Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Using Yahoo, ran across this featured story:
Girl buys water, spends night in jail
How DOES one know when it's really the police and not a ruse to gain control over you. Briefly, a 20 year old girl buys a few items including bottled water from a super market. As she gets back to her car, 6 or 7 plain-clothes police (actually, ABC police IIRC) surround her - one pulling a gun and some showing badges. She was afraid it was a robbery or worse and took off, calling 911 from the road. She was soon stopped and charged with a number of felonies. Turns out, the police thought she had purchased beer. The story does not tell why they thought she was under-age nor why it took that many police - with guns - to check her ID (outside the store!) After she spent a night in jail, the prosecutor apparently believed her story and chose not follow through with the charges and she was released. BUT, she might just as easily been shot for "assaulting" the officers (read the story).
My thinking is that this was "overkill" that easily could have resulted in a real killing. The story offers no insight into whether the police were following protocol. I am hoping that they were NOT.
Years ago, there was a case (California, IIRC) where police broke down the door of a house - It was the WRONG house - and shot a man to death who naturally was frightened that this was a "home invasion" and grabbed a gun.
It would seem the MORE INNOCENT you are, the more likely you would be to end up on the wrong end of a gun. A guilty person (more often than not) will "give it up" when he might be expecting a "visit" from the police. An innocent person (knowing that the police have no need to approach) would be more likely to run or otherwise resist out of fear - not of the police, per se, but of some sort of ruse or invasion.
Anyone ever have such an experience? Know of one? How DO you protect yourself from such a situation - knowing that you can buy/rent/steal police uniforms and make a "badge" out of tin these days. Being stopped by a uniformed officer in a marked car seems straight forward. Other kinds of stops/entry could be problematic IMO. (Can you spell Amadou Diallo). Not trying to stir the pot. I have honestly wondered about this and wondered how I would react. YMMV
Girl buys water, spends night in jail
How DOES one know when it's really the police and not a ruse to gain control over you. Briefly, a 20 year old girl buys a few items including bottled water from a super market. As she gets back to her car, 6 or 7 plain-clothes police (actually, ABC police IIRC) surround her - one pulling a gun and some showing badges. She was afraid it was a robbery or worse and took off, calling 911 from the road. She was soon stopped and charged with a number of felonies. Turns out, the police thought she had purchased beer. The story does not tell why they thought she was under-age nor why it took that many police - with guns - to check her ID (outside the store!) After she spent a night in jail, the prosecutor apparently believed her story and chose not follow through with the charges and she was released. BUT, she might just as easily been shot for "assaulting" the officers (read the story).
My thinking is that this was "overkill" that easily could have resulted in a real killing. The story offers no insight into whether the police were following protocol. I am hoping that they were NOT.
Years ago, there was a case (California, IIRC) where police broke down the door of a house - It was the WRONG house - and shot a man to death who naturally was frightened that this was a "home invasion" and grabbed a gun.
It would seem the MORE INNOCENT you are, the more likely you would be to end up on the wrong end of a gun. A guilty person (more often than not) will "give it up" when he might be expecting a "visit" from the police. An innocent person (knowing that the police have no need to approach) would be more likely to run or otherwise resist out of fear - not of the police, per se, but of some sort of ruse or invasion.
Anyone ever have such an experience? Know of one? How DO you protect yourself from such a situation - knowing that you can buy/rent/steal police uniforms and make a "badge" out of tin these days. Being stopped by a uniformed officer in a marked car seems straight forward. Other kinds of stops/entry could be problematic IMO. (Can you spell Amadou Diallo). Not trying to stir the pot. I have honestly wondered about this and wondered how I would react. YMMV