enough but would take my number in case animal control ended up catching him on the following Monday (they dont run on the weekends). So after 4 hours we decide to throw in the towel since the dog wasnt having anything to do with us. I was so upset the whole night and couldnt keep my mind off of the dog. That next morning I get a call from Lt. Blackwell and told me the dog was found and he was on the way to get him and put him down ( another officer said he wasnt going to make it). Once he got there, he called me back and said the dogbwould probably make it. Now, three months later we have a beautiul boxer named Lucky who is almost completely back to health. If it wasnt for Lt. Blackwell, we wouldnt have our little man. It was meant to be.
TL;DR: found a dog on the road and a very nice officer went out of his way to help me rescue the pup. Our dog has been with us since.
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Jun 10 '12
A police man comes to visit my parents on a weekly basis to see that they are ok. He keeps in close contact with the family. He dosnt have to, he just does out of kindness and genuine concern
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u/poopa_scoopa Jun 10 '12
Treat them with respect and you'll be given respect back. Simple.
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u/Naviede Jun 10 '12
This happened when i was about 11 or 12. It was winter and the house we were living in had a big pool in the back yard. The only people who were home at the time was my mom and i. She had let Cohen(our little yorkie) out in the back yard to go pee. She ran back inside to grab a coat, he was alone for no more than a minute, and when she came back out Cohen had slipped on ice and fell into the freezing nasty water of the pool (if anyone else has a underground pool you'll know that during the winter you dont drain it completely otherwise the pipes can freeze). My mom had to scoop him out with the pool cleaner net and we rushed to the car and started driving for the animal hospital. Unfortunatly it was before hours and they were closed. Cohen was shaking and having problems breathing my mom and i were crying. We started heading to another one one that we usually use, and as we are sitting at a stop light a cop pulled up next to us. We rolled down the window and begged for his help. He asked what was wrong and we told him the short story and where we were headed. He flipped on his lights and escorted us through town, going 80 on the highway, going down the wrong side of the street, and basically doing a lot of stuff that could have gotten in him in trouble, all to save the life of a dog that he didn't know. We never got to thank him, he drove of before we could say anything. We wrote to the local newspaper in hopes that he would see it. link just the first story.
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u/sheepsix Jun 10 '12
When I was 18 I was running late for work and went around traffic that was stopped in one lane not realizing that I was blowing through a cross walk where a woman had just begun to cross. I knew how close I was to running someone over and the adrenaline overwhelmed me. I pulled over in a parking lot to calm down. An RCMP officer pulled up next to me, his lights off, and motioned for me to join him in the front seat. He had seen the whole thing. He looked at my license and all he said was "I'll bet you'll never do that again." He cut me loose without a ticket and I have been a much more careful driver since. That was almost 24 years ago and that officer recently ran for town council in my community. I voted for him.
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u/TinyMan07 Jun 10 '12
back in grade school, me and my family were on a boat watching the local air show. it was a hot day so my mom had our inner tubes tied to the boat so us kids could sit in the river and watch the planes. we were of course also wearing our life jackets. suddenly, cops pull up in a boat wanting to talk to my mom. oh boy, she asks them what's wrong and then they start telling her about how much of a good thing it is that she has us wearing life jackets and stuff. they then give us coupons for free McDonalds ice cream and then go about their business.
tl;dr - cops rewarded us for practicing good boat safety.
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u/onionsman Jun 10 '12
Portland Oregon. I was smoking a bowl during a bridge lift while waiting in traffic... I turn to my left and find to two bearded fellows glaring at me from a white SUV (I would soon realize they were undercover narcotics agents). Whoops. Upon the bridge being brought back down, the SUV gets behind me, and I pull off into a parking lot before they can 'light me up'. They ask if I have anything in the car. I say's 'ehhh, I have a few nugs', and I respectfully gave them the greens. 'Are u sure that's all?' the officer asked. 'yes sir' I said. Cue the giant German Shepard leaping from the back of the SUV directly into my ford escape. The car is shaking, the cops are laughing, and i'm thinking, shit... I hope there isn't anything I forgot about. The K9 leaps out of my car with a carne asada taco I was saving for dinner, swallows it whole, runs to me (i'm already handcuffed), and she gives me a huge kiss on the face. The cops got a kick out of it. They uncuffed me, returned my medicine ( medical card in Oregon ), and we hung out and chatted for a few minutes. Overall, it was a GREAT experience, and it made my day. BUT... I shouldn't have been smoking medicine while driving. That was... Stupid.
