Let me tell you about two specific experiences with the law...

[Proots]

Now, I notice on this site, there's a lot of hate for cops. Some of it's justified, some of it's funny and some of it's a little bit over the top. For the records, I will now be telling you of two experiences I had with the law. Now, I've had several run ins with the cops, unfortunately. But, these are two that stand out, not because they're particularly interesting, but because they do a good job demonstrating how vile and how generous police officers can be.

Personally, I don't care for cops - but, after the one incident, I've tried to treat every cop I've run into with a level of respect that I myself would want to be treated with. These two stories aren't pro/anti-cop they're just food for thought. Something for the people who love and hate cops to think about.

WARNING : THIS IS LONG. I'LL START WITH THE 'BAD COP' STORY AND FOLLOW UP WITH THE 'GOOD COP' STORY.

This first instance took place in 2007. It was the summertime in Pittsburgh, so it was very hot and muggy. I was living in Butler at the time and driving down to the North Side to pick up dope. The problem being - that the registration stickers on my car are of course...registered in Butler. Cops in the city are aware of the Allegheny County stickers and can spot where your car is from just by looking at them. This in itself is a problem, because right away a cop can look at your car and realize that you're not supposed to be there.

Anyways, I picked up 2 bundles from my guy. I already had clean works in my center console, since I was planning to pick up then head right to McKnight Road - a busy street that takes you right to a large mall, from the city.

Whenever I drove to the city, I was always anxious. I'm an anxious person as it is, but the long drive down route 28 only compounded my anxiety - and, let's not forget that by that time I was usually knocking on the door of fiending. I would chain smoke cigarettes and grip the steering wheel with sweaty, white knuckled hands.

Since I was an addict and in essence, a moron - I decided to pull over in a small "one way" alley that allowed parking on one side. I got my shit out and got high. As I was letting the euphoria was over me, I noticed a cop in my side mirror. I looked dead ahead and focused on my cigarette. He drove past me and I breathed a sigh of relief.

After waiting a few minutes until I was sure the coast was clear, I started my car and wormed my way out of the parking space. I was high and feeling pretty confident and care free. As I got to the end of the alleyway, I noticed a cop (probably the same one) parked up the dead end street to the left. I had no choice. The alley was one way, so I couldn't back into it and chances are he already saw me. I think, even though I'm paranoid, I was already comfortable with the idea of being busted. It's like I knew then and there, seeing that cop parked there, that I was cooked.

I made a right and drove not more than twenty feet until he started following me. He crushed all my hopes of getting away as soon as he turned his lights on.

He pulled me over. I stopped my car and sighed. Despite the euphoria from the dope, my bowels felt watery and anxiety started to blossom in my stomach. He walked up to the window and asked for my license and registration. I handed it to him. He went to his car and did whatever cops do and returned. Then events that transpired went a little bit like this :

"Why don't you step out of the car for me?"

"Is something wrong, officer?" I asked, probably way too meekly.

He slammed his hand on the hood of my car and said loudly, almost yelling "I asked you to step out of the fucking vehicle. Does it look like there's something wrong?"

Dejected, I sighed once more and unbuckled my seat belt. I opened the door and put one foot on the ground and before I could even stand up he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and hauled me upwards. It was startling and I think I yelled something like "Hey!" which of course, made him tell me to shut the fuck up, again.

He positioned himself behind me and gave me a light shove. "Walk to the back of my cruiser. Now." he demanded. I walked there and he followed. He made me put my hands on the trunk of his car and he kicked my legs apart so hard I almost fell.

He began searching me, without even asking. I hardly even got out two words of protest before he grabbed a clump of my hair and pulled my head back so the back of my skull was almost touching the back of my neck.

"I am not going to tell you to shut the fuck up, again." He hissed. As he was patting me down, and taking things out of my pockets, he asked me if I had any weapons or knives on me, or anything sharp. I confessed that I had a syringe on me, in my pocket. He asked me if it was capped. I was almost positive I remembered capping it, but just to be safe I told him I wasn't sure.

He felt around my pockets and when his hand came over the shape of a needle he asked me "Is this it, right here?"

I confirmed and he asked me to slowly take it out of my pocket. I complied and pulled the needle out - my hands were dripping with sweat and since I was so clumsy and nervous, it slipped out of my hand when I went to grab it. It fell to the ground and the cap, which I guess was hardly on, popped off.

I didn't even feel him hit me. I think it was a hard, open handed slap with those gloves on. I fell to the ground clutching my face. He was screaming at me.

"You said it was fucking capped! And, you try to throw a fucking dirty needle at me? Do I look like a fucking dart board, you fucking nigger?"

