When I was a young officer and much of the country was still bitching about Vietnam and returning vets, a college kid flipped me the bird as I was just driving down the street. I'll never forget him yelling: "Remember the Pueblo", a reference to the USN ship which years earlier was captured by North Korea (1968).

I stopped because I figured he wanted to say something else to me. Immediately his attitude was confrontational and he took a swing at me and then ran like a coward.

He got a few cuts and bruises and we went directly to court. In court the (retired FBI agent) city magistrate concluded that while the offender had committed assault that no penalty would be imposed. That really pissed off dumb ass. As he walked from the courtroom he turned, flipped the judge the bird and repeated "Remember the Pueblo". The judge told me to arrest him for contempt. I refused.

Not much has changed in this country.

That cop chose poorly. If he can't handle an aggravated finger pointing he should have chosen a career where you have less conflict like being a firefighter or minister.

In my agencies ticket narratives if we mention disrespect or bad attitude with any of our citizen violators our city attorney amends the ticket for full effect.

I agree with the court here; not just legally but ethically. The officer should have chuckled under his breath and moved on. Let her have her tantrum.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
I'm sure had she flipped the judge off, he/she would have felt the same way. That it's her right to do so. Right?

This actually makes an interesting point. We've all seen videos posted here where a Judge rules on a case, the defendant is unhappy and uses a gesture or verbiage to convey their displeasure. The Judge in those cases had no problem reversing their decision and tacking on extra jail time, sometimes including contempt of court charges.

So the officer on the street risking their life every day and putting up with incredible crap from the general public doesn't deserve the same respect as the Judge/Court?

What if Miss Hyphenated Last-Name went off on the officer in court, is that constitutionally protected?

Flipping off the court is a new offense, contempt of court, and could be punished as a separate and new incident. It shouldn't be punished by the court by increasing the penalty on the reason you are there for in the first place.

And a court room is different than being out on the street.

And of course it was trashy and disrespectful But it was still protected by the 1st Amendment.

And, a cop needs a thicker skin.

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
As I was heading home one day, I killed sparrow with my car. It smacked the grill, rolled up the hood, and somehow got caught on my windshield wiper arm. After running the wipers for a few seconds, it rolled up the windshield and went up and over my car into the air. Unfortunately, it hit the car behind me; a county sheriff! He immediately turned on his siren, and the red and blues. When I pulled over, he already had his citation book in hand as he approached my vehicle. I couldn't believe it when he said I'd be getting a ticket for flipping him the bird

Damn. Fell for it!

It is the right decision by the court. The government should not base Discretionary actions on the basis of peoples attitude towards the government official.

People will occasionally be very mad that they got a ticket. Responsibility for one’s actions is very difficult for some.

However if they crumple up to take it and throw it on the ground it is littering

What would she have done if the officer would have said good bye using the same gesture?

LOL, reminds me of one of my first tickets I wrote fresh out of school 20 years old. Working up on the Iron Range Of MN, Stopped this guy doing 45 in a 30 get all done selling and explaining the ticket ask the driver if he had any questions.

He said, “Yeah, what are you going to be when you grow up?”
I laughed and he smiled.

I grew a mustache after that....if you let crap like that bother you your in the wrong line of work!

Remember this classic?




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/Wtcvmu3p6WM

When I was training a new cop, I always said the person displaying the finger to him/her was saying, “ you’re number one!”....

Someone flipped me and my kid off when I laid on the horn as a panhandler was blocking traffic, little Tomminator asked what it meant and I told him the same thing, it means you’re number one.

He waved back displaying the same thing.

The officer needs some introspection.

He took the bait.