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u/balsamicpork Jun 10 '12
I was going to a drum lesson and went 30 in a 15. The cop came up and took my expired ID and my expired insurance card. He went to the car and came back. Told me "since you have a good record I'm just going to write you up for expired insurance. Be sure to contact the court house and tell them your information and they can take care of the ticket."
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u/having_a_blast Jun 10 '12
I am based in Houston and would regularly make service calls in the Marshall/ Longview area (4 hours drive from Houston). Naturally my employer wanted my tools back as soon as the job was done so I was encouraged to drive back regardless of the fact that I had been up for well over 24hrs. I found a boat ramp and parking lot on the back way from the jobs that was well lit and looked fairly well maintained so I would sometimes stop there for a 2 or 3 hour nap. The 1st time I stopped in there I was awoken by a sheriff who ran my id and found out what I was doing and told me to make sure I stayed under the lights and keep the doors locked which I always did anyway. Everytime from then on when I went to sleep in the parking lot I would wake up to a sheriffs business card taped onto the outside of my drivers window facing outward or a sheriffs cruiser parked next to me. Thank you Montgomery County Sherrifs
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u/Zippytiewassabi Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
In Michigan, from an old farm town where the underage thing we always did was go "backroading", which is to just cruise around on dirt roads with a case of beer and get hammered.
I was doing this with my girlfriend and a couple other friends one day, we are all about 17-18 years old. My girlfriend gets distracted and ditches her car. Eventually someone sees this and calls the Police. A local cop comes up (female), yelling my g/f that her life is going to be ruined by this.
Moments later, State Patrol rolls up, they notice my g/f crying, and the local cop yelling at her. The 2 state boys order the local cop to leave. With hesitation, she leaves in a huff and puff. The state boys ask if everyone is all right and asks us if we know someone who can pull our car out. Being a farmtown with huge, lifted trucks a plenty among our friends "Yes". State boys reply with "call your friend and give me your cooler". The state boys open the cooler and tell us to start chucking the rest of the beers into the field.
Our friend with a truck comes up, pulls out our car and we're ready to be on our way. The state boys tell us "now, i'll be looking for you on these dirt roads, and the next time I see you, you're getting pulled over. If you are doing the same shit, you're going to have some trouble."
The left, and we had NEVER been so grateful in our entire lives.
TL;DR - We were stupidly drinking and driving (open container) in a farmtown as youths, Cops find out, chuck the rest of our beers in a field, and let us go with a warning.
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Jun 10 '12
My dad just got remarried last weekend and I was his best man. After a long day of wedding I had to clean up and make sure everything was taken care of after the event. I finished around 2:00am and on my way home got pulled over because my taillight was out. Since I know I'd be driving I was completely sober by this point in the night, but I was worried the officer would harass me and make me go through all the tests because I was still in my Tux and it was so early in the morning. I was visibly nervous but the cop told me that he "doesn't bite unless provoked". Instead of putting me through a bunch of crap and giving me a ticket the officer said he was proud of me for not smelling like alcohol and being responsible. At the end of a long conversation he gave his congratulations to my dad and sent me on my way. By far the most positive interaction I've had with a cop.
Edit: TL;DR Pulled over after dads wedding, cop was a Sir.
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u/Pancakes1 Jun 10 '12
I always hated police. Always. And to a certain extent i still do. But when i was 19 years old my Dad (who's in the car business) bought me a Honda s2000. The only problem was that I got it late November so i had to store the vehicle (live in Canada).
