It's continually amazing to me that someone could skate through so much trouble with zero consequences and still turn out OK that easily.
It's because cops are too busy fucking with teenagers and black people (a.k.a. people who have no money to fight back) to actually do their jobs. By the time I was 20 I had probably been pulled over 50 times, and for no other reason than I looked like (and was) white trash.
You see, cops think in terms of what they can get away with, not in how to do their jobs without breaking the laws that are meant to restrain them. So if a white trash kid driving a 20yo piece of shit with a quarterpanel that's only primered and wearing a harley bandana goes driving by, they figure they can pull him over no problem. The legal reason doesn't matter, but it can be for any of twenty reasons they decide to use: swerving (might be drunk), didn't stop completely, took the turn too quick (wreckless driving), etc. But what matters is that when they get back to the station and the chief asks them why they pulled the guy over, they can simply justify it with a, "Chief, the kid looked like trouble." That is, if the chief even bothers to ask, or cares.
It's even easier if they find some drugs in the car. Once that happens they have carte blanche to do whatever they want. This means they can fuck with the person, even hit them, and the victim has no recourse. The victim simply has to stand there and take whatever they feel like doing, because it's the only chance to get out of trouble.
And if your response to this is, "Well, you shouldn't have let them search your car in the first place," that's completely unrealistic. The cops can search your car anytime they like and you have no way to stop them. When they ask if they can search you (if they ask), you can say no, but then you're hiding something. Then they call the dogs to scratch up your paint and your seats (and they intentionally let them). But really, they never need to call the dogs. Probable cause laws say that red eyes, the smell of pot smoke, you're acting slow and drugged are all good enough. And in practice, they can just say you had red eyes and there's almost no way you can refute this. But again, this is all about justification to their chief assuming he discourages this behavior, and if you take legal action, to a judge.
This is the ridiculousness of the drug laws, particularly the marijuana laws. It means anyone can get pulled over anytime because they simply, "looked stoned." Ever have red eyes when you wake up? That's probable cause. Not only can they pull you over, they can search your car. And really, you don't even need to have red eyes for them to do it, they just have to say you had red eyes.
And so you may say, "Well what if I have 3 people in the car with me and they all testify that I didn't have red eyes?" The judge
might then believe you over the cop. You see, because they're all part of the justice system, judges have a serious tendency to believe cops over people. That's also because judges hear people using any and all manner of excuses to get out of tickets and trouble, so they're naturally skeptical of the people.
But there is the possibility the judge would believe you. And that possibility comes down to how respectable you and your 3 witnesses are. Are you dressed in nice clothes? Talk well and don't interrupt? Come in with a lawyer? All of those are considered signs of respect for the bench. All of those are based on your socio-economic status. Four white trash teenagers who own no nice clothes and have no money for a lawyer (thus making interrupting a real possibility) saying the cop violated their rights are likely to go ignored. Four wealthy white businessmen are likely to be given serious consideration.
So cops don't pull over businessmen and fuck with them. They might give them a speeding ticket, but they aren't going to insist on searching them (even though that's the only class that can actually afford cocaine). But cops will pull over blacks, hispanics, and teens because they can get away with doing whatever they want to them.
And because they have this power, they abuse it. There have been many times I've been pulled over where they were really enjoying fucking with me. It's fun, so they do it. Meanwhile, hellneice is doing bad things and getting away with them.
I really believe that a large amount of my respect for the law was corroded directly as a result of all those times I was pulled over. There's also a psychological aspect that is often ignored. It's not just that I resented the law. It's that the law basically branded me a criminal for years. Over time, you start to believe that. So when I was walking around smoking pot literally all the time, and I was certainly being treated like a suspect/criminal, what's the difference if break other laws, too? I'm already a criminal.
Until there's some serious legal reform, they're going to have ridiculous power over the general population. Why do you think black people hate the police so much? Why do you think they refuse to convict OJ? It's because they know how cops are, and they have no problem believing that OJ was set up.
Cops are dicks, and they know it, and they don't do their jobs.
</rant>
