I don't really care for cops either but I have always found that if you stay calm and quiet, you can usually reason with them (with the exception of state troopers). I have been pulled over so many times that I have lost count (it's been over 30, usually for speeding), but there has only been two maybe three times that I can remember when the cop was an absolute dick to me. But with that being said, it seemed to me that this 20 year old kid was trying to set a cop up and it turned out to be this Kuehnlein (sp?) guy. Still that doesn't excuse the cop for acting the way he did; it was like an experiment to see if there are out of control and power mad cops and his experiment proved there are.
That's what annoyed me the most about the whole thing, and yet one more reason why you shouldn't put yourself in a situation where a cop has an opportunity to pull that kind of sh*t.
the kid seemed pretty calm and quiet to me. it was the cop who went psycho. you may be right, and in that case i commend the kid for helping to get a power-tripping a-hole off the streets. if anything, this video may serve as a deterrent to other a-hole cops and make them think twice before abusing their authority.
I'm not positive but I'd imagine you are wrong there, from a legal perspective. My guess is that a cop CAN just ask for your id and you ARE required to show it to him, even if you're just sitting in your car picking your nose. Frankly, I don't see how that would make us communists or how it would be an intrusion of privacy. That cop was definitely a dick, and definitely out of control, though.
here is something I found on "stop and identify" statutes. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-5554.ZS.html maybe one of our more law-minded persons could do a quick summary for those of us not inclined to read legal judgements. purty please?
Your point regarding ID is correct, more's the pity. Your right to not show the police your ID for no good reason was lost "officially" just recently. Link
The driver was a complete dick. The cop asked why the kid was parking there and asked the kid for his id and the kid didn't comply. He should have answered the cop's questions simply, and shown his ID when asked. It was okay for th driver to ask what he did wrong, but he should have done so while complying with the cop. Instead, he didn't answer the cop's questions, questioned the cop's reasoning, and interrupted the cop. The cop was a complete dick. He should not have vocalized all of the threats against the driver. If he was agitated at the kid for being an a$$hole, he should just put the hammer down on him without yelling and threatening. The cop will probably lose his job. The driver will probably continue to be a dick to police. You don't know that, and neither did the cop. For all you know, the guy who made the video is the guy who had been breaking into cars in that lot that week. And the cop doesn't know that either. When a cop asks you for your ID, you show it to him whether whether or not you've broken the law.
That guy was being a dick, and clearly wanted to catch the cop being ugly, but the cop WAY overeacted. That kind of stuff happens every single day....some of the police officers have major attitude problems, where they consider everyone a perp. I have lots of friends in law enforcement, and a good many of them have changed a LOT once they got in.....they seem to be on a power trip. I know this is not indicitive of every officer, but I love how video tape is being used now....keep everone civil, as it should be. DD
This is why you should always record your incidents with Police. Either voice or video and with the new phones today, it shouldn't be too hard. Now, of course there a good cops out there but personally every cop that I have been encountered with has been a dick. Very disrespectful and always acts like they're better than me. I remember one time being pulled over for rolling through a stop sign. Anyways he comes up to my car, tells me to open the door and proceeds to pull me out my own car with my shirt collar. Then as he's writing my ticket, he drops the pen on PURPOSE and tells me to pick it up, which I did. Talk about feeling degraded, it sucked big time. Sure the goods cops are out there but I never met one (while getting pulled over). And it's not like I'm being disrepectful to them. I always get nervous when they pull me over but I stay polite as I can. Basically, there would be no reason for them to get an attitude with me. I don't understand why they can't talk to me like a regular person. Oh, and it's not just one bad apple or a few. Theres lots of "bad apples" out there, some worst than others.
I'd almost prefer not to watch this because its going to sour my already shaken faith in law enforcement.
jo, I wasn't referring to the kid in the video; I was just relating what I have done in situations like that. I did mention that there were a couple of times when I encountered a belligerent cop. Luckily, my experiences with that type of officer has been minimal, but I know the experiences of others may not be like mine. Yet, I do believe that if you are always nice and polite even when the cop isn't, it will benefit you in the long run. I could be naive for thinking that but that is what I feel about it. Agree 100% - there are far too many power-hungry cops out there. They give all the good ones a bad name.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qYXMk9mXTsY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qYXMk9mXTsY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
