Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
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namvet
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Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/cohoon1.html
April 3, 2009
There was a day in America when we, the people, had great respect for the
police. When they would ask you how you are doing, they sincerely
wanted to know because they cared. That day has passed with barely a
whisper or complaint. Today when a cop (they prefer to be called Police
Officers, as they feel "cop" is somewhat derogatory) asks you how you
are, they are not doing it because they care but rather to set you at
ease so you feel that their follow-up questions are friendly and
benign. Since for most of us, our likely contact with the police is
during a traffic stop (this is actually an arrest. If you do not
believe this, try and leave the scene of the top, or not stop in the
first place), and the follow-up questions inevitably will be:
1. Where are you coming from (sic)?
2. Where are you going?
3. What are you doing?
4. Do you have anything illegal in your possession?
What they are not doing is being friendly, but rather they are fishing for
information to give them probable cause to search you and your vehicle.
There are so many laws today that almost everyone is guilty of
something at all times. It is unreasonable to think every individual
will know every law for which they may be held accountable. We think
"I'm not hurting anyone so I'm not doing anything wrong." While this
seems reasonable to most of us (no victim, no crime right?), the law
and especially the cops do not see it this way.
Take this for example. You are heading home on a Saturday morning from your bank downtown, and get stopped by cops for some perceived infraction. You answer the questions above: "The bank downtown," "Home," "Nothing," "No." This seems perfectly reasonable and safe; you are just complying with the friendly police officer. What you do not know is that a
different bank downtown was just robbed and you have given the cop
probable cause to search you and your vehicle under suspicion that you
are one of the robbers.
Maybe this example hits closer to home.You are heading to your diabetic parents' home for a visit and are also
going to deliver a box of 100 insulin syringes. You think nothing of it
and mention the syringes to the police officer; clearly, you are only
being friendly and answering the questions honestly. Well
congratulations, if you live in Illinois you just admitted to a crime.
Possession or transportation of more than 20 syringes by anyone not a
health professional is a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and
a Class 4 felony after that. Welcome to the slammer and the humiliation
of processing.
Every single piece of information the cops need during a traffic stop is contained on your license, registration and
proof of insurance. While there are a plethora of reasons why you
should not even have to provide those (a huge topic all on its own), in
my humble opinion the potential hassle of not complying far outweighs
the benefits gained by attempting to circumvent these pieces of
documentation. They have no reason to know neither where you have been
nor where you are going. It is none of their business and has nothing
to do with a traffic stop. So, do not tell them anything. Do not talk
to them and do not even open your mouth. Remember they are not your
friend. All they want is to find some reason to take you to the station
and toss you in a cell, confiscate your vehicle (along with all the
contents), put you in a situation that will cost you tens of thousands
of dollars to get out of (if you are lucky) or a guilty plea-bargain to
avoid jail time (congratulations on the felony record, no more guns for
you and good luck finding a new job after you lost your current one
during the 9 month legal battle). They will ruin your life if you give
them the chance, just to advance their petty careers.
And the final question with which you will be faced: "Do you have anything
illegal in your possession?" How are you even supposed to know? Can any
of us be sure that at any particular moment we are not committing some
innocuous "crime"? I certainly do not know all the 70,000 pages of
triple column, small font text released in the Federal Register every
year let alone all the Local, County and State ordinances currently on
the books for which I can be held accountable. So by them asking that
question they have just set you up for a second charge on top of any
others they can think up. "Obstructing an Officer" will tack on an
extra 6 months of jail time to your sentence. Of course, the cops can
lie to you all they want with impunity.
Lastly comes the really scary part. How often have you heard of an on-duty cop who has done something horrible and then get prosecuted? The tasings, shootings, beatings and occasionally murders by the police go mostly unpunished. Sure, they might get two months of administrative leave (with pay) but nothing is really going to happen to them. They know this. They know that if you make them angry they could just pull you out of your car and beat you to the brink of death, and there is nothing anybody will
do about it.
The police care about only one thing: Compliance. Do what they say, when they say without question or you will suffer. They will see to that. The men and women so many people depend on to serve and protect them have become thugs whom we fear. And this fear is not irrational.
