Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Hello officers. Before you read on, please give me a moment to introduce myself

realpolice.net/forums/new-member-introductions-15/101367-hello.html#post1163501

Now that you have read a little bit about me I want to ask this question. Like I said in the intro I do not want to upset anyone, and I just want to re-enforce the fact that I have nothing but respect for all of you.

That is exactly why I am asking this on here. Because I don't want some cop hating, faceless, punk on the internet to answer this. I want the people who I know for a fact are fair, brave, honorable people to answer this.

I recently saw a disturbing video on youtube: watch?v=RVmGWLsn0iM

Now, I know better then to believe everything I watch, that's why I want your take on this.

before I ask what I need to let me just say, I know for a fact you are not bad people. The police saved my life. The police helped me get my life back in order. You are always there when we need you most, and I would never let one (probably heavily edited video painting officers in an unfair light) take away from all the good our officers do.

But I also know your only human. Your not perfect. It is very difficult for me to ask this because I really don't want to offend or upset anyone - especially such good people. But this has been bothering me for a long time and I need to ask this.

What are my rights? What can and cannot happen to me? Is there a reliable (Not some punks youtube channel) source of information I can go to, to see how I should conduct myself (because in a lot of those videos I noticed the perpetrator also being disruptive and inoperative of the officers orders.)

I just want to know, for basic situations like being pulled over for example:

What I should do, what is expected of me, and what I should expect from the officer.

I don't want some punk on the internet, some guy I have no idea who he/she/it is, giving me fake info that's only going to end up hurting me, and painting such good people in such an unfair light.

You are the people who I want to answer this because I know for a fact I can trust you. If there is anyone who I would "take there word for it" its you guys.

Once again I am sorry if I upset anyone. I tried to be as polite and fair as possible because that is the last thing I want to do.

Thank you in advanced for the information, and regardless of how this post goes, I want to thank you all for the wonderful work you do, and wish you all a great evening.

Unfortunately since this is your first post we cannot view the "link" to the video in question.

So, without seeing the video in question it will be difficult for us to voice our opinions on it or views.

As for the basic "what to do" during a Police encounter, without seeing the video I can only say, (A) When in contact with LE try to be polite, respectful and answer questions when asked verse the "f you" attitude we see a lot of. Don't make any sudden movements, keep your hands out of your pockets, etc. Use common sense basically. There is no crime in being disrespectful to LEO's but usually if you show respect you will get it in return.

Same goes for being pulled over. Immediately pull OFF of the roadway (Officer safety reason(s) Keep your hands on the steering wheel or at the minimum in view, no sudden movements and don't argue about what traffic violation you are stopped for. The place to argue it is in court, not on the side of the road. Again, theres no crime in being a jerk to the Officer, but usually if you are one the fine is more and the time your stuck waiting for that big fine will be longer. Again use common sense.

A good and funny example of what not to do is the Chris Rock video of "What not to do when pulled over" on youtube.

I will be more than happy to answer further if you can point me on where to watch the video in question.

CPL1897 hit the nail on the head. I assume the videos you speak of are these guys who are trying to entice some sort of police interaction, some call it "trolling the police". I believe these jokers are only hurting their cause for civil rights. They will set up some type of instance that is not technically illegal but it ends up with a reaction from law enforcement. I believe at some point one of these incidents will make it to the supreme court and the jokers will lose.

I really appreciate the feedback!

I can't post the direct link to the video but I can post part of the link. :

youtube.com/watch?v=RVmGWLsn0iM

I felt as if it was sort of like one of those "News Articles" with a very opinionated channel. They show a lot of bad things that were done in the past by law enforcement officials, most of them like you said are probably just "Trolling" the police (Which I for one can't fathom why someone would do).

They are sure to mention a lot of bad but they forget about all the good police do.

I would be here forever if I tried to list everything, but its as obvious as day that if you remove officers from the picture civilized society is impossible. That right there is more then enough reason to respect an officer, not to mention all of the good men and women who save lives, resolve (sometimes downright scary/bizarre situations) and just keep the streets safe to walk down and keep law abiding citizens feeling safe in there homes.

