Gangstafam and I were coming home from a Sigur Ros concert in September. It was about 2:00am and the Michigan State Police pulled us over. They wanted insurance and registration and I reached for my bag to get it (Nathan was driving my car) and the Trooper on the passenger side was like ~ "hold on there" shining the flashlight in our faces. They finally let me get it ~ I don't know what they thought we were doing. They asked if we knew why we were stopped ~ of course we had no idea. They said we had a "mechanical malfuntion ~ the light above my license plate was burned out. Was that trumped up or what? But, Gangsta is so charming, we didn't get a ticket!

MoonSongs said:

wow, they must have been bored! a burned out licence place light?!

IrresistibleB1tch said:

nothing major.....I just paid my speeding ticket fine last Thursday. It wasn't so bad since they didn't take any points and it was reduced on the spot from over $300 to $76. With the exception of this, I've been fairly lucky with the patrol men.

I get extremely nervous when cops follow me, so I would've been pissed if he followed me for a while before pulling me over.

MoonSongs said:

They thought you could possibly be reaching for a weapon. From a law enforcement officer's (LEO) standpoint, traffic stops are quite dangerous. That's why if you're pulled over, and another LEO drives by, LEO #2 will often stop as a matter of professional courtesy and make sure everything is okay.

Here's a good way to handle this situation (taken from an actual experience of mine after being stopped at night):


LEO: May I see your license and registration, please?

Me: Yes, Officer. My license is in my wallet, and my registration is in the glove compartment. May I reach for them?

LEO: Yes. You don't have any weapons in your vehicle, do you?

Me: No, sir. Nothing like that.

LEO: Okay.


This should help put the LEO at ease, and he may reward you for your courtesy by letting you off with a warning. In the situation above, the LEO said he'd paced me at 63 MPH in a 45 MPH construction zone (work zone normally means a double fine in that state). I was sure I'd get a ticket... but no, just a compliment on my car (I was driving a Miata), a warning, and a request to slow down a bit.

IrresistibleB1tch said:

As I understand it, the general rule is that a state LEO's jurisdiction (in the sense of legal authority to exercise law enforcement powers) extends to the boundaries of the state. My former father-in-law worked as an LEO for the city of Valparaiso, Indiana, for 20 years, and on at least one occasion, he made arrests in Indianapolis (over two hours away) during a sting operation.

However, the power may be limited in some situations; e.g., in Indiana, university police officers can exercise their powers only on university land and the surrounding streets, unless they reach an agreement with the city police chief or county sheriff, in which case their powers extend to all of the city or county. See Ind. Code § 20-12-3.5-2.

Note, though, that LEO's often use "jurisdiction" to mean something else: the geographic limits of where they normally operate. For example, when I lived in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Police Department's "jurisdiction" was within the pre-1970 city limits, whereas the Marion County Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction was the rest of the city. LEO's can get touchy about an officer from another department infringing upon the first LEO's "turf."

Now that I think about it, BTW, I have seen Indianapolis Police Department officers making traffic stops on Interstate highways (within the old city limits, anyway).

IrresistibleB1tch said:

Not lately. I think I've been pulled over three times. Once was for accidently turning the wrong way onto a one-way street (I was panicked because a driver with an apparent case of road rage had been putting me in danger), once for having a burnt-out headlight (I doubt I would have been pulled over had it not been for the temporary license plate on the car), and once for speeding (see above). On none of those occasions did I receive a ticket, though.

I've also been detained twice at raves that got shut down, although in both cases, they let me leave after just looking at my ID.

IrresistibleB1tch said:

Yeah ~ I didn't even know my license plate HAD a light. BTW IB ~ I'd love your vegan cheesecake recipie if it's one you share. Vegetarian is so easy for me but I'm having a hard time going the rest of the way to vegan.

IrresistibleB1tch said:

I got a ticket for illegal left turn!!!!! HELL, I need to see when its due, cuz they haven't sent me the bill like they said!

MoonSongs said:

sure, look for an orgnote later today!

bluesbaby said:

uh oh! you don't want to be late paying that one!

IrresistibleB1tch said:

yep..

Another cool story.....

My mates and i were coming out of a night club and we got caught up in a bloody street battle bodies getting kicked everywhere.I got punched and lost all the buttons of my shirt.The next time saw the guy who punched me he was on the floor getting a healthy beating so i ran over and got a few digs in.After i had hit him i felt myself getting dragged off of him and lifted in the air. I was thinking "Im dead now" then i realised it was a policeman,he dragged/carried me over to his van(it was the dog van kind) opened the drivers door, throws me into the seat and says,"dont you move from there".
So im sitting in the drivers seat of a police van ,what did i do next?

I didn't pay my council tax once in a student house. It was ridiculous. We were students and thus exempt, but they claimed our first week of our respective courses were not exempt since it was an introduction week. We refused to pay. Apparently something happened at Reading magistrates in our absence, though I'm not quite sure what it was. I was in Thailand shortly after that anyway. I guess we should've just paid up.

Other than that I've never been caught for anything.

muirdo said:

no you didn't?!?!?!

Fauxie said:

so, what did you get - 30 days of hard labor and a caning?

IrresistibleB1tch said:

If I'd been convicted in Thailand, perhaps.

I don't know what I got. I moved out of the house and moved to Thailand. Some of the guys in the house had bigger problems the next year when they had a guy staying there who wasn't a student. They even tried to drag me into that but I was long gone before that all happened. They should think themselves lucky they got months of free AOL that I forgot to cancel after the trial period.

Really should have checked my bank statement more closely, but damn, they didn't think to e-mail me??? Bastards.

ghostlike said:

No I don't. I just enjoy life and looking at cute guys.

aaaah come on you flirt everywere all the time.....

ghostlike said:

I look all of the time. Looking is not the same as flirting.

Flirting is not looking away, I look away almost always. I am shy, really.

PurpleThunder said:

Pics!

ghostlike said:

Ooh, by the way, I like your avatar...

FauxieToo said:

Well...I do have some pics of my roomate with his shirt off...he thinks he's some kinda playboy
I don't have any pics of me at work tho Some of the officers shy away from having pics taken in uniform, especially the boys in special investigations.
When I get my computer up and running properly I will have some pics for you tho

Our house was threatend with an ASBO on Bonfire Night from a neighbour. The police cam round for a quiet word. One of them looked like Michael Owen. The neighbour's one of them weirdo sorts so it was all good.

HamsterHuey said:

like this and like that.

ghostlike said:

I like your tattoo as well. The FIRST one...

HamsterHuey said:

[quote]i wonder wich one u mean?????

JDINTERACTIVE said:

i had to google that... do you mean an "anti social behavior order"??

IrresistibleB1tch said:

That's right. On two counts. Street drinking and excessive noise.

PurpleThunder said:

Um, well I was more kinda thinking of pics with you and, um... never mind.

Send the police officer pics to AB though.