Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Kathryn brought herself into it. Several times. She can answer quite competently for herself.
She believes she handled it the right way and Sandra didn't. I argue you either commit a jailable offense or you don't. Your attitude is up to you, and shouldn't be subject to incarceration, as long as you aren't committing an offense.
Kathryn brought herself into it. Several times. She can answer quite competently for herself.
She believes she handled it the right way and Sandra didn't. I argue you either commit a jailable offense or you don't. Your attitude is up to you, and shouldn't be subject to incarceration, as long as you aren't committing an offense.
The reason Kathryn brought herself and her own experiences being pulled over into it is because the cop was going to give Sandra a warning until she ticked him off with her behavior. It's quite clear that Kathryn's point is that when one is pulled over, they should remain respectful of the police officer and not question him/her or try to fight him/her in any way. Doing so means you probably won't wind up in Sandra's situation - I don't mean dead because that was her own doing, but getting arrested in an escalating situation, stemming from a simple (and genuine) traffic violation. Again, being pulled over is not rare, but depending on how you act, it can go various ways.
The reason Kathryn brought herself and her own experiences being pulled over into it is because the cop was going to give Sandra a warning until she ticked him off with her behavior. It's quite clear that Kathryn's point is that when one is pulled over, they should remain respectful of the police officer and not question him/her or try to fight him/her in any way. Doing so means you probably won't wind up in Sandra's situation - I don't mean dead because that was her own doing, but getting arrested in an escalating situation, stemming from a simple (and genuine) traffic violation. Again, being pulled over is not rare, but depending on how you act, it can go various ways.
Which is entirely my point. It shouldn't depend on "how you act". You don't need to explain Kathryn's posts. I understand her point.
And actually being pulled over is indeed rare, at least in my experience.
Kathryn is not the topic here. No need to attack her.
Not an attack, a reiteration of her own admission.
Why is it that Sandra Bland gets dragged over hot coals, yet repeatedly being pulled over because you're doing something that seemingly puts others in danger and shows little respect for laws of the road is fine with everyone? It's okay because you're respectful? Not very respectful to the other motorists.
Which is entirely my point. It shouldn't depend on "how you act". You don't need to explain Kathryn's posts. I understand her point.
And actually being pulled over is indeed rare, at least in my experience.
Why not? So badmouthing a police officer, or questioning him when he's pulling you over for something perfectly valid, or kicking him, or cursing at him, calling him names, should all be okay, just because the offense you were originally pulled over for it not "punishable by death" or worthy of an arrest? The second someone starts getting combatant, the second the cop sees that person as a potential threat because, with what and who they deal with, they never know what a person is capable of or what weapons a person may have on them or in their car. People need to be smart when dealing with cops. They sometimes forget what police officers deal with, what they are trained to deal with and look for, and what can happen to them on a daily basis. You don't mess with a cop, and not because they're big bag dangerous and mean, but because they deal with the worst of people who have the worst of issues, and like I said, they never know what issues YOU could bring. You know that you're a good person without a weapon or a history of any sort of abuse or record, but they don't necessarily know that. If you've been pulled over, just take it. You probably deserve the ticket, anyway. There is never any need to get snippy, rude, disrespectful, or combatant with a cop during a routine traffic stop.
People are pulled over all the time. It's not a rare occurrence for police to pull people over. It's part of their job, especially patrolling small towns where there is nothing else to do. They find lots of drugs and sometimes unregistered guns in cars of people from out of town driving through my town. Lots of DUIs, too.
Why not? So badmouthing a police officer, or questioning him when he's pulling you over for something perfectly valid, or kicking him, or cursing at him, calling him names, should all be okay, just because the offense you were originally pulled over for it not "punishable by death" or worthy of an arrest? The second someone starts getting combatant, the second the cop sees that person as a potential threat because, with what and who they deal with, they never know what a person is capable of or what weapons a person may have on them or in their car. People need to be smart when dealing with cops. They sometimes forget what police officers deal with, what they are trained to deal with and look for, and what can happen to them on a daily basis. You don't mess with a cop, and not because they're big bag dangerous and mean, but because they deal with the worst of people who have the worst of issues, and like I said, they never know what issues YOU could bring. You know that you're a good person without a weapon or a history of any sort of abuse or record, but they don't necessarily know that. If you've been pulled over, just take it. You probably deserve the ticket, anyway. There is never any need to get snippy, rude, disrespectful, or combatant with a cop during a routine traffic stop.
