Hello again everyone. You're probably getting sick of me by now, but I had to vent a little bit tonight.
Before anyone makes too harsh a judgement based on the title of this entry, let me start by saying that I come from a family that has represented the Police for a long time. My father was a former New York State Trooper, and my brother proudly served on the City of Poughkeepsie Police force. They served with honor and dignity and a respect for the badge, the uniform, and the very idea of protecting the public. I respect the job of a police officer to the highest degree. These are men and women that, at any given moment, are put in harm's way, and it's their job to be there so that innocent people like myself and my wife and children don't have to be. That being said, I have to share what happened earlier tonight.
I was a passenger in a vehicle, coming home from a baseball game. As we hit the village of Highland, the Fireworks display had ended, and traffic was pretty heavy for a little village. As the driver of the vehicle went to make a right hand turn to head toward my house, a town police officer appeared out of nowhere, waving his flashlight/baton, and screaming. "WHAT, ARE YOU TRYING TO HIT ME? GO THAT WAY!" Waving his baton to signal that we should be turning left instead of right. The driver of the vehicle yelled back to him, "NO I'M NOT TRYING TO HIT YOU...I JUST SAW YOU NOW." "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU JUST SAW ME? I'M WEARING A TRAFFIC VEST AND CARRYING THIS LIGHT!" "I'M JUST SAYING I DIDN'T SEE YOU!" Yes, the voices were escalating just as I have them typed here. The driver then proceeds to crank the wheel to turn the way the officer directed him, when I hear {THUMP} "STOP THAT VEHICLE RIGHT NOW!" He had hit the back of my ride's car with his baton, in anger, because someone had dared yelled back at him after he yelled at the driver of the vehicle. So the vehicle was pulled into a sidewalk parking spot.
Did I mention we had 3 kids in the vehicle as well? Well, we did.
So after sitting for a few minutes, Officer Roid Rage comes flying up on his 4 wheeler (not wearing a helmet - fine example to set for the kids) and after more verbal back and forth with the driver, says to him "YOU CAN'T THINK WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING. YOU JUST HAVE TO DO WHAT I TELL YOU." He then says to the driver "YOU HAVE KIDS IN THE CAR, AND THIS IS HOW YOU WANT TO BEHAVE?" Funny, I thought the same thing about his actions.
The driver gets back in the car, Officer Roid Rage makes him show his license, registration and insurance, and then basically brow beats him some more as a second officer pulls up for "moral support". The driver had already apoloigized to him for misreading his directions, which as a passenger watching the whole thing, I saw the exact same way the driver did.
The driver should not have yelled back at the officer. I get that. I'm sure he was embarrassed and wasn't trying to run down a police officer, especially since he used to BE A POLICE OFFICER IN NYC! That however does not necessitate Officer Roid Rage to strike the vehicle with his baton and continue to antagonize the poor guy as he was trying to apologize and cooperate.
With all the rumors floating around about the behavior of police officers in local police forces around our area, I just think everyone needs to tone it down. All we were trying to do was get home. The yelling shouldn't have happened, but neither should an officer strike a vehicle because his panties got a little bunched. Protect and serve. Don't antagaonize and intimidate. That's all I'm saying.
I finally made it home, by the way. No tickets were issued. I never got the officer's name, otherwise I might have called the police to report him. Again, the whole thing could have been avoided if there wasn't any shouting going on. I'm just glad I wasn't driving.
Has this happened to you? I anxiously await the replies. I especially want to hear someone from the police side of the story. I understand if the guy felt he was in a bad position, but the driver basically told him he didn't see him, and tried to move on from there. This officer just wouldn't let it go that easily. He had to prove a point. He had to flex the "Badge Muscles" and put on a show for the public. He also had to scare the three kids in the back of the car that had no idea what was going on.
Again, for the record, a police officer is a thankless job. For all the crap they put up with, I can understand having a little edge to you, but the chip on the shoulder isn't needed.
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Apparently, in the town of Highland, the Fireworks don't end with the Grand Finale.
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