481–490 of 816 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you are a police officer tasked with enforcing the law, and you see coworkers of yours breaking the law by kidnapping people like the one in the OP, why would you not arrest your coworkers?
What happens to me after I arrest my coworkers?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Replace the word 'cyclist' with 'driver', 'woman', 'jew' etc. See where I'm going with this? Your anecdotes are not evidence of a larger problem. All that you're doing is exposing your personal bias. Personally I notice a lot of bad drivers, but I'm not going to then leap to the ridiculous conclusion that drivers think they're above the law. Because there is larger percentage that I don't notice doing the right thing…
We're talking about people with a preference for bicycles not their religion, race or gender. And, yeah, you could replace it with driver, that one at least is valid. I don't know if you've heard of this rift between cyclists and motorists but it gets pretty heated and intense in urban areas. Typically the people pushing for legislative changes and updates to infrastructure are cyclists. Typically, those cyclists are…
You're missing the point. I'm talking about your personal experiences not speaking to a larger issue.
You've clearly had negative interactions with cyclists that have helped you arrive at your view, that isn't in dispute here. What I'm trying to say is don't apply your narrow vision on what is a diverse group of people, the majority of whom obey the law and make a positive contribution to society.
Again; Your personal observations do not equate to evidence of a widespread problem, just as my negative interactions with red haired people does equate to evidence of a MILITANT Ginger brigade out to do harm.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My point is, why contest anything in that moment? You just broke the law and could've potentially caused serious bodily harm to someone. I feel like there's a small window an officer gives you to get out of the ticket. They walk up. They ask you what you did wrong. You tell them. Everyone moves on. Sometimes they write a ticket or a warning. Parent dude completely and intentionally overcomplicated the situation. Wast…
In terms of practicality "shut up and don't ask questions" is certainly going to be minimum hassle. But when the police threatened additional punishments for not having his ID he was perfectly justified in questioning them on the legitimacy of that claim. Acting within your rights shouldn't be punished because it's inconvenient.
If the officer is wrong, unless your life is in immediate danger, you comply and you sort it out later. Call your lawyer to complain when you get home.
Back in November, I was arrested in Brooklyn for running a red light on my bike while on my way to work in Manhattan. Normally you're given a ticket and let go, but in this instance, the officers took issue with the fact that I was not carrying ID. Both officers told me that I "could be arrested for not having ID." For clarification, I asked if it was a city, state, or national law, and the officers adamantly maintai…
I don't know if bicycles are considered vehicles in NYS/NYC. Clearly you can ride a bicycle without ever having a drivers license (as kids can do it), but it may be the case that if you have had one issued, you'd be required to provide it to them.
This is probably a nuanced enough argument that I wouldn't consider having it with a police officer who had just detained me for a real traffic infraction.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
SFPD are going down this road, OPD (Oakland) and many others already do, but the officers often find an excuse for their camera to malfunction when they want, and in many cases they are instructed to turn the camera on themselves before interacting with anyone, and they simply don't. It turns out that telling the cops what to do isn't very effective.
You're probably right; there'd need to be incentives. Maybe tying pay and funding to available footage?
It's high time to just make the cops wear video cameras. A whole lot of this sort of crap could just vanish.
In jurisdictions that have this law, the cameras are amazingly unreliable. The failure rate is just huge..
Back in November, I was arrested in Brooklyn for running a red light on my bike while on my way to work in Manhattan. Normally you're given a ticket and let go, but in this instance, the officers took issue with the fact that I was not carrying ID. Both officers told me that I "could be arrested for not having ID." For clarification, I asked if it was a city, state, or national law, and the officers adamantly maintai…
I find it sad that the officer could be a "joke around the precinct" - presumably incompetent and apparently eager to abuse their power - and still be an officer.
Back in November, I was arrested in Brooklyn for running a red light on my bike while on my way to work in Manhattan. Normally you're given a ticket and let go, but in this instance, the officers took issue with the fact that I was not carrying ID. Both officers told me that I "could be arrested for not having ID." For clarification, I asked if it was a city, state, or national law, and the officers adamantly maintai…
Thanks for pointing this out. I have always been told that this was required in NYC, and I'm pleasantly surprised to learn that it is not[0][1]
[0] http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAW...
[1] http://www.nyclu.org/oped/column-showing-id-nypd-our-times
It's high time to just make the cops wear video cameras. A whole lot of this sort of crap could just vanish.
This was in Texas. I don't recall the exact details. My bosnian friend was racially profiled (as hispanic) by the police. He was ticketed after not coming to a full stop, then arrested because the officer incorrectly assumed that his real driver's license was fake and that he was not a legal citizen. At the precinct, he was told some racist stuff by a working officer before being put in the cell. A lawyer took up his case, asserting that the conditions leading up to his arrest were not actually legal.
What happened then? On the books, he didn't exist. He supposedly never spent a night in jail, was supposedly never arrested and taken in, the fees he paid for bail were supposedly never received or requested, the surveillance camera footage the night he was put in jail happened to be corrupted, and even if he succeeded in getting the bail money back, he'd be out at least an additional thousand for court an lawyer fees.
Needless to say, they didn't pursue the case further.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even more clarification: never talk to police. Give your name, ask for a lawyer. I'm sure there's a few lawyers out there who think that even giving your name is too much of a risk.
But we just got done establishing that police officers have 1) The authority to imprison you on a whim and suffer no repercussions for exercising that authority in ways that judges and other police officers agree is excessive. 2) The authority to lie about what you said or didn't say and suffer no repercussions. There's a large cost associated with the "never talk to police" strategy, and it only starts to probabilis…
The point is that there is no way that talking will help you. They are trying to make a case against you.