Rule number one is never to give consent to a search. The moment you do, you lose constitutional protections and any Fourth Amendment defense. Police have been known to plant evidence (gasp, that can’t be). They will often use the “what are you hiding” ruse to obtain consent. The point is not to resist authority, but to remind those in authority as to the limits of that authority.

Veritas.

David

Although there are and always have been some good cops around, when push comes to shove, almost no officer is going to side with a suspect. Case in point, the George Floyd case. I am glad I was not there as an officer. I know the feeling that something is not right but if you speak up, your career is over. You are in a “No win” situation. I saw this first hand so many times that I asked to be transferred out of patrol.

I LOVED patrol. I loved to stop and talk to people and let them know they could trust me and that all cops were not bad. But when you are forced to choose between a fellow officer and a civilian, you are put in a situation that someone is going to hate you whichever way you go.

We hear the “Thin blue line” mentioned. Well the line is NOT thin. If you are not with the police then you are the enemy. (Not my words). A lot of officers have a mentality that they are in a battle field on every shift and all the civilians are potential felons that just haven’t been caught yet.

And do not even get me started on all the jokes you had to endure on a shift. I heard so many racial jokes that I became numb to them. Sex jokes, racial jokes, Jokes about woman and then of course were making fun of handicap people. We would go on a call with someone who had cerebral palsy and some of the officers would be behind a patrol car making fun of the person .

I do not even know how I made it through the years I was on the force without doing something I regret to one of these so called professionals. AND this is not unique to police. I was also an EMT for many years and the amount of people that were made fun of was sickening. When I complained I was told that is how they cope with the day to day traumas they see??? Really ?

In my case, not knowing anything about the law, I did agree for them to “look though” my laptop. But AFTER they did a forensic scan on my laptop and two external hard drives, they had me sign a consent to electronic search.

That’s a shame, it really is. I have a friend who is a cop and he says the same thing. He became a school resource officer so that he wouldn’t get caught in the same situation, having to lie to cover someone else.

And yet when I tried to go back and challenge some of my charges with new evidence, I was told by the judge “Too much time has passed, the statue of limitations has expired”.

Well I tried to file in while locked up and I was told “Wait until you get released”. Yeah I was set up to fail. Such dishonesty from the courts. Great examples of integrity and the oaths that you took.

David

Well if they are admitting that, the guy is going to get a pay day like no other. But that still does not give him back those missed 43 years. And speaking from experience, prison does something to you. I did not let it change my core goodness, but it did open my eyes to the evil that walks among us.

Not all of the bad guys were the inmates. I saw prison guards do unspeakable things to people, in fact it nearly happened to me. I thank God every day for getting me out of prison with all my fingers and toes and no extra scars.

I also saw how easy it was to go in with a 5 to 10 year sentence and end up being in their for 20. Just like cops there were good and bad correction officers. I still remember one Sgt. who was a big ole Teddy bear and he loved us all to death. He use to sneak us extra food in the dining room lol

Bob

It makes you wonder sometimes if law enforcement has some dirt on some of those judges. “Make the case go our way or we will bring up “That incident”. “You know the one”.

Maestro

That is one of the top 50 most bizarre stories I have ever read.

Ok maybe in the last month. There has been a lot of weird stuff goin on lately. I think the World is going to Hell in a hand basket. The registry might end up being the least of our problems eventually.

ABC

As a former cop, I can tell you cops will lie to their own Mother if it means saving their jobs or saving a case from collapsing. On numerous cases I refused to testify because I knew I could not lie to cover other officers butts. Some called me out for not telling on them but then I would have gotten a beat down in a dark alley somewhere.

My hard, but necessary solution was to resign. I could no longer take the nightmares and bad nights sleep. Not all cops are like that. But for every good cop, I would say the years take a toll on a lot of them and turn them. I use to have a debate with other officers on the pros and cons of a big department vs. a small department.