ALI3N'S Basic/Budget Build

Here's the thing, how does the officer know you're innocent? He doesn't know you, or if you're going to run away/attack.

 

Understood, but if police handcuffed me just for driving a truck that matched a description, I'd be livid, and somewhat traumatized...

 

Not me.

 

Like I said, one of the benefits of having a distinctive truck...

 

Again, you don't have Aspergers...

 

@PennSilverTaco, you're a good friend of mine, and I don't mean to disrespect you in any way, but our mentalities on these sensitive subjects are extremely different.

 

It don’t work like that lol

 

@ALI3N_123

I've told this story a million times on Tacoma World.

In March 2013, I was walking around a residential area of Doylestown taking pictures. I never set foot on private property. I always have believed and always will believe that taking pictures of things like houses and trucks in PUBLIC aren't worth making a federal case over. Unbeknownst to me, a heroin addict had burglarized four houses on that particular street in just over a month. How the fuck was I supposed to know that. In an odd twist of fate, I went to the same barber as the cop who stopped me and my barber got the whole story. Some woman called the cops and said I was in her yard taking pictures through her window (BULLSHIT!).

I spent 30-40 minutes walking around this residential area taking pictures, and as I was walking back to my Tacoma, a marked Ford Expedition from what was then Doylestown Borough Police pulled alongside, and I knew exactly why he was after me. It was the sergeant of the department. First words out of his mouth were "Can I see some ID?"

At that point in my life I was 23 years old and had NEVER been stopped by the police EVER. It would be another four years before I was pulled over while driving. Imagine you're practicing your completely innocent hobby, and the next thing you know you have not one or two but four cops surrounding you...

I was not handcuffed, searched, or placed in the back of a patrol vehicle, but I felt like a fucking criminal. Two police SUVs and a police car containing four cops showed up. One of the cops was plainclothes, so I'm guessing a detective...? I have no doubt these bored suburban cops thought they had their guy.

I had to stand there for like twenty minutes being interrogated by these cops, and one of them had the gall to ask "are you going to be alright?"

I wanted to scream "No officer! I was taking pictures in public, which the last time I checked is NOT illegal, and the next thing I know I've got four cops hassling me! No, I'm not alright!"

I was actually shaking uncontrollably when the third cop car showed up.

The cops were not unprofessional, but they were particularly galling in my opinion. The one thing that pissed off the most is when the Sergeant took a look at the address on my license and asked "So, do you live with your parents or by yourself?" I told him I lived with my parents, but still to this day don't understand why they needed to know who I lived with. I had been living at that address for more than five years at that point, and it was my current address. My mom said that the cop was probably trying to determine if I had a stable home life or if I was a drifter. My dad says the cop probably recognized the address as being in a neighborhood of $500K townhomes and was curious to know if I was some selfmade millionaire entrepreneur. Even then, I don't think it's any of their business whether it's my $500K townhouse, my parents $500K townhouse, or a friend's $500K townhouse. All they need to know is that reside there and my license is up to date...



I was also asked by the cops to show them the pictures on my camera. Again, I complied, but I was pissed. I told the cops I was taking pictures of trucks for the tribute videos I made on YouTube, and it was only after they spent 15-20 minutes treating me like a fucking heroin junkie burglar that they attempted to "make nice" and start engaging me in conversation about my interested. I wanted to tell them to go fuck themselves at that point. I was handed my license back and told "okay, you're free to go", and I spent another 20 minutes sitting in my truck before I composed myself enough to drive home.

That encounter sparked an intense disdain for police that only ended about two and a half years later when I got hit by a drunk driver who accused me of running a stop sign (in the same jurisdiction where I was stopped for taking pictures), but the cops saw things my way and arrested the drunk driver...

Being asked for ID in certain situations is a trigger for me; outside of entering a bar, boarding an airplane, a police traffic stop (note that I said a traffic stop, where you are required to have your license, and not while on foot), or buying an age-restricted product like alcohol or cigarettes (even that is getting old) I will get VERY defensive.

I do not have a problem with police at all. I have the utmost respect for the cops. I just have a problem with the harassing me over petty bullshit like taking pictures...

 

Every time I would go from Canada back to NY I lived 7 mins from boarder I would get searched in both countries almost every time. Why young kid in expensive car. That’s what they do is profile. As for a cop putting you in cuffs for his/her own protection I am all for that. I used to teach law enforcement in proper weapons and defense training. And putting someone in handcuffs while they search a vehicle or pay you down is alright by me. A lot can happen with in 15ft so just having someone in cuffs for a detainment not an arrest is perfectly okay. With law enforcement is a mutual respect thing, I just got a speeding ticket a few months ago. I shook the cops hand said “thanks for keeping the roads safe and thank you for serving your community”. Went and paid my ticket wasn’t a dick at anytime.

 

What if they break something?

 

I don't have a problem with the police, I just got traumatized the first time I dealt with them.

 

They ask these answers to get a base to tell if your lying or not.

 

Read above post...

I don't think it was any business of the police who I lived with at the address on my driver's license.

 

How it should be.

 

It happens. You were nervous they were overwhelming it happens. At the end of the day everyone went home.

 

I know this, doesn't make it any less obnoxious. "Can I see some ID?" is a trigger for me unless the person asking for it is a bouncer at a bar, or a TSA agent at the airport. I'm trying to get over this...

 

At that moment, you were detained. Cops can ask for whatever information they want. It's the law, and it's PD protocol.

 

They'll obviously pay for any damages.

 

Next time I'm pleading the fifth. What else do they want to know? My credit rating? How many women I've slept with? Go fuck yourself...

 

I got a TSA waiver lol. I call in the morning of my flight they walk me through no issue