Let's hear your POSITIVE LEO experiences

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thefitzvh

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I realized that I've posted some very angry comments in some LEO threads recently, giving many the impression that I hate the cops, etc...

I really don't... I hate ANYONE that abuses power...

Anyways, I know there are some very good LEOs on this board, so I thought I'd post asking about positive LEO stories... I'd like to hear em.

Mine first:

#1 LOOONG time ago. As a child, I was somewhat of a jerk. Got busted for shoplifting from a convienience store. The cop happened to see me doing it, and followed me out of the store.

Once outside, he took the stuff from me, lectured, and by this time I was crying like a girl (I was like 10)

Anyways, he brought me back in, made me apologize, and told me that real men are honest, and don't steal from their fellow man. I never forgot that sentence. He asked if he needed to call my parents, and I said no... never once thought about stealing again. He REALLY drove the message home.

#2 More recently... I got pulled over for doing a stoppie on my motorcycle, trying to impress some neighborhood kids. The officer came up and did the standard "Do you know why I pulled you over" gig... I said "yes sir... I was trying to impress those kids over there (buncha 12 year olds that LOVED my bike... always askin me about it).

He says "Is it worth a ticket?"

I said "Hell... I did it, didn't I? I'm not gonna argue the ticket. I deserve it.

At this point, he had already filled out all the vehicle info and my name, and the tickets are individually numbered... he said "You've got a busted taillight" and handed me a fix it ticket :D


and finally, the short one... got a speeding ticket out in VA, got a ticket, and paid it. What struck me about the encounter was how courteous the officer was during the entire time. I never once felt angry about getting the ticket, and promptly and happily paid it.



Your turn, guys.


James
 
I guess that all my "interactions" with LEOs, having been traffic violations on my part, have been about as positive as such could be.

I've ridden with LEOs on patrol, and have known quite a few, casually, in the "around town" sort of style. Again, I'd call it 98% favorable. I've seen incredible patience when dealing with a drunken family squabble. I've seen justifiable anger after a rape, and notable gentleness when dealing with victims.

I've seen a few Doofi, who really should have been in a different line of work. And the once-sheriff from a neighboring county is doing life without parole for one metric ton of the purest cocaine ever seized, but he's a rarity.

"Hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of raw terror," for some...

Art
 
I've actually only had one bad experience(guy was on a power trip).

The rest, around a dozen, are split 50/50 between civil(I screwed up), and positive(I needed assistance).

As a generalization I like cops, even been shooting with a few of them.:D
 
The last couple LEO contacts I've had, they have cut me a break when they didn't really HAVE to, if that is what you mean.

The last time I was pulled over was for running a red light back when I had my 300z tt.... that car attracted cops. But he let me go with a verbal warning rather than a 4 point ticket.

Last overall contact with cops: 3 of them showed up at my apartment after we had been shooting some fireworks. Apparantly its illegal in this area or something. I don't know if they could have given a ticket or not, but they were nice and had a "we know its ridiculous, but could you please stop" attitude.

I've got some friends that have not been so lucky. Cops are just people too... bad and good, like everyone else.
 
While working for the Sheriffs office in got a call to do a welfare check in one of our small towns in the county where i work, a house where an elderly lady was living.

I arrived, and after looking in all the windows, and seeing nothing amiss, i knocked on the front door - with no response. I tried the front door - it was unlocked - i entered announcing my presence.

I then heard a call for help, i found a elderly lady [in her eighties] sprawled on the kitchen floor. After checking her out, she was OK medically - I helped her to her feet & escorted her to a kitchen table.

She thanked me for the help and offered me a cup of coffee..:)

We both sat there in her kitchen for about thirty minutes and talked about various things that we both had similar interests in, she shared some of her experiences of her 80+ years.

Law enforcement does have its moments...

12-34hom.
 
Generally I have a lot of respect for cops. My experiences have been generally positive with the ones I've personally dealt with. I think, however, that has as much to do with me and my attitude as it does with them. I have always tried to be polite, non-confrontational, and respectful to them, and that seems to be best way from my perspective.

So far, I've pulled over 5 times and never once issued a ticket. First time I was headed to a nursery to get a mother's day present (some kind of potted plant) and was pulled over on the way there (with GF - now wife - beside me). Cop claimed my car matched the description of a stolen vehicle. I don't buy that story, but I was very polite, and eventually he let go on my way.

