Cops abused me for an hour for no reason at all!

[quankanne]

or monitoring her speech patterns and levels of cognizance and emotional response so they could determine how sober she was ...

[2sunny]

RP-

an open container of any kind of alcohol with your keys in the car will get you arrested in our area now a days.

 

if you are bombed and sleeping in your car and your keys are thrown outside of the car - you are in a safe haven.. now you get what Johan was getting at?

 

don't know why - it's just a cop technicality and one they live by in our territory - just telling you what we know... sorry for your troubled evening....

[burning 4 revenge]

Asking a Slavic-Jewish woman if I felt like a dirty, f*cking, stinky Muslim Albanian with whom I would never even talk

ahh, theres that classic love of neighbor the balkans are so well known for :love:

[Touche]

Wow, how the hell did I get dragged into this? I stand by my statements about Burning. I got his point, RP. It was a very pointed one. Look deeper into it and try not to shoot off at the hip as far as your response.

 

As far as the rest of it, I can relate. A VERY similar thing happened to me in 1990 or so. It's a long, boring story but the bottom line was that I learned to never, EVER get behind the wheel even if you've had a little SIP of alcohol.

 

Taxis aren't that expensive if you need to get away from the house.

 

But anyway, it's behind you now. Calm down. I'd venture to say that even having had that experience, it's still a better country here than where you came from, no?

 

So smile, move on and be your sweet, bright self ok?

 

[Green]

RP-

an open container of any kind of alcohol with your keys in the car will get you arrested in our area now a days.

 

if you are bombed and sleeping in your car and your keys are thrown outside of the car - you are in a safe haven.. now you get what Johan was getting at?

 

don't know why - it's just a cop technicality and one they live by in our territory - just telling you what we know... sorry for your troubled evening....

 

I was just about to point out the open container laws, and yes they can arrest you even if the cars off and parked as long as you have acess to the keys. Were these guys jerks to you, most likely. Could they get shot, stabed, Or punched and bitten by some crazy couple having a domestic dispute yes. I say cut them some slack and for get about it. You got screwed but I dont think the cops will be messing with you again. And in the future dont say stuff like I'm arguing with my husband.

[RecordProducer]

There was no container open in my car.

They abused me for a while before they gave me the test.

They simply suspected a woman parked in a safe neighborhood for being a vctim of abuse AND AND AND AND AND (plese don't be blindf to this) KILLING HER HUSBAND! for no reason at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Burning has no idea what he's talking about and if anyone understand what he's talking about he or she is screwed up in the head. Because if you can't explain why two cops tortured me through the political situation in my country then you're no better than those cops who simply enjoy mistreating people for no reason.

 

Nobody was focusing on my level of alcohol, that's the whole point. First it was attacking me for being a victim of physical abuse, they wouldn't let me go... then it was me being drunk, but they couldn't catch me on that... then they attacked me about being possibly a murderer and they said they had to check my husband was OK... then they just tortured me verbally... me and my husbnad... all because I went out to drive a little bit and parked my car 100 yards up my street...

 

If anyone of you finds a justification for this then you're no better than those sick cops. How would you feel if you just drove around cuz you were sad and cops caught you and tortured you and suspected you were a murdere?

 

The way they turned me froma vctim of abuse to a murderer just tells me that they were looking for ANYTHING! But they couldn't find it.

[Porn_Guy]

They abused me for a while before they gave me the test. They simply suspected a woman parked in a safe neighborhood for being a vctim of abuse AND AND AND AND AND (plese don't be blindf to this) KILLING HER HUSBAND! for no reason at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

naah!....cops like to harrass young good-looking females. this is documented.

[RecordProducer]

naah!....cops like to harrass young good-looking females. this is documented.

You're cute. But I don't think I looked good last night. It was open abuse for no reason. I am going to see what i can do about it.

 

I should have driven home and left them there. I would love to see them knowcking on my door to check if I am abused or killed my husband. They would need a warranty for that kind of abuse on my territory.

