We've all had our experiences with the police, and most of us can acknowledge that there are good cops out there, those who are willing to treat people with courtesy and professionalism under the whole guise of 'innocent until proven guilty'. What most of us, people my age, also know is that unfortunately not all of them are like this. A growing number of police I've dealt with in the last few years have been less and less professional, let alone pleasant. They treat you condescendingly and pigeonhole you before you've even really spoken to them. Innocent until proven guilty is no longer a prominent feature of justice if you ask me, based on my experiences. In their eyes you are merely scum.
Thinking about this after my last run in with the police a few weeks ago inspired me to do a bit of writing, to regale you with some of my experiences with the New South Wales Police. You can make your own mind up then I guess. There are two sides to every story, sure, and I will try and deliver these stories with a sense of neutrality but given they involved me that will be hard.
As I walked down the stairs from the gates to the platform I noticed that, very slowly, every single person down on the platform was looking up at me. This is disconcerting normally but there had to be a reason for it. With everyone staring at me I turned around to find all 4 police closing in on me, with the sniffer dog eagerly investigating the back of my leg (like I would keep drugs there anyway). I was asked firmly to go with the police and walked, surrounded by them, to a room I never knew existed in St. Marys station. I was 18 at the time, and naturally, shitting myself a bit. My mind started racing, trying to confirm the fact (which, really, I already knew) that I had nothing on me. The police made me take my jacket off, my shirt off, rummaged through my pockets and felt me up, making me empty my bag item by item while asking the same questions a few times. I was going to be late but they didn't care (neither did I to be honest) but the way you're treated leaves a bad taste in your mouth. One of the policemen was nice and he did alot of the initial talking, while the other three searched for some lie or weakness. I told them I had smoked as recently as the day before, which was true, and they assumed that it must have been on my clothes. If you ask me though, the dog was sniffing me like they do when they can smell another dogs scent, as my dog did the same thing.
When they were confident I wasn't carrying anything they finally let me go. No apology for wasting my time, no thankyou for my cooperation, just go. Given that this was my first experience I was just relieved to be out of there. I looked like a muso, with my goatee, cigarettes and ruggedly disheveled appearance. Profiling seems to be a massive part of the police force now, but a sniffer dog had led police in this instance. A bit of courtesy would have been nice but I can live without.
Incident #2. This is one of the instances where I actually could have, nay, should have been caught and punished. I suppose in a way we were but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Once again this story involves Marijuana and adolescence.
A friend and I had decided, as was the way back then, to stop at a local park in the middle of the night for a 'session' as most smokers call them. We had our smoke, I had just emptied the bong when all of a sudden a blinding set of headlights came screaming at us from the other end of the carpark. Surprisingly I was able to keep my cool, wrap and hide the bong in my bag and put most of the pot hurriedly in a container that I merely hid under the seat. Two officers emerged, asked us what we were doing. There was no point denying it, who knows how long they were watching, so we admitted we were smoking weed. They asked us HOW we were smoking it and I lied, saying joints. That being said I realise now they must have been standing in a puddle of bong water. They didn't believe me, but went along with it and then asked us to give them our weed. I immediately pulled out the baggie it was originally in, knowing that most of it was in a container under the seat. They took it, checked it, realised it was fuck all then asked me to get out of the car, empty the bag on the grass and then step on it. No worries.
Then, whilst we were out of the car the police then told us they were going to search it. When you're a young drug user who has never had this happen, and you know whats in the car, it can be quite terrifying. They found a hash pipe in the center console that belonged to the friend I was with and I thought it was only a matter of time before they discovered the hefty amount of weed under the passenger seat and the bong in my bag. They found neither. I still to this day am not entirely sure how. Then they told us to give them our mobile phones so they could go through them. To this day I'm pretty sure they're not actually allowed to do that (but I could be wrong). But they did, then gave us the phones back having found nothing, and we were free to go. Once again we were paid little courtesy or respect, but as a teenager you just assume its the way things are.
Incident #3 - This is a two-in-one since both these incidents have happened to me while leaving the place at which I WORK! There are multiple routes to take home from work and on one evening I chose to take one that would take me past a servo before heading home. I must also tell you that I had my P plates till I was 25, having got my license late. Getting them so late underlined how much profiling and harassment is thrown at P-platers, I was no teenager. Anyway, the Police sat at the lights on the opposite side of the road and as soon as I crossed the road, headed to the servo, they chucked a U-Turn and followed me, putting the lights on and pulling me over, having done nothing, for an entirely 'random' breath test. One spoke to me while another got a torch and went around the car, before one of them noticed my uniform and where I worked, making some jokes and then saying 'have a good night'. No breath test was done, there was NO reason I should have been pulled over, apart from the mere fact I had a P-plate on my car. Effective policework, right? Good to see the major criminals can get away but a 23 year old with P's MUST get pulled up on suspicion of nothing.