April 3, 2009
There was a day in America when we, the people, had great respect for the
police. When they would ask you how you are doing, they sincerely
wanted to know because they cared. That day has passed with barely a
whisper or complaint. Today when a cop (they prefer to be called Police
Officers, as they feel "cop" is somewhat derogatory) asks you how you
are, they are not doing it because they care but rather to set you at
ease so you feel that their follow-up questions are friendly and
benign. Since for most of us, our likely contact with the police is
during a traffic stop (this is actually an arrest. If you do not
believe this, try and leave the scene of the top, or not stop in the
first place), and the follow-up questions inevitably will be:
1. Where are you coming from (sic)?
2. Where are you going?
3. What are you doing?
4. Do you have anything illegal in your possession?
What they are not doing is being friendly, but rather they are fishing for
information to give them probable cause to search you and your vehicle.
There are so many laws today that almost everyone is guilty of
something at all times. It is unreasonable to think every individual
will know every law for which they may be held accountable. We think
"I'm not hurting anyone so I'm not doing anything wrong." While this
seems reasonable to most of us (no victim, no crime right?), the law
and especially the cops do not see it this way.
Take this for example. You are heading home on a Saturday morning from your bank downtown, and get stopped by cops for some perceived infraction. You answer the questions above: "The bank downtown," "Home," "Nothing," "No." This seems perfectly reasonable and safe; you are just complying with the friendly police officer. What you do not know is that a
different bank downtown was just robbed and you have given the cop
probable cause to search you and your vehicle under suspicion that you
are one of the robbers.
Maybe this example hits closer to home.You are heading to your diabetic parents' home for a visit and are also
going to deliver a box of 100 insulin syringes. You think nothing of it
and mention the syringes to the police officer; clearly, you are only
being friendly and answering the questions honestly. Well
congratulations, if you live in Illinois you just admitted to a crime.
Possession or transportation of more than 20 syringes by anyone not a
health professional is a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and
a Class 4 felony after that. Welcome to the slammer and the humiliation
of processing.
Every single piece of information the cops need during a traffic stop is contained on your license, registration and
proof of insurance. While there are a plethora of reasons why you
should not even have to provide those (a huge topic all on its own), in
my humble opinion the potential hassle of not complying far outweighs
the benefits gained by attempting to circumvent these pieces of
documentation. They have no reason to know neither where you have been
nor where you are going. It is none of their business and has nothing
to do with a traffic stop. So, do not tell them anything. Do not talk
to them and do not even open your mouth. Remember they are not your
friend. All they want is to find some reason to take you to the station
and toss you in a cell, confiscate your vehicle (along with all the
contents), put you in a situation that will cost you tens of thousands
of dollars to get out of (if you are lucky) or a guilty plea-bargain to
avoid jail time (congratulations on the felony record, no more guns for
you and good luck finding a new job after you lost your current one
during the 9 month legal battle). They will ruin your life if you give
them the chance, just to advance their petty careers.
And the final question with which you will be faced: "Do you have anything
illegal in your possession?" How are you even supposed to know? Can any
of us be sure that at any particular moment we are not committing some
innocuous "crime"? I certainly do not know all the 70,000 pages of
triple column, small font text released in the Federal Register every
year let alone all the Local, County and State ordinances currently on
the books for which I can be held accountable. So by them asking that
question they have just set you up for a second charge on top of any
others they can think up. "Obstructing an Officer" will tack on an
extra 6 months of jail time to your sentence. Of course, the cops can
lie to you all they want with impunity.
Lastly comes the really scary part. How often have you heard of an on-duty cop who has done something horrible and then get prosecuted? The tasings, shootings, beatings and occasionally murders by the police go mostly unpunished. Sure, they might get two months of administrative leave (with pay) but nothing is really going to happen to them. They know this. They know that if you make them angry they could just pull you out of your car and beat you to the brink of death, and there is nothing anybody will
do about it.
The police care about only one thing: Compliance. Do what they say, when they say without question or you will suffer. They will see to that. The men and women so many people depend on to serve and protect them have become thugs whom we fear. And this fear is not irrational.
Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
Man detained and harassed at airport for carrying CASH! right here in my state. this is way over the line !!!!!!!!!!!
namvet- Ranger Qualified
- Number of posts : 399
Locale : Missouri
Registration date : 2007-08-20
Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
The days of trusting the cops are over. I am teaching my children that the police are part of the enemy statists machine and they are enemies of liberty and to distrust them until proven otherwise. And if you look at the education and IQ level of the average cop, you can understand why. "Freeze, Police!!!" is only one step removed from "Would you like fries with that?"
