Small Town Cops Are The Worst - Ep. 6.084

[@HUBABUBA-il8fn]

Sometimes when it is that slow late at night you just look for someone to talk to.

[@stevelehto]

I wouldn't have minded that as much. "I pulled you over because I'm lonely. No ticket. Just looking for someone to talk to." Unless he wanted to be held. That would've bugged me.

[@HUBABUBA-il8fn]

@@stevelehto Even though I was a Police officer in a much larger suburban County Dept there were many times in the winter at 3 in the morning where it was so dead you were just looking for someone to talk to. We're also talking almost 40 years ago. Nowadays there some mighty fine F/M Police Officers you might not mind wanting to hug you.

[@katiekane5247]

So by that logic, when I worked the 11pm-7am nursing shift, I could wake a patient up at 2am because I was bored & lonely? Jobs aren't meant to be social ventures.

[@fenrirchisholm]

@Michael Bless, the problem with this logic is that the police officer immediately holds with them a position of power/authority over their citizenry, which the stop creates an adversarial role on behalf of the otherwise innocent driver. You may very well have benevolence in mind when knowingly pulling over a car who'd otherwise done nothing wrong. Still, you cannot assume that the compulsory participant in this transaction will be friendly when you had no apparent cause to stop the driver whatsoever if the purpose were for social interaction, not enforcement. If you're lonely, buy a dog. If you're pulling people over for social visits, find a new job.

[@swmovan]

Back in the 70s, a friend and I would park on the square, sit & play chess. One of the cops we knew would frequently stop & talk to us.

[@cjbubeck]

In 1954 my bride and i were driving back from a Florida visit (I was in the Navy), and when we were passing through Emporia, Virginia, (I-95 was not yet built) I must have broken their law about passing a slow car on the main drag, and we were pulled over by a local police officer. I figured I would play the I'm- in-the-Navy card and get off the hook. He squinted at me and said "We're tired of you GI's comin thu here killin and maimin". I almost crapped. We were told to pay a fine or go to their jail to await trial. We were at the end of our travel budget, so while they held me as a sort of hostage, my wife went to the local bank and cashed a Savings Bond which pretty much exhausted our funds. They let us go when we paid the fine (can't recall how much it was), but I vowed to avoid Emporia forever. Turns out, when I-95 was eventually built it bypassed Emporia, and without traffic volume to support their merchants (and sustain the police budget?) I read somewhere that the town fell upon difficult times. My wife and I are now 85 years old and are still careful to avoid being accused of "killing and maiming" while driving.

[@OldSlowCat]

I remember when I was in my early twenties I lived in a small town. I worked an open to close shift at the pizza place I worked at and I was dog tired driving home. Got pulled over and the cop started making small talk (I was pretty new there). My feet were sore, I was exhausted and I smelled. I finally had to ask him what was going on? He says 'do you see anything different or unusual?" so I look around and tell him no. He leans into my car and pulls the little lever to turn my car lights on. He gives me a nod and gets back in his car and drives off. The next night, same shift. Driving home exhausted. Get pulled over. Same cop. He just comes up to my car, turns my lights on, and laughs all the way back to his car and drives off. He was one of the good ones.

[@genepull5009]

I got to, "I remember when..." then I stopped reading. I've just heard this windbag ramble on for twenty minutes. Do you really think I want to hear your life's story too? No thanks!

[@OldSlowCat]

@@genepull5009 And yet you wasted your precious time responding. Good job I suppose?

[@suckmecok]

@@genepull5009 Gene Pull likes being an asshole.

[@lydiarobinett6159]

I got to "I remember when..." and hit "read more"

[@Dave-ty2qp]

@@genepull5009 One year later. ------- Gene! Are you still an asshole?

[@sammy2840]

Pulled my neighbor over at 3:00AM. He was coming home from a 12 hour surgery in the OR as a medical devise sales guy. Cop asked him where he was going...he said home. Cop told him to go home...to which he replied... "_____ You" "I will go wherever whenever I want...this isn't Russia"... Cop was a bit taken aback but just walked away... Never pulled him over again!

[@jeremyashford2145]

There was a high speed police chase. No one else was involved.

[@spartanRS1]

lol

[@rationalbushcraft]

When I was in high school I was on the school newspaper. We did a story about how the school superintendent needed 4 assistants when all the other districts in our area only had one. We also included information about a tax payer funded trip to Hawaii questioning if that was worth while for the district. Well the principle came in and ripped it off they layout board and walked out with it. We had the best teacher in the world as he said we had a right to publish it if we wanted and even though he would probably get fired he would stand by whatever we decided to do. Well we all liked the guy so instead of running with it in the school paper we self published and distributed it door to door in the district. When that hit the fan we got support from the local news media and ended up with a new superintendent. LOL.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Good for you. In my small town high school, we had a school board super intendent who got a PhD by mail or some cheap cut rate school. 📑. This was a minor scandal & he was criticized for calling himself "Dr". 😉. We also had a "Dean of Students", mid 1980s who was busted for fraud, misconduct. He was fired or quit(never really cleared) but he was ridiculed by students, staff too. Small town stuff... 📰...

[@lessorensen9679]

@@DavidLLambertmobile I used to be on my country's volunteer ambulance service. My crew chief had to attend the sheriff ambulance committee meeting monthly. They always covered the sheriff part frist. So I would hear the good stuff from him. We had a good number of deputies given the choice of resigning, being fired, and possibly being prosecuted. They would quit then take their conduct to another Dept. The board members didn't want to look bad for hiring them. When they realized after a number of years that all four crews in the county were hearing about what was happening the committee became two separate separate committees.

[@rockcreekcreamery]

Was stopped by a small county Sheriff who was mowing his lawn in northern Minnesota, went by his place on a dirt bike, so he jumped into his squad car and began pursuit, I stopped, only real problem, he forgot to leave his open beer at home. Have a good day Sir, and dump your beer, I will be on my way.

[@KoJo-qh9od]

My dad was a cop at a 4 person police force in the 60s. He got tired of watching the mayor driving around drunk so he arrested him after the mayor crashed into someones lawn. My dad was told to tear up the ticket. Dad refused and he ended up with a career as a plumber. Enough said.

[@KoJo-qh9od]

@@canucanoe2861 There are plenty of good cops that have had long careers. I know several personally. I live in a city that has a very good police department and positive public reviews and interaction.

[@sewerat11]

Well I still got the deal with crap

[@justinpowell3174]

When I first moved to Loami, I was followed to the local store by a local police officer. He pulled up, watched me come out with my purchases, then watched me drive away. He followed me two more times to the store, over the course of the next month. I stopped in for a drink at the local bar, one night. He came in, came right up to me, and started questioning me about local burglaries. My frined my a county officer, and had already told me they had the culprits on video. They drove an suv, and it was three kids. I related this information to the officer, and just stared at him awkwardly until he walked out. This is why people have a problem with small-town cops, and cops in general. Just the sheer volume of harassment, just from being new to town was aggravating. I go to work, take care of my family, and don't break laws. Yet, here this guy is, questioning me about burglaries he knew I had no part in.

[@SenorSiesta]

You should have gotten a bumper sticker stating: “I just got off work. Yes I’m the new guy” lol

[@daulhill4291]

My dad was deputy sheriff in Oklahoma. He told me in a small town if you get pulled over say yes sir and no sir and keep hands on the steering wheel.

[@Dave-ty2qp]

Yes the cops like compliant subordinate victims.

[@polish22doves]

@@Dave-ty2qp Like, as in allow to live.

[@Dave-ty2qp]

@@polish22doves Can you explain?

[@caledon66]

I once lived in a town that had 1 cop. He doubled as a garbage man and meter reader for the town. He arrested my drunken mother for being belligerent and took her to jail. 1 hour later he brought her back home because she was too belligerent for the jail.

[@TheShrededward]

It's not small town cops, but the mentality of cops that is the problem. Small towns make it easier in one respect, but the mentality of cops in general is the underlying principle that needs to be addressed.

[@RepublicConstitution]

However, my experiences in my small town are quite good. I get the point though but there are exceptions.

[@KNT.63]

At Eric Richards , Alpha Omega & n between it'll never stop ! As long as man's in on it.

[@tedmoss]

Amen, brother.

[@BustedWalletGarage]

I knew a retired LAPD officer that moved to a small town in Tennessee and he would make fun of the local cops to their face about the SWAT style uniforms. “ These guys only have 5 squad cars and they look like they’re about to rappel from a helicopter “.

[@dixiemae5042]

BustedWalletGarage 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

I called the Longwood Florida 👮🏻‍♂️ office phone number once in the mid 2000s. The cop who left a VM message said(in a brash command voice); THIS IS COMMANDER ____ ____ OF THE LONGWOOD POLICE SPECIAL OPERATIONS BUREAU... Longwood FL is a suburb of Orlando with approx 40 sworn officers & 2 K9s 🐶.