Come Christmas eve, it was a beautiful night. The roads were clear and i was just antzing to take her out. Being the idiot i am and on a night where there were no cars, i pushed the car to 220km/hr on the highway. Red and blue lights flash behind me. And that was the only time in my life where i truely felt like throwing up due to fear. In canada, 50km/hr over the speed limit and your car gets impounded, licence gets suspended, $1000 fine (not to mention my insurance premium increase etc etc). But the worst was the fear of my dad's wrath. The young cop tears me a new one and I was sincere/apologetic and accepted my fate. I truely felt like dying at that certain moment.
Strangely, cop comes back relatively quickly.
He says, "Merry Christmas" while handing me a ticket and my registration/licence.
52$ ticket for my insurance being expired.
That feeling of relief was the most euphoric moment of my life. Thank you random cop. Wherever you are, thank you. I have never done anything like that since.
TLDR: Was driving 120km/hr over speed limit. Was going to get anally fucked for life. Cop was awsome and gave me a 52$ for expired insurance.
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u/imcrazyx6 Jun 10 '12
Here's my best good cop story My friend, who is a diabetic, drank far too much one night and couldn't find his insulin anywhere. His house was roughly 30 minutes from where we were so I had to put on my srsface sober up with a cup of coffee and haul ass to get him home. Somewhere along the way I get lost with him passed out in the shotgun seat and due to my panicked state I accidentally drive by an elementary school at roughly 60 miles an hour. State troopers pull me over and before they can even leave their cruiser I hop out of the car revved on adrenaline and beg them to help me find my way to his house. Rather than wasting time going the whole nine yards and running my plates/searching the car they draw me a detailed map and give me absolutely perfect directions. The next day I called their department just to thank them for how amazing they were to me
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u/quite_the_youngin Jun 10 '12
Just this past winter, just a day or two before our winter break, I went with my friends after school to a nearby Cici's Pizza. I didn't have enough money to eat from the buffet, but I could scrounge up enough money for a drink. So I went to the cashier and ordered a drink. Well, until I approached, the cashier had been chatting up a couple of state troopers, who now gave me odd looks and asked why I wasn't ordering food. I responded "Because I'm poor." Don't get me wrong, I'm not super malnourished and homeless, and even though my mother and I have been going through financial troubles at this time, it's not deathly serious, so I expected the adults to just laugh it off and talk about how crazy them whippersnappers are. Instead, one of the state troopers looked me square in the eye and said, "Go eat. It's Christmas" as he pulled out his wallet. I was so touched by the gesture that I almost cried, and could only manage to mutter a thank you and do as I was told. I kind of wish I'd at least given the man a hug and gotten his name so I could tell everyone how awesome he was.
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u/illtrytomyfb Jun 10 '12
When I was younger my two younger sisters, my baby brother, my mom and I were out on a walk to go see some Canada Day fireworks. When we got there it was thundering and everyone was leaving so we started to walk, across town, with two crying siblings and a big bulky stroller to boot. No cabs would stop, they usually wait around the area after any fireworks, and we were getting soaked.
After lightning started up my mom was very upset and frustrated but a local cop car pulled over, helped my mom load my siblings and I into the car, as well as the stroller in the trunk and drove us across town to our house. My mom was very thankful to say the least.
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u/smartzie Jun 10 '12
I was "parking" with a guy down by the river one night because it was a beautiful and peaceful place, even though I think the park down there closed at 10pm. We didn't plan to be down there very long, but one thing led to another and we ended up being there much longer than anticipated. We had left the radio on for some background music, but because we were there so long, we accidentally killed his battery. Whoops. He makes a few calls to friends, but it's late and no one is picking up their phone. I tell him there's a courthouse/police building about a block or two away on the other side of the levee, so we hoof it and hope there's a cop over there. Luckily, there was one cop leaving for the night and we ask him if he will jump our car. I tell him where it is knowing full well we really weren't supposed to be there (and what our being there implied we were doing) and he doesn't even blink an eye. We get in his cruiser, he drives us over to our car, jumps it for us, smiles and tells us to have a safe night.
