NEWS: Citizen Tickets Cop, Doesn't End Up Ass-Kicked

CULTURE: Citizen Tickets Cop, Doesn't End Up Ass-Kicked

A know-it-all, overly aggresive busybody, fresh out of law school... The worst, right? Think of the situations were someone like this would not only be tolerated but actually welcomed. I can't, probably because it does not exist. Then I found this:

I stand corrected. The one scenario where I would approve of this person's existence.



Also, damn, that was kind of awesome. That's a fine line you're walking, lawyer-in-training or not. The subtle differences between a drunken frat-guy with overly spiked hair and a pocketful of rohypnol ending up face down on the street, swearing into garbage... or this guy, who totally won.

Lawyers and dorks of all stripes will bring their children here for ages, to celebrate what happened. Half of these people will, ironically, be given a parking ticket, sort of ruining the experience for them.

Hahaha, such glorious verbosity, he "turned his attention to the basketball game on television." Or, you know, "watched basketball on TV."



I'd give anything for a slightly longer list, even more mundane list. "Um, he ate a crueller, glared at some dude, seemed to fall asleep a second, then anxiously jerked around to see who noticed"

"Right, so you're saying it's something to be used only during emergencies."



"Yes."



"Well?"



"THE TRAILBLAZERS ARE DOWN BY FIVE! That qualifies!"



I love the cop citing some other situation where it would be totally acceptable to illegally park. A situation bearing no resemblance to this one. Apparently it's all or nothing, no way at all to distinguish one sitch from another.

"If he had acknowledged and corrected his error, we could have avoided this whole thing," is where he starts to lose me. Bryant -- clearly not the most likable fellow in the greater Portland area.

C'mon, that's pretty good.

Or, in other words, if you're going to dick around on the job, don't break the law while doing it.

An enormous mountain, larger than any scaled by man.



That's the amount of shit he's currently getting from other cops, over what happened.







TheCoolerKing is pondering where he's seen the most ridiculous costumes, Comic-Con or Willimsburg, Brooklyn.

How is this Silliness?

Too bad he's still a lawyer.

We're missing the most important question though . . .

Which was it: a Chinese restaurant or a Japanese grill?

How does this discrepancy reflect on the credibility of the writer of the source article?

Who is the evil Doctor Zhivago?

Why would anyone eat processed cheese product?

There. Now it's silliness.

to a degree.

'Wire editors can now choose the boards a story gets published on. A nice little feature, I must say.

And on w/the silly!



-TM

K.

Here's an ass-kicking pic of an ass kicking ass ass.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Which, I suppose, isn't too far off from the subject of the article.

Sadly, I can't help but wonder if the lawyer will be 'marked.'

He most certainly would be if it had happened here. He and/or his family would most defintiely suffer.

Hehheh

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

I wish I could do that to the cops around here who flip on the lights and sirens to bust through red lights, then turn them off on the other side. Or the cops who race each other down the streets at 1 am.

YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO?!

That's so awesome. I heard police officers actually get 30 minutes for lunch!!! Can you imagine that, an entire fucking half hour!!!! On my tax dollars! Oh I mean, I did hear that their work day lasts 8.5 hours because the lunch period is technically unpaid. And that a very high priority call during that half hour will result in lunch being terminated and the officer assigned the call anyways. Fuck it, them's the breaks! So hell yeah, make that fat fucking pig park his car down the block and spend five of his 30 minutes getting to and from his lunch location!! Oh, plus the 10 minutes minimally it will take to wait for the food... 15 minutes is more than enough to eat a nice meal in my book! If the fatass cop wants more time he can go through the McDonalds drive thru!

And then if he does get pulled off his lunch to go help someone getting their face bashed in by a mugger, I'm sure that citizen will have no problem knowing that the officer will take some extra time getting there because he didn't want to pull his car temporarily next to a no parking sign to grab a bite to eat, because it would be AGAINST THE VERY LAWS HE SWORE TO UPHOLD GODDAMNIT!

And if that same officer should later that day, notice somebody pulling up to a no parking zone to run into a pizza place for a few minutes to grab their take out order, he should definitely not cut that guy any courtesy and immediately issue the 50-100 dollar ticket, which I am sure Joe Citizen will be cool as hell with paying because now he can rest assured that there are busybody lawyers out there making sure local cops are held to the same standard.

Fuck the po-leese.

oh Yay.

Hey, I keep people alive for a living and I get a half hour for which I don't get paid, and if I want to go somewhere to buy and eat luch I have to allow for that and if I stay at work and eat I'm likely to have to cut it short and still get docked a half hour.

I knew that when I took the job, though, and thus have no problem abiding by the terms of my employment.

So, does that mean I can go be silly in CE without getting shit for it now, or is this a non-reciprocal invasion?

+1 on all of this. This Bryant cat sounds like a real sanctimonious prick. i mean, seriously. the guy pulled up to pick up his take-out order. that's all. wtf? who hasn't parked in a no-parking zone for a second to run in and grab something? ridiculous.