[@neondeath07]

LOL That kinda sounds like the joint PD/sheriff "swat" the now Sheriff formed when he was a Sgt. with the PD. It's been around maybe 10 or so years. They've used it twice and both times needed help from the next closest biggest PD and their bomb squad. I guess they forgot to get that training done when forming that years ago.

[@toms641]

I got pulled over once by a small town cop. I was way over the legal limit (.08 or whatever it was. ) Cop says what are you doing. I say I had just graduated college, a little bit of partying seemed in order. He called a taxi for me, took my car keys, said I could pick them up at the police station next day. That was 1974. Times have changed.

[@mikelewellen4195]

I had a small town cop tailgating me all the way through town late one night, so close i couldn't see his headlights and i was driving a small sports car so he had to have been just inches away, every turn, every stop sign, he was just stuck there like glue. Naturally, when I spotted a nearly whole semi truck tire in the middle of the road I decided to swerve around it at the last possible moment and he plowed directly into it, which led to me being pulled over in a felony stop fashion, threatened with a half dozen charges, ordered to retrieve the pistol i had in my trunk so he could run the numbers and generally yelled and screamed at for about a half hour. I wasn't about to put my hands on a gun with an irate cop around so he said I was definitely going to jail, if it weren't for the fact that his boss, the sheriff, was a long time neighbor it probably wouldn't have ended well for me, the guy backed off when I told him i was going to call his boss at home at around 2am. Another cop would order me out of the water at the city park while fishing every time he saw me and ask to search my car, again, a small 2 seater usually with the Windows down, I eventually started refusing to even stop fishing. Their department was shut down shortly thereafter for writing tickets for infractions that didn't exist and misappropriation of funds.

[@mikelewellen4195]

And I've been pulled over simply because officers wanted to see a car I was in.

[@tomfournier4941]

Sounds like my hometown Perth Ontario Canada. Crooked cops there.

[@Peter_Vidgeon]

@@tomfournier4941 And your evidence is?

[@tomfournier4941]

@@Peter_Vidgeon Crooked cops tend to back each other up and not leave evidence. I saw enough corruption on the part of our local police to write a book. We had one who used to shake down drug dealers and then sell the drugs he took off them out of his patrol car. We had them running an extorsion racket in town. Accusing people of being involved in a hit and run accident and demanding $700.00 cash be placed into their hands to pay damages. I was one of the ones they tried pulling that on. I didn't pay but I know a guy who did. I watched them abduct a guy off the street and say he was under arrest. When his friends asked what for they were told for knocking over a garbage can. When the friends pointed out that the garbage can hadn't been knocked over the cop knocked it over and said "Now it has been". Two corrupt OPP officers spent two years trying to frame me up for break and enters that were being committed by an informant. It came back to me later that one of them had openly talked about killing me and making it look like a suicide or an accident because he felt I had been disrespectful to him when he was trying to frame me. I won't tell you how it came back to me but it did. My cousin was married to a teacher who was screwing his students. High school students. The police discouraged girls from pursuing charges against him for years. That only came out when one girl wouldn't go along with them and threatened to go to the media. Then they charged him and everything came out. They once caught him driving drunk and let him go. Even let him drive home. They were friends of his. That's just some of it. My cousin knew nothing about what he'd been up to until he was charged. Anyways, I don't have to prove anything to make the statement that the police are corrupt in my area. If they wish to try and do anything about me saying so than they are welcome to come find me. My story won't change because it's truthful.

[@jeffwhiting4237]

I lived in a small town for several years, and the population of the town was about 2500. For most of that time, the police department was about 5 officers and a few more administrative types. I was working second shift at the time and was pulled over one time in the first week I lived there and asked what I was doing. I asked him why he pulled me over, and he flat out said he didn't recognize my car, but now he would in the future. He was professional when he stopped me, friendly when we finished the stop, and from that day forward, whenever we met he waved or said hello, remembered my name, etc. When he game me back my papers, he included his business card and told me to call him if I thought he could ever help me out. Yes, small-town cops can be pretty obnoxious, but not aways, especially if they find out you live in town.

[@time.5316]

Well, maybe so, but let me tell you a story about a small town cop "back in the day" when I was a kid and a new driver. After having a terrific fight with my parents I grabbed dad's car keys, stormed out of the house, got in the car, and went tearing down a nearby side street at 60 mph, in town, and at night. Our small town had one police officer who we called "Mutt" and he happened to be on duty (he chose his own hours) and he happened to be parked along the street down which I sped. Naturally, he pulled me over, and you can imagine what the legal consequences could have been. Do you know what he did instead? He took me into his squad car and gave me a stern lecture about driving responsibly and the stupidity and dangers of allowing one's emotions to take over behind the wheel. Then he made a pact with me: I would go home and apologize to my parents and I would never drive that way again, and in return he would not arrest me and furthermore he would not tell my parents. I kept my end of the bargain, and so did he. How many police officers would have both the wisdom AND the latitude to do that today?

[@rileykinn3872]

The only thing worse than small town cops is the small town judge. Never listen to city attorneys when it comes to small town courts. I was charged with a bogus DUI and didn't get a bail hearing for 2 weeks. Judge the sets bail at $20,000 no 10 percent. I finally took my attorneys advice and pleaded no contest so I could get it behind me and go home. I did 3 days hotel school AA meetings, etc. First ever DUI in 40 years driving but judge refused written plea agreement. Prosecutor never turned over full discovery evidence in my favor. Sentenced me 4 months in jail, no work privileges for 2 years and 3 years weekly reporting probation. Probation was even more corrupt. I falsely tested positive for 3 times for benzodiazepines due to a known medication (zoloft) who are the package inserts warned about this very problem. probation and the judge refused to send sample to lab for a confirmation test using spectrometry. My photo and name were on front page of paper. Bail was another $10,000 each occurrence. Each time I had cash on hand so I could immediately pay the bill and went to the doctor to get a card for Barry chess which proved my innocence say urine sample but the judge refused even look At the paper surfing I was clean. I never saw any person so angered. He would belittle my attorney and I each appearance. I hired a PI to follow the judge for 6 full months. I have so much reelection video of very serious actions.

[@adopequeenatyrantkingaboss8057]

Same here. The goon squad & the kangaroo court in this county are completely out of control.

[@anitabellefeuille7362]

40 years ago my husband and I moved to a small town in Texas from Illinois. About a week later my husband called me and said he had been arrested on his way home from work for “being a Yankee” . He said they told him they could hold him for 72 hours, just to find out what he was about. At the time, my cousin was the city manager of Fort Worth, Texas. I called my cousin who said “my best friend is the city manager of that small town, I will get to the bottom of this” 45 minutes later a limousine pulls up to my home, my husband and the city manager of that small town get out. The guy apologizes for my husbands arrest, my husband says, the arresting officers, the chief of police and the city manager all apologized for the incident.

[@blacknosugarnocream]

@James W. ➖ 🥺

[@SandAngels73]

Town motto should be "If you're car is badass, keep it away from bad axe". I live in a very rural small town with a population of around 4,000 in the southern plains. It also happens to be a county seat. About 8 years ago, my son who was around 20 was working an evening job and would get off work at 2 am. He would walk to work and back home every day. One night as he was walking home, he got stopped by a cop who was questioning him about what he was doing out. He told them he works at walmart unloading trucks, gets off work at 2, and was on his way home. The cop asked for his ID and watched him as he finished walking home. I thought it was so bizarre when my son told me that. Can a cop really ask to see your license if you are on foot? There was another time maybe 10 years ago when we were living in apartments, two cop cars were racing each other down our street at a high rate of speed...on a street with a bunch of family unit apartments with a lot of kids. These apartments weren't back off the road either, they were set up like houses. I called the police chief and reported them. That was ridiculous for them to endanger children's lives like that. In another incident last year a 14 year old girl got attacked by a 25 year old man in her own yard but the girl managed to kick him off of her and get away. A couple of months later, the guy's friend and roommate who was also about 25 creeped into their house while they were sleeping. He snuck around in the dark and entered the same 14 year old girl's room, which the girl wasn't sleeping in because they were doing repairs in the room. He couldn't find the girl so he went to where her mother was sleeping and started touching her while she was sleeping. The mother woke up and freaked out at which point the older brother of the girl removed him from the house. The mother didn't know at the time about the other guy attacking her daughter at the time it happened, but after the other guy snuck in their house, the daughter told her what the first one had done. The mother took the daughter to the police station and they both filled out reports and pressed charges on both of them. After a few weeks went by and the officer never got back with them as he had promised, the mother called the officer to see what was going on with the case. The officer said he accidentally lost both of the police reports and they would need to fill out new ones. So they filled out new ones and again the officer didn't do anything. He didn't even talk to the woman's son who removed the guy. The guy kept coming back to their house in the middle of the night (which was then locked tighter than a drum) and the police ignored it when the mother would call. Nothing ever happened to either of those guys. The only reason they left them alone was because the girl's grown brother got ahold of those two guys and scared the piss out of them. Yes, small town cops suck and small town corruption is bad. In many small towns there is nowhere anyone can go to get justice because the small town governments are so tight knit. If anyone dares to make waves they will be sorry. Remember Boss Hogg and the Dukes of Hazard or the movie Walking Tall? That is not too far fetched in many small towns. Sorry, but small towns and cities both have their own set of problems.