I'm white - and, I was astonished to be called a "nigger". I tried to apologize and explain while I attempted to gain my footing. I placed on hand on the ground to boost myself up and he kicked it out from under me. I hit the ground, face first - scraping my nose.

This time he screamed, and I mean screamed at me. He bent down and grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled my head up so my ear was inches away from his mouth. He was yelling in my ear so loud it almost hurt. He put his foot on my back and stepped down hard, pinning me to the ground. He called for back up.

When the other cruisers came - he told the other cop that I tried to attack and stab him with a dirty needle! The other cop asked something like "Why isn't he cuffed yet?" and the officer told him that I was resisting and he needed help getting my hands behind my back.

I was stunned. Absolutely gobsmacked, that this guy could make up so many lies about me. The rage, hurt and frustration I felt at that moment was indescribable. They roughly put me in handcuffs. As they clicked shut, I couldn't help myself. He spun me around so we were face to face. I looked at him and calmly said "You are a liar."

He grabbed me by the center of my shirt, once again and pulled me close so our noses were touching. He screamed at me, spraying me with spit :

"Did I ask you a fucking question? Did anyone here tell you to fucking talk? NO! THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP! Do I look like Mommy and Daddy? Is that what I fucking look like? NO! SO SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, GOD DAMMIT!"

He read me my rights and threw me bodily into the back of his car. The other cop called a third cop to the scene and they searched my car. They charged me with possession of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia, assaulting an officer and assault with a deadly weapon.

As we drove to jail, I didn't cry - but, I remember my eyes glazing over with tears of frustration and anger. I had been arrested before. I didn't mind being arrested. You get caught, you get caught. But, never had I experienced such ill treatment, disrespect. But, that in itself wasn't even bad. People are jerks - and, I'm okay with that.

It was the lies. The lies were what hurt the most. When all was said and done I ended up spending 13 months in jail. The assault charges were dismissed, thankfully. It turns out, that while I was awaiting trial - not one, not two, but three other people were suing the PCPD because of that officer's actions.

I'm supposing they had a pretty good case, because he was not only fired - but convicted. I heard he was convicted of assault and mistreatment and whatnot. The details I'll never know. I tried looking into it, but could never find out any real specifics.

[Proots]

Now, for the GOOD COP story.


This took place somewhere during 2008 - almost a whole year after the incident in 2007. I was homeless at the time, since I was living with my parents and they no longer tolerated my bullshit. Thankfully, I have a place of my own, now.

I had only been living on the street for about 2 weeks at the time. I was hopping from vacant house to vacant house, living with squatters and passing out at flop houses. I was stealing, robbing and ripping off to support my habit. Food and cleanliness were completely secondary to me, if acknowledged at all.

I was able to acquire around enough money to get high, so I started off towards a certain vacant house that I knew. I met the guy there, got my shit and got high. As soon as I pushed off my ears started to ring and I collapsed.

I woke up covered in vomit. I think I may have even pissed myself, I don't know. The niggers took my clothes. They took everything. They literally stripped me to my underwear and left me for dead. I suppose I wasn't thinking clearly - and not having any clothes or any belongings to speak of hit me harder than it should have.

I ran outside the house into the frigid Pittsburgh weather in nothing but my boxers. I ran from door to door, looking inside each house, listening - trying to hear voices, trying to find the people who robbed me. I know, that in hindsight this couldn't be more absurd or ridiculous but, whatever. What can I say? I was sick in the head.

Somebody must have seen me and called the police. At least, that's what the officer told me afterward. As I was running down the street, he pulled his car right in front of me. I turned to run in the other direction - somehow thinking I was going to get far in my bare feet, on the filthy, freezing cold sidewalk.

He got out of his cruiser and yelled "Hey, buddy, wait! Hold it! I'm not here to arrest you."

I stopped and turned around. I'll never know why. Normally, I would have just kept running. I'm glad I didn't.

He approached me slowly, with his hands out in a disarming posture. He said something to his radio and then looked at me and was like

"Easy...take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you....I'm not going to take you to jail, I just want to help...just take it easy."

He kept walking closer to me like I as some wild animal that he was afraid he would spook with sudden movement. He finally got close enough and asked me what happened. I tried to explain, but I imagine I raved, instead. He took me back to his car and opened the door and beckoned me to sit.

I sat down in the back and he draped a blanket over my shoulders. He handed me a bottle of water and told me to relax. That he was here to help and other soothing things. Every time I tried to talk to him, the words came out wrong. I would learn later that I was indeed, raving and incoherent.

He put me in cuffs and explained that he wasn't arresting me, that it was just standard procedure or whatever the fuck. He started the car and turned the heat on, in an effort to warm me up. As we drove, I remember feeling sick. I don't know if I said anything, or how it happened, but - the car was stopped and I was on the side of the road puking and he was patting me on the back, telling me it was okay and that everything was going to be okay. He even wiped my face with a paper towel for me.