The difference is the fact that he is a Police Officer. It really isn't that hard to understand.

yeah, thanks. it's not a question of understanding that. it's the fact that he's still just rolling up to pick up some take-out. no big deal. if the law that was being broken was maybe just a bit more egregious, i'd be happy to see the cop get some flak. i maintain that this particular example is ridiculous.

I can understand that it'sa not the Crime of the Century, but there's a 100% chance that if a cop saw ME park illegally here, I would have to pay probably close to a hundred bucks for a ticket, as well as almost certainly be made to stand and watch as my car is towed, wait all day for processing, and THEN pay over a hundred dollars to get it out of impound.

But, since a cop is not likely to cite himself, why should a citizen not hold him accountable just as a citizen would?

Police SHOULD hold themselves to a higher standard than the average citizen. They should be role models for both young and old. Showing disregard for the rules and regulations they are sworn to uphold, even in such a trivial manner, could suggest deviation from the law in far more grave concerns. They are officers of the court, so their testimony is more heavily weighted than the average citizen, so they must be seen as beyond reproach. As SP pointed out, they wouldn't cut us any slack. Parking suck?, pack a lunch. When you decide to be a cop, you know that there will be personal and professional sacrifices that need to be made for the job. If you can't handle those added responsibilities, you don't deserve the badge and gun. Did the officer in question do anything "egregious"? No, obviously not. Was he treated egregiously? No, he is being treated according the letter of the law the he is sworn to and chose to uphold. The citizen has done nothing more to the officer than the officer would have done to the citizen.

all very well said and you're absolutely correct - but i think where i differ is i don't believe that it's really a 100% chance that a cop would cite me for such a thing. i just don't see it happening like that. if i left my car there for an extended period of time, sure - but running in to pick up some take-out?

perhaps i've just been lucky.

regardless, i don't think there's any question that that dude is probably a sanctimonious prick.

This is obviously a case-to-case scenario. It also depends very much on location. In a small town the cop is much more likely to write you up for illegal parking. Where, in a city or bigger town you will get away with that almost every time, as cops have other, more important, things to worry about.

Ten times out of eleven a regular citizen won't say or do a damn thing about a cop illegally parking other than a comment to those they are with, and, from my experience three times out of ten a cop won't do a thing about a citizen double parking or throwing their flashers on in a "no" zone to pick up food. These are of course bullshit numbers like most statistics, but the cop will cite you more often because it's their job.

Maybe it's the area I live in but I don't really see this as any kind of issue except for a jerk-off lawyer who wants to make a name for himself and will probably just end up getting himself marked.

Cops turning on their lights just to run red lights? That is an issue.. This? I don't see this as a big deal at all.

I agree. In my field, there are certain parameters in which I am aware that I have to perform, both on and off the job.

But particularly on the job.

And this isn't even a matter of a higher standard; it's just a matter of whether or not he should be fined like the rest of us. Whether or not parking laws are ridiculous at times is moot; you or I would be fined, and if it were here, the car towed and impounded at our great expense. I don't know about Portland, but here or Philly, or DC or amywhere I've lived there were fines and often towings. I can't agree in this case with those who are putting forth that it's ridiculous to expect comps to abide by the same lows to which we are and to not be penalized in exactly the same ways as us.

Of course, in the line of duty there must be concessions, but not for personal things on their personal time.

Just like me.

Your what is saying it's something only to be used in emergencies?

*EDITED after reading the posts in between S_M_A's and mine*

I suppose it IS a case-by-case or place-by-place thing, but in South Jersey I watched a guy of retirement age and his wife watch as the car got towed at a convenience store for pulling up alongside the building on the side instead of parking in a space out front (there were none open) and go in for cigarettes or something. There was no concession for them to move it and avoid it - they knew in advance it was not a valid space.

My friend Max once pulled into a reserved or handicapped space or something at a liquor store decades ago and when I criticized him for it he said "I'm just running in for beer." I answered So is everybody else."

I agree. In my field, there are certain parameters in which I am aware that I have to perform, both on and off the job.

But particularly on the job.

And this isn't even a matter of a higher standard; it's just a matter of whether or not he should be fined like the rest of us. Whether or not parking laws are ridiculous at times is moot; you or I would be fined, and if it were here, the car towed and impounded at our great expense. I don't know about Portland, but here or Philly, or DC or amywhere I've lived there were fines and often towings. I can't agree in this case with those who are putting forth that it's ridiculous to expect comps to abide by the same lows to which we are and to not be penalized in exactly the same ways as us.

Of course, in the line of duty there must be concessions, but not for personal things on their personal time.

Just like me.

Maybe a little. I kind of like him. He's got Chutzpah and a willingness to stand up to authority when he thinks it's wrong.
I wonder if he is looking for work? He'd be perfect at my job.