Then, whilst we were out of the car the police then told us they were going to search it. When you're a young drug user who has never had this happen, and you know whats in the car, it can be quite terrifying. They found a hash pipe in the center console that belonged to the friend I was with and I thought it was only a matter of time before they discovered the hefty amount of weed under the passenger seat and the bong in my bag. They found neither. I still to this day am not entirely sure how. Then they told us to give them our mobile phones so they could go through them. To this day I'm pretty sure they're not actually allowed to do that (but I could be wrong). But they did, then gave us the phones back having found nothing, and we were free to go. Once again we were paid little courtesy or respect, but as a teenager you just assume its the way things are.
Incident #3 - This is a two-in-one since both these incidents have happened to me while leaving the place at which I WORK! There are multiple routes to take home from work and on one evening I chose to take one that would take me past a servo before heading home. I must also tell you that I had my P plates till I was 25, having got my license late. Getting them so late underlined how much profiling and harassment is thrown at P-platers, I was no teenager. Anyway, the Police sat at the lights on the opposite side of the road and as soon as I crossed the road, headed to the servo, they chucked a U-Turn and followed me, putting the lights on and pulling me over, having done nothing, for an entirely 'random' breath test. One spoke to me while another got a torch and went around the car, before one of them noticed my uniform and where I worked, making some jokes and then saying 'have a good night'. No breath test was done, there was NO reason I should have been pulled over, apart from the mere fact I had a P-plate on my car. Effective policework, right? Good to see the major criminals can get away but a 23 year old with P's MUST get pulled up on suspicion of nothing.
The next incident to happen at work was merely 2 months ago, if that. After closing at work, I turned everything off and headed to my car (and this was even without P-plates). I got in the car, had a look for my cigarettes. Next thing there is a tap on my window, and I turn to see nothing but a police badge just staring me straight in the face. I wound down my window and he asked for my license. I complied before being asked to 'keep my hands up where he can see them' - that's never happened before but once again I comply. Next thing I know, the car is surrounded by FOUR police officers. Torches are shining in, my hands are still up, murmurings are taking place just out of earshot. All of a sudden one comes up to me and asks 'so what are you doing in this carpark so late at night?'. I would have been well within my rights to call him a 'fucking idiot' at this stage but I didn't, just told him I WORK HERE and had just closed the doors. Surely he'd noticed the carpark lights go off 2 minutes ago, not to mention me walking out the front door. I didn't really get an apology, I got a minimal explanation before being asked more questions. I finally got my license back and was allowed to go.
Can I just say that the entire situation would have been a whole lot easier for everyone if I'd merely been asked a question straight away instead of being surrounded by a ridiculous presence trying to make me shit myself. The investigative mentality of police is dead, its 'act now, ask questions later'. Both of these incidents involved the St Marys branch of the NSW Police. St Marys has its fair share of crime, and with investigative work and people skills like that, I really can't imagine why. In neither of these situations was I wearing my 'part-time stoner' hat, I had just stepped out of work, still in uniform, and was still treated like this.
Incident #4 - My most recent experience - it happened two weeks ago in the city. Waiting at traffic lights and the car in front, as happens sometimes, seemingly didn't notice the light go green until it was nearly too late. I managed to get through hurriedly while the light was still orange. Next thing I have a car speeding up behind me out of nowhere, flashing its lights. I pull over. This space obviously wasn't good enough so they blasted their horn and I moved around the corner. A cop who wouldn't have looked out of place in St Marys comes to the window, flashing his badge and asking me if I knew why I'd been pulled over. I didn't break any laws, certainly not overtly, so I said I didn't know. He tries to list a bunch of things I apparently just did in the act of turning the corner, I still say I honestly don't think that's what happened. He continues to contradict me and takes my license.
A few minutes pass. He comes back, telling me once again that I've done this and that. I once again state how I saw it before he basically tells me to 'stop arguing'. Basically his way of saying 'shut the f*** up'. Anytime I say something I am immediately spoken over the top of, despite me saying I was merely trying to explain. He then gives me my license. No charge, no fine, no warning, no nothing. The only way, realistically, that this can be the end result is if, like I maintained, I'd done nothing wrong! The attitude and arrogance of this particular officer of the Kings Cross Police Force pissed me off so supremely it inspired me to write all of these incidents down.
