My brother is 3/4 of the way through law school and he agrees completely. I have had a cop purger himself in court when I was fighting a ticket, and of course the judge will immediately take the side of the cop no matter what. I can tell you first hand that 75% of cops are total scum. I've been beaten, arrested and fined for absolutely nothing, and I'm a college educated(criminology/sociology), tax paying, and law abiding person who happens to look a little "wierd", so I tend to be a target for harrassment. Here in Portland the cops are so dirty they will shoot you without any reason if you MOVE during a traffic stop. We have corruption all they way to the top, the chief of the Sherriff's office had to step down because of ethics violations. I would say a person is shot weekly by the cops here....However, there has been some good things happening due citizens policing the police, a number of review boards have come in to existence recently. Good advice, keep you mouth shut, and avoid interaction with pigs at all cost!!!

one night I was walking home from the bars with my buddy and went to take a piss behind a delivery truck, cameras must have saw us, the police were called and we got stopped a few blocks down.

a complaint said we had been trying to break into the truck, after some explaining, the cop then asked where you just taking a piss? I said "yeah", and he said so you weren't doing anything with the truck...

he sent us on our way... now if I would've pleaded the 5th, do you think I would have been arrested, when actually, I just said I was taking a piss, and the worst I was thinking I would get a ticket for it.

however, if I was arrested, and accused of breaking into the truck, a public intoxication, and violation for pissing in public, possibly tresspassing because I pleaded the 5th, that seems like a bigger hassle to get out of, rather than being straight forward with them, and at the very least, a fine for pissing in public, which I did not get either.

Obviously, the guy is talking in absolutes for effect. You used good judgment and got away with it. And let's face it, the questioning on the difference between casing a truck and pissng behind a dumpsters isn't likely to get very "Law and Order". It's simple.

But the professor's point is still a good one.

ubercat wrote:I still maintain that police aren't something to be feared

Man, I have seen the cops pull some shit that would pop your head off your fucking shoulders.

The police are to be feared and avoided like sharks in the ocean.

When one comes around, shut the fuck up, leave it the fuck alone and get the fuck away from it as fast as humanly possible. Do not make any sudden moves, or give it any sort of reason to single you out.
There's no talking or reasoning with a shark. A shark being anywhere near you does absolutely no good for you. Only bad can come from being anywhere near a fucking shark. When a shark gets it into his head that he wants to get you, he's going to get you. He follows no set rules of interaction whatsoever in completing this task. he's not at all concerned with 'doing what's right'
How many people do you know have been helped to safety or saved from drowning by a shark?

sack of smashed assholes wrote:one night I was walking home from the bars with my buddy and went to take a piss behind a delivery truck, cameras must have saw us, the police were called and we got stopped a few blocks down.

a complaint said we had been trying to break into the truck, after some explaining, the cop then asked where you just taking a piss? I said "yeah", and he said so you weren't doing anything with the truck...

You got caught doing something, which is a little different.

In this case, you have to admit to the bare minimum necessary.

I don't know if it was necessary to admit to pissing, but it worked out.

You get pulled over by the cops, you admit to driving a car, give them your license and insurance. Let them tell you what you did wrong. And don't agree or disagree with them.

The video in question addresses instances in which you haven't been caught doing anything. In these instances, never talk to the cops. You have absolutely nothing to gain and a lot to lose.

The last time I thought it was a good idea to volunteer information about myself to the cops, I was 18, and my roommate let them in our dorm room. He ended up getting kicked out of school, taking their word for it that nothing would happen.

But why did he get kicked out of school? I mean, why did they show up to your dorm room in the first place? I suppose they just wanted to say hello...

Seems like a good time to repost the following video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

It's for high school students, but it's worth watching for anyone.

Here's a somewhat related NYT article from a few weeks ago as well:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/us/19 ... ice&st=cse

there are a lot of bad people out there who would take everything you have if it weren't for cops.

sure, a couple [very] bad ones, just like every profession, but most are good.

jayryan wrote:there are a lot of bad people out there who would take everything you have if it weren't for cops.

sure, a couple [very] bad ones, just like every profession, but most are good.

We do live in the same city, right?

I have had the police steal things from me on more occasions than non uniformed criminals.
All the cash in my pocket just zoink! has happened to me several times.
CD's, cigarettes, my club steering wheel lock, nice zippo lighter, hat, a brand new pair of 80 dollar Nike's I just purchased.
All just straight up stolen from me by these 'mostly good' cops during completely illegal searches on the streets on Chicago.