Comment by rhino369 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rhino369 | Hacker News Reader

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>While it is never a bright idea, it is certainly not illegal to be rude to a police officer. Assaulting them certainly is but no-one is claiming that in this case.

It isn't illegal to be rude, but the cop also doesn't have to let you off if you are being an asshole. She broke the law and he was going to be nice and let her off with a warning. Instead she was combative and he decided not to.

He asked her nicely to put out the cigarette and she essentially told him to fuck off she can do what she wants. Nobody has to sit there as inhale your shitty smoke.

Cops can order you out of your car for no reason once you got pulled over. It is definitely not false arrest. And I think the cop had totally reasonable grounds to make her get out.

Would you sit there and get shittalked while someones blowing smoke in your face because she has an authority/anger problem.

Being a dick to a police office who can still use his discretion to let you off is a really dumb move.

I might not sit there and get shit-talked to, but it is a police officer's job to deal with troublesome people in a manner that is safe, calm, professional, and respectful to all those involved. Your implicit acceptance of the "play nice to cops" game ignores the possibility of systemic biases present in "the game".

I always find it ironic that, for example, the NYPD's slogan is "Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect"... I have no doubt that the majority of interactions between citizenry and police are filled with all three, but it's the sore thumbs like the OP that are truly glaring.

I'm not talking about "playing nice" I'm talking about not acting like an asshole. It's stupid to act like an asshole to someone you want to give you a break/benefit of the doubt.

The cop isn't disrespectful until she refuses his order several times and he was to force her out of the car. At which point she cusses him out for several minutes straight.

It would be great if we had saints who could stand being yelled at like that without yelling back, but I sure couldn't.

The cop is disrespectful immediately. She's got a valid gripe (getting out of the way of the police officer means she gets pulled over), and he doesn't like that he's being called out on his shenanigans (threatening a ticket for failure to signal when pressured by aggressive driving).

See how that works? It's a he-said, she-said. It's great that there's one side that's obligated to act professionally and respectfully; it's a pity that that obligation seems to have fallen by the wayside. (Or, perhaps it never existed for certain segments of the population.)

What video are you watching? The first interaction is completely civil.

The second time he asks if she is okay and she goes on a tirade. He says "ok" and then asks politely if she can put her cigarrate out. He literally says "Do you mind" and "please."

And her resonance is "I'm in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette." And he says to get out of the car. She refuses and says she doesn't have to.

>"threatening a ticket for failure to signal when pressured by aggressive driving"

He's like 5-6 car lengths behind her. Watch the video.

The same one as you! ;)

8:42: You ok? (An apparently conscientious and concerned question from the police. Good, but too bad he doesn't stay like this.)

8:53: (Irritated, but civil response, by the accused, detailing why the cop is being a dickhead.)

9:15: (Cop doesn't like that he's being called out on dickhead moves and the tenor of the conversation changes. Cop proceeds to use his higher standing to escalate the situation instead of deescalating.)

You're missing the change in the cop's mindset right before the "asking about the cigarette." If the cop actually felt confident about why he pulled her over, he would have been able to handle how she responded. Instead, he felt threatened by the questioning of his motives. Why didn't he articulate the full reason and purpose for the stop right then and there? He decided to continuing escalating, and that is primarily on him. He could have slapped the ticket into her face and walked away.

Also, he wasn't bothered by the cigarette until he perceived an affront to his authority. That's childish playground behavior, not an attitude befit a public servant.

5-6 car lengths on a wide open road is an instigation. If a non-police officer driver does this, you wonder to yourself, "why is this guy up my ass?" This isn't some densely packed freeway, and he's 5-6 car lengths behind her. Why do that?

where do you get that he was going to be nice from?

He said it was a warning in the video. Though I guess he could be lying.

No, he does not.

Yes, he does.

12:19 in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=762&v=yf8GR3OO9mU

A post facto warning isn't really a warning, is it?

"You were getting a warning, but now you're going to jail."

Why not admit the "warning" upfront? Maybe exactly like the one happening the first minute of the video?

Probably because he ran her plates and got a driving record and warrant check. That's why it takes so long between the first time a cop comes to your window and giving you the ticket.

As for why he didn't say so right away the second time, probably because she was making faces or otherwise indicating that she was mad. And that is when he starts asking more questions.

I bet the minute she refused to put out her cig, he was going to give her a real ticket.

So, she's making faces and is angry, and that's your greenlight/"difference maker" for the cop to give her a ticket? Wow. This is exactly the "playing nice" game that I've described in a cousin thread.

If the cigarette is such an issue, why didn't he ask her that before she rebuked his grounds for the ticket? He's power tripping the whole time after she hints that she's not pleased, and you're greenlighting his power trip because she wasn't a bootlicker.

This is victim blaming at its finest... she's rightfully angry, and you're saying we can't blame the cop for not keeping his cool?

After he escalated things? After he dragged her out of the car? After he's cuffed her? After she's lying on the ground?

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