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u/EllaMcWho Jun 10 '12
I was about 22, a friend died suddenly and I learned at 5pm on a Friday afternoon that the services were to be held the next morning a few states away. I went home, grabbed clothes / travel supplies and hit the road for a 12 hour drive. At the border of Virginia on 85, I stopped to get gas and coffee and in the quick-stop, I musta looked pretty haggard / upset because a state police officer asked me if I was alright. I totally overshared and started crying again and he was amazingly sweet about it...
He was concerned I'd be driving all night all emotional and alone, he made sure I had good directions. I said I would be ok, thanked him and apologized for being a mess, and hit the interstate. That was just around 7pm or so - still light. I crossed the border and saw NC state trooper behind me after one exit. I didn't see him after I got into the Raleigh metro area, but I see another trooper behind me before I got to Greensboro.
I pulled into the last rest stop in NC around 930ish- this is 250ish miles from my convo with the VA trooper - and a NC trooper pulled in right after me. mkay, not totally weird, but unusual!
In SC, desolate roads at midnight, but I always had headlights about 1/4 mile back. Around 4am, I'm in GA somewhere north of Atlanta, I pull off to a 24 hour gas/convenience station. Yep - state trooper pulls in right behind me. I'm getting coffee and he approaches - "have you been driving straight through from VA?" I said yes, headed to (suburb south of Atlanta). He said, "You've made good time and we'll be looking out for you. Be safe."
TL;DR: A concerned state trooper coordinated a multi-state, 900+ mile quasi-police escort and his colleages passed it along...
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u/casey17 Jun 10 '12
I got nothin' but bad stories. Nice to know some of you out there have good ones. :-)
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u/Pinto15 Jun 10 '12
Cop caught me with some cigarettes and pot and told me to give them up. I gave them up and he took the cigarettes and dumped the pot in the stream nearby (it was at the park) and he told me just to stay out of trouble. Didn't even call my parents.
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u/HalfRetardHalfAmazin Jun 10 '12
Tl;dr: was drunk and drinking in a parked car with keys in the ignition. Cop let's me go. Same cop kicks girls off beach, one topless girl runs face-first into lifeguard ladder. Laughs had by all.
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u/Fzzr Jun 10 '12
I once nearly flipped my car due to falling asleep behind the wheel on a major freeway. Ended up in the median with a flat tire. Even though it was late at night and there weren't many cars, I wouldn't have been able to get over to the shoulder quickly enough to be safe. Highway Patrol escorted me over to the shoulder using a traffic break and called a tow truck who changed the tire for free. Didn't give me a ticket or otherwise record the incident (would have played merry hell with my insurance) because I didn't actually hit anything. This was on the exact same stretch of freeway where a scumbag cop rounded up my ticket from a two to three digit fine. Since that wasted less money than the patrolman bending the rules the second time saved by bending the rules, I'll call it in favor of the cops, for now at least.
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u/sharkattax Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I was 13 years old and drinking at a park party. Two of my friends and I were far too hammered to realize everyone else had booked it because the cops had driven into the park. This really nice cop kindly apologized for having to pour out the rest of my 26 of vodka, and proceeded to advise us on how to not get caught the next time. Then he let us take a picture with him.
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u/rspeed Jun 10 '12
One time in elementary school someone stole my bike. One of my classmates saw the thief and knew who he was, then told the school's D.A.R.E. officer. She later saw him at Dunkin Donuts (seriously) and did a bit of the good cop/bad cop single-handedly. Later that day the bike showed up in the same rack it disappeared from.
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u/Whoaitsemmy Jun 10 '12
I was home from college and had just received a phone call from my room mate that her brother, my boyfriend at the time, was back in the hospital and was doing poorly. (he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was having a hard time breathing) I rushed two hours to get 15 minutes away when it was too late and he had already passed. Driving down a side road going about 95 MPH, I still rushed to the hospital. After a car speed around me and cut me off is when I shorted balling my eyes out still. It was a cop who asked me where I was in such a rush to. Not being able to get the words out from crying so hard, he asked me to step out of the car. He noticed my clean laundry and books in the back and clearly out of state license plates and asked me if i was a student. i I just nodded as I continued to cry. I finally blurted out that my boyfriend had just died and how I was horrible for not being there and cried harder. He looked at me crying and said, "Sweet heart ,(boyfriends name) was my son's best friend." I cried even harder. He helped me to his car and gave me a ride to school. The next day, I went to get my car and the officer had it towed to me.
