HPD is a joke. I know they have a lot to deal with, and you couldn't pay me enough to be a cop in Houston, but I've seen some pretty ridiculous stuff from them. In the suburbs they don't seem to be as bad. Maybe because it is more of a community. I had a close call Saturday night where I was going 15 over the limit and had a couple of drinks in me. I'm very cautious with drinking and driving and usually don't drive if I have any doubt...but nonetheless I could've been at the limit, who knows. Anyway, it was a pretty dark four lane road and the speed limit was only 35, which is pretty ridiculous for that road. I go by the cop on the other side of the road that I didn't see until as I was passing, and he definitely caught me, but he just flashed his lights quickly and followed me for about half a mile. I have a feeling HPD wouldn't have been so gracious.
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It is a two part problem. First is the draw of the power being a cop provides. All on your own you are the force on 90% of the workday, This type of power draws in aholes. Second is what you describe. People are such pricks when they see police that after a while the cops just get jaded. I mean if 30% of your day involved people screaming at you (literally) and lieing to you when you are just trying to do your job after a while you would get an attitude change.
I've never understood why cops curse so much at the public. I see this alot at the bars clubs etc. when they encounter somebody being a tad disruptive or drunk... Wouldn't it be better to calm the person down? Give them a swift warning without tossing insults and curse words? I see cops give this bait to several people in the midtown area the people take the bait and which usually an arrest follows after... I've been baited several times but I just politely say yes sir and walk away. But thats pretty hard sometimes.
I was going to post something very similar to this. Some cops can be downright assholes and treat you with disrespect despite you giving them full respect - that's simply uncalled for. These types of cops can act petty and abuse their power (e.g. Fatty's situation where the cop called him across the street, then arrested him for jaywalking). How are we supposed to respect these types of cops when they don't have enough self-control to wield their powers in a fair and just way? However, I think others just become jaded. They have probably gone through so many rough situations that they just start to assume the worst in everybody. Having people consistently lie to your face, having to take time out of your day to go to a courthouse when someone who was clearly in the wrong tries to contest a ticket, always having to be wary of people being armed and attacking you, people talking trash to you and calling you names just because of the uniform you wear, seeing people act irrationally and under the influence, seeing spouses and babies abused, being first on scene at a murder, and even having to deliver the news that someone's child was killed.
They get mad just like anyone else. One time I was fighting with my GF at the airport dropping her off. I was pulling up to the car then it pulled forward and the cop waved me to pull all the way up instead of leaving the space empty. But my GF got out of the car and I could not move. He came over and told me that it was my fault (like I can control her cause I am driving) I pleaded my case for about 3 seconds then he said basically after a few more exchanges "Say I am right and you are wrong or you get a ticket" I then said "yes you are right" Total prick move but I was probably the 20th person that did that in the last hour or two.
You make it sound like an HPD officer shouldn't pull you over when you're going 15 over and/or have a couple of drinks in your system...
Yes, I know we all get mad when we get pulled over or were on the receiving end up something that we did wrong. But it's just them doing their job. I know sometimes cops pick on you and pull you over for some BS and that Im sure we dont agree with.What we dont know is that cops see some crazy shyt while on duty. Ive been with a cop on a ride-along program. I saw things in one day that you only see on TV. The thing with them is that they are pretty much paranoid. They have to be. They have to pay attention to very small details that some of us dont even ever recognize. I just believe that they are doing their jobs and putting their life's on the line everyday. And sometimes when they are being assholes with people its because theyve dealt with assholes themselves.
That is funny because I always see the opposite. I will see a cop going 5 or 10 miles per hour under the speed limit and no one willing to pass the cop. If I can get to the front of the line and pass the cop without going more than a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit, I will do it.
In situations like this I just get out of the way of the cop car and hope he speeds so everybody else can get going again.
Well, that wasn't really my point...but yes, technically you should be pulled over if you are going 15 over. The drinking has nothing to do really with that fact because I wasn't impaired and you certainly would've have been able to tell based on my driving (I would've been speeding even if I wasn't drinking). The couple of drinks was over a couple of hours. My point was more that cops in a smaller town/community have a little more sense for the community and treating the people of the community better, whereas HPD probably doesn't give a damn about who you are or where you're from. That, and I know of a personal account of just how screwed up HPD's hiring system is, that I won't get into.
I remember one time I got pulled over for swerving to miss a pothole in the road. The cop pulls me over and asked why I was driving like that and I told him why I swerved. He then asked for identification and insurance and I unbuckled my seat belt to get my wallet. He then said I'm just going to write you a seat belt ticket. I said I just took it off to get my wallet but I had it on. He politely said you should have kept it on and then gave me my $25 ticket.
Oh, and I forgot to mention what my friends thought was the funniest part of the story: Even though I was arrested by an HPD officer a couple of miles from their downtown facility, the jackass took me all the way down to the Pearland jail. I ended up having to pay $50 for a cab home.
So he actually arrested you? Not like 'Here's a ticket for jaywalking'. But he put you in the car and drove you somewhere to get processed. Grr
had that happen to me also. I think its better though since its not a moving violation. I look at tickets as I look at any other tax.
Maybe you guys should try being a middle aged, semi-affluent white guy. It seems to work for me, I never get anything but the slight nod.