People are pulled over all the time. It's not a rare occurrence for police to pull people over. It's part of their job, especially patrolling small towns where there is nothing else to do. They find lots of drugs and sometimes unregistered guns in cars of people from out of town driving through my town. Lots of DUIs, too.
Why not? So badmouthing a police officer, or questioning him when he's pulling you over for something perfectly valid, or kicking him, or cursing at him, calling him names, should all be okay, just because the offense you were originally pulled over for it not "punishable by death" or worthy of an arrest? The second someone starts getting combatant, the second the cop sees that person as a potential threat because, with what and who they deal with, they never know what a person is capable of or what weapons a person may have on them or in their car. People need to be smart when dealing with cops. They sometimes forget what police officers deal with, what they are trained to deal with and look for, and what can happen to them on a daily basis. You don't mess with a cop, and not because they're big bag dangerous and mean, but because they deal with the worst of people who have the worst of issues, and like I said, they never know what issues YOU could bring. You know that you're a good person without a weapon or a history of any sort of abuse or record, but they don't necessarily know that. If you've been pulled over, just take it. You probably deserve the ticket, anyway. There is never any need to get snippy, rude, disrespectful, or combatant with a cop during a routine traffic stop.
People are pulled over all the time. It's not a rare occurrence for police to pull people over. It's part of their job, especially patrolling small towns where there is nothing else to do. They find lots of drugs and sometimes unregistered guns in cars of people from out of town driving through my town. Lots of DUIs, too.
Except in this case, he provoked a reaction. After the stop was completed. It is not unreasonable for people to be irritated, frightened, embarrassed, angry, or any other gamut of emotions under a stressful situation.
Getting snippy is not an arrestable offense. There may not be any need for it, but unless the officer has probable cause to search your vehicle then you should be cited and sent on your way.
There was no sobriety test given in this instance and there was nothing amiss.
I agree the best idea is to be respectful and I certainly wouldn't do otherwise. But I'm not everybody, and Imho, the police need to have a pretty reasonable expectation that someone really has done something nefarious before they go whole hog on a simple traffic stop.
I would rather a few people with some reason to get arrested go undetected than every citizen of this country live in fear that if they speak out of turn or act nervously or even rudely, that they are subject to the slammer.
Except in this case, he provoked a reaction. After the stop was completed. It is not unreasonable for people to be irritated, frightened, embarrassed, angry, or any other gamut of emotions under a stressful situation.
Getting snippy is not an arrestable offense. There may not be any need for it, but unless the officer has probable cause to search your vehicle then you should be cited and sent on your way.
There was no sobriety test given in this instance and there was nothing amiss.
I agree the best idea is to be respectful and I certainly wouldn't do otherwise. But I'm not everybody, and Imho, the police need to have a pretty reasonable expectation that someone really has done something nefarious before they go whole hog on a simple traffic stop.
I would rather a few people with some reason to get arrested go undetected than every citizen of this country live in fear that if they speak out of turn or act nervously or even rudely, that they are subject to the slammer.
Not the country I envision living in.
You are ignoring the substance of Jersey Girl's post. Cops are very wary during traffic stops. They don't know what they might encounter. Bland was acting strange from the beginning. She go increasingly frantic and hysterical. It wasn't unreasonable for him to wonder if she was going to get violent and ask her to get our of the car. I agree he shouldn't have gotten so excited and yelled and all - I'm guessing as rookie he was scared. But I'm not excusing his bad behavior in this case. If you watch the video from the beginning when you see his prior traffic stop, both he and that driver were cordial and there was no problem. I think it's reasonable to assume that he makes traffic stops on a regular basis and this is the first one we've heard about. I think that by now we would know if he had a pattern of this type of behavior. However, we do know that Bland had a pattern. And failure to signal is actually a arrestible offense in TX all on it's own.
Except in this case, he provoked a reaction. After the stop was completed. It is not unreasonable for people to be irritated, frightened, embarrassed, angry, or any other gamut of emotions under a stressful situation.
Getting snippy is not an arrestable offense. There may not be any need for it, but unless the officer has probable cause to search your vehicle then you should be cited and sent on your way.
There was no sobriety test given in this instance and there was nothing amiss.
I agree the best idea is to be respectful and I certainly wouldn't do otherwise. But I'm not everybody, and Imho, the police need to have a pretty reasonable expectation that someone really has done something nefarious before they go whole hog on a simple traffic stop.
I would rather a few people with some reason to get arrested go undetected than every citizen of this country live in fear that if they speak out of turn or act nervously or even rudely, that they are subject to the slammer.
Not the country I envision living in.
How did the cop provoke the reaction?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
