Stupidity, psychopathy, laziness... What an American lawyer doesn't like about local cops

Another proof that the summer anti-police protests in the United States were not accidental, and that the security forces in any country must be kept under strict control of society, the media and within the law, since they very easily confuse the power delegated to them with their personal one, led by American lawyer Yulia Nikolayeva living in California. The examples she described are typical not only for America, but also for any country where the police got out of public control, including, of course, for Russia, only with its own, purely domestic nuances:

“About the American police. Purely personal experience - only facts, no evaluations.

The first time I encountered the American police personally was in 2008. I was driving along the freeway and habitually re-lined up in the right lane at the exit. There were quite a few cars and it was impossible to do it at high speed. In the rear-view mirror, I saw a car moving inadequately fast in the right line and avoiding obstacles along the curb. Because of the pandemonium in my line, it was impossible for me to pick up a comparable speed, so at the exit he propped me up, honking hysterically, and suddenly blossomed with police lights from within. I pulled over to the side of the road, he parked behind me. The car was unmarked, the dude who got out was dressed in civilian clothes. It was clear that he had nothing to do with the traffic police, either a freelance employee, or just some kind of impersonal rank like a detective. From the very beginning of the dialogue, he was rude and annoyed, saying that I cut him off and demanded my documents. Fumbling in my purse, I explained to him my vision of the situation. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something unacceptable for an official conversation and concerned the relationship between my external data and my intellectual abilities. I stopped looking for my driver's license and asked him to show documents or give the name and number of the police badge. My request infuriated him. He yelled, threatened, but never introduced himself. And I refused to show the documents, because I had no idea what kind of dude in civilian clothes was literally swearing at me, sorry. He screamed that he would call the SWAT team, I continued to insist that he should introduce himself. He ran into his car as if to call for help, came back with the words "are you sure you want me to call SWAT?!?", I replied that I would gladly follow them to the station and would happily talk to his superiors. I was shaking with fear. The dude, completely crimson, jumped and yelled at the passenger window. He shouted that the end had come for me, ran back to his car and ... got into it and drove away.

The second meeting with representatives of the law took place in February 2014. I was traveling with my sister. Having buried ourselves in a traffic jam on the freeway, we went out to the first exit, which turned out to be a road to the mountain observation deck. Already from the mountain we saw that the freeway was blocked by a lonely police car. We climbed to the observation deck and safely descended back to the freeway, leaving behind a stopped stream. A few minutes later, a police car with a siren on overtook us.

- Did you see that I stopped the freeway? the officer asked discontentedly.

- I saw.

- And why didn't you stop?

“Because I was on a different road than the freeway.

The officer took my documents and began to write out a ticket.

- What have I violated? I asked.

“You didn't stop when I closed the freeway.

- What specific traffic rule did I break?

The dude could not explain anything - it is difficult to explain what has no explanation - and this made him more and more annoyed. At first, he simply raised his voice, then began to yell openly, then slipped into the usual rudeness.

- What you do not understand? - he shouted, - I stopped the flow, you did not obey my demand and continued moving? What don't you understand here?

“I don’t understand, officer, what did your demand have to do with a parallel road that was not blocked?

- Are you a fool? Maybe you need a translator? Maybe you need to learn English and American laws?

He spat disgustingly and yelled hysterically to keep my hands on the wheel, occasionally grabbing the pistol. My sister wanted to record what was happening on the phone, it seemed so wild what was happening, but she was afraid to move - the dude was completely inadequate. Luckily for us, a second police car drove up, from which two officers had already got out. They literally dragged this jerk off our car, letting us drive away. The ticket was issued under the article "refusing to stop for police", punishing such a violation, for a second, with a fine of $ 1000 or up to 6 months in prison. The uncle did not appear in court, and the article turned out to be different in the judge's copy of the protocol - it did not allow urgent transport, which includes ambulances, firefighters and the police. The case, of course, was dismissed by the court.