When we got back to the station, he took my cuffs off. True to his word, I wasn't in jail. He got me another blanket and a bottle of water and put me by a space heater. He left me alone with a newpaper for a while. I tried to read, but the words jumped off the page and jumble themselves up. I tried to sleep, by my heart was pounding like a fucking pneumatic jack.

A while later he came back and told me he made some calls. He said that he got me a place at the local homeless shelter where he could drop me off, or - if I stuck around a representative from a rehab would come pick me up. It was my choice.

I weighed my options and picked the rehab. At least I'd be able to stay there all day and as a plus, get off drugs. He asked me what size clothes I wore and I told him. He left and returned a little under an hour later.

He actually went to Wal-Mart and bought me three pairs of jeans, three long sleeved shirts, socks, underwear and a toiletry kit with deodorant, shampoos, shaving cream and shit.

He let me clean myself up and get dressed. A while later the lady from the facility came to pick me up and take me there. He wished me luck. I thanked him for the things he bought me and gave him a hug.

Here I am, years later - still getting high but not nearly as much of a fuck up as I used to be. Do I like cops? No. But, ever since then, I've see all sides. Can cops be evil assholes? Yes. But, they can also be like the officer in my experience, too.

How does that make you bitch made niggas feel?

[constantinople]

would thank out of thanks.


My BAD COP story:

My story was fairly less dramatic. It just involved being screamed at a lot because some fat cop said he was going to call in detectives for a class C misdemeanor (shop lifting) to analyze some security footage to identify my friend if i didn't do it first, so I laughed in his face. What PD has the resources to waste detectives on some shit like that?

All that happened was I got 20 hours community service and I had to go to some class for 3, 1hr sessions about why it was wrong to shop lift.

Needless to say, I did pay for my DXM from then on, lmao.



GOOD COP STORY:

- the one who let me go for being belligerently drunk underage
- the one who told me to go home and not smoke anymore pot when he had me for possession red handed
- the one who watched me smoke a blunt directly infront of him at a music festival
- the one searched my car and told me to hide my weapons a litter better (baseball bat, baton, big ass skinning knife)
- and all those numerous numerous kind hearted souls who let a brotha off of SO many speeding tickets.



I must have a purty mouth or something.

[constantinople]

Also, I really enjoyed the BAD COP story. I probably would have felt betrayed too. I can take being roughed up or whatever but to have someone blatantly lie about you like that, and you being powerless to stop it..I can't even imagine. I felt your pain in that post

[Proots]

Originally Posted by TrustedDr.Watson

Also, I really enjoyed the BAD COP story. I probably would have felt betrayed too. I can take being roughed up or whatever but to have someone blatantly lie about you like that, and you being powerless to stop it..I can't even imagine. I felt your pain in that post

Exactly! Every confrontation I've had with the police, I've psychologically prepared myself to get slapped around and chewed out. That's not so bad, you know? And, honestly I'm not the kind of guy to raise a stink over shit like that. But, maaaaan - when he tried to say that I attacked him with a "dirty" needle?

The helplessness was the worst feeling in the world. I mean, it's not like I could sit there and argue - least of all with him around. What's that going to do?

Thanks for reading though, man!

[Unwyred]

Read both stories and all I can say is, "Wow."

The first story made me sick to know that there are many officers like that out there, and though with the advances in officer monitoring equipment, much of that corruption when it happens comes from higher up in the department.

The second story made me feel good about why I decided to take this career path. This is the type of officer I wish to model myself after.

Excellent thread Midge, I'm glad you took the time to share these experiences with us.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Midge

Exactly! Every confrontation I've had with the police, I've psychologically prepared myself to get slapped around and chewed out. That's not so bad, you know? And, honestly I'm not the kind of guy to raise a stink over shit like that. But, maaaaan - when he tried to say that I attacked him with a "dirty" needle?

The helplessness was the worst feeling in the world. I mean, it's not like I could sit there and argue - least of all with him around. What's that going to do?

Thanks for reading though, man!

I would have filed a massive law suit against that police department and had a monster shyster lawyer come flex his shit all over that PD.

And then I would have filed a personal law suit in civil claims court to go after his own personal bankroll.


If only these options were available to every member of the public, perhaps justice would be more universal.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Unwyred

Read both stories and all I can say is, "Wow."

The first story made me sick to know that there are many officers like that out there, and though with the advances in officer monitoring equipment, much of that corruption when it happens comes from higher up in the department.

The second story made me feel good about why I decided to take this career path. This is the type of officer I wish to model myself after.

Excellent thread Midge, I'm glad you took the time to share these experiences with us.