A couple years go by and I find myself with flashing lights behind me 3 times in less than 2 months. First was for an illegal U-turn in downtown Prescott, AZ (no signs posted, almost midnight, no other cars on the road besides me and the cop). He let me go with a verbal warning after a 5-10 minute chat. Second was a few weeks later for speeding (45 in a 35). I lucked out on that one as they were only issuing written warnings to everyone. Who'd a think it, patrolling for safety rather than revenue ;) . Third, I was driving up to Flagstaff and got pulled over for not using my turn signal "enough" when changing lanes on the interstate. I thought it was fowl-exrement, but I was very polite "yes-sir", "here's my lisence sir", etc. Written warning on that one.

Another couple of years go by, I'm living in Tucson by now, and one day as I'm heading into work, I come around a corner on the road to the interstate, and oooops, there's smokey. I knew he had me (67 in a 50, though radar didn't lock until I was down to 56 - he commented on how good my brakes were) so I pulled over before he was even all the way onto road to come after me. Had my license and insurance and registration ready before he was even out of the car. Again I was as polite and respectful as I could be. Verbal warning. Edit to add, he said he didn't like writting tickets, presumably becuase he didn't like going to court when people fought them. He claimed to be more interested in finding illegal drugs, weapons, and probably immigrants. First thing he said when he approached the vehicle was to ask if I had weapons or drugs, to which I (truthfully) responded no.
 
Most of my experiences have been positive ...

A couple, for starters.

We purchased a "fix-up" home about 13 years ago. I was in the front yard with my pregnant wife and youngest boy, planting an Ocotillo (Sonoran desert plant) ... they are covered with long spines, and we were trying to wrestle it into the hole without getting stuck. All of a sudden a cruiser pulls into our circular drive, the officer gets out, opens his trunk, grabs some gloves, and is over helping us get it planted. That's how we met Roy. Great guy, great cop. Went on some ride-a-longs with him, and he helped me meet the Chief and many of the other LEO's in his department. Great ambassador for LEO's.

A few weeks ago I got to meet a member of the TX Dept. of Public Safety (highway patrol) ... found out they'll actually ticket at 10mph over in I-20, west of Dallas! Point is, I handed the officer my CHL license with my drivers license, he asked me where the pistol was, and then simply said to leave it where it was. Glad to see that reaction, as I wondered if I would get the third degree, want to "run the numbers", and that kind of foolishness. Very professional guy. Still ... 10mph over, on an interstate? ;)

So, yes ... I respect LEO's, appreciate their usual courtesy, and admire their courage ... but still think no-knocks and the War on Some Drugs are a bad deal.

sumpnz, I can't believe you get pulled over that much and don't get tickets ... over 35 years, I've talked my way out of exactly ONE ticket! ;)

Glad to see this thread. LEO's should know we appreciate them.

Regards from TX
 
Good experiences with most LEO in California except San Francisco Police Department. The most clueless, incompetent, obeast, and lazy minded LEO's I've ever ran into. I'm 49 years old and been around all over California, SFPD sucks.
 
12-34hom:

While we have our disagreements lately about certain media events, that story right there illustrates to me that you're one of the "good ones," and my hat's off to you.

No one forced you to sit around and talk to that lady. I applaud you for that. I'm sure it made her feel very good to know that you were concerned and interested in her.


The whole point of this thread was to remind people that, even though we might see some BS in the news, the majority, IMO, of cops are doing exactly what they swore to do.

In a firearms context, I think that's important, also. I think the more "good" LEOs we have, the less likely we'll ever see a large scale firearms confiscation. It'd be like this:

"Hey there, officer StandUpGuy, officer GoodDude, officer OldLadyHelper, and officer JackbootedThug: go to thefitzvh's house and take his guns."

Officer JackbootedThug: Yay! time to stomp some kittens!

Others: We quit...

The good guys, will NEVER let the "bad guys" win.

Anyways, thanks for the stories guys...

James

P.S.. it wasn't my intent to get just the stories of getting out of a ticket... :D but that's ok.
 
Lets see, positive LEO stories. Ok.

I was picking up a friend from a football game and I was in the parkinglot with my parking lights on. I drove out onto the road not realizing I didnt have my lights on, and the local PD pulled me over. No hassle.

PD: "Did you know your lights were not on?"
Me: No. *pulls light switch, then :banghead: * Oops.
PD: "License & Registration" *I hand them over* *waits* He comes back.
PD: "Ok, just remember to turn those on. Have a good one."

2nd good LEO story:

I was riding my motorcycle (riding for all of a week) and an officer pulled me over because I didnt look all that confident and stable on my bike. What a keen eye he had. No laws broken, and didnt hassle me about my Bill of Sale (b/c I had no tags). I did have my Proof Of Insurance and DL.
 
