Can't sit peacefully and wait for Uber

[Bodi]

Not with cops in America you can't. I can already see it though... 'if he just showed the cop in the first place' and that is completely missing the point.

 

[swing_voter]

Why is someone from New Zealand so irate about American cops.

Don't you have any problems in New Zealand?

Like excessive alcoholism among the indigenous population?

.

 

[Court Jester]

It was okay that the police inquired why someone was outside a closed business at 2:30 AM, but when the man said he was waiting for an Uber to pick him up, even as he appeared to be intoxicated, he gave a reasonable response, which at that point was enough to trump any "reasonable suspicions" the officer initially had, and at that point the cop now had nothing to investigate and should have just moved on.

 

[Bodi]

Why is someone from New Zealand so irate about American cops.

Why does a person from Poland care about what someone living in New Zealand cares about?

Don't you have any problems in New Zealand?

Not really...

Like excessive alcoholism among the indigenous population?

The ones that drove the Moa and Haast Eagle extinct?

.

 

[Bodi]

It was okay that the police inquired why someone was outside a closed business at 2:30 AM, but when the man said he was waiting for an Uber to pick him up, even as he appeared to be intoxicated, he gave a reasonable response, which at that point was enough to trump any "reasonable suspicions" the officer initially had, and at that point the cop now had nothing to investigate and should have just moved on.

Yep. I had a couple of cops watch me walk to my car from a bar once... I put the keys on the dash, very clearly. They drove up, asked what was up... I said I was waiting for a friend to pick me up but it was cold so I was going to sit in my car with the keys clearly not in the ignition. They said OK but clearly did not believe me. They took my plate number and said something like they were going to drive back in a bit and if my car was gone they would put out an alert and I would be found and arrested. I was half listening because it was clear I was not to drive. They drove away a bit, trying to be coy, and watched me while my friend drove up a few minutes later and I left my car there for the