[@JeffKubel]

I live south of you and I got pulled over because an off-duty in the area thought I looked suspicious, and then after running my ID and holding me up for several minutes, lied and said the stop was because I didn't use a turn signal. It was the first time I ever personally experienced a lying cop. Here I am, I have no criminal history, I have a job, I pay my taxes, I'm not a troublemaker- and a cop makes a false accusation against me- probably just so they could satisfy reasonable suspicion requirements for the stop. Luckily it was lie about a traffic violation and not something more serious. I know for a fact I used my turn signal, and so did my dashcam that was recording the entire drive and recorded the entire stop. They never gave me a ticket and sent me on my way. But now I don't trust cops. I don't look at them as my friend or ally in this community. I see them more as an armed gang that I want to avoid contact with at all costs- because if it fits their purposes, even for the pettiest of reasons, they will not hesitate to manufacture lies against innocent people to protect themselves. And that's how you turn law abiding citizens against the police.

[@betsysingh-anand3228]

Our little town, on a per capita basis, has one of the highest police-to-citizen ratios in the state. Our glorious mayor (who publicly states he really doesn't know what mayors do, but he does consider himself a fantastic cheerleader), has set a 5,000 arrest quoto for 2019. That's pretty close to 50% of the town population. Possibly more - we had about 11,000 people in 2010 and it's been consistently decreasing. It's really disconcerting.

[@mainoffender1]

A cop in North Brunswick NJ told me "This New Mexico drivers license is not valid in the United States."

[@snoopdogie187]

What happened to old Mexico? I didn't hear anything in the news about Mexico changing.

[@rockyborn_on_flag_day3832]

Aurora, Ohio early 80's I pulled out of a gas station when I was immediately blue lighted. The officer walked up to the window and asked just where I was from. Young and impudent, I replied "Tennessee, why do you ask?" He said and I quote: "Around here, boy, we drive with our headlights on at night! So unless you can see in the damn dark, you better remember that!" No ticket just a warning, but he had his hand on his revolver the whole time! Looking back it's funny but then, not so much!

[@davep.7099]

New guy to small town, flashy car, late at night, bored police, pretty much going to get pulled over multiple times until they get to know you. In my small town, every cop knew me and every other vehicle in town but still pulled me over just to talk. Practically zero crime rate there. Once I had to much to drink and got pulled over, they parked my truck and drove me home. I miss those days. Meth, Crack, and the lowering of societal standards have destroyed many urban areas and small towns across the country. There likely is no going back.

[@bradkirsch368]

Cops protecting other cops? Color me SHOCKED!

[@PierreaSweedieCat]

I know!! WHO knew?

[@black487]

Small town cop story: In around 2004/2005 my girlfriend at the time was with some friends at a Starbucks around 9pm. She decided to head home and was driving the speed limit. Cop lights her up and asks for her info. She inquired as to the reason for the stop and he replies “Oh, it’s just a routine traffic stop”. Ok?? What does that even mean? He then asks to search her car. Much to my chagrin hearing the story later she consented. He wound up searching her car and purse. Having found nothing on his fishing expedition he let her go without a ticket or a real explanation for the stop. Guys literally had nothing better to do.

[@juligrlee556]

I now live under the assumption that I only belong in my own house, self-imprisioned. Last time I went walking a couple blocks from my house in the early morning doing window shopping, I was surrounded from 4 directions by two local police officers in two different cars, with hands on their revolvers and being interrogated. First I was asked to identify everything about myself, name, not rank, not serial number, but address, first and last name, phone, accused of participating in a armed robbery, having a shakedown, and generally threatened and intimidated with a massive invasion of my rights to privacy. We now have no privacy rights when we are outside of our door.

[@lauraletellier3607]

I am also a prisoner in my home because of law enforcement in my town (Niles, Michigan) they beat me up and now I have physical and mental damage that will never heal !! We have no rights at all anymore !!

[@juligrlee556]

@@lauraletellier3607 I hate what has happened to you and to me. Did you know with all the mass killings in this country by people with assault rifles, this pales in comparison with the number of police murders. I think Americans have about 4 or 5 times the percentage chance of being murdered by a cop than by a mass murderer. Who's talking about this. Most of our police are former military people who can't get enough of guns, assault of people on the streets and of their ability to bully others. Many of these "real guys" likely were bullied by their fathers, uncles, their associates in school or they learned of their ability to intimidate others in their young years. Many of these hyper-manly men are basically very insecure males who have to wear a tough guy uniform to just feel minimally adequate. They are inwardly cowards.

[@lauraletellier3607]

@@juligrlee556 Thank you and I wish you well !!

[@juligrlee556]

@@lauraletellier3607 I wish you physical, moral and spiritual healing. You are a good person and you are surviving. Blessings

[@lauraletellier3607]

@@juligrlee556 Thank you and I pray for your health and happiness !

[@johnkendall6962]

Our local town had only three cops Most were Ok but everyone loved 1 cop.[ late 60s] he would just put drunks in the tank until they sobered up. If he caught us boys with beer as long as the driver was sober he would just pore it out. The running joke was if Jack arrested you you really screwed the pooch and deserved it. His best story . One of his jobs was to walk around the local businesses and check for unlocked doors, fires, suspicious activity etc. One business had sheet metal duct work on the side of the building. One night as he makes his rounds he finds a hole cut in the duct. Soon a guy comes out of the hole and is arrested by Jack who takes the clown around the building and handcuffs him to a fence. He finds out that there are 2 others inside. so he waits. The 2 inside are passing their loot through the hole not to their partner but to Jack who puts it aside and waits for more. Finally one said that's everything. and they both crawled out, right to Jack. I wish I was there to see their faces

[@tompinnef6331]

1960's or early 70's. Local cop had a person pulled over for speeding. While sitting in his squad a vehicle goes by the traffic stop at triple digits. Lets the first stop go and on goes the chase. Gets on ISPERN (IL) radio and a alert goes out about the vehicle. He see's the vehicle slow down and pull over. Finds out it's a close friend 'having fun' with him. He radios the state police (ISPERN) that this vehicle is the wrong one and he's lost the first one. Now his friend gets a butt chewing but isn't ticketed and goes home. So it does happen every so often. TUBES - look on ebay - 4-1000 tubes are pretty cheap. You can get a setup to make the tube to glow if you wish. Stay away from any 'mercury' type tubes.

[@spinner669]

A police officer attempts to stop a car for speeding and the guy gradually increases his speed until he's topping 100 mph. He eventually realizes he can't escape and finally pulls over. The cop approaches the car and says, "It's been a long day and my tour is almost over, so if you can give me a good excuse for your behavior, I'll let you go." The guy thinks for a few seconds and then says, "My wife ran away with a cop about a week ago. I thought you might be that officer trying to give her back!"

[@Jared00g]

Not just hot cars.I was pulled over on my way to work the 11-7 shift at the biggest employer in the area.The start of the interaction was funny because my sister was their dispatcher,and I worked with her husband.Township cop asked me where I was going.Told him "To work." Where? I told him."Do you know So and So? Told him I should hope so,he's my brother in law.He hands me back my info,and I asked him why I was stopped.He told me because,with my long hair and beard,I didn't look like the type to be driving a 1987 Mercury Sable station wagon.I had 4 kids,and 2 step kids.The only other thing I could have been driving was a damn bus!

[@alandotson568]

No Walmart, no McDonalds, no sales taxes, expect a speed trap. General rule I apply.

[@wingag73]

I was pulled over for speeding in Dryden, NY, on my way home from college for Christmas in 1979 or '80. If I was doing 5 mph over the posted speed limit I'd be surprised. The officer wrote the ticket and I had to write the check out for the fine to the judge's name--not Town of Dryden or Dryden District Court, but personally to Joe Schmoe; not Judge Joe Schmoe, just Joe Schmoe. I wrote in the memo line the ticket number and "Schmoe Family Christmas Presents".

[@toddb930]

A small town near where I live had a habit of writing tickets for things like parking more than 6" away from the curb, or not coming to a complete stop, or exceeding the speed limit by 1 mph or more. This generally was not appreciated. At some point it was determined that one of the officers was guilty of domestic violence and that the police chief was covering up the incident(s). The town ended up firing everyone on the police department and contracting police services with the county sheriff. This was worked out much better. I'm sure it's not perfect but it's much better.

[@danpatterson8009]

You could have said "We can forget about that pursuit story if you stop messing with the guy in the yellow Charger." It's called a balance of power.