You know, I've heard that a lot as an explanation as to why Texas State Troopers are so unanimously hated; and almost everyone I've talked to with some authority says it's because the high-ranking officials in that organization make the job absolute hell on the regular patrol-men and what not.

[Proots]

Originally Posted by Unwyred

Read both stories and all I can say is, "Wow."

The first story made me sick to know that there are many officers like that out there, and though with the advances in officer monitoring equipment, much of that corruption when it happens comes from higher up in the department.

The second story made me feel good about why I decided to take this career path. This is the type of officer I wish to model myself after.

Excellent thread Midge, I'm glad you took the time to share these experiences with us.

Thanks, for reading. I know it was a real...hunk of words...it's a lengthy post, so I appreciate you taking the time to even skim over them, let alone read them.

Like I said before - I understand there's a lot of cop hate, here. A lot of it is justified, but I wanted to put it into perspective. I can't automatically hate someone who's a cop, because they could very well be the kind of cop in my second story. Hell, I've had run in's before that were polite and routine - even that's not bad at all.

For every cop out there that's like the one I've experienced in the "BAD COP" memory, I like to think that there's another one out there who's just like the "GOOD COP" that I remember.

Originally Posted by TrustedDr.Watson

I would have filed a massive law suit against that police department and had a monster shyster lawyer come flex his shit all over that PD.

And then I would have filed a personal law suit in civil claims court to go after his own personal bankroll.


If only these options were available to every member of the public, perhaps justice would be more universal.

Oh, I know - I know. Nowadays, I would do that with a heartbeat. But, then...I simply didn't have the drive, focus, means or motivation to do so. My mind was other places, as well as my priorities. I was kind of "out there" if you can feel me.

[constantinople]

Originally Posted by Kipohippo

Damn, thats a really bad cop, and a really good cop. My experience with cops is limited I guess. Only really had to deal with them when I passed out drunk in school once. He searched my backpack and I said "Thass illegalll" and he just laughed because I probably sounded hilarious. From my friends at that school though, I've heard he's a decent guy.

One of my friends got caught with weed and they were gonna weight it (why at school, idk) and the dean put the whole bag and was like "5 grams" (my friend said it was .3 he had gotten for bringing customers in for his dealer). The cop said "no no no, you can't weigh the bag." and he wen't out and got a little dish, cleared it, then weighed it.

So I'm pretty lucky in those regaurds. I've never had to deal with an asshole cop.

I think the cop only did that because if he hadn't he wouldn't have been able to charge you.

[Proots]

Originally Posted by Kipohippo

Damn, thats a really bad cop, and a really good cop. My experience with cops is limited I guess. Only really had to deal with them when I passed out drunk in school once. He searched my backpack and I said "Thass illegalll" and he just laughed because I probably sounded hilarious. From my friends at that school though, I've heard he's a decent guy.

One of my friends got caught with weed and they were gonna weight it (why at school, idk) and the dean put the whole bag and was like "5 grams" (my friend said it was .3 he had gotten for bringing customers in for his dealer). The cop said "no no no, you can't weigh the bag." and he wen't out and got a little dish, cleared it, then weighed it.

So I'm pretty lucky in those regaurds. I've never had to deal with an asshole cop.

Thanks - that's why I decided to share these two experiences. You know, to show that there is some polarity. Not all cops are really, really hard to deal with.

And, like I said before - and, I think you summed it up with your story, Proots - that most of my experiences with them have been entirely polite, run-of-the-mill and professional. Know what I mean? Some people have a tendency to act like the cop is there to personally clown on them, and while it may seem that way, it's not always like that.

But, please, all stories and experiences are welcome. I thank you guys for taking the time to read my proots. Really, I know they're pretty lengthy, so I appreciate it. I know they both show extremes - but neither of those stories has been embellished. In fact, there's things that I even left out, unintentionally. I just remembered certain things they both said to me only after I had already written them.

I just want you guys to know - that I'm 100 percent Greek. My father and mother were born over there, they had me in America, though. This is relevant, because I'm trying to illustrate that I'm a small guy. We're all very tiny, small framed people. There is no way, in my right mind or not - I would ever dream of attacking someone let alone a cop with a syringe. Especially a cop. That's begging for an ass kicking. Know what I mean? I'm being 100 percent honest, here. There is nothing I did when I was with that cop that could have even remotely been construed as aggressive or offensive. I've gone over the whole situation hundreds, if not thousands of times in my mind since it happened, trying to pinpoint exactly what it was I did wrong.

Then I realized, I didn't do anything wrong. All my efforts to remember something that never happened were to absolve him of what he did to me. I forgive him, though. I don't know the man - but judging from what happened with him, he might have been a bad person, or maybe he didn't know how to control his temper. I don't know. Some people are just born mean.

And, some people are born good.