I don’t won’t to put anyone
to sleep with my actual vacation,
but one thing on the way
back really irked me. When I
got into Ohio, I got pulled
over again and got another
speeding ticket for doing 83
in a 65 mph zone and got an
$80 ticket. Now, if this cop
really had nothing better to
do and wanted to give me a
ticket for doing 8 mph over
the speed limit, fine, I’m not
going to argue with him simply
because I want to get on
my way.
But, no more than 20 minutes
after I got back on the
road I must have passed at
least four cars broken down
on the side of the road. They
weren’t abandoned, the hazard
lights were still flashing,
people were still inside the
cars and there wasn’t a single
emergency vehicle helping
any of them. Whatever happened
to ‘Serve and Protect?’
It was probably 30 degrees
outside and instead of offering
these stranded people,
who might actually be in
trouble, any assistance, this
cop would rather sit 10 miles
up the road and bust people
for barley speeding.
‘Protect and Serve’ is supposed
to be a police officer’s
job description summed up in
itty words. From my personal
experiences it should be
something along the lines of
‘Harass and Abuse.’ If you
are under the age of 25, every
cop that encounters you is
going to have the same thing
on his mind, “This kid is up
to no good.” My friends and I
have been pulled over many a
time, on the way to the beach,
concerts, our own homes-
most of the time we haven’t
done anything wrong. but
we’re treated like convicts.
Asked to step out of the
vehicle, patted down on a
traffic-rich road, placed in the
back of squad cars while they
tear through the car just waiting,
hoping to find something
that they can grab us by the
“cahonies” with; dangle in
front of us and watch us
squirm like the insignificant
bugs they automatically
assume we are. They’ll talk
down to us, as if we don’t
matter and are simply there
for their own amusement. It’s
a subtle combination of
embarrassment, humiliation
and enragement.
They may think they’re
doing a public service for
arresting the kid that had an
empty dime bag in his back
seat minus a few seeds, or
hauling away the guy that
turns 21 in one month who
just blew a 0.08 on the breathalyzer.
But let’s examine what
happens afterwards. They go
to court; both lose their
licenses for a period of time,
and then the trouble starts.
Without a car, they have
problems getting to work,
show up late a few times-
get fired. Same problem with
school-can’t get to the campus
on time, start to be late
for their classes, their grades
start to slip, and they might
have to drop out. Most people
that drop out don’t go
back, so these two guys’ lives
were pretty much destroyed.
Why?
Because those cops were
making the community safer?
Because it was the morally
right thing to do? Because
they were horrible criminals
and they deserved to be punished?
Or because they were
bored and instead of finding
someone that might actually
be in distress they would
rather hassle some kid and
completely screw his life up.
I’m not saying we don’t
need cops; they make sure
that chaos doesn’t erupt on
the streets and keep a sense of
order. However, understand
if my particular age group
doesn’t like them very much.
And it’s not just me, ask anyone
under the age of 25 if they
like cops and don’t be too
shocked if they give you a
negative answer. To sum it
up for you, in my 20 years on
this planet, I’ve only ever
been happy to see a cop once;
my friend’s car wouldn’t start
at the Tweeter Center and he
gave us a jump.