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Comment by rtkwe | Hacker News Reader

> Act like a normal, sensible person. Don't try to provoke them, and don't give them any reason to escalate the encounter.

The problem is asserting your rights and not acting like a docile thankful citizen can get treated as escalation in and of itself.

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Citation needed. There are 700,000 cops in the US, some conducting 20+ traffic stops a day. How many people are being arrested because they asserted their rights? Especially in the age of smart phones and body cameras, it's pretty small. Of course it happens, no system is perfect, though we should strive to be, your rights aren't a formality. Don't flex them, exercise them. They're like muscles. Flexing is just showing off for no real purpose. Exercising them makes them stronger. Not exercising them makes them atrophy.

It's not purely about being arrested but it does happen that people get arrested just for filming.

And I'd be way more receptive to the 'a few bad apples' argument if the whole thing didn't react to any charges or investigations into those bad apples as an attack on the whole followed by at best a retirement right before they get disciplined and fired (where they usually just go work for a different department or security).

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/11/29/man-arrested-for-...

It's absolutely true and unfair that getting upset at your predicament can move used an excuse to harm you.

That's why you have to act like a sensible, docile, thankful citizen who also asserts your rights. Do not act "normal". Normal gets you hurt.

If your 'normal' is "abrasiveness asshole with a hair-trigger temper", then definitely don't act normal. If your 'normal' is "sensible and calm", then act normal.

Whether "normal gets you hurt" or "gets you a professional interaction" says more about your particular personality than anything else.

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