[@markwyatt3088]

My cop story: In the '70s I'm hitchhiking from Portland to Walla Walla and rides were scarce so ended up on the Highway outside of Weston for an hour at about 1:00am, sitting with my back against a signpost with my thumb up on my knee. Next thing I know is a Weston cop car appears, in pursuit mode speed & lit up. He screeches to a halt, gun and flashlight drawn and, orders me to the ground, cuffs me and presses a knee on my back. In less than a minute a State Patrol car appears from the other direction at high speed and lit up. They converse out of my hearing range, then get me up, slam me over the hood and frisk me for my driver's license and weapons all the while peppering me with questions like "Why are you here, where are you going, how long have you been here?" My answers seemed to satisfy them and they calmed down, uncuffed me, etc. I asked what the heck is going on and they told me someone had stolen the other Weston patrol car about 45 minutes ago heading for the Highway and I was a person of suspicion. They then questioned me about cars I'd seen and whether they'd turned northbound, southbound or straight onto York Road. I had no info and admitted I wasn't hyper-vigilant. They let me on my way but I got a little churlish and asked them that if I had stolen the police car why would I be trying to hitch a ride? No answer. A few months later they found the police car submerged in the Columbia river.

[@markanderson8677]

In our small town (back in the 70s) if the cop caught you with alcohol in the car, or you were under age he gave you a choice: 1) You could work at the wastewater treatment plant for two weeks (four hours per day) where you had to physically mix the crap in the tanks so the solids settled to the bottom and it could be dried or 2) You could take your chances going through court. This option provided our small town with a steady supply of WWTP workers; mostly in the summer. No kidding - I worked there.

[@DoubleDHomestead]

30 years later and nothing's changed!

[@ElementofKindness]

Gotten worse actually, despite constant promises of department policy reform.

[@johnedward71]

Small town cop story: Rifle Colorado, couple years ago. Im leaving a liquor store ( sober but only for 13 more miles.) Notice a cop parked half a block away in the dark with no street lights around him. I get in my jeep, turn the lights on and check every one. I dont have no license, its dark. I figure dont give them an excuse. Sure enough, he pulls me over for no license playe bulb. I say "Let me check that." And turn on my lights. He says "Stay in the car for officer safety." Writes me a ticket and says dont move the vehicle. I wait 10 seconds after he left to take a picture of the plate with bulb working fine. Fast forward to the jury trial. I only took it to trial to see if hed commit felony perjury in order to convict a misdemeanor.sure enough he stuck to the story and the judge ruled the picture i took inadmissible. But yup. Perjury. I asked him 4 times. Pn the 4th the prosecutor objected asked and answered. But he bold faced lied kn the stand 3 times "no" to a yes or no question. At sentancing i showed the time stamped pic to the prosecutor and judge. They both just shrugged. Small town cops. Small town courts. They're all corrupt.

[@hakimcameldriver]

Nothing that cannot be cured with some arson

[@johnedward71]

And duck tape so they can't run away from it.

[@solutionsforabrightfuture3579]

If cop had been pulled over in his cop car by another agency for no reason asked them questions they would not comply, instead they would be insulted to be treated the same way we get treated by them.

[@davidsellars4327]

Small Michigan town 49 years ago. My truck was brand new. In the morning I'd get on the main street through town, kick the choke down to the middle position, and just drive into town with my foot off the gas petal. That way, I was doing the legal 25 mph. The police chief had a car stopped in front of the gas station. As I got up near him, he signaled me to pull over. He walked up to me and asked: "Would you believe you were doing 40 in a 25?" "No", I said, fully knowing I hadn't been. "Go look at the radar in the car". I declined so he wrote the ticket. Some time later, I was in that gas station. The owner who was a part time police officer asked, " What did Blue (his actual name) get you for?" I told him. He then told me that Old Blue hadn't even gotten back in his car, let alone reset the radar after ticketing the previous car....

[@jasonpowell121]

That's why I have multiple dashcams in my vehicle with GPS speed tracking, also have it download to a cloud so they can't erase it. Several of the cams are independent and will catch them if they disable one, they would have to have 3 people disable all at once to try and hide something.

[@camckenzie]

I grew up near a very small town in Missouri. The sign said 649 pop. Very remote from the county seat. No cop after the last one shot himself in the foot. A retired Missouri State Trooper moved to town and asked the sheriff if he could drive his golf cart on the streets. The reply was "Oh hell, go ahead, they do whatever they want down there".

[@CharlesGraham]

I loved serving warrants back in the 90s when I was a constable and elected to office! I hated traffic did a lot of drug interdiction but dispised asset forfeitures and I refused to write seatbelt tickets. A judge told me once that he heard I would not serve his warrants and I said you let them out without collecting my fee (constables worked on a fee base) and he said I am not in the collection business, I said then serve your own damn warrants lol.

[@TidewaterC]

My small town experience was far worse. If you were driving past 10 PM and looked under 30 you were almost certain to get pulled over. They would lie about tail lights being out or some BS that was never true. If you complained you were followed home every night and stalked. It was awful how the police had an us vs them attitude against the general public.

[@alaska-bornfloridaman]

I had a nervous cop pull his gun on me for drinking a beer in the parking lot of a strip club in Colorado Springs one night. Some people should not have badges.

[@ianbaillie6378]

You did 2 things wrong, and the first one was being in Colorado Springs in the first place. :)

[@hobbyhermit66]

My granddad called em bicycle cops, because they didn't have anything to do but bully the kids on bikes, myself included. Mom sent me down to the local carryout for a gallon of milk one night, just before closing time, and when I came out of the store, there sits our version of Barney Fife. He says "THE LAW SAYS ' YOU HAVE TO HAVE A HEADLIGHT, TAILLIGHT, AND A HORN OR WARNING DEVICE ON YOUR BIKE TO RIDE AFTER DARK', and I expect you to push it home". Of course I did not.

[@martineastburn3679]

Kinda sad one : Small town cop - new cop 6 weeks in and was in a pattern spot on the main drag (a 5 lane highway) and snagged him a 20 year old car doing 70 down the road. He arrests her for doing 70 in a 55 and figures he scored. The Sargent came out and told him to report to his office. Officer was fired. Texas Ranger standing aside the Sargent. Kid didn't know the old lady had given the city several million so it could pay bills and stay out of trouble. The Highway was named in her Honor. She and her Daddy opened up and paid for the zoo for her pet Hippo. Her Daddy owned 2/3rds of the businesses in town doing large deals with his products all over the world. Cop found another job with a reference from the Sargent in a town 100 miles away. Town is so small there isn't a downtown or an uptown just a business or two at a place. Incorporated and taxing. Water is COOP and city has sewer.

[@RealityOfIt]

In 1982 I had purchased a new Honda V65 Saber. At the time it was the 3rd fastest production motorcycle made. I was riding home one night before midnight, rural Iowa, and saw a police car turn left in front of me onto the county line road. I wasn't breaking any laws and but the car turned around and followed me. I drove exactly the speed limit and rolled into a small town and stopped at the stop sign with my foot down on the pavement. The police car was about a quarter mile behind me. I proceeded past the stop sign and then the police car speed up and turned on its lights. I pull over and a county sheriff and a ride along passenger got out. The officer asked for my license and registration. I asked him why I was being pulled over. He replied "we didn't see you stop at the stop sign". I informed the officer that I saw him turn and I knew he was following me so I absolutely stopped. During our chat the ride along was seriously eyeing my bike and then began to ask me questions about it. I gave the officer my license and registration to which he simply eyeballed and then returned to me. The ride along then asked me how fast my motorcycle went. My first thought was to ask them if they wanted to find out with their radar, but I decided against it. I looked at the officer like are you trying to entrap me? I then asked "off the record?" The officer said "off the record". I then told them that I had it up to 150 before. They both smiled huge grins and said be safe and have a nice night. I was 3 miles from home. I figured they were bored and liked motorcycles and thought it would be a good time to check out one of the newest. Iowa LOVES to do speed enforcement with aircraft! I was pulled over 4 times due to aircraft and ticketed twice.

[@polish22doves]

I80 in Iowa when Cyclones play the Hawks in Iowa City the traffic enforcement is wall to wall and a bear in the air.

[@josephking6515]

There is not such phrase with a cop called _off the record._ They are *never* _off the record._

[@ryannichols8315]

One of the reasons I left the small town I grew up in is because of the police. I was a rowdy kid, and it felt as if the cops didn't understand I grew up and out of that phase. They harrassed me all the time. When they pulled me over riding bicycles with my girlfriend. Asked for my ID, kept us there for almost 30 minutes. Then let us go, because we didn't do a thing wrong. I realized I forgot to get my ID back.So I rode back over to him, and was scolded for "walking up to his car without permission". Then he gets out of the car and picks my ID off the ground and hands it to me. The SOB just tossed my liscense onto the ground I started looking for another city the following day. 25 years later I haven't been back.