My third communication with the police took place when a friend of mine found herself in a difficult situation. She came from Russia and married an American. For love, I must say. But after 2 months he put her and her child on the street, taking away all HER money from her. We came to the police station, where we were frankly told - girls, we have a serious institution and family squabbles, when there are no obvious injuries on you, we will not deal with.

The fourth time I ran into about 2 weeks ago. A relative's car window was smashed and a backpack was taken out in a supermarket parking lot in the once prosperous area of San Francisco. The backpack was too heavy to lug around to the store, and it was hidden and the car windows were tinted. So they beat for good luck. Under the cameras of the store and one block from the police station. The owner discovered the theft in a few minutes, did not get confused, found witnesses, got the license plate and video from the store's cameras, all this provided to the police within 15 minutes after the crime. Nobody lifted a finger. An hour later, kind people called to say that they had found a gutted backpack near their house with other bags. Fortunately, the backpack contained papers with the owner's phone number and part of the documents did not have to be restored, however, a significant amount of cash, a laptop and a spare cell phone, of course, disappeared. That is, the criminals drove through the city in a car and bombed expensive cars, searching the loot on the go and throwing out gutted bags. If the police had just put a specific car on the wanted list, they could have been detained. But even after - after all, if the number of the car is established, it has an owner and he, at least, should be interrogated. And again, NOTHING.

These were the facts. Unfortunately, despite all my desire, I cannot give positive examples, there were none. The police seemed to me to be cool guys only on city holidays, where they like to come to distribute sweets and show snow-white smiles.

When I see them in everyday life, thank God, at a distance - they do not cause any confidence in me, alas, after personal experience ... "

***

It is clear that this post has generated a lot of comments, mainly from Russian-speaking US citizens. They shared their experience from meeting with the American police, and it was equally unpleasant and pleasant:

- My daughter had an accident. Her brakes did not work and she drove into the back of the car at a traffic light. The usual thing, there are many such things. The witnesses immediately called everyone they needed. So the policeman didn’t like the way she talked to him - she was shocked, the witnesses dragged her out of the car, because it flowed from under the car, and they were not sure whether it was gasoline or water. So, he just took the license from her. I put it in my pocket and that's it. She didn't even understand then. And the next day I started looking - no. She began to call him. He said - I take your license. Why? you will find out later. A couple of days later, a letter came that her license was taken away, because she does not know how to drive a car. And that she is generally on drugs (eng: in a drug intoxication). He heard her talking to the doctor and said that she was taking migraine medicine. She was graciously given permission to retake the theory and driving test, as if she had no rights before. You had to go to court again in a year and show that you have no violations, nothing, and that you are generally white and fluffy. And all because he did not like the way she talked to him when she was in the post-accident shock. I heard a recording of her conversation with him that he had no right to withdraw her rights physically, without even giving her any document. There are a couple of options for when they can do this, but her case did not fall. His answer was like - so what, you don't know how to drive a car. And I must say that she drove a car from the age of 16 and in 10 years of driving this was her first accident. So yes, she could well judge them, the lawyer told her that she had a case, but there are millions of such cases and she should wait and wait until her turn comes. She decided not to mess with. Like this: they can do what they want, and nothing happens to them for it.

- My experience of dealing with the police for 27 years in America is completely different. There was that I was angry about the fines, there was when it seemed to me that their report was biased, but I can not remember anything at least somewhat similar to your stories. I have no reason to accuse you of lying. It remains only to express surprise at how different experiences can be for two people in the same country.

- So, in California it is also bad with the police. I can hardly imagine such a story, even one, in the Midwest. That is, idiots are everywhere, but so that someone could tell such stories. somewhat in my life, over a period of ten years - this is unlikely. I was stopped three times for exceeding, each time - politely, without rudeness at all, despite the fact that I clearly exceeded. Once I was very late for work and drove 20 miles faster in a company car - I got off with a warning and a request not to drive like that anymore, well we, not people, or something, we understand, work, yes. They really helped a few times. Yes, apparently, a lot depends on the state.

- I've been living in California for almost 9 years. I had to deal with cops both on the road and in life. You will not believe - not a single case of rudeness. Rather, the opposite is true. Lucky, probably...