nj_cutlass72

http://news.yahoo.com/highway-patrol...223419826.html

Oldsmaniac

And this is why a lot of people hate police officers... remember every one is guilty until proven innocent.

sammy

Wow, shows anything can happen to anybody....

MDchanic

I won't say anything political, but you can see where things are headed in this country, and I'm glad I'm a member of certain organizations that fight for my Constitutional rights (a life member of one of them).

- Eric

tru-blue 442

^^^X2! I have been a member of Pre-paid Legal for 31 yrs now.
Not afraid to mention them, they are the best.
I sure felt bad for that poor couple, what a nightmare!

steve442

so true!!!!

rustyroger

Over here too, it seems that ability to think, double check you have the facts right, and treat the public with respect aren't requirements for our police officers either.
A classic car cruising a highway might require a different approach to a blacked out car cruising round an area known for drug dealing or whatever.
I know officer are potentially putting their lives on the line every time they go on duty, but the video strikes me as sloppy workmanship by the officers concerned

Roger.

rocketraider

Sloppy workmanship? Goes on more than is ever documented and the ones screwing up are never held accountable for their mistakes.

I wouldn't let up until all of the LEO's involved were out of a job and stripped of law enforcement credentials nationwide. That's coming from someone with a family full of LEO's who have no patience with sloppy or rogue cops.

Mess like this is one reason mine don't go out any more than they do. After the 2007 legislation here in VA, I feel like they have a bullseye painted on them. Never mind there's a daily driven 1995 S10 two streets over wearing antique plates- and the legal requirement here to use them is 25 years old. So that means the DMV is sloppy too, and that was the point I made all along when they passed that idiot legislation. It was a money grab...

RetroRanger

Seeing that couple makes you wonder what was the POs thinking obviously you can't judge a book by its cover but you can get some clues to whats inside these people didn't appear to be any threat in any respect.

The other day my wife and I got pulled over by an EPO in a state park, he was not respectful or courteous at all in a very stark contrast to the many other EPOs we have encountered there. We were walking the dog (that's not a eupheism) and he approached on a snowmobile I called the dog she came over and the snowmobile stopped and the EPO started screaming at us like it was a weapons drawn situation, he wanted me to clip the leash on the dog rather than have the leash wrapped around her neck while he approached. His demeanor was completely out of line, but we shrugged it off as maybe he's having a bad day. We agreed if we encounter him again the incident will be recorded!

Junkman

All of this has a history, and the history is that after 9/11, our police departments have become militarized in general procedures. The police are afraid of the public, and are taught that they should always control the situation, no matter what the costs. Intimidation is the normal today, and police respect for the public has declined to the point that it is no longer exists. I know that they have a difficult job to do, however, that is no excuse for the type of policing that we presently have. I remember as a young child getting lost, and the police officer was a friend to everyone, even people that he had never met before. When I was lost, I sought out a police officer, and he got me home. He understood how a child (I was about 8 years old) could get lost, and it wasn't a major incident that required children services intervention. Today, if a child seeks out the help of an officer because he is lost, all hell will break out on the parents. For this reason, children are not taught that the police are their friends in need, but someone to be feared. We live in a totally different world today than the one that I grew up in. Unfortunately, medicine and science have come a long way, however, human relationships have been set back decades.

Koda

Police need to hold themselves to zero tolerance for this stuff before they are held by others to the same standard.

rustyroger

A properly functioning democracy has policing by consent.
That is, the police are allowed to exercise powers that most of us do not have because they are perceived to be behaving in a fair and appropriate manner to maintain law and order.
When respect for the police goes then the opportunity for anarchy to prevail rears its head. Poorly trained officers doing their job badly as outlined above is only harmful for society as a whole.
Imo properly trained officers with a pay scale to match the important work they do might seem a drain on the public purse, but surely the long term cost of law enforcement by well trained officers with the resources to do the job is insignificant compared to a society that has lost faith in its governments ability to keep its citizens safe.

Roger.

oldstata

X2

It's really sad too but it's the truth what we did as kids isn't allowed today.
Also IMO here locally we have had a few questionable deaths by cop. As a result they are starting to get body camera for each officer or trying to at least

Not sure what needs to change but some where it needs to

MDchanic

Heck, if things were the way they are now when I was a kid, I'd only just be getting out on parole now.

- Eric

Koda

Where it starts is with you. Write your representatives.

toro68

x3!

oldcutlass

This happened to my baby brother back in the 70's. He and his friend were tooling around in a 73 Maverick and got pulled over because his car matched the description of a car used in an armed robbery.

pogo69

that was a bad situation for those folks a computer input error is the reason behind it and i cant blame the police completely,its pretty much how they are trained these day...especially post 9/11, there are a lot more crazies out there today than when i was a kid

Oldsmaniac

If it were me I would hope to bring in a lawyer and get satisfaction. Public humiliation, false accusations, false arrest, belittlement, harsh treatment. Surely something should be gotten for having been put in a situation where a trigger pull was just a moment away of losing your life. I am surprised the guns did not go a blazing when his wife pulled out her crutch. They could have mistaken it for an assult rifle. Numbers should have been run on the car more than once before guns were drawn... The officers involved should receive disiplinary action as well for the way they made this go down.

OLD SKL 69

x2