[@Wolfriverccw]

Biggest problem with cops in small towns is boredom. They get terrible pay for dealing with town drunks, are told by the mayor and city council to crack down on speeders (until the mayor's son gets arrested...then the cop's job is in trouble) and a variety of small-town BS. So when they actually find something worth a ticket or pursuit, they get pretty excited! Covered the cops beat at multiple towns in Iowa and saw this firsthand. Most cops are good folks and have no malice toward anyone but are just inexperienced at big cases. If you are nice to cops, MOST will be nice to you. Attitude is everything.

[@LRS-225]

When I was in high school, I got yelled at by a small town cop for skipping school. I then had to explain to him that there was not any school that day. He got mad because a high school kid pointed out he didn't know what he was talking about so he ordered me off the street. BTW there were many complaints by many people on a variety of issues so the department was disbanded within a year or so.

[@bigdogpete43]

They all ignore the Constitution.

[@juligrlee556]

They are taught to lie and intimidate with false "facts" or use strong arm tactics to get a false confession. Bullying and torture means a authentic human being will do anything to stop the bullying and torture, including lying for self preservation. Cops always do illegal searches and seizures. I had my car sniffed by a sniffer dog and my whole body searched out when I left a grocery store after being surrounded by 6 lights flashing cop cars. Oh well, they found nothing. It sure would be fun to play decoy for the cops pretending to be a drug addicted criminal just to lure them into illegal searches and seizures. The cops are the real dangerous threats to our democracy. I was only doing my job sir. I was only doing what I was told to do by my superior officer sir. I was only doing what the Mayor told me to do sir. I was only doing what the people of the city wanted me to do sir. You can stop crying now. It's war on the people. It's an honest response to be intimidated.

[@danquirke443]

I was pulled over in a work vehicle one night for "crossing the shadow line". Apparently I had slightly crossed center when turning right onto a narrow country road at a sharp acute angle. The road had no markings is where I'm guessing his terminology came from. The funny thing is I guarantee he followed the same line through the turn. About 1/2 hour later while driving home in my personal vehicle the same cop pulled me over on a main road as I did the speed limit down a long straight. When I rolled my window down he literally said "never mind" and walked away. I always wondered what his excuse was going to be for the second stop.

[@mynamemcgregor]

I am really enjoying your channel. In 1986 I was once pulled over while driving a 1973 Camaro by a Delta College Police Officer(Bay County Sheriff Deputy) for actually stopping at a stop sign. The officer informed me that only a drunk person would stop at a stop sign at 3AM. I was also pulled over by another by another County Sheriff Deputy after he passed me on the other side of the road, he informed me that he noticed that my tires were bald when he passed me at over 30 mph. I was not speeding my only crime was I was driving that same 1973 Red Camaro, I soon decided to sal the car after a 3rd incident with the local officers. As a side note I was a sworn and certified volunteer reserve police officer for 12 years 1984-1996 and I was very careful not to draw attention to myself for fear of drawing the ire of the Police Department.

[@angrycat3525]

About 35 years ago I was driving down U.S. Highway 61 through Norco, LA, when I was pulled over by a St. Charles Parish cop who told me I was doing 54 in a 45 mph zone. I tried to negotiate the speed down with the usual "Sir, I admit I was going a little faster, but my speedometer just said 50." His response: "Well, my radar says 54, so that's what I'm going to write it up for." As I walked with him over to his car so he could show me what the radar indicated, I noticed a cigar box on the passenger seat. When he told me what the fine was, I offered to write a check out for that amount. "No, that's not gonna work," he said, and proceeded to start writing out the ticket. English translation: give me cash and I'll just stick it in my little cigar box and be on my way. Fortunately for that sheriff's deputy, I don't remember his name, and even if I did, it would make no difference since I'll never drive through there again anyway; however, if you're driving through a small town, be sure to carry some cash with you. Just sayin' ...

[@stretcherbearer1350]

Yep, the police in 'Murica are now the same as police in Mexico.

[@edfrawley4356]

Small town in south Mich. routed through with an oversize load (large combine) due to construction on I69 The tires had been removed to make the load as narrow as possible and stacked on the ends of the trailer. Cop stops me and tells me that it was illegal to have anything on the trailer other than the oversize load. The law says that nothing can be added to the load to make it wider or taller or longer. You cannot increase the oversize condition. He threatened to call the state commercial vehicle enforcement officer to come in and write me a ticket. I told him to go ahead he probably needs a good laugh. Love it when they try to enforce laws they know nothing about.

[@outputcoupler7819]

When I was a kid the officer that did DARE in my town was a roid raging douchebag. He managed to break a kid's arm during a demonstration by yanking him around. They officially blamed the kid and said he tried to fight the officer, who was not disciplined in any way. He got promoted to sergeant a couple years later. Too bad camera phones weren't a thing in the 90s.

[@stevenjoyner4387]

I was a small town cop. We had a small town mentality. We were not real cops. I had a friend/co-worker who moved from the big city. He taught me a lot more than the entire sheriff's office combined.

[@norezenable]

I also have a small town cops story. Was driving home from grocery store one night with a friend, and there were some railroad tracks that flatten out a downhill. Most people slow way down for the railroad tracks, on this particular trip, i didn't but was still going under the speed limit. Upon doing that, a car from perpendicular road speeds up, tailgates me most of the way home, approx 1.5 miles. I get home, pull into my driveway, and sit there for like 20-30 seconds (thinking its a cop). Nothing happens so I get out of my car walk up on to my porch, then the police car turns on emergency lights and pulls into my driveway. Long story short, they arrest me for obstructing govt administration. Read the affidavit later, they say they had the emergency lights on from the moment I crossed the railroad tracks. Hire a lawyer, lawyer tells me, no chance at trial because the cops go to the judge's kids' softball games and etc. The lawyer's words, not mine. Lawyer was basically saying, if I tried to prove the cops were lying, I would get an even harsher penalty for discrediting not only the cops, but the court itself. I didn't take my plea deal sentence of probation very well so I repeatedly violated it and consequently was in court a lot after that. Came to find out, yeah, the cops are friends of small town judges. I would just happen to be there for some hearing thing on days where they were like, passing awards around between each other. Defense attys that happened to be there representing their clients would look sullen and forlorn for those spectacles. Any illusion of impartiality of the court was completely destroyed when they started the day doing that stuff.

[@norezenable]

Oh important detail I left out, the police car that pulled into my driveway, not equipped with a radar gun. They just eyeballed my speed from about 1/4 mile away on a spot of road where people typically go slower.

[@SuperWooba]

We had a small town cop called Bob. Bob was a very large and most unsavory fellow. At the main intersection in town, there was a concrete wall on one side, as it was on a hill. On that wall, someone had painted "Bob the slob likes to nob on the cob". We all had a great laugh. Well, I don't know what they used to paint it on with, but it was mystical in its staying power. It was still clearly visible 20 years later, and they ended up tearing out the whole wall and replacing it. Bob had moved on and become Sheriff of the county, and it was always still there, and the reconstruction of the wall actually immediately followed his death, if I'm not mistaken. And that is my small town cop story. lol

[@jservice6594]

I was on Ascention Island in the Air Force and the BBC Relay Station was there. They rebroadcast the signal to Africa and South America from there. Big Station. The final stage was a spherical glass tube with another inside it. The space between the two was a water jacket for cooling. You could see steam bubbles forming in the water. The whole tube was about 18" in diameter. Made by Marconi.

[@cashstore1]

I lived in Mio Michigan in the early 70's. The local cops were red-neck to the core. Would pull me over for contempt of hot rod, as they hated my 350 firebird. Checked my paper work, then do an inspection of the car. Check the tire tread on the tires as well. Often I would be driving down a two lane black top and would pass a county cop coming from the opposite direction. They would immediately do a U turn and follow me for a few miles. My friends that had hot rods had the same problem. I was pulled over 33 times in a 2 year period. No tickets. They were nasty.

[@cashstore1]

@NMR It was mostly in remote areas of the county like Kettle road.

