Southern Cops

where are all these "cool" cops everyone meets? in my 30 plus years I have yet to meet one.. i know they gotta be out there but i ain't never met them.. guess the last one that gave me a warning was ok..

They're around. There's bad ones too.... but I generally figure if I'm getting pulled over (except for the last time, but that's a whole other story) I deserve it for one reason or another, and I'm as chill as possible. I think it actually helps me a lot.

I let a cop search my truck in a stop one time. I had a busted tail light due to sliding off the road and clipping a tree. They found some film canisters and thought they had found something. They opened them up and found film. They got a good laugh and told me to take it easy and not back into anymore trees.

In reply to N Sperlo:

FARVA'S NUMBER ONE! FARVA'S NUMBER ONE!

i'vel earned that the older cops tend to be the "cool" ones.. i hate when i see a 22 year old walking up to my window because i know that at the very least he's going to try to impress me with his awesome authoritay and demand that i respect it..

i once did a really long burnout in my 94 9C1 Caprice right in front of a county cop in the middle of nowhere at 3:30 am.. i was giving my cousin a ride home after work, and he said that he didn't think i'd do a burnout.. so i did it.. he pulled me over and asked me what happened... i told him i was sorry, but there must have been some sand on the road or something.. after he ran my license and insurance, he comes back and tells me to try not to do that.. then tells me how much better the Caprice cop cars were than the POS Crown Vickies they were stuck with.. i asked him if he wanted to race, but he said there would be no real point because my Caprice would blow his car away and he'd have to give me a ticket for street racing to save face.. he tells me to have a good night and walks back to his car.. i could see him shaking his head on his way back..

i see him again at the Holiday store about 10 minutes later after i drop my cousin off.. it must have been fresh donut time, because he and about 5 of his cop buddies had their cars lined up by the door, standing there talking.. he sees me as i pull up, says something, and all the cops turn to look at me and laugh a little bit.. i walk right by as i go inside, say "what's up, officers?", and go into the store. after that night, all the city and county cops waved at me when i drove past in my awesome white Caprice.

I've had good encounters and bad encounters with southern officers. So far GA cops have been the biggest bastards. Florida cops have varied. Some have been unusually cool (usually FHP) and some have been complete schmoes (usually sheriffs and city cops). In terms of BS incidents, I've been pulled over for a non-working tail light (the bulb holder fell out of the housing in the trunk) and had my car searched. On a speeding stop they called in reinforcements and a dog to search my car because I had like 20 film canisters littering the car (I was a photo major at the time) and they ruined several rolls of perfectly good film just to be jerks. The car (and I) was clean.

I had an FHP officer let me off for 108mph in a 65 one time. I was driving home early on a Sunday morning in my ragged out '70 Mach 1 after a night of partying. The moment I saw him in the median I let off and immediately started pulling to the side, even before he'd gotten turned around to catch me. After looking at my license and registration he says: "I'm gonna give you a warning 'cause I know this car will go a lot faster than that." What he didn't know is that, actually, it wouldn't.

On a drive down Aligator Alley (I-75 between Naples and Miami) on Christmas Eve (to go see my grandmother), I saw an FHP officer coming up behind me fast with his lights on. I was speeding (75-ish in a 65) and was sure he was coming to pull me. I slowed, but as he approached he pulled into the left lane and I noticed a bunch of cars following him. He pulled beside me and waved at me and pointed me in behind him... I got a 100mph police escort for 60+ miles to the US27 exit! Merry Christmas from FHP I guess.

darkbuddha wrote: On a speeding stop they called in reinforcements and a dog to search my car

Uh... er... isn't that, like, illegal?

Cop says "can I search your car?" You reply "not without a warrant or probable cause" If the cop is legitimately suspicious or an ass they will get a dog to sniff. If you have "paraphernalia" in plain sight then they have probable cause and can search the car. Film canisters, baggies, odd looking boxes, pill bottles etc. count as "paraphernalia". You don't allow them to search without probable cause or a warrant because when they break something it's too damn bad for you. Plus it is a violation of your rights. I have never been searched nor asked to be searched so what do I know?

I don't know if this makes a difference, but it was 20 years ago. Besides, when the officer asked "Do you mind if I take a look in your car?", I said "Nah... go ahead." I just expected he'd just take a quick look, but I guess all those film canisters must've looked too incriminating. Plus I suspect there was a bit of profiling going on... 19 year old long haired, metal head looking kid driving a clapped-out, multi-color '70 Mustang. Or maybe they were training some newbie or whatever and just needed someone to practice on. I'm still not sure why they felt it necessary to waste $25 worth of perfectly good unused film rolls, but I didn't say a word.

Ok I'll bite, coming home from a late night of partying in HS with a car load of friends (more than I had seat belts for) all e36m3 faced except me the DD for the night. Final point we had no drinks in the car, but I had all of the empties from the party in trash bags in the back stuffed behind my friends (recycling). I got pulled over in the very affluent and private community in town (Known as "The Forest") with it's own police force. I was driving my suspcious 1974 VW Thing.

officer: Ya'll been drinking tonight?

Me: Not me sir I'm the driver tonight, but all of them have been.

officer: Where you heading?

Me: addresses of several of my freinds in the car who lived in the community.

Officer: Whats in all those trash bags?

Me: Recycling.

Officer: Was this party in "The Forest"?

Me: No Sir. North side of town.

Officer: Ya'll be safe getting home and have a Nice evening.

Pretty cool cop in my opinion, I am sure he could have found plenty to write me up for in he wanted. Seat belts? Not to mention about 100 open containers I had in trash bags in the back. I am sure it smelled like a brewery in there even with the top down. Obviously the primary purpose of this police force was keeping unwanted traffic out and the residents safe. Lets just say it wasn't the last time my car got pulled over late night on the weekend for drunk checks. I cannot imagine there were all that many 74 Things running around that nieghborhood. ;-)

In reply to LopRacer: Almost all cops will cut a Designated Driver a LOT of slack. They hate dealing with DWI's and the results.

was lost going to a party in that same "Forest" and one of their LEO's stopped me.... at the time I was a bartender with a huge "white" afro and a bigger beard, driving a clapped out '76 Civic... told him the home I was trying to find ( the roads in Biltmore Forest can be a bit confusing) ... his response was " follow me, I'll lead you there" ....

Drunk and underage while racing down highway 41 in Kennesaw GA. (notorious for busting balls of traffic offenders) Buddy and I got pulled over. Cop asked if we had been drinking, we truthfully said yes. Had us say our ABC's, we couldnt. Made us blow in the breathalyzer thingy, dont know what we blew but we failed. He made us sit on the side of the road for an hour. He drove by every 15 minutes to make sure we were there. Cool cop in my opinion. Granted this was in high school and I just went to my 25th year reunion so...