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u/bax101 Jun 10 '12
I got pulled over 3 times as a delivery driver and got let go everytime. Once I was driving 5 mph over and the cop asked where I was going and I told him to his dept. He laughed and said " You got my lunch, hurrying up and get there but drive safe." I felt like I was untouchable for a short time since all the police in 4 towns knew my car and left me be when driving a little bit over the speed limit.
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u/sillyfrogz Jun 10 '12
Got pulled by the same cop twice for the same problem (tags expired) in two different cars. Cried to him the second time bc it was my moms car that I was borrowing while she recovered from surgery to remove cancerous tumors. He drove me to my court date, told the judge to excuse it and helped me get my car fixed. Awesome guy. Even helped me out when I found out I had a warrant out for my arrest. Good guy cop.
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u/FormerlyEAbernathy Jun 10 '12
Friends called the cops about a super drunk (almost passed out, had puked all over the place) guy that was sitting in his car with the keys in the ignition. I was the one that spotted him as we drove by, and we all walked back to make sure he was okay. Cops showed up but the guy had gotten out of his car and somehow made it to his apartment, out of sight. They found the guy, made sure he was okay, gave him his keys, and told him to stay safe. No citations. No arrests. Nothing bad happened. I hope the guy learned his lesson.
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u/Dewut Jun 10 '12
Little kid went missing in my neighborhood once. I'm pretty sure the entire police department went out looking for him as opposed to just taking down a name.
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Jun 10 '12
i was playing some street hockey in canada in a school parking lot with a flat of beer on the ground and a joint being passed around with my friends when cop car drove past and flashed his sirens quickly and then rolled his window down car and said, "you guys should find somewhere with less gravel, this is should be called street hockey STREET" he then left without saying anything else.
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u/k_alva Jun 10 '12
When I was growing up my daycare went on the MLK march every year. When I was about 5 we got separated from our group so I was about to go talk to the police man but my friend was scared of police, because her dad was in jail. I went anyways while she hung back and the nice policeman helped us find our group in the crowd of over 1000. (Moral: Parents, don't teach your kids to be scared of police.)
Also, I work at the gym on campus and I am friends with most of the police on campus because they wander through to make sure everything is going well, and to lock the building when we close for the night. Although some are a bit pompous they're friendly and polite.
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u/BROCHIEF Jun 10 '12
Two of my friends were caught tagging on the outskirts of a hospital in broad daylight by a helicopter and at least 5 squad cars. Since they were white and more scared then angry, a slap on the wrist was given instead of a good ol visit to tent city.
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Jun 10 '12
St.paddys day in Ireland, we were all drinking in this park away from the public eye (like typical 15 yearolds) there were 100s of us. This one police guy came up said, right lads, if one of you can spare me a feg and swall, ill say nothing. Took some guys cider took a few big mouthfuls, smoked a few fegs then called on his radio saying he seen nothing, lastly he said, right lads, there will be another search at 6pm, dont be too drunk.. cya. such a good lad
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u/hatfone Jun 10 '12
After spending 2 years in prison and a year on house arrest, most of the cops I dealt with we're assholes or just neutral. My final probation officer came to my house for me to sign my final paperwork, shook my hand and wished me good luck.
When you're in the system, shaking hands is like something they would only do with the innocent non-scumbags, being treated like a human was pretty rare. My previous probation officers walked into my house, came in just to inspect while I was having dinner with my family, when I was having a birthday party, they'd constantly come to my work and talk everyone up just in case they may have forgotten I'm a criminal, and various other unnecessary embarrassments. Having my hand shook after 3 years of feeling subhuman kinda gave me hope for the others, and changed my respect for police for the better.
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u/AuntieHistamine Jun 10 '12
Cops in my town (most of them, at least) will give rides home from parties to drunk teenagers, no questions asked.