[@Doxymeister]

Boy, did that bring back memories. I also have a similar story from just a few years ago. Live in a small town that's also the country seat, almost identical set-up but with the addition of national park officers and our local tribal seat had their own police force. Anyway, I worked security at a state-run residential school for disabled children for the last 10 yrs. before I retired, and we worked closely with pretty much all the jurisdictions in the area, and I knew most of the cops personally. They knew my bright red '86 Dodge Ram all decked out in chrome, they saw it every night when I cruised through town on my way out to my little farm, and always waved at me. Then, I got hurt, had to sell my farm and horses, and eventually ended up trading the Ram for a sweet little black Cadillac CTS, also chromed-out, got a hellufva deal on it too. Side note: I still regret trading that truck off, LOL. So, the first night I got off work driving my Caddy (and I'm one of those that always goes the speed limit, uses turn signals, yada-yada even in the middle of the night when there's no-one around. So, I'm cruising out to WalMart, and whadda you know--I see a cop lurking in the rear-view mirror, he's behind me but kept his distance all the way to WallyWorld, but he never pulled me over. This happened nearly every night after I got off work, but they never lit me up. So one night, I pulled up to the one stop light, and I notice that two of them are sitting in the parking lot at the light, a favorite hang-out 'cause it's really dark and folks don't realize they're sitting there. So, I pulled in and rolled my window down, and just ask the guys, "Hey, I noticed you guys started following me around for over a week, what gives?" They busted up laughing when they saw who it was, and told me because the tint on the windows was pretty dark, they couldn't see who was driving it, but were suspicious of a new-used Cadillac all decked out with chrome might be a new criminal in town. I think they were full of it, they had to have ran my plates, knew full well who it was, they were just messing with me. But, it was funny--they used to kid me about my bright red Dodge w/chrome, about adding fringe over the windshield, a bobble-head on the dash and furry dice. So, razzing me about driving a "gangster car" was their version of continued humor I guess--one suggested I put the spinning hubcaps on, LOL. Sorry, TL;DR...your story just reminded me.

[@davidca96]

I live in a small town in Michigan, and its true. Ours will pull people over for 1mph over the limit in a 25mph zone thats on a downhill, you have to hold the brakes to stay at 25 and if they see your brakelights they claim you were going faster saying the braking proves it, etc. Was hit by a guy while I was sitting at a light, cop came and walked up to the other guy, then walked up to me with a ticket. Didnt ask me what happened, nothing, he knew the other guy I assume and just took his side without even asking me what happened. I won in court on that one.

[@williammueller6639]

I lived in a small town in TN who's main access to the next largest town was a 2-lane (one each way) road with a 55 MPH speed limit. Usually it was fine but every once in a while, you'd get some dawdler doing 40 mph with traffic backed up behind them. You could usually get past them in the occasional passing zones but many people just wouldn't bother to pass. One time I came across a line of cars that was at least 10 long and moving at around 35 mph... so the first passing zone we hit, I jumped into the oncoming lane, stood on the gas, and passed them all... I got back over, lowered my speed to my normal 5 mph over posted, and finished my journey to town... where I was met by 3 police vehicles that escorted me off the road into the nearest parking lot. Turns out that either the dawdler or someone in the middle was the town's chief of police (in his personal vehicle) and he radioed ahead to have me pulled over so that he could yell at me. The cops were apologetic and asked me to stay in the vehicle and wait. I sat there for about 20 minutes while these officers tried to explain to their chief that he couldn't ticket me, shouldn't yell at me, and should get back in his own vehicle and leave. Finally I was allowed to leave but man did I never roll thru a stop sign or speed in the slightest in that town after that.

[@tedschroeders5289]

Don't drive thru Tullos Louisiana. Just don't. Mid March 2020, I was on a temporary job near Jackson Mississippi and the infamous lockdown started. So I check all my lights and get in my car to drive back to Colorado. (Got pulled over in Texas once because one of my two license plate bulbs was out, so full check every time before long trips). Stopped off at Fort Polk in Leesville Louisiana to spend a few hours with my older son. Got back on the road and drove thru the little hick town of Tullos where a cop who was obviously just finished with a traffic stop jumped behind me and lit 'em up. I had been driving a couple mph below the speed limit just to avoid any trouble so I was puzzled as to why I was being pulled over. Apparently one of my brake light bulbs failed. Not sure how he noticed that since I didn't brake until after he turned the flashers on, but anyway... So he asked a bunch of questions and then wrote me a ticket for the failed brake light which I replaced at an auto parts store 10 minutes up the road. I had asked how much the ticket was and he only replied with "call the number on the back of the ticket". No problem. Went on my way. Got to Colorado, called the number. Are you ready? $225 for a failed brake light which had unfortunately failed after my light check in Mississippi. There is no reasoning with anyone at the town court since the mayor is also the judge (I believe the only judge in Tullos) AND she's married to the police chief. It's like I drove thru the set of My Cousin Vinny. I spoke to a lawyer in the nearest city and was told, off the record, that the corruption in the Tullos PD and town government is rampant and I should just pay the ticket and forget it. You lose if you try to fight anything in Tullos. So like I said - go around this little inbred haven, and hope that you don't encounter any others like it.

[@Karlkn]

Steve, you're one hell of a story teller. Love it!

[@Scott-lz3pp]

Illinois was no better. Was young, and made the mistake of making "written comments of a profane nature" on a 50-cent parking ticket. Which I actually paid! My real crime was "pissing off the small town cops". They arrested me for "disorderly conduct", and suggested that if I did not plead guilty, there would be bad consequences for me. Could not get a lawyer ("hey, I have to live in this town"). So I pled guilty to a bullshit charge of exercising my First Amendment rights. They followed-up by getting me fired from my six-figure job as a nuclear engineer, had me audited by the IRS (!), and in my opinion, murdered my fiancee after I had to leave that shithole to find another job by following her and harassing her (we had identical black ford mustangs). Yeah, small town cops. Such wonderful guys, with such great senses of humor. I'll see the bastards in hell someday.

[@UnknownUzer]

My daily errands take me through a tiny Tennessee town called Mount Carmel. The entire town can't be more than a mile wide. Driving the main highway that runs through this town (Hwy 11W) you will regularly pass 2 speed cameras, one red light camera , a county cruiser hidden in a industrial entrance, and 2 city police cruisers (one hidden on each end of the city limits). This little town is the laughing stock of the region they are in for their small dog complex and Dukes of Hazard form of traffic enforcement.

[@whitesheatingairappliancer7101]

When I was a young man I new of a man pulled over by 4 police cars with weapons drawn. You would think this guy killed or robbed someone. So they handcuffed him and took him to jail. The guy went to high school with a few of the officers at the jail. He asked repeatedly why am I being arrested? No one answers him. So he calls 2 of the officers by name and question them. So they didn't tell him why but they feel he's not going to flee. So they let him out of the cell. He's hanging out with the officers patently waiting for someone to show up and explained why he was arrested. This guy tells him that your girlfriend is accusing you of being drunk and beating her. He asked for a breathalyzer. The police don't give him one. The girlfriend walks in the jail house with her sister and boyfriend. The girlfriend has no Mark's of a beating. The girlfriend tells him on the other side of the bars, if you promise not to contact my husband and cause me too loose custody of my kids, I will drop the charges. My friend says this is because I caught you lieing about your divorce and cheating on me? No I don't promise. In fact I am going to contact them and bring up this bogus arrest. The guy goes to court and it was thrown out. The judge tells my friend to straighten up his life. This guy works and goes to college and runs marathons, the judge must of been referring to the loose woman. My friend had to pay $100.00 to get his car out of impound. He asked his lawyer if he could sue for false arrest or sue for filing a false police report? The lawyer told him no. They said he was intoxicated and didn't give him a breathalyzer. These small town cops acted on false accusations. Yet they chose to ignore the obvious. Good news the exgirlfriend in laws contacted my friend and subpoena him to testify out of state in her home town. He wasn't happy having a married woman live with him, he didn't know that at the time. She lost her kids and the truth came out in court how awful she was. The exgirlfriend sister married the boyfriend and cheated on him numerous times. He couldn't handle it and killed him self. I suspected the boyfriend had political connections with the police. I can't see law enforcement taking a statement of someone not injured and calling all units to go after someone. Only in a small town.

[@snowbird29803]

Was working as a service station attendant in my senior year of HS wintertime in a seashore community and had a DL from another state where I was returning after HS. I had a bit of a 'heavy foot' and the hubris of a 17 year-old boy with some newly acquired independence. I always closed the station at 9 PM and one night I was 'flying' home at maybe 50+MPH in a 25 zone in pitch darkness with no traffic on the streets, and got lit-up out of nowhere. I surely could have been handcuffed that night, but for the fact that the cop recognized me from working on the police cars at the station. He just handed back my DL and told me to slow-down. I became a newly minted member of the good ol' boys network and didn't even know it at the time.

[@jeffsymons4535]

This story really resonates with me. I was a pro DJ for 35+ years. I could write a book of my crazy dealings with jobsworth police officers. One that comes to mind was being pulled over 9 times on a journey home less than 15 miles and no real reasons ever given. I'm in the UK BTW.

[@mijayd1]

Got pulled over delivering Detroit News in Grosses Pointe, Mi for having an overloaded car.. had a very large Ford station wagon with a Thunderbird engine.. went prepared to court to fight with car loading data, ect.. didn't need it because the judge read the report.. laughed and said is the officer some kind of car weight limit expert? Case dismissed.. everyone was cracking up in court..

[@pdennis93]

Small town cops, early 80s and a 69 Charger. Why does this sound like a certain TV show that aired on CBS on Friday nights from 1979-1985? LOL

[@ElGatoLoco698]

Aren't those stops illegal? Why do so many cops do that? They completely ignore the 4th amendment.