Ok, I'm game.

3rd time I got pulled over I was about 17, maybe just turned 18. My tail lights were out. Fair enough. Explained that I had just dropped in a new starter and probably blew a fuse without knowing it. The LEOs went back to their car to check me out some more I guess while I fiddled with it, sent my brother back to borrow a flashlight from them (they got ancy at seeing him approach the vehicle though) -- lent me the flashlight, I flip up upside down in my driver's seat and fix things up. Quick check to make sure that the brake lights work and we're good to go. No tickets issued.

4th time pulled over, caught speeding not too long after I had purchased a new car. Tooling down a rural road doing WELL over the limit and not even noticing it. I come up a hill, cop's coming at me, I check my speedometer: 77mph. CRAP! I slow down to a reasonable speed and he pulls me over after a couple of miles -- I saw him do a U turn behind me so I slowed it down so he could catch up if that was his intention. He followed for over a mile while he ran the plates. When asked how fast I was going I admitted it: 77mph. He clocked me at 72 he says, writes a ticket for 65. I tell him friends have always told me that a cop can't clock you unless they're stopped and asked him if that was true. Said nope, I said, "Good, I can tell 'em all they're full of "crap" now. Thanks." No problems.

5th incident: Young and stupid, got taken to the clink for this one. I had been very polite with the officer the entire time and complied with his requests. Upon booking the two officers that received me told me to get against the wall for another search. I moved slowly to not freak anybody out and they yell at me to hurry up! The arresting officer told them to lay off and that I was very cooporative the whole time.

Unfortunately the arresting officer was a BIT freaked out that I knew what gun he had on and what caliber it was... and didn't like my folding knife and seemed disappointed that it was legal. Oh well.
 
Oh, I'll add one more that I heard through the grapevine.

Friends of the family were having a party, or rather their eldest son was having a party. Neighbors call (this is fairly rural) and the cop shows up. They invite him in, he has a beer with 'em and says, "Well, music doesn't sound too loud to me. You guys have fun."
 
With the exception of the clubbing I received from the NYPD during a demonstration back in 1976 (my fault) and ther beating I got from Highway Patrol in Philadelphia that year also (ya ever been to Philly ya know about them), every contact I have had with law enforcement has been positive....


WildthebygonedaysofyouthAlaska
 
the chief of police in the little town I lived in invited me over to the station(he knew me from a criminal justice course I took with some of his officers) and we chatted about old guns and collector pieces he had.he got them all out and gave me a look see.was going to go target practicing with him one nite but didnt work out.he kinda reminded me of an andy taylor type of person.In a nearby town,I knew the lady policewoman there-invited many times to go shooting and along in the cruiser.Was a nice area..everybody looked after everybody there...quiet.
 
I can still remember the great neighborhood Fourth of July party we attended at a friend's house in Issaquah, WA many years ago. There were lots of fireworks to play with. Bottle rockets, firecrackers, smoke bombs, you name it, all illegal at the time.
It was a Seattle cop's house. He supplied the fireworks.
 
Forgot one...

Local escondido officer...

I went in to the Esco PD office to drop off a copy of my C&R app and also inquire about CCW, and the clerk behind the counter said no one was there to answer my questions, so I dropped off the app and left.

Got the email addy of my local cop (each section of escondido has one cop for the area that's supposed to field any questions... he's like a PR/customer service guy)

So I emailed him, and got the "canned" response about CCW from his work address... "Sheriff is the issuer... better carry lots of money, valuables, etc...."

I was kinda upset that I got a canned response that didn't tell me ANYTHING i didn't already know.

Anyways, when I checked my email later, it was an email from his HOME address. He said "Sorry, but sometimes they look at outgoing emails."

He proceeded to give me some examples of good cause that has worked in the past, tips on applying, and then asked me about the C&R process. I pointed him to this forum, and I don't know if he's here, but it was good to know that he was a gunnie.


James
Anyways,
 
First off I am a truck driver, I have to deal with the bears on a daily basis. Some states like truck drivers, some don't, and some Hate us CA-OH-NY-AR. But from my experience most state police (highway patrol, state troopers) are more respectful and courteous than city cops. I have been pulled over numerous times by state police and have only got citations in Arkansas (zero tolerance bs). But small city cops are A**holes, I have always got a ticket except for 2 times.