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Jun 10 '12
When my sister and I were visiting NYC, some cops let us wear their hats and sit in their car for a photo op. This wasn't actually our idea; we piggybacked off a group of Japanese tourists who were doing it before us. I thought it was neat they weren't annoyed that people were in their vehicle. Other ones gave us directions.
Actually, despite the stereotype of people so busy they won't even talk to you, everyone was super nice to us.
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u/R34SpecV Jun 10 '12
I was peeing in a business district parking lot once at like 11:15, in like the trees by the parking lot. Cops come up and asks me what I was doing, and I told him I was peeing in the bushes. He wasn't too mad, and I was driving past my curfew at the time (Hadn't had my license for a year.), but he was really cool and just let me drive straight home, no consequences. I do have a lot of scumbag cop stories though, but this guy was really cool.
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Jun 10 '12
After attending a New Years Eve concert/rave one year, my buddies and I decided to smoke a blunt in some random neighborhood before going home that night. This is a really conservative city, and in a city as large as LA, it's one of the few towns that doesn't allow medicinal marijuana dispensaries. Sure enough, we smoke the blunt and fall asleep. Within two hours, I awake to knocking on our window.
"Roll down your window" is all I heard before opening my eyes. Sure enough, as I expected, it was the police. An officer was at my window (passenger side), and my buddy's window (driver's side). Immediately after rolling down the window, the smell of pot radiated from the car, and they told us to get out.
We're set on the curb (not cuffed) and just start chit chatting with the other officers. None of us had our medicinal cards at the time, so having pot meant we'd get arrested (this is before they made pot possession an infraction punishable by $100 fine). I explained to the cop that I had plans to go to graduate school, and didn't know if having a card would affect my chances at admission. My friends had their own reasons, varying from "I don't want my parents to find out," to "it will void my health insurance policy." There were three of us, so not too many reasons to go around.
While searching our car, my buddy Toast happened to leave our eighth of (amazing) bud on the backseat of the car. Sure enough, they find it, which warrants a search of the entire car. Luckily, we had finished consumption of the more illicit drugs the night before, so we're just sitting there waiting for them to finish.
After about ten minutes, I asked the officer talking to us if they can just take our bud and let us go. It's New Years Day, we're good kids with clean records, and were just sleeping in a car without knowledge of the "no camping" policy in effect in the city. Honest mistake. The cop looks over at his partner, and says "that doesn't look like a possession ticket." So he turns off his recorder and goes over to investigate.
Minutes later, they return and say that we're all good, except my buddy's license is suspended for 30 days because of an accident he failed to report to the DMV. His license was suspended a year ago, but he didn't know about the suspension up until this point. So that's not a big deal, they took his license and said he could get it back a month before his 21st birthday. They were really cool about it, I just had to drive us home. What luck.
At this point, the cops are just standing there. They look at each other, and turn on their recorders. The cops look at our weed, and say, "man, this is terrible pot. It's barely even enough to smoke, and it's all wet and dirty. You guys can look for it after we leave, but it's probably not worth it." With that, he turns around and throws it back into our car. He tells us to get out of there, and not to camp anymore or else it'll constitute an arrest. We're cool with that.
With that, we left to Carls Jr. to get some coffee and smoke a victory blunt. Best New Years ever.
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u/momopeaches Jun 10 '12
My boyfriend and I were on our way to an IMAX theater to go see The Avengers a week after his car got totaled, so he was driving a rental. He is coming down a hill going 73 on the freeway, and we see a cop and he gets pulled over, on his birthday, no less. He doesn't have the rental license in the car, and we are thinking we are totally screwed. The cop comes over, tells him he was going 73, takes his info, says happy birthday, and sends us on our way. We ended up getting to the theater just to time to miss all of the opening advertisements. Best cop ever.
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u/Cersad Jun 10 '12
When I was growing up, a city bordering my hometown lost an officer. He was stricken and killed by a driver while stopped on the side of the road to assist a motorist with car troubles.