[Fiona]

Where I come from, it's an offense to have open booze in the passenger compartment, even if it's an empty bottle. If he could smell it, I would venture to guess, he was rambling to see if you were drunk, slurring your speach, loosing your cool, etc. I think you just barely missed a DWI. Did you thank him?

[pelagicsands]

Please read, it's interesting.

You lied.

 

But I am very happy that you are OK.

[TYASAFAHICSI]

Chill RP--

 

I suspect that they may have had a DUI Checkpoint in the area? Are there any bars, country clubs, or restaurants that are open late in the area? Cops will typically not be too concerned with the cars in the checkpoint...they are more concerned with the cars that AVOID the checkpoint---which is what it might have appeared that you did.

 

So you are now a possible suspect for DUI.

 

You said you went to the store bought some booze and took a sip. So I assume there is an open bottle in the car somewhere, which is illegal in PA.

 

The other cop there was because you said you had a fight with hubby. A male cop does not want to be alone with you--he wants a female there with him to back up his side of there tale.

 

You probably seemed to have a temper and that further escalated it. After all you had been fighting with hubby.

 

So without knowing everything, they operate with an abundance of caution. They need to protect themselves. Who knows if you had a gun in there and had just had enough to kill the next man that looked at you funny. It is a tough world out there.

 

But here in the US, we are presumed innocent till proven guilty, but that does not mean that we go free till proven. If a cop has a reasonable suspicion, he will arrest you and anythign you do to hinder that will only worsen and add to the charges.

 

Also of note, if anythign illegal is visible in your car, road, parking lot, driveway, etc. A cop can ask you to search the car and you must comply.

[bluetuesday]

you're distressed in a car, you've been to buy alcohol, the cops see you. you admit you've left the house because of an argument with your husband, you've had a drink, there are offensive weapons in the car and the police try to get to the bottom of the situation.

 

RP i think you're over-reacting. you'd be the first to complain if you needed help and the police weren't there. the cops had every right to question you - you committed an offence by drinking in your car. and even if that's not against the law in your state, it's perfectly legitimate for cops to question you if they suspect you're going to drive after drinking. if they also suspect you're being abused, i would have thought you could see past your own situation and realise that this kind of police work is invaluable to some women who are too scared to make a complaint against a violent partner. certainly where i am, it DOESN'T require that a victim makes a complaint if the police become aware of a crime. the police themselves can bring a complaint in order that the victim doesn't put themselves in more danger by speaking out.

 

btw, what you said about muslim albanians shows some real nastiness of character. i would be surprised if, given your temper, this situation was as one-sided as you painted it.

[RecordProducer]

Guys, I understand your point, but apparently I wasn't drunk and all they had to do was to check my driver's license and make me blow. Not to interrogate me repeatedly assumming that my husband beat me. If I said NO and I look OK, it's NO. Oh, my husband said the cop told him to go sleep in a hotel. My husband told him NO. They passed the limit of decent cop's behavior big time.

 

Weapons? Don't be ridiculous. I have very dangerous deadly weapons in my house: cutting knives. Does that make me a suspect? Just because I had an argument with my husband and left the house to take a ride doesn't mean I hit his head with a hammer and sliced him with a saw (the saw is not electrical, by the way, it's the most primitive one).

 

And to answer your question, TYASA... no, I wouldn't be happy if I were a victim and the cops were wasting their time torturing an innocent person in another place.

[Porn_Guy]

um...I think you're gettin' a bit emotional over this RP....most people have been falsely harrased by the police at least once. Welcome to America!

[pelagicsands]

Just because I had an argument with my husband and left the house to take a ride doesn't mean I hit his head with a hammer and sliced him with a saw (the saw is not electrical, by the way, it's the most primitive one).

That's exactly the kind they use in the movies to do dismemberments. I guess it's so much more dramatic that way.

 

Then again, if I was cutting someone up, I would want to get it over with. Fast. So I take your point.

[TYASAFAHICSI]

RP uunfortunately the US does not operate uner the Law of RP. You cannot tell by looking at someone if they are or are not drunk. They may have suspected other drugs--who knows. The weapons thing was just a ploy so they could look in your car further to see if there was anything and to judge your reaction.