That's I-gore- FNG/Recruit
- Number of posts : 12
Locale : Amityville
Registration date : 2009-06-01
Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
why not remove the police force entirely and let everbody be their own judge and their jury? bring back the days of the wild west when gunslingers who eluded the law were reverered for their prowess (as per popular depictions in film and litterature) heck who needs the gov't anyways huh? let's just go back to bartering and see where that gets us
when were police officers truly caring individuals? when they took bribe money pre-internal investigations? when they ruled cities like LA & NYC for profit? if you're talking about small town cops who know everybody and just want to say hello, see if everything's all right - i'm sure that still exists, in small towns.
when were police officers truly caring individuals? when they took bribe money pre-internal investigations? when they ruled cities like LA & NYC for profit? if you're talking about small town cops who know everybody and just want to say hello, see if everything's all right - i'm sure that still exists, in small towns.
Popov- Admin
- Number of posts : 353
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Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
I can remember bike cops and foot patrols , the police used to come to schools and just talk with us.
libertarianandproud- Infantry
- Number of posts : 117
Registration date : 2009-02-14
Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
Popov wrote:why not remove the police force entirely and let everbody be their own judge and their jury? bring back the days of the wild west when gunslingers who eluded the law were reverered for their prowess (as per popular depictions in film and litterature) heck who needs the gov't anyways huh? let's just go back to bartering and see where that gets us
when were police officers truly caring individuals? when they took bribe money pre-internal investigations? when they ruled cities like LA & NYC for profit? if you're talking about small town cops who know everybody and just want to say hello, see if everything's all right - i'm sure that still exists, in small towns.
You have a perverted and misinformed vision of what the 1800s were like in the West. Too much TV.
GD2GO- The REAL Infidel Warlord
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Age : 65
Locale : In the space between reality and possibility.
Registration date : 2007-01-17
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Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
GD2GO wrote:Popov wrote:why not remove the police force entirely and let everbody be their own judge and their jury? bring back the days of the wild west when gunslingers who eluded the law were reverered for their prowess (as per popular depictions in film and litterature) heck who needs the gov't anyways huh? let's just go back to bartering and see where that gets us
when were police officers truly caring individuals? when they took bribe money pre-internal investigations? when they ruled cities like LA & NYC for profit? if you're talking about small town cops who know everybody and just want to say hello, see if everything's all right - i'm sure that still exists, in small towns.
You have a perverted and misinformed vision of what the 1800s were like in the West. Too much TV.
yeah you're probably right, i can't argue against that, but i don't think anybody alive today can say "back in the good old days" and refer to the 1800s........... unless you're Bicentenial man or you have a profound multi-source knowledge of 1800s police accross the nation - and reading one or two books doesn't cut it
i'm actually reading something right now on inter-racial tensions and the involvement of police/gov in everyday life in pre-WW1 & interwar LA....
good stuff, totally new perspective
Popov- Admin
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Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
well, i had that when i was a kid too, but a handful of good caring cops don't represent the entire force - not then, not nowlibertarianandproud wrote:I can remember bike cops and foot patrols , the police used to come to schools and just talk with us.
Popov- Admin
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Character sheet
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Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
Popov wrote:well, i had that when i was a kid too, but a handful of good caring cops don't represent the entire force - not then, not nowlibertarianandproud wrote:I can remember bike cops and foot patrols , the police used to come to schools and just talk with us.
True but doesn't every walk of life or every profession have their shining stars and bad apples, except for politicians who are all corrupt
libertarianandproud- Infantry
- Number of posts : 117
Registration date : 2009-02-14
Re: Why fearing the Police isnt irrational
The local Nazis, AKA the McKinney Texas Police Department conducted a roadside checkpoint here a few days ago. EVERYONE who drove, walked, rode a bike down Stacy Road was stopped, questioned and often searched.
Reason: Because a new law allowed them to do it and they wanted to conduct a test.
FUCKING NAZIS
Reason: Because a new law allowed them to do it and they wanted to conduct a test.
FUCKING NAZIS
GD2GO- The REAL Infidel Warlord
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Age : 65
Locale : In the space between reality and possibility.
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