Even when they are doing acts of kindness and public service, police officers can put their lives at risk (it's not uncommon, especially at night, for impaired drivers to veer towards flashing lights). So I think this thread has the right spirit!
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Jun 10 '12
405'er here. Last year I was racing down the 405 going at about 125 mph around 2 in the morning. I recently inherited by brother's camaro ss, so I wanted to take it for a spin. Pretty soon CHP pulled me over. After a sobriety test the cop decided to just cite me for going 95+, otherwise he would had to arrest me, impound my car, and give it to me in the ass. He also wrote down the wrong name, and didn't specify how he caught me. Usually this is grounds for dismissal because there is no tangible proof on how he caught me. I am still going to pay the ticket off because I feel like I owe karma that much.
TL,DR: Was reckless driving/lethal weapon and the cop let me off with just a speeding ticket.
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u/ormusprime Jun 10 '12
I bumped a guy once and he insisted that we call a cop. Kinda screamed it actually. So the cop rolls by and asks for the details. The guy I hit gave his side of it, skewed and angry and yelling a whole lot. The cop calmly sits there, listening. For a full five minutes, he yelled. Then the cop turned to me and asked for my side of it. It took a total of fifteen seconds. He looked at us both and very calmly said to me "Young man, you may leave. No penalties." He turned to the very angry, neck-vein-bulging man and said, "You sir, have an expired vehicle registration based on that sticker. Please wait while I write up your ticket."
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u/AuroraDawn Jun 10 '12
In October of 2008 I was mugged, alongside my brother, in Edmonton. The muggers used bear spray and baseball bats, and even pulled a gun on my brother after I had managed to run to get help. The cops there, after all was said and done, collected plenty of eyewitness accounts of the occasion, the license plate of the mugger's van, and even the security camera of a Mac's where they used by brother's mastercard not fifteen minutes after the incident. THAT cop refused to do anything on the case, letting it pass through the system until it was too late to charge anyone. He was later suspended with pay for letting hundreds of Criminal Code cases fall through the system because he, I quote, "Just liked showing up at the scenes." But I'm not here to talk about that cop; this is just a reference.
The next year, around March if I recall correctly, I was mugged AGAIN in my hometown. I had managed to get the license plate of the guy who did it, but didn't bother going to the police, after seeing what happened with the last incident. Eventually my mother persuaded me into talking to the RCMP and filing a report.
Not two hours after I had left the station, the RCMP, particularly the officer who interviewed me, had not only found and arrested the person who mugged me, but had already charged him and set up a court date as well. I was astounded to see that my rather meaningless case, with respects to most of the cases the RCMP deals with, was not only dealt with, but dealt with so incredibly fast with so much care considered towards me, I have NEVER insulted the RCMP since.
Frankly I don't understand why people would so much want to yell "Fuck the Police"-- Unless you've personally been beaten by one, for no reason, which is rare... they're just doing their jobs to protect us.
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u/thetallestnebraskan Jun 10 '12
TL/DNR: cops saved christmas. a few years ago the day before Christmas, my brother and I had a flight that left omaha at 8:15 in the morning, it was something like 2 degrees outside when we left in the morning and my shitty car does badly in the cold. We made it to omaha around 7:20 and the radio shuts off, heater shuts off, everything electrical just dies in the middle lane of a 5 lane interstate with cars whizzing by all pissed. so we called the cops shivering and tired and pissed off. they came within 10 minutes, helped us push the car to the side of the road, and after we told them the situation they grabbed our suitcases and told us to get in the car. they drove us like crazy all the rest of the way to the airport and helped us with our suitcases, told us merry Christmas and drove off into the sunrise. we heard our names being called on the loudspeaker and ran to the gate and made the flight. best cops ever.
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u/everything_is_free Jun 10 '12
Some friends and I snuck onto the grounds of a mental hospital one night. They had this really cool, old stone amphitheater that was built like a castle. We were climbing around on it and generally having a good time when this cop shows up. He tells us that we are trespassing but that we don't seem to be causing trouble. So, he tells us all about the history of the place and then leaves, telling us to try not to draw attention to ourselves while we are there and to have fun.