 

Apparently they felt that you were angry enough to potentially hurt your hubby and they did the right thing by following you and talking to him and suggesting he go to a motel. They would rather do that then be investigating a homicide (in their eyes) or an assault later in the evening.

 

If you really feel you were abused, call the chief of police and let him know. Call the Township Manager. But I think if you think this through, you will see that it was more of an inconvenience (sorry) than an hour of being harassed and abused!

[pelagicsands]

Welcome to America!

Agreed. If you haven't had your face slammed on the bonnet, and been fondled between the thighs, then you simply haven't lived. This is the best country in the world (not that I own a map).

[TYASAFAHICSI]

Agreed. If you haven't had your face slammed on the bonnet, and been fondled between the thighs, then you simply haven't lived. This is the best country in the world (not that I own a map).

 

You are not from America using words like BONNET unless it is accompanied by the word Blue!

[Porn_Guy]

If you really feel you were abused, call the chief of police and let him know. Call the Township Manager. But I think if you think this through, you will see that it was more of an inconvenience (sorry) than an hour of being harassed and abused!

ha ha ha...you can't fight the police.

[pelagicsands]

You are not from America using words like BONNET unless it is accompanied by the word Blue!

Did you just pop my hood?!

[Craig]

RP other posters have explained what they could have arrested you for...now lets look at the "interrogation." The cops keep on your butt because they want to see if you slip up or change your story and to try to determine if you are under the influence of other drugs that might impair your ability to operate the vehicle and to see what your state of mind was.

 

It doesn't matter that you blew under the limit as there are lots of common drugs that when combined with even small amounts of alcohol can cause impairment.

 

It doesn't matter that you were in a decent neighborhood because some of the most gruesome domestic assaults have occurred in decent and better neighborhoods.

 

What does matter is that they might have prevented someone from drinking way too much in their vehicle and then driving, they may have discovered someone that was impaired, they might have found someone that just killed or injured their spouse or who was escaping from their spouse...etc., etc.

 

The mere fact that they didn't arrest you for having an open container means that they cut you some slack and know you're not someone to be concerned about from their point of view. That's a good thing. Your best bet is to forget about the whole thing and don't drink in your car again.

[Pyro]

Please read, it's interesting.

 

Last night I had an argument with my husband. So I left the house and went to the store, bought booze, took a few sips, and drove back. Right after I had to turn right into my street, there was a police car. I turned into my street thinking: "The cops will think that I chickened out when I saw them for some reason and instead of going straight, I made a turn into a side street". Anyway, I continued and turned onto another street, made a U-turn and parked my car here to finish my drink. I was about a 100 yards away from my house. Please note that I didn't change my route because of the police car, I drove toward my house exactly as always, as if they weren't there at all.

 

I was sitting in the car and thinking, without drinking, when a police car came onto my direction and stopped next to me. I couldn't believe that he stopped, but I opened the window. He asked how he could help me, a young stupid-looking, movie-cop wannabe. I assume they followed me, since we live in a small township, a fancy suburb, where the criminal rate is practically zero so they're bored, and chase innocent people. I say: "I am just sitting and thinking," hoping that he'd leave me alone.

 

He asks why, what, where... I tell him (still naive like a turkey) that I'd had an argument with my husband and just left the house to chill out, everything is fine, thanks for the concern, go away already...

 

He asks if the fight with my husband was physical. I say "Absolutely not!" The funny thing is I told him in 3 words what the argument was about so apparently I was willing to confide and yet he starts interrogating me as if I did something wrong. I mean, even if my husband beat the crap out of me, it's still my prerogative to report it or hide it. They have no proof other than my word. Obviously I don't have any broken bones or bruises that they can see. I wasn't even crying or anything.

