On dealing with the police, and surveying

@bill93?ÿ

I see that quite differently.?ÿ But, I have had a great deal of positive interaction with quite a few within 50 miles of here.?ÿ Most are no different than you and me.?ÿ They are doing a job too few are willing to do, for too little pay and with too little backup.

Very good advice.?ÿ Wish more of us would try this approach.

There is a book called "Arrest Proof Yourself" written by an ex-cop that should be required reading for everyone new on the crew and every progeny when they are 12.

Beyond that, there are two phrases that will smooth your way with any cop. The first is "Are you guys okay?" and the second is "How can we help you?"

Almost nobody treats cops as real people, in a do-unto-others golden rule kind of way, so much more often as a trigger for unattached anger. Be different.

Busted for traffic violation:

One other thing that should be considered, out of respect for all law enforcement personnel, Is when pulled over, open the drivers and passenger side windows and place both hands on the steering wheel until directed otherwise. These guys deal with fruitcake shooters daily, thus the hands on the wheel indicate you are not holding a weapon. This is much appreciated and may result in a warning as opposed to a citation. And be courteous no matter how pissed off you are about something stupid you did and got caught for. ?????ÿ

@flga-2-2?ÿ

I had long time friend from school who became a Policeman and I met him a decade later and we were talking about this and that. He said the Police have a thing called the "Attitude Test" and if you pass that one test, you are going to be ok.

As a corroboration of that, I have a relative who, about the same time as that conversation with my friend, had had a couple of snifters after work one evening and on the drive home saw a check point in the distance and so bolted down a side street - straight in to the arms of a waiting side street bolter trap. Now this relative, when he's had a snifter, gets lippy, and his opening line to the cops was "haven't you got anything better to do than annoy an old man?". Hence, by his own retrospective self assessment, he failed the Attitude Test. And while he passed the subsequent breath test by ten thousandths of a click, he said the fuzz then proceeded to take the car apart trying to find something wrong with it, that they could prosecute him for.?ÿ

@flga-2-2?ÿ

I never thought about the hands on the wheel but I always put the windows down and interior lights on to calm them and try to hide my "too dark tinted windows". I got many warnings in my teenage and early 20s years, probably based on attitude.?ÿ

@richard-imrie?ÿ

One of the few times I did get a ticket, I was the designated driver and had 2 best friends in the car. They had been drinking. I had cut the muffler off my car and it was very loud, I was forced to drive right past the parked cop car. Being nervous that I'd bet busted for the loud exhaust, I turned the wrong way onto a one way street and realized when I saw cars parked on the wrong side facing me. Got off that street just in time to pull over for the cops.

My passengers failed the attitude test and got me a pricy ticket. Both female, the second cop was a rookie and spoke to us while the other was writing the ticket. She seemed surprised by the fact that she was ticketing me but my friends had already pissed her off. She suggested they share the $ with me, which was her way of saying they caused me to get the ticket.?ÿ

@flga-2-2?ÿ

Alternatively (warning - very strong language):

@350rocketmike?ÿ

When in my teens I stupidly scored 3 speeding violations in 14 months and learned correct protocol when ƒ??lighted upƒ? by law enforcement real quick like. Especially when the juvenile judge got ahold of me and said, ƒ??Boy the next time I see you, you better have your underwear and a toothbrush with you.ƒ? Thatƒ??s as close to verbatim as I can remember.

But I will never forget his title, and I swear, ƒ??The Honorable Judge Robert E. Lee, Jr.ƒ? This was in 1965-1966, Daytona Beach. ?????ÿ

Posted by: @flga-2-2

out of respect for all law enforcement personnel, Is when pulled over, open the drivers and passenger side windows and place both hands on the steering wheel until directed otherwise.

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Posted by: @half-bubble

Be different.

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@350rocketmike I never put the window down. They would be able to smell my breath.

@skeeter1996?ÿ

Lol

About 25 years ago we were working on a survey for the subdivision of a parcel that surrounded the home and smaller property of a little old lady. She was none too happy about the subdivision: her dead husband had sold the land and it had remained undeveloped for many years, during which she continued to treat it as her own. She'd threatened us before, so on this particular visit, we hired the Sherriff's Dept. to accompany us, one Deputy. He went straight to the door and informed her of what was going to happen and she decided to accompany us as well...with a short handled garden spade as a cane. So off we went, the four of us, to recon a couple corners near her house. Metal detector sings about where it should and I dig away with my short-handled shovel. She barks "that's not where the corner is" but quickly I struck upon something and opened up the hole a bit. My field partner knelt down to clear some dirt by hand, and that's when she struck: a full swing, roundhouse blow with the spade, intended to land on the back of his head. The Deputy was interested in what was in the hole, not paying any attention to her, but the sudden movement caught my eye and I managed to catch the spade about a foot above his head and take it from her. The Deputy was slack-jawed and goggle-eyed that this little old lady would do that with him standing right there! He took her back to the house, put her inside and kept her there until we were done. Would have been ugly if she'd had a gun.

Doing some survey work in the

original townsite.?ÿ ?ÿI discovered a couple of lids but not your typical manhole lids.?ÿ

?ÿSo I decided to open them up.?ÿ ?ÿOf course, they have been there for many years and all of the paving and dirt and locked them up pretty good.?ÿ ?ÿSo I took my 5lb sledge and started to beat the crap out of them until they opened.?ÿ

?ÿWell... apparently a noisy neighbor saw me beating the street and called the city and police.?ÿ ?ÿA few minutes later I got a call from my buddy at city hall asking me "What in the hell are you doing pounding the pavement?"?ÿ ?ÿI explained and we had a good laugh.?ÿ Good news is when I opened up the lids, inside was an original stone marking the intersection of the road centerlines.?ÿ ?ÿThey haven't been seen since the 50's, if I had to guess.?ÿ ?ÿMeasured real well too.

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@scotland?ÿ

Now that's funny. ???œ ???œ ???œ?ÿ

I was afraid of getting a similar call a couple days ago when I was lying nearly flat on the ground, picking at dirt crumbles and tree roots to make sure what I was seeing was the top of a 1" pipe.?ÿ "Hello, police station, I want to report some white-haired geezer with a beard flopping around on my neighbor's front lawn."?ÿ A similar call was made years ago when a friend of mine was attempting to read his water meter.?ÿ A passing driver called in about a citizen in distress.