In the Soviet Union you not only bribed police, but the grocer, the mail man, your child's principal, and the list goes on.
Fixed.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_ruble#Economic_role
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortage_economy
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Товарный_дефицит_в_СССР (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js...)
[1] As opposed to less useful goods like political books with titles along the lines of "The Proceedings of the Nth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union", which were plenty, and which you sometimes had to buy by the dozen in order for the salesperson to agree to sell you a few more desirable books.
Once, it's funny. When this shit happens to you on a regular basis, it's tragic.
http://www.angelfire.com/mn/nn/Knightrider.html (No Big Thing)
or maybe it was just random drunks...