So what of all these incidents? Am I merely making a list? No, I have a point. Two points in fact.
#1. The Police, whether they like it or not, are in a customer service style area. They deal with the people every day as part of their job. While I'm not a cop I work in a similar industry and if I treated my customers the way the Police treated me in previous instances, I would be fired or at least reprimanded. It is painstakingly obvious to me that people skills are NOT part of Police training, at least certainly not in New South Wales. If the Police want to maintain any semblance of integrity, dealing with people really needs to become part of the training process. All their current lack of skills breed is resentment.
#2. The general motto of the Police that gets implanted in you over the years is 'to protect and serve'. In some naive way, being brought up with this ethos makes you think that the protection and service are for you, for us, the people. We like to think that the job of the Police is to protect us and look after our interests. If you are my age and you still honestly think this you are a little naive. Even without the study I've done over the last few years I can tell you that the job of the police is NOT to protect and serve YOU but the STATE! The people who pay their wages, the institutions that already have the control over social order and convention. The police aren't protecting you, they're protecting the interests of the governments and state institutions. Don't kid yourselves if you think I'm wrong.
While I'm at it, here's one more question - During double demerits, driving up the coast, I saw 9 police cars with the speed gun out. This is an awful lot. On the way back, when it WASN'T double demerits, I didn't see ONE SINGLE cop on the 6.5 hour drive home. Why? To me, this is nothing but merely tactical revenue raising, further emphasising that the Police don't go where they're needed, they're merely strategically placed in areas that will help them gain revenue and the 'results' that no doubt show up on quotas here and there.
Some of you might be reading this, thinking that I'm an asshole and that I deserve to be reprimanded for something. For you people I leave you with my last anecdote;
It takes place about 5 years ago, maybe more, maybe less, but it was a while. I'd been smoking up at a mates place on a Sunday evening, pretty considerably. I left in the late evening, and on the way home encountered some roadworks on the Motorway. We were all forced into a single lane. Unbeknownst to everyone there was a police DUI check embedded in the middle of the roadworks. There was no escape. Many cars were parked along the embankment, it had been a good night for them. I was asked the question and had already answered no before it registered that he'd asked me if I'd had any drugs as well. He then brought over the tongue scraper for my drug test. As far as I was concerned, I was done for. I'd had some weed no more than 15 minutes ago, I had to be gone. I looked in the rearview to see my insanely bloodshot eyes and knew it was all over. My mind raced with what would happen, how my family, friends and girlfriend would all take the news. It didn't go well. I probably waited for about 5-10 minutes but the time seemed endless. I saw the officer talking with others, and eventually he came back over. By this point I was literally ready to step out of the car, thinking its what I would be asked. It was not, the officer gave me my license, said 'have a good night' and I was off. It had to be a joke. It wasn't. I drove off feeling more relief than I have ever felt in my life I think, but also wondering how the hell that happened.
Here are some quick pointers for you in your next experience with the Police, if they're anything like these have been;
Can I just say that the entire situation would have been a whole lot easier for everyone if I'd merely been asked a question straight away instead of being surrounded by a ridiculous presence trying to make me shit myself. The investigative mentality of police is dead, its 'act now, ask questions later'. Both of these incidents involved the St Marys branch of the NSW Police. St Marys has its fair share of crime, and with investigative work and people skills like that, I really can't imagine why. In neither of these situations was I wearing my 'part-time stoner' hat, I had just stepped out of work, still in uniform, and was still treated like this.
Incident #4 - My most recent experience - it happened two weeks ago in the city. Waiting at traffic lights and the car in front, as happens sometimes, seemingly didn't notice the light go green until it was nearly too late. I managed to get through hurriedly while the light was still orange. Next thing I have a car speeding up behind me out of nowhere, flashing its lights. I pull over. This space obviously wasn't good enough so they blasted their horn and I moved around the corner. A cop who wouldn't have looked out of place in St Marys comes to the window, flashing his badge and asking me if I knew why I'd been pulled over. I didn't break any laws, certainly not overtly, so I said I didn't know. He tries to list a bunch of things I apparently just did in the act of turning the corner, I still say I honestly don't think that's what happened. He continues to contradict me and takes my license.
