What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD

Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by kevinskii on Sunday March 02, 2014 @10:20PM (#7331849)

> The number 1 rule when interacting with police should be you have no rights.

As a former Los Angeles sheriff's deputy who agrees with the majority of sentiments in this thread, I can confidently say that your broad statement is nonsense. Everyone, not just upper middle class whites, should know and assert their rights in police encounters.

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Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by enraged_camel on Monday March 03, 2014 @12:52AM (#7332254)

This only works if you assume that every officer is nice, reasonable and believes strongly in upholding their duty to the public.

The sad fact of the matter is that a very large number of police officers are simply bullies in uniform. Asserting your rights to them, or acting "uppity," will only get you in trouble.

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Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by kevinskii on Monday March 03, 2014 @01:44AM (#7332380)

A sizeable minority of officers are indeed bullies. But while I can't speak for other police agencies, even the bullies are pretty well reined in by the policies in Los Angeles. I can elaborate if you like.

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Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by enraged_camel on Monday March 03, 2014 @02:49PM (#7335976)

If by "pretty well reined in" you mean "given 30-day paid vacations when they misbehave" then I suppose you are right.

What you won't see (or will see very, very rarely) is a cop losing his job and standing trial for assault if they wrongfully use physical force on a civilian. They can always get away with "well, I thought he was carrying a weapon" or other such flimsy excuses. Combined with the fact that cops always look after their own, it becomes very difficult to successfully and meaningfully persecute a cop for abusing their authority.

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Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by quasse on Monday March 03, 2014 @12:59AM (#7332266)

Hey! I was just reading about you guys. http://www.lamag.com/features/2014/2/26/downfall/print

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Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by yardie on Monday March 03, 2014 @01:58AM (#7332408)

Thanks but I'll assert my rights from the safety of my home. No need to go on asserting rights to a cop with an itchy trigger finger. Or go do down the rabbit hole of asserting your rights and be degraded even more for asserting your rights. [1]

I'd like to believe the world works the way you think it does, experience has taught me otherwise.

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/david-eckert-enema-...

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Re:What I learned from an unfortunate incident with the NYPD by cryoshon on Monday March 03, 2014 @10:31AM (#7334226)

You've never actually seen people assert their rights when talking to police, huh?

I think the correct phrase for this situation is, "you can beat the charge, but you can't beat the ride."

Police get all ornery when there's any kind of perceived challenge to their authority.

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