[@roxcyn]

More likely than not.

[@Objectified]

I'm black and grew up in mostly rural southern and midwestern states but my experience with cops in those towns was still better than what I experienced in urban areas. County sheriffs were more hit or miss, and could be a different story.

[@NoGasWelcomeAboard]

About 1/2 way thru your story couldn’t resist entering the address into Google Earth and tapping the Van Dyke street view line. Up pops a pic of the radio station, parking lot and sign out front with huge antennas behind. Bet it hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Brought your excellent story to life but sadly no yellow Charger sitting out front.

[@johngill5982]

I an only remember two instances I've had with small town cops. Thefirst time me and a friend decided to go for a late night cruise in my 67 Chevy biscayne.We lived in a subarb of Chicago and were way out in the sticks of Algonquin Illinois when I get pelled over for no reason at about 2AM. The cop has me open my trunk (I didn't know my rights) so open it and the cop spots a large hammer and says "What do you use that for?" I'm kind of dumbfounded and stammer out "Hammering." That was back around 1976. Later, sometime around 2010 I went to visit a friend in Genoa City (pop ~2000) I was driving my Ltus Elisethat was sffron yellow with black racing stripes and as I was going by a school yard a cop (we call Barney) comes downthe same road coming at me and pulls sideways in the road blocking me and proceeds to get out and give me a speech about lower speed limits by schoolyards and if it was a school day I cold be in big trouble. I say "How? I was only doing 15." He just got in his car and drove away. I miss that Lotus.

[@ThatBobGuy850]

Great video and story, Steve! The cops in Bad Axe only pulled you over so they could put a "citizen contact" note in their shift log. Cops probably need such things to justify their jobs and/or their department. Some might see this as harassment. But if they're not hassling you or writing you up...just pulling you over to say "hi," then no harm/no foul. When I got out of high school in the mid-1970s, I was also a radio d.j. in a tiny town (Watkins Glen, NY) where they rolled up the sidewalks at 10pm. Great fun - I'm sure you had as much of a blast as I did.

[@jwstanley2645]

Life in a small, rural town often involves everyone knowing everything, including weekly newspaper lists of all persons ticketed by police, along with the infraction. I do not exagerate to say I lived in one small town where high school students kept track of the color of each others' tooth brushes and tooth paste brands. Likewise cops have their attitudes. One cop pulled me over for no other reason than to pull me over. He had the power and he was going to use it on someone. I was not swerving or speeding or anything odd. He told me, "This is not NASCAR." No ticket or warning, just "This is not NASCAR." People like to use their power and in small towns, people are all up in everyone's business.

[@thefnaffan2]

Years ago when I lived in Stevensville, Michigan, I was going through a divorce and went to my house and my ex threw a pumpkin and busted my headlight. I drove to the cop shop to report it and just have the officer talk to her because I didn't want to put up with that stuff everytime I had to go there. 3 months later, found out I had a warrant for domestic violence, I went and turned myself in because a friend of mine that was a cop told me to, he told me about the warrant. So I went, well, in that county there's a 20 hr cool down period in jail for a domestic violence. Wtf?? 3 months later? I filed a report and I go to jail? I fought it and won, after I got out, I took out the card the officer gave me who took the report, called him till I reached him and cussed him out. I called him every name in the book. I'll never do that again. Do NOT trust cops... NEVER

[@ThisOldMan-ya472]

In the mid 80s my brother had a flashy 1972 Road Runner 340. Dad was with us, and we stopped so dad could pop into the bank to grab some cash, then we went for lunch across the street from where the Road Runner was parked. We ordered lunch and nearly finished consuming it while chatting, when suddenly we were surrounded by RCMP officers. Apparently it was reported that we were casing out the bank, to rob.

[@JJ-ls7fq]

This video combined many enjoyable elements. Radio station, classic car, small-town cops, and even a David Letterman reference! Which, by the way, would have been his first season on Late Night, in 1982. I really dig the radio station stories, Steve. I broke into the business in the early 90s, myself, and while our radio station didn't sign off at night, our television station did. Ah, the good old days. Snow, static, and test patterns. Now? Infomercials. Anyway, this was a fun one, Steve. I really enjoyed it.

[@geoffgelow4241]

When I was a kid of 18, my friend and I were cruising the back roads killing time on a Saturday night. We had picked up a 12 pack and were enjoying a few cold ones, throwing the cans out the sunroof of the VW bug we were riding in. Of course, a cop followed us, saw what we were doing and pulled us over. We immediately thought we were smart, took all the open beers and the case and covered them in the back seat, knowing they could not search the car without a warrant. The cop asked us the usual questions, looked in back, reached in pulled the coats off the beers. He then proceeded to read us the riot act. We knew were going to go to jail. He called it in... And here it the best part. The driver's bother was the dispatcher for that police department. The next thing we know, the cop comes back, makes us pour out all the open beers, walk back down the road picking up a couple of the cans we had pitched. He then let us go and let us keep all the unopen beers. Got to love small towns sometimes.

[@tedmoss]

When I was in the Air Force, I was stationed at Lowery in Colorado and I flew model airplanes (still do) One of the members of our informal club was a Denver officer. An AF captain friend of mine told me never to drive with him under any circumstances. Being young and foolish, one day I ignored his advice and found out why. The officer drove a VW and had a "church key" tied on a string to his dash. Driving through town he would not stop at red lights and would open a beer from a six pack next to him, drink the beer and throw the can out the window!

[@vacman91001]

Back in 2005 i was a GM for a pizza restaurant. The was 1 road that had 2 cops live on it. Every single time a driver went over 30 mph.... the posted limit.... they would call us and complain. Well this 1 night a new driver was going 60... according to the off duty drunk cop.... yes i can say drunk... he drove to the store and yelled at me. I could smell his breath from 10 feet away. He then started telling me that the next time that driver does that. He will have everyone in the store arrested that was working. Regardless of age or what their job was. He did in fact use sone words that would be censored from public TV. He also was showing a few pairs of handcuffs. He also made it clear that we all would be in jail for about a month for this 1 driver going over the speed limit. I told him to shut up and get out of my store.... also told him my dad was a criminal defense attorney. 100% true. He backed off after that.

[@Mewse1203]

Friends of mine had a very similar experience driving to Las Vegas through Utah. It was late at night and weren't breaking any law, but were pulled over by the town with the crazy fundamentalist Mormons who control the police right around Saint George . When they asked why they were being pulled over the cop literally told them "because we pull over everybody at this time of night." They were let go with no charges or tickets mostly because it was a pretext stop hoping to find something. Needless to say that when their dad, a lawyer and judged, found out, he wasn't happy. I got pulled over driving from Phoenix to Colorado. I was 3 am, and my ex wife and I had been traveling the country for months. I don't speed at night. A car was behind me and then lit me up. It was a park ranger(weird part of AZ where he had jurisdiction). As soon as he got up to the window I asked " Umm...why did you pull me ove" "Because you were speeding. License and registration" *hand license* "No I wasn't. I don't speed, especially at night, especially with an unknown car behind me." "Well you went over the center line." *Wife getting registration*: "No I didn't." So he walks away without registration, comes back 30 seconds later: "You're free to go." "OK, so why did pull me over?" "There are a lot of drunk drivers out her" and walks away. He made a no cause stop hoping to make it up if he found a DUI. Shitty policewoman and if I was me now I'd have made a complaint...not that it would have done much.

[@songyardbird2513]

TY Steve! That motorcycle cop story is just so Michiganandish! I love your posts and this kind of thing happened all the time! As an RN I made many visits up in the thumb (my home base was Bay City). I have stories too. But yours are great!

[@louiealbrecht1088]

There have to be really deep, profound psychological reasons for the fact that as soon as society gives individuals badges and authority most of those people go right ahead and abuse that power.

[@fliteshare]

Actually it is a law of nature and goes like this: "Power corrupts", "Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

[@bren42069]

Yes, it's quite natural that when a society gives a police force "rights" that they themselves as individuals don't actually possess in the first place, that in short order, the position will be sought and abused by people with moral deficiencies ...

[@ROT2024]

When I was a teen I had a 1960 chevy and I for unknown reason painted the front signal lights green. A small town cop pulled me over and told me to fix or next time it's a ticket. Of course I didn't fix this and upon going through the same town the cop flips on the lights and me being a dummy stomp on the gas and run. I managed to go around a curve and duck into a farm yard where I watched the cop fly by. I then proceeded to followed him to the next town to my girlfriends house carefully not signalling any turns and got away scott free. I finally changed the lights to amber, still funny dumb kid story.

