yeah bribes are very common and still quite dangerous, if they think you have more to offer you may find yourself with an after-hours follow-up visit… after one bad experience I try to have a decoy answer available to the “where are you staying” question.

I would only do that if I had something on my phone that carries heavier punishment than bribing an officer.

I think it’s a mistake to think that as a foreigner you can just do as the locals do when it comes to bribery. It could end very badly. Doing it to avoid some inconvenience is a bad idea.

What you have on your phone is likely immaterial in the equation - the mindset is one of sunk costs - once they’ve stopped you for a search, they’ll want to have something to show for their time - either to bring you in, or a bribe. You absolutely have to read the situation, and gauge how it’s likely to go down. I can tell you that in Russia, 95% of the time a bribe is wanted. The other 5%, usually greenhorns, you just work up their chain of command until you find the guy who will take the bribe. I’ve been frogmarched to a cop shop in Bishkek by an excited rookie who caught a foreigner smoking a cigarette, only to end up being given a name to drop for future occasions by his commandant after giving him €100 for a birthday gift for his daughter. Whole thing was ridiculous.

It’s also worth noting that if you are an obvious foreigner, you will be a bribe magnet, and will be accosted only in the hope of a bribe.

It’s not so much about avoiding inconvenience, it’s about moving freely in a police state.

This ^. You know what's up.