Best experience, Boston MA in the big truck. I went through the wrong lane at the toll booth. Most states have EZ-TAG in all lanes, not MA. About 10 miles down the road in the middle of Interstate in bumper-to-bumper stopped traffic, here comes the bear. He started pointing for me to pull over to the shoulder, I couldn't. The traffic was too bad, so I pop the brakes and hop out in the middle of the freeway. As I walk towards his car he yells, "Have you got a TANS-POND-A?". "A what?" I asked. He was asking if I had TRANSPONDER for EZ-TAG. I walk back to the truck rip it off the windshield (Velcro) and show it to him. "Have a nice day" I did not even have to pay toll.

My best ticket (worst experience) was in my mustang Gt., speeding, excessive acceleration, no corrective lenses, no inspection, smoky vehicle (it was tire smoke, dumb cop), noise pollution (3" flows on hooker pro-comps), illegal lane change, and cracked windshield. All in all, over $1100 in fines. I was speeding they were ticked-off because they couldn't catch up to me. I never saw the cops. I stopped for a red light in the turning lane, and that’s when it got bad. According to my friend Chad who was in front of me, "the police were two cars behind you at the light".

Light turns green, Chad turns left, and I floor it, slam it in second and slide on around Chad and TSHTF. I pull over. Loud speaker "get out of the car with your hands on your head", I did. Then he pointed his gun at me and I got pissed, "don't point that M*****-F***** at me. Thank god Chad stopped or I was going to jail.
 
I use a dirt bike for transportation every day that it is above freezing, rain or shine. Its weight under 400 pounds with gas, myself and all of my riding gear combined.

The traffic lights in my area use pressure switches to sense cars and change the lights. Otherwise the higher traffic road is always green. My bike only registers at a few lights, some I can get if I ride fast, and brake late, preferably with a heavy back pack. It is legal in MN to go through red lights if it is safe, and the lights do not sense you.

I used to have to drive a lot at night, and there would always be police positioned around the city waiting for calls. Many times when I got to a red light by my house, the police would pull up along side of me to turn the lights green. Sadly I could never wave thank you to them because taking off and stopping required that I used both hands.

EDIT: I have also had some very hassle free stops, and some that really pissed me off.
 
To start off, all but one of my contacts has been civil, even when I was getting a ticket. I think that has a lot to do with the attitude you display toward the officer. He or she is doing a job and doesn't deserve static, even when you disagree with the ticket/no ticket decision.

A couple of the positive ones:

My car was broke down at about 2:00 AM, no battery or lights on a two lane road and I couldn't get off the road because of a ditch. When his car pulled up I figured the ticket would be impeding traffic or maybe just general stupidity, since I knew the car had a problem and took the chance. The officer waited while I fixed the problem and even used his flashlight for help. I don't think he even asked for my licence, just said drive careful.

I had just zinged around an entrance ramp and was going faster than the interstate traffic as I pulled into the acceleration lane. I caught sight of the State Trooper in the mirror and backed down to just about the limit. It was obvious to him that I had been doing quite a bit more than the limit BEFORE I got there. The Trooper pulled along side, looked over, and wagged his finger like a mother scolding a child. He went on his way and that probably had more to do with me slowing down than a ticket would have.

Thank you to all the good peace officers out there for the tough and often thankless job you do.
 
found out they'll actually ticket at 10mph over in I-20, west of Dallas! Point
Click to expand...
...must have been around Sweetwater, been there done that. :D

Where to start....

Father of one of my good friends I grew up with was local Highway Patrol. Met him one afternoon while I was doing 70 in a 55. Lights came on as he hit the shoulder to come up behind me. He had to wait on traffic to turn around so I was out of the pickup with license, registration and insurance, head down and guilty as hell. When traffic cleared, he did a U-turn and just shook his finger at me as he sped by and stopped the 18 wheeler that had been behind me. :banghead:

Recently stopped for speeding 75 in a 60, I was truly shocked to learn it was 60mph zone. Professionalism and courtesy shown was truly exceptional. Handed him my DL and CHL, al he asked was "where is it?"
He also demonstrated exceptional tactics in his approach of the vehicle and details of the way he handled the stop. He should be going home at night for a long time.

I fish with one of the local HP's, one of the others has a kid that goes to school with mine and is on the T-ball team. Both are great guys that are "just doing the job". Local SO is full of decent guys. I won't comment on the city police as this is a "good experiences" thread.

I've had good and bad expereinces with cops. Majority have been good. Most of the bad was with guys that washed out rather quickly. Must have been a reason.

Smoke
 
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