San Diego police are too invasive and macho? (La Mesa, Santee: crime, home)

[TheCaliforniaBear]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Dude, you live in Southern California now. That's where the "gangsta thug" was born, raised, and nurtured into a culture of it's own. Like it or not, you chose a look closely associated with biker gangs, street gangs, and other such elements of the uniquely California culture. It might have been different wherever you came from, it was different where I came from too. But you're here now and it is what it is. For the record, "this whole scene around here" isn't my thing either, in fact I think it ****kin' sucks and would love to get out of here so I don't have to raise my kid in this cesspool of gangsterism, loserism, ghettoism. But that's what it is and I can't change it.

Not saying you are a ganster or thug, but the reality is no cop can tell the difference at a glance. Deal with it.

Anyway.... regardless of what the local stereotypes and prejudices are. Cops should not profile people based on their appearance. They should not even speak to me unless there is a REAL probable cause.

Do you support cops walking up and questioning people at will, just because they look a bit suspicious and different? And for no other reason than that?

I realize that this is the USA, and this is basically the norm here. But it's not proper and should not be tolerated. Cops in other countries i've lived in are much more laid back.

I don't care about people's narrow-mindedness. I stopped caring about that a long time ago. People will be ignorant. But police officers should not profile people based on their ignorance.

This is about police and how they operate. Not tattoo culture in SoCal.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by TheCaliforniaBear

But police officers should not profile people based on their ignorance.

That's what cops do. That is how they do their job. That is what police work is. It's about your feeling for a person. It's about your intuition and observations of a person. It's a hunch, a feeling, and idea. Sometimes right and sometimes wrong. It is humanity. Accept it. Better yet... cover up in public :-)

[TheCaliforniaBear]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

That's what cops do. That is how they do their job. That is what police work is. It's about your feeling for a person. It's about your intuition and observations of a person. It's a hunch, a feeling, and idea. Sometimes right and sometimes wrong. It is humanity. Accept it. Better yet... cover up in public :-)

Have you ever lived in a foreign country?

In many countries. The police would never, ever approach a stranger on the street for any reason at all. The police operate in completely different ways in other countries.

This is not the way it has to be. This is just a backwards American thing to be honest. But what more can you expect from a country that was racially segregated until just 45 years ago?

[Yvetta]

Originally Posted by TheCaliforniaBear

I enjoy bicycle riding. I ride my bike everywhere.

However, in San Diego, the police always seem to hassle me and invade my privacy when i'm riding my bicycle. They REALLY cross the line.

I was riding near SDSU a few months ago, just getting some excercise. A cop pulled me over on my bike and started asking me "Where did you get this bike. It looks like a bike that was stolen."

He started treated me like a common criminal, telling me to keep my hands where he can see them. Making me show my i.d. Asking me if I have illegal substances on me. Asking me where i'm going, wher I came from. It was a complete invasion of my privacy.

SUPPOSEDLY he was checking to see if the bike I was riding was stolen. A bike i've had for 6 years that's covered with scratched and dents. But it was terribly obvious he was just hassling me. Being invasive.

Fast forward a few months later. I'm riding near Balboa Park and the EXACT same thing happened. Word for word it was the same. Accusations of a stolen bike, asking me if i'm carrying drugs, asking me all kinds of other questions.......

I'M JUST RIDING MY BICYCLE! What kind of a society is this where a man cannot ride a bicycle in peace without cops pouncing on him like vultures?

I live out in East County, and the cops out here never do this kind of thing. But in San Diego it seems like a common occurance.

Anyone else have experiences like this? Surely i'm not the only one.

Oh, the stories I could tell you about the SDPD. I have had issues with them as well as my son and other family members,
This forum does not have enough space to tell you the experiences I have shared with San Diego's 'finest'.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by TheCaliforniaBear

In many countries. The police would never, ever approach a stranger on the street for any reason at all. The police operate in completely different ways in other countries.

This is not a foreign country.

You are in Southern California. People pack guns and shoot at cops all the time. The streets are roaming with gang members and tweakers. Right or wrong, this is where you live now and you will have to deal with it.

You are playing the victim card, it rarely works.

[TheCaliforniaBear]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

This is not a foreign country.