 

He tells me to stay there. I wait in disbelief, but unable to think of something constructive as I am new to this system and have no clue of how to behave. So I play it safe - I act obedient. About 10-15 minutes later another police car appears. (I am such a dangerous criminal, one cop can't handle me, he needed help; I guess that's why he never got out of his car to ask me for my driver's license, cuz he was afraid of me). Two young cops, a jerk and a bitch, approach me and start asking me ridiculous questions. She tells him that she spots a sledge hammer in the car (evidence!!!). He asks what my husband does for a living. I say he just sold a company and he is a mechanical engineer. He asks me if this is why the tools are in front of the backseat. I am like "What tools?" I turn around and see a hammer and a saw. I want to tell them "Ohhhhh, those tools! Noooo, I used them to cut my husband's body so I could transport it to the nearest trash cans!" In reality I want to ask them half-seriously, half-jokingly: "Am I under a suspicion of committing a murder?" But I resist the temptation and just say: "I don't know what those tools are doing here. No, my husband doesn't use them for his work." He is like "Oh, OK." So now it's OK! If he doesn't use them for work, then who uses them for what?

 

Never mind. He asks me if I had some alcoholic beverages. I say NO (I lie). He asks "What do I smell?" I tell him it's cooking wine. He said he asked me... whatever. He goes somewhere and doesn't come back. I can't believe this is happening to me. They are checking my driver's license for a long time as if there is a lot to check there. I feel like getting out of the car and telling them "Give me the f*cking alcohol-test kit and let me go home, you scumbags, who had bad grades at school!" But I figure if I get out of the car, they will point a gun at me and I might actually die. These people seem waaaaaay off base and act as if I am a criminal. It would cost them nothing to kill me and say it was self-defense. I fear stupidity more than anything else.

 

He finally comes back and starts giving me some crap about how he could arrest me for operating a vehicle in a DWI, blah-blah...At this moment I figure that he can't arrest me for sh*t, because I am not operating a vehicle, I am parked. No one can prove that I didn't drive 100 yards up my street, had a few sips, and will leave the car there, and walk home. It's an extremely safe neighborhood. I want to smack him, but I change my mind. I tell him that I live right there and whatever and he seems like he lost his patience (although I barely speak at all) and tells me : "No, YOU listen to ME now!" I figure, this is the type that loses his patience that easily and probably beats his wife at home, then searches for another beaten women to arrest them for driving in a drunken state!!! But I am neither beaten nor drunk so I am not his prey tonight.

 

I blow, it comes way below the limit. They finally want to let me go home, but they want to talk to me and my husband separately. He goes into my house and asks hubby if our fight was physical, etc. At the same time, she gives me a lesson about drinking, saying I am in denial when I say I don't have a drinking problem, and I wanna tell her "Hey, bitch, I know I have a drinking problem, but I don't wanna tell YOU about it... Helllooooooo!" She asks about my personal and marriage problems, advises me to develop friends, seek help for my drinking, think of my kids...

 

The male cop tells me that they have to check every case, it's their job, family violence happens.. I tell him: "Yes, while you're talking to me, it happens somewhere else!" But he is too stupid to get my message and says: "Correct!"

 

Finally I am free to go. I feel violated, abused, dirty... I get in the house and I can't wait to share this traumatic experience with hubby... he says: "I hope you learned your lesson!" cold as ice. I've never ever ever in my life felt so alone like last night when he said that to me. I needed a hug, I needed to cry, I needed someone... I called my dad later and felt better. But I still feel traumatized.

 

My question is: can I report them? Will they be punished or at least criticized for torturing an innocent person for nothing? I am afraid that they will see me again and torture me if I report them. Now I am afraid to get out of the house out of fear that if I just stand in the street I will be suspicious and be taken to jail for that. This is not how it's supposed to be in the United States. This is typical for some dictator's country, but not here. I shouldn't be afraid to walk or drive freely. I did nothing wrong and I was kept as a suspect in the street. They should have checked my license and my alcohol level, but not interrogate me about my personal things and give me sh*t about it. Can I report them to the authorities? What would I achieve by that? Any information is appreciated.

 

I think that this is a case of boredom. The cops patrol a safe city, so they generally do not have much going on, so they did what they did to kill some time. I really don't believe that they had to go through as much as they did with you.

