How to deal with a cop if you get pulled over.

^^^
That is my favorite bit from that show.

Most of the cops i have run across aren't that hardcore. Sheriff's maybe.

Troopers more or less just want to give you the ticket and be on their way. Troopers in this part of Ohio have no means of holding a suspect or criminal, they have to rely on municipalities to jail them if they pull them over, which comes with a metric ass load of paperwork. So chances are, unless you're being a complete fuckwad, or doing coke off the Trooper's badge, he's going to act bad-ass to show alpha-male dominance while writing you the ticket so that the state makes money and send you on your way.

The locals around here, really have no desire to show that alpha-male dominance like in that video. They'll pull you over if you're speeding, and if you're not shuffling around in your center console or your glove box looking for stuff, chances are he is not going to be suspicious of anything.

When a cop walks up on your car, put your hands on the steering wheel. Not seeing hands makes a cop very uneasy. Don't shuffle around looking for stuff, wait until he asks for it, then tell him exactly where it's at, and where your hands are going. When you shuffle around for stuff, you may be looking for things, but to the cop it looks like you're hiding things.

Cops have to be prepared for the worst. They have no clue who you are and if you're going to draw a gun on them, unfortunately they have to assume you to be a little bit guilty in order to keep themselves safe. License plates only give information, they don't describe your personality or what kind of mood you're in or your intent when he gets to your window. He has absolutely no idea what he is walking into. You know you're not going to attack him, he doesn't know that.

If you're in a shitty mood, fighting with a spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever, do not portray that mood at the cop. You have to deal with one cop. That one cop has to deal with dozens of people in a bad mood.

Cops/Firemen/EMT's have the worst job on the planet sometimes. They constantly see people at their worst. If the cops and the firemen/paramedics show up at your home, it's not usually to celebrate someone's birthday. It's because someone got shot, or someone's house burnt down, or someone had a heart attack or, or someone is getting abused or someone is complaining about something or some other dismal non-fun reason.

A cop never gets a call from a homeowner to show up and get a pat on the back. "No Emergency here, just wanted to tell you good job" is a fantasy, it never happens. Cops usually catch the brunt of anger when someone breaks the law, they're usually the first to arrive on a stabbing/shooting scene, or are the ones called when they have to pull an abusive spouse off of someone. Or their personal favorite, when someone is attempting suicide, and although they see the crappiest part of life on a daily basis, they have to sit there and talk to that person and give them reason to not do it.

The best thing to do is just show a little friendly respect. Don't kiss ass, don't offer bribes, just offer him/her some respect, it will get you further than you think.

The cop in the initial video is a stereotype. Out of all the officers i know, i don't think one of them would approach a vehicle like that. For one, they will never walk up square to your window, they will approach slowly as close the vehicle as possible and usually stand behind the "bar" of the window/body. Why? This closes the clear center mass shot. At that point, you'd have to fire a gun over your shoulder and next to your ear through the steel of the your car body.

A well trained officer will never relax and rest his hand on the top of your car and lean while fiddling with his sunglasses. Why? this position is hard to react in. It takes more effort and energy to clear himself of the vehicle if the person decides to pull a weapon. You also have to create more action to actually get to your sidearm if you're fiddling with something while walking up to the car. That's why cops usually "adjust" when they get out of their cruiser, then walk up.

A well trained cop will usually be a foot or two back from the vehicle and he will reach to retrieve your license/insurance information. He will grab your information with his "weak" hand, in order to keep his "strong" hand free to pull his weapon if he needed to. If he looks down at your information, he usually steps back to the "safe" position, slightly behind the driver's side door. In all reality, he really doesn't care if your window is up or down, he's more concerned about your intentions.

I almost peed myself laughing when this stereotypical cop did his stomp back to the car. This did nothing but prove to me without a doubt that the officer is portrayed as the "stereotypical, stupid mean cop". A well trained, lone officer will never turn his back on you if you are out of the car, unless there is another officer on scene. Even more so, he will never say "everyone out of the vehicle" at once. Too much going on, situation could get out of control too quickly, usually it's just the driver or everyone exits the vehicle one at a time, not "Okay everyone hop on out!". Once again, he has no clue who you are beyond a name he has no clue of your intentions. From a safety standpoint, he's better off leaving you in the car in that specific situation.

A well trained officer is usually assessing the situation repeatedly, looking for outs, he will rarely put himself in a position where he doesn't have the dominance in the situation. This has nothing to do with him pretending to be a hard ass and everything to do with him protecting himself, once again, he has no clue who you are beyond a name. His biggest priority is getting home to his wife and kids without any extra holes in him.

Are there crooked cops? Yes. But judging all cops by the actions of a few is a very piss poor way of going about things. For all the "judgment" posts i have read on this board about being discriminated against in some form or the other, this is the perfect example of that discrimination.

Remember respect. A cop is not "dude, man, chief" he is sir or ma'am. And no offense the dude in the back was acting rather strangely. Repeatedly touching or wiping your face makes you look guilty. And for everyone who smokes pot in their car and can't smell it. It's because you can't smell it, it doesn't mean the scent isn't there, it means you're more than likely desensitized to it. Much like cigarette smokers. Cigarette smokers have trouble smelling cigarette smoke, weed smokers have trouble smelling weed smoke, you're desensitized to it. People who don't smoke have better olfactory senses when it comes to smelling it.

Chances are had i pulled you over doing 50 in a 30 and you treated me with respect and not called me "dude, pig, chief, fag, fuckin cop," whatever, i would have talked to you through the window for a few minutes to make sure you were sober and coherent because the guy in the back seat was acting all spacey. I would have asked you questions, not to set you up, but to watch your reactions to see if you actually are sober and coherent. You would be amazed at what times people are drunk.

If you treated me with respect and were just generally nice to me, and not intoxicated, i would have written you a ticket for 45 in a 30 (20 miles per hour or more over the speed limit in the state of Ohio can be construed as reckless operation of a motor vehicle, which comes with heftier fines and possible suspension of driving privileges).

I am not the judge. Whether you're guilty or innocent is up to the court to decide. I wrote the ticket because my fancy-smancy radar gun told me you were doing 50 in a 30. The radar gun is my evidence, it doesn't mean you're guilty, it's just evidence against you.

There is no "right" to drive. Driving is a privilege. Amber Alerts are a blessing and a curse. There are times that Amber Alerts come out around here and the vehicle is only described as simple as "Blue 4 door Sedan" and no license plate number. Google that and see how many results you come up with. I guarantee more than half of the people don't even know if they're car is considered a sedan.

I gotta agree with that. The time I got arrested, I could tell that all the guy wanted was to be able to go back in time and tell past-self to not run my license, to give me a warning, and to send me on my way so present-self wouldn't have to deal with arresting me.