You are in Southern California. People pack guns and shoot at cops all the time. The streets are roaming with gang members and tweakers. Right or wrong, this is where you live now and you will have to deal with it.

You are playing the victim card, it rarely works.

Not really. I just have a vision of a society in which the cops dont hassle innocent people.

Also I plan on getting out of here soon. Thank God.

[sdlife619]

SDPD cops can be jerks, and I have had a few incidents where I have gotten pulled over for the littlest thing, but know the main reason why, is because of my race and they way I look, and the type of car I drive.

As I have gotten older, I've learned to deal with it, and understand why they do what they do.Police profile people all the time, it's a known fact,especially if your Black or Hispanic living in mostly a White middle class neighborhood, or anywhere for that matter.

Even though I do understand the reasons behind the profiling, there is no reason for a Cop to have such a bad attitude, accuse and harass an innocent person just for the hell of it. That is not right, and that is why Cops are generally looked at, as bad guys if your a minority, rather than helpful, respectful people, protectors of society.

Actually I find La Mesa Police being the worst Cops rather than the SDPD. The main reason is because La Mesa is such a small city, and cops are constantly looking for people to pull over since they have nothing to do. I have been pulled over 4 times in La Mesa, and this just driving through the city! I swear, these are most ******* of cops I have ever encountered. This one time I got pulled over because the cop thought my car was involved in some crime that occurred a few days prior, the pig even ask me where I was the previous nights, he just started to ask a ton of questions, in which I answered truthfully. Even after the semi interrogation, he insisted that I give him my social security number and my home phone #??? I was like what?? Why do you need my social, when you know where I live?He said "In case we need to contact you"Bull****! Anyways long story short, the cop basically lied about what happened, because I went to LMPD and spoke to a supervisor about what happened, and asked for a copy of the report stating that my car match a the description in a crime that took place a few days back, the supervisor could not find that report, and he couldn't prove to me the pull over was legitimate. I knew why I got pulled over, I was driving on El Cajon Blvd on a Friday night, driving an Acura Integra, being Mexican, which triggered an instant pull over.

Yes, now that was definitely not right, nor the way the officer treated me, threatening to take me to jail, if I didn't give up my Social. That is wrong, and one major example of the abuse of power cops use all the time to arrest people for no good reason.

But yeah, SD and LMPD's go overboard, and can't seem to find a chill spot. Every time while visiting a friend in La Mesa, I tend to always see a cop here and there in La Mesa pulling people over. Mostly on Fletcher Pkwy, and Baltimore. I also see traffic police around there a lot, I guess they are the money makers for the city of La Mesa.

Here in El Cajon, you hardly see cops pulling people over, it's like they don't exist. El Cajon PD is probably the chillest cops, never had problem with them.

[oBak]

In 1995, El Cajon police shot my elderly obese neighbor to death when they say she charged them with a knife. She had two broken legs and took about half an hour to get from the living room to the kitchen.

ECPD is the worst of the worst.

[SD Observer]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

Police profile people all the time, it's a known fact,especially if your Black or Hispanic living in mostly a White middle class neighborhood, or anywhere for that matter.

Actually I find La Mesa Police being the worst Cops rather than the SDPD. This one time I got pulled over because the cop thought my car was involved in some crime that occurred a few days prior, the pig even ask me where I was the previous nights, he just started to ask a ton of questions, in which I answered truthfully. I knew why I got pulled over, I was driving on El Cajon Blvd on a Friday night, driving an Acura Integra, being Mexican, which triggered an instant pull over.

That sucks that you were mistaken for the real suspect and you had to go through all of that.

I think the La Mesa PD is under tremendous pressure to keep crime down. There are too few police to cope with the increase in violent crime there.

With the sky-rocketing amount of armed robberies and assaults happening within the last 3 years being comitted primarily by Black gangsters and to a lesser extent Latinos, they are naturally going to pay more attention to younger Black and Latino men passing through town.

Usually if you are innocent, be polite to an arresting officer and they will let you go on without a hassle. Many people make the mistake of mouthing off to a cop and wind up getting in trouble for that.

Keep a cool head and if you do become victimized by a cop, by all means take the matter up to a police supervisor or seek legal assistance from an attorney.

[BurtsBees]

No offense, but if it happened twice, chances are they just had a bike stolen and yours fit the description. Sucks, but life moves on.