Thank you for the info on what to do in a situation with an officer too. I tend to follow the Policy of "If you don't do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about". I used to be a little punk too until I realized just how dumb my actions were and where it was quickly bringing me.

But after I straightened up and was walking on the right side of the law, I quickly came to like the police a lot more then I did in my days of youth.

I would like to add that portions of video clips hardly tell the whole story, which is 100% of the video you are referring to - a bunch of video clips. There is no context. What might looking inappropriate in a 5 second clip, might look completely appropriate if you saw the entire incident from start to finish. If a cop got kicked in the crotch, and then tackled the person who kicked him, that would be reasonable. But if all you see is the cop tackle a kid, then you think its inappropriate.

Do cops do wrong on occasion? Yes, just like in every other profession. If anyone's point is that some cops do bad things, there isn't anyone saying that isn't the case. We do our best to recruit, select, and retain the best people we can. It is harder to get into law enforcement than just about any other profession. We are also held more accountable for our actions than other professions. There aren't may professions where you can be disciplined at work for offenses you commit when you are NOT working. Law enforcement is one of them.

Despite all the safeguards, some bad apples slip through, and some good apples make poor decisions. I don't think there is a fix to that. We are all human.

Trust that 99.5% of law enforcement is striving to do what is right. We do not go looking for fights, we do not want to take anyone's rights away. We really want to protect everyone's rights. However, trouble always finds us. That's our job. To solve trouble. To solve problems. It's not easy, but we do our best. We accomplish amazing things on a daily basis. We sacrifice our lives for people we don't know - for people who wouldn't do the same for us - for people who wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire. But for the 0.5% of the time where a situation doesn't go perfectly, or one of us makes a mistake, we are all indicted as idiots or power hungry thugs.

I don't think its fair, but its something we all deal with. And, we'll keep fighting to protect someone's right to say how unfair and unjust we are. It goes with the job. It's thankless most of the time.

I guess I am smart eneogh to be part of the 99.5%, but not smart eneogh to find the video!

Its funny how irritated I can get over my lack of being "computer savvy", but can tolerate most anything thrown in my direction while "the job"!

Then again, there were no computers when I was in school, no CD's or IPOD's etc...At least there were tape players and 8 Tracks were "around" but not cool...

So now I feel as if I was very sheltered as a child just because I was born in the 70's...

Anyways, good point Officer20 even though I can't figure out how to find the video. I get the idea of it and would probably rather not watch it anyways.

I honestly figured it was the "punks" that drive around approaching LEO's that are "breaking the law" as they call it when in reality WE frequently DO break the law by speeding, blocking traffic, you name it. But we do it in the performance of our duties and if we were not allowed to then we would not be able to catch the criminals etc. Those video's DO irritate me. I have been doing this job before I could drink or buy bullets so I have gained a lot of patience and tolerance over the years, but if I was aggresively approached by one of these "yahoo's" I think I could articulate a reason to make a arrest or citation. And I am not one to normally approve of P.O.P. arrests!

On another note, like the OP I despised LE when I was younger, even with my grandfather being a actual Sheriff. Mainly because my father and his brothers (the "Sheriff's sons) were all dope dealing scumbags when I was growing up and they got away with EVERYTHING, dealing narcotics, assault with firearms, DUI's, you name it. I grew up thinking all LE was "dirty" even though there was little news coverage and no internet videos showing wrong doing.

I think I was about 15 or 16 when I had the "bright" idea that I would become a LEO and "Do the job the right way" and make an actual difference and was hired at 19.

I have always kept that same "mentality" of "doing it right" and have always done the best job I could even if others might have thought it was'nt. So far it has worked.

To help out the OP, here's the video in question (I believe):

RVmGWLsn0iM

And to answer the OP, this video is obviously made by those who hate LEO's and see us as power hungry thugs. As others have told you, if you only see a part of the situation, you can't judge as if you were there and observed the entire thing. Are there bad cops out there? Sure, but it's definitely not as many as this video shows. I won't beat a dead horse because you've already been given some really good info, but I will say that it's ridiculous of people to judge and believe when they only see a portion of an incident.