A few minutes pass. He comes back, telling me once again that I've done this and that. I once again state how I saw it before he basically tells me to 'stop arguing'. Basically his way of saying 'shut the f*** up'. Anytime I say something I am immediately spoken over the top of, despite me saying I was merely trying to explain. He then gives me my license. No charge, no fine, no warning, no nothing. The only way, realistically, that this can be the end result is if, like I maintained, I'd done nothing wrong! The attitude and arrogance of this particular officer of the Kings Cross Police Force pissed me off so supremely it inspired me to write all of these incidents down.
So what of all these incidents? Am I merely making a list? No, I have a point. Two points in fact.
#1. The Police, whether they like it or not, are in a customer service style area. They deal with the people every day as part of their job. While I'm not a cop I work in a similar industry and if I treated my customers the way the Police treated me in previous instances, I would be fired or at least reprimanded. It is painstakingly obvious to me that people skills are NOT part of Police training, at least certainly not in New South Wales. If the Police want to maintain any semblance of integrity, dealing with people really needs to become part of the training process. All their current lack of skills breed is resentment.
#2. The general motto of the Police that gets implanted in you over the years is 'to protect and serve'. In some naive way, being brought up with this ethos makes you think that the protection and service are for you, for us, the people. We like to think that the job of the Police is to protect us and look after our interests. If you are my age and you still honestly think this you are a little naive. Even without the study I've done over the last few years I can tell you that the job of the police is NOT to protect and serve YOU but the STATE! The people who pay their wages, the institutions that already have the control over social order and convention. The police aren't protecting you, they're protecting the interests of the governments and state institutions. Don't kid yourselves if you think I'm wrong.
While I'm at it, here's one more question - During double demerits, driving up the coast, I saw 9 police cars with the speed gun out. This is an awful lot. On the way back, when it WASN'T double demerits, I didn't see ONE SINGLE cop on the 6.5 hour drive home. Why? To me, this is nothing but merely tactical revenue raising, further emphasising that the Police don't go where they're needed, they're merely strategically placed in areas that will help them gain revenue and the 'results' that no doubt show up on quotas here and there.
Some of you might be reading this, thinking that I'm an asshole and that I deserve to be reprimanded for something. For you people I leave you with my last anecdote;
It takes place about 5 years ago, maybe more, maybe less, but it was a while. I'd been smoking up at a mates place on a Sunday evening, pretty considerably. I left in the late evening, and on the way home encountered some roadworks on the Motorway. We were all forced into a single lane. Unbeknownst to everyone there was a police DUI check embedded in the middle of the roadworks. There was no escape. Many cars were parked along the embankment, it had been a good night for them. I was asked the question and had already answered no before it registered that he'd asked me if I'd had any drugs as well. He then brought over the tongue scraper for my drug test. As far as I was concerned, I was done for. I'd had some weed no more than 15 minutes ago, I had to be gone. I looked in the rearview to see my insanely bloodshot eyes and knew it was all over. My mind raced with what would happen, how my family, friends and girlfriend would all take the news. It didn't go well. I probably waited for about 5-10 minutes but the time seemed endless. I saw the officer talking with others, and eventually he came back over. By this point I was literally ready to step out of the car, thinking its what I would be asked. It was not, the officer gave me my license, said 'have a good night' and I was off. It had to be a joke. It wasn't. I drove off feeling more relief than I have ever felt in my life I think, but also wondering how the hell that happened.
Here are some quick pointers for you in your next experience with the Police, if they're anything like these have been;
- Don't admit to anything if you haven't done it. When a Policeman asks 'do you know why we've pulled you over?', admitting anything will fuck you. They can charge or fine you because you've admitted it, or even speculated. If you've really done something fair enough, but if you honestly have little to no idea why you've been pulled over, SAY SO. They can tell you what they want but unless you admit to it (in most cases) they can't do anything.
- Eye contact - Most of the annoying Police you'll meet have problems with power. Like alot of animals dominance can come from something as simple as staring you down. I've worked on my eye contact over the years and in these instances it helps. If you don't look at them, or let them stare you down, you're admitting your inferiority. Staring right back lets them know you're not afraid, and also brings extra conviction to anything you say.
I hope these stories have at least been entertaining in some regard. They are all true, even if told through my eyes only. My experience with having P's in my 20's certainly helped me establish that alot of profiling goes on in the Police Force. With or without the P's, the NSW Police have, in multiple instances, wasted my time for no reason and given me attitude. The ONE TIME I really could have been fucked, they really could have got me, THEY DIDN'T! Thats a 0% record for you, Officers.
With a record like that, I'm glad it's NOT me you're protecting or serving, because you're doing pretty pathetically.
With a record like that, I'm glad it's NOT me you're protecting or serving, because you're doing pretty pathetically.
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