 

If you truly feel that what they did was wrong, then go and report them. Unfortunately it may be only your word against their's and I wouldn't doubt that in that situation, they will take the side of the cops, but if you feel that you have a strong enough case, then go for it. You also have to worry about retaliation from the cops, meaning that they could pull you over if they see any minor problem with your driving or with your car. Cops don't like to be challenged. It shows that you are not intimidated by them and they want you to be intimidated.

[quankanne]

it doesn't sound like out and out police harassment, though in her upset set it most likely looked that way. I still think that they responded to their training in an unknown situation involving possible intoxication and possible domestic violence. Time to let a cooler head prevail and reassess the situation, RP. You're right to be pissed off, but you've got to understand what kind of situation they thought they were walking into. Much better to piss off an innocent detainee than what they thought could be the alternative ...

[ilmw]

Ok...just read this entire post...

 

Now I can't and won't speak for others in the profession... but for a guy who has worked in the "Big City" and now works in a smaller community... the only difference I have seen is the amount of Murder, shootings, and stabbings... although they still do happen...

 

What I have seen though is the amount of domestic violence is NO different.. and the amount of Impaired Drivers... is way ... way more prevalent. (They take the back roads into town...trying to avoid detection.)

 

 

I read the OP... and saw it this way... Cop observes a vehicle...it appeared to turn, due to his cruiser being there. He thinks.. hmmm. What do we have here... (Now its his job to detect and stop crime) So.. he goes and see if there is anything up with that car.

 

He drives along... and there it is...parked... so (once again doing his job) investigates.. while talking with the driver.. he finds out...

 

1) She has been drinking

2) She has been possibly involved in a Domestic Incident..(Undetermined at that time)

 

Now many of you may know.. that ... the public in general really frowns of DUI... and all the mayhem it brings. Also... the general public also frowns on Domestic Violence. Policy makers in many jurisdictions across North America... in many cases require the police to arrest with a mere allegation of an assault... such as "he pushed me" (That is an assault.. the intentional application of force against someone who did request it)

 

Anyway...

 

So... once again... this COP doing his job.. (which is nice to see) investigates.. (and unlike TV.. it does sometimes take awhile to get information back)

 

Now.. many police are trained to look at a constellation of information.. (the big picture) There is a possible Drunk driver.. smells of booze... admits to having some form of domestic incident... there are tools in the back of the vehicle.. OP is not looking her best... (not sure what that means..) but if she looked unkept... ruffled... it is sometimes an "indicator" of an altercation..

 

Now.. lets say these COPS did not investigate... and infact OP was Impaired in the operation of a motor vehicle.. and went of and killed someone... they would be condemned for that...

 

Now lets also say.. OP was beaten by hubby... and the COPS did nothing about that... they would also be condemned.

 

History of Impaired Deaths.. and Domestic Violence Deaths.. is a big contributor.. to todays policies.. It was not that long ago.. when you could drive drunk... an men could beat their wives..

 

For someone who had never been in trouble with the law before... I could see how OP might have felt... but... and its a BIG But! Be thankful they were doing there jobs... and not in some donut shop.... catching up/taking protection money.. and rolling the drug dealers... for their money and crack!

 

What those cops were doing is called proactive policing... they were out there doing it... be thankful.. you have cops in your area... that give a damn to bother checking on you.. because although you may have not lied to them.. and nothing really happened between you and Hubby.... You would be surprised how many times I have been lied to.. "oh... nothing happened".. then a few months later... we are taking pictures of her black eyes.. and bruises... and she then tells us.. she lied back then.... because she was afraid.

 

People lie to the police.. and due to the fact that the police mainly deal with the worst 2% of society... don't take offence that you get asked 50 questions...

 

Like another poster said earlier... those cops did not know you from a hole in the wall.... so... what you say... is not taken a face value.

 

In conclusion, the cops were doing there jobs... complain all you like.. nothing will happen.. and if something did... you would regret it in the future... if something ever really did happen... and you helped tie the cops hands even more.

 

BTW.... most COPS I know.. actually care...

[VinaAmez]

Next time don't volunteer info like that.