Bob Payne
Every year about this time I write a little article about the police. You know – the po-po, the cops, 5-0. I will start off this message by saying that I am biased toward the cops. You see, my Grandfather was a cop and he was killed on the job long before I could have ever met him. In fact, my Dad was only 8 when his dad was killed, so even he barely knew him. He was shot and killed while serving a warrant on a fellow. He had also been shot and wounded a year prior to that. It’s a dangerous profession.
That being said, I will repeat what I have said for the past few years – obey the law and you most likely won’t end up in a pair of silver bracelets, riding to the crossbar motel in a police car.
Even if you are an unruly, authority challenging police hater, just cool it for 5 minutes and don’t try and one-up the cop. Just bite your tongue and say “yes sir” or “yes mam”. You won’t burst into flames. They might even let you go.
Now, here is some advice you can take to the bank – argue with the cops, go for their gun, decide to fight, or charge at them and it will never end well. In the case of my Grandfather, it ended poorly for both him and his killer. Grandfather died from his wounds and the killer was found guilty and executed, as well. It never ends well. On the other hand, even if you are are committing some malfeasance, being nice, an apology for causing a ruckus, and maybe complimenting the officer’s nice hair – well, it may just get you set free. (Don’t be a wisecracker and compliment a cop that is bald, though)
I know there are some officers out there that my not need to be in law enforcement. I really believe that they are few and far between. However, I will tell you this without any hesitation – being nice to them will result in less trouble than being a jerk. In the rare instance of a bad apple cop, your likelihood of a successful encounter is many times higher when you are nice and cooperative than it is when you decide to be a jerk and challenge their authority.
Also, understand that cops are very highly trained and trained with a specific protocol to follow when a suspect reaches for a weapon or decides to fight. It doesn’t matter if you are 12 years old or a hundred – if you go for a weapon, that officer’s training immediately comes in to play and they are going to eliminate the threat. In other words, all bets are off and you are most likely to come out on the short end of the stick. Don’t blame the officer; blame their training, if anything. (You won’t win that argument either, as study after study has confirmed the current training methods)
Here is a true story. I was pulled over for running a red light one night while riding with my wife, son, and grandson. The red light had just been installed that day and was not yet activated. I waited, looked both ways and proceeded with caution. Apparently, Deputy Dog and his cohort did not know the light was inoperative. As it turns out, I was only 2 blocks from my house and by the time the officer turned his blue lights on, I was only two doors down from my house. I pulled into my driveway and turned off my car. The officer shined his spotlight on my car and ordered all of us to put our hands up inside the car. He then had me exit the car with my hands stretched out to the sides. He had me walk backwards to him at the front of his police car. I followed his instructions to the letter. Next thing you know, I am in handcuffs and sitting in the back of the patrol car. When I asked what was going on, he said I ran a red light and tried to evade police. When I asked about the evading charge, he said I should have stopped immediately, not 12 seconds later when I pulled into my driveway at 4 miles per hour.
I explained that the light did not work yet, as it was brand new. He didn’t care; I ran it. I explained to him that when we got to court, I would probably make him look pretty bad for giving me a ticket to running a non-working red light. I would also attack the felony evading charge, as I only evaded him for 12 seconds at 4 mph. I told him that the judge might even get madder at him than at me. He got a bit worried and called in to his boss on his cell phone. His boss must have told him to let me go from the handcuffs and just write me a ticket. He did just that.
The next day, I simply called his office and asked for the head superior for that officer. I got a nice Lieutenant and I told him the whole story. I also told him I didn’t want anything on the officer’s permanent record. I just wanted him to know the guy needed additional training. The nice Lieutenant said he would have to check with the officer and get his side of the story. He called me back a few minutes later and kind of laughed and said my side of the story matched the officer’s story. Come to find out, this guy was a rookie and somehow got assigned with another rookie. The two of them had almost zero experience. He also called the DOT and they verified that the light was brand new and inoperative. It was on the schedule to be activated later that day. The two rookies even confirmed my 12-second, 4 mph chase to my driveway. He was so thankful that I didn’t want to pursue a formal complaint that he promised that the two rookies would be disciplined with cruddy duty for a while, like guarding the county landfill or something. Needless to say, when I got to court, the prosecutor found me and told me all charges had been dropped. When I inquired as to why they behaved so strangely, he said they admitted to being very nervous, as I was 100 pounds and about 4 inches bigger than either of them, despite the fact that I was walking backwards with my arms outstretched and they had their weapons pulled on me.
That whole thing could have really gone south, had I decided to not cooperate. I had done nothing wrong, but I still did what they instructed, as ridiculous as it seemed at the time. If I had just strong-armed a convenience store or had reached for a gun, toy or not, things may have gone much differently. Had I decided to turn around and pop one of them in the nose, I am guessing I wouldn’t be writing this right now; my heirs would.
For those that are interested, here is my Grandfather’s story:
http://www.odmp.org/officer/10464-inspector-william-e-payne
Have a happy New Year and a safe one. Thanks to all the police officers out there looking out for our safety. Be careful, as it is a dangerous job that doesn’t pay enough.
Bob Payne grew up in Chattanooga and graduated from Baylor School. He is the Entertainment Editor for the Chattanoogan.com and talent buyer for Friends Of The Festival.
Email Bob Payne at davrik2000@yahoo.com or catch him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davrik2000.