[@tinytim9453]

Haha, that reminds me the time me and 2 others was cruising the country roads at night taking turns car surfing ( laying on roof holding on to roof edge) out of nowhere comes a sheriff. Meanwhile we stopped to let our friend back in the car and the sheriff makes a u-turn. My brother turns off the lights and steps on it and hid in an abandoned barn a mile down the road at the bottom of a hill which concealed our braking lights. It was so quiet waiting in the barn, that we could hear our hearts beating hard.

[@roadrunner3867]

This happened to me in a small town in Vermont in 1961. I had been out with friends and left my car in a public lot. We came back around 1 AM on a cold Vermont winter night. My friends left and I got in my car and was letting it warm up. About 5 minutes later a police cruiser rolled up with two cops in it. They asked me what I was doing. I said I was letting my car warm up. That must have been the wrong thing to say because the cop on the passenger side got out and put a 38 revolver in my face and ordered me out of the car. I got out and they demanded my keys. I gave them to them and then they cuffed me and through me in back of the cruiser. They searched my car including the trunk and did not find anything. They said they thought I was somebody they had got a radio call on. They uncuffed me, gave me my keys back and left. I was 17 and that was my introduction to small top cops in a town where they did not know you.

[@cartoonistaaronhazouri]

I'm from Florida and we had many of these small towns - places like Starke, Hampton, Lawtey and Waldo - where the handful of cops were like militarized Barney Fifes. Luckily many of the police departments (in the case of Hampton, the whole town) have been dissolved but only after decades of harassing law abiding people.

[@frotoe9289]

And so began First Blood. "My town. My rules" I've been parroting this basic line for eons. People complain about big city cops using too much force and all that, but they have nuthin' on small town cops. Big city cops generally get pretty good training, have a chance of being well managed, and have oversight. Small town cops it's more "Bubba said he wanted to try the policing bizness for a while, can we give him a gun and a badge for a few months and see how he likes it?" 1st Amendment auditors have somewhat figured this out, too. If you want to get good video to rack up the views on YT, and maybe snag a $50,000 civil lawsuit settlement, just go find yourself a town of 2000-5000 and simply stand quietly on the sidewalk with a camera. All cops hate that, but small town cops DESPISE that. Drives 'em totally bonkers. And in short order they'll pop a fuse because you're not kowtowing and genuflecting and bammo... you're in cuffs and next day you have 50,000 YT views and in 2 years a $50,000 check from the town of BumbleBee, Idaho.

[@lancetheman28]

My best small town cop story. I live in Nebraska, for some reason I was on a road trip to Texas. I was driving a 1995 Ford Thunderbird. I like to keep my car nice. I get pulled over probably for having Nebraska plates in a small Texas town because I know I was not speeding. Cop asks me what the smell was coming from the car. I tell him it was my Walmart spray air freshener, it was exactly that. I hand him the bottle because he said no air freshener smells like that. It was a new car smell. He takes the bottle and proceeds to spray it directly into his own face. He let me go promptly after this.

[@mrmichaeltscott]

An off duty police officer's throttle got stuck coming into town last night and was assisted by Badass (intentional) police in stopping his motorcycle safely. No one was hurt.

[@robbridges7810]

Those cops that pulled you over new exactly what they were doing. They heard about the new guy and were told he was going to be a hot shot attorney! They just wanted to get the name in the pot in case they needed a favor! Lol “remember me I pulled you over that night and didn’t write you a ticket.”

[@davidcunningham2388]

I lived in a small town in Central Oklahoma as a child during the 1970's. My mother had a friend, Charlene, who was a beautiful well endowed divorcee. She was basically a Brunette version of Dolly Parton and unfortunately had terrible luck with men. Charlene worked a few odd jobs at Gas Stations or at the Local Grocery that would typically cause her to work some late nights. She drove an old baby blue Chrysler that was towed more than it drove, but Charlene had no financial means to pay for a new car, she barley had the cash to fix her car when it broke down. On many of these occasions when her car broke down it was because of a systemic gas leak that would leave her car without enough fuel to drive all the way home, so the local police would stop, try to help and typically gave Charlene a ride home. The local cops got to know Charlene pretty well and it wasn't uncommon for them to stop her on her way home, just to say hello and chat with her. Charlene built a pretty strong friendship with these men in blue and trusted a few of them and looked for them for guidance and advice. Here's where the story gets a bit crazy, but truly typical of small town "Quid Pro Quo" story. One night Charlene's car broke down on the far end of town, just inside city limits. It was cold, the wind in Oklahoma can really howl during the winter months and Charlene had not dressed for the bad weather. Charlene was wearing a thin white blouse, probably a size or two too small and a skirt that gave her little to no protection from the cold. Luckily for her when she didn't pass through town around the normal time that evening a patrolman drove out to see if he could find Charlene and did. Charlene was half frozen and just beside herself upset that once again her car had left her on the side of the road. Venting to the young patrolman about her woes, she made an unusual statement that resonated with the officer. Charlene said, something to the effect of..."Man, If someone could figure out a way for me to get rid of this piece of junk and get enough money out of it to buy a more reliable car I'd be willing to show my two "largest assets" and let that man motorboat them!" ~ Without hesitation that young officer asked her if she would honor that deal? Charlene started to back-peddle that statement, but then looking over her shoulder at that car and feeling a chill from the cold, simply said, "Yep! I'd honor that deal!" The young officer pulled Charlene close to him and looked her in the eyes and walked her through and fairly simple plan and asked her if she was willing to take the risk, which she agreed that she was. The young officer reported that the vehicle had again, run out of gas due to a gas leak and called for a tow truck and asked that the vehicle be taken to the police impound lot, which it was. The next morning the now off-duty policeman took Charlene to the impound lot to "Collect" any personal items she had left in the car. Normally when a vehicle owner comes to the impound lot they are escorted by one of the on-duty attendants or officers to a from the vehicle, but because Charlene was with an off-duty fellow officer, the attendant let the two go to and from the car without an escort. What the attendant didn't know is that after Charlene collected all of her personal belongings that the off-duty officer had initiated a slow burning bottle of fuel that would eventually set the car ablaze within the next half-hour. Because the vehicle was reported on a regular basis to have a gas leak and because the vehicle was impounded, Charlene was able to file a claim after the vehicle was destroyed by a fire for a few thousand dollars which in turn allowed her to buy a more reliable used vehicle. A few days later Charlene went to town and found that young officer who helped her and rewarded him with what was promised and probably a little more. You see Charlene and that young officer have been married for more than 40 years now and had six children and a dozen grandchildren since. ~ It's not the most romantic story about how a young couple first met, but it is a at points one of the more funny and unusual ones! - Boomer Sooner!

[@alaska-bornfloridaman]

A cop committing insurance fraud and arson just to hook up with a woman… Charlene must have been really hot.

[@wattsenough]

Gotta love small towns. I will keep this very vague. There was a killing. The drug crowd and the local cops did not want any investigation by the state for certain reasons. So the corpse in the bar with 3 bullet holes was labeled a suicide. No one complained and the world went on. Another time I fought a ticket in a small town. I go to court and they had 3 attorneys against little ole me. I proved my case. Even the witness asked if I was a lawyer after the case as my presentation was complete and centered on the facts. The judge admitted there were issues but said regardless someone had to pay the fine. I learned from the locals that no defendant ever had their traffic ticket reversed in that town.

[@newsnowtwincities9331]

And you did not appeal that decision to your state's appellate court?

[@wattsenough]

@@newsnowtwincities9331 That is good. In a small town? Lucky they don't ticket you for murder as well as speeding. Most of the time I am happy just to get out without being further targeted.

[@newsnowtwincities9331]

@@wattsenough - I'm sorry... but to say nothing in the face of such criminal actions by someone in a _"position of authority"_ is nothing less than cowardice. Maybe the victim in your story deserved to die and maybe he didn't... but we as a society can never allow the police to become our arbiters of the law (judge, jury, and executioner)... even at the cost of our own lives.

[@josephking6515]

@@newsnowtwincities9331 But you have allowed them to become judge, jury and executioner. The USA cops have zero consequences for their actions.

[@newsnowtwincities9331]

@@josephking6515 - That is like saying I allowed a burglar to steal from me because I went to work. We are all ultimately responsible for what we do and say. I do not shift the blame for my wrong actions onto others, nor would I accept blame for their wrong doing… and I expect those who took a solemn oath to enforce the law to honor their word regardless of what career the offender has chosen to have.

[@captain3186]

I'm from the Small town of Memphis Michigan about 50 miles North of Detroit. Back in the late 90's I too had a Yellow car and also a Black pickup I drove on occasion with tinted side windows. Standard cab pickup which neither the front or back windows were tinted mind you. You could see right through the truck. Driving either of those vehicles through town at night pretty much guaranteed getting stopped by a specific Officer that thankfully eventually got the boot. Dude was a major jerkoff. It got so bad I used to take dirt roads home to avoid town. To this day my butt puckers when I drive by a cop anywhere that Cop scarred me so bad.

[@stevelehto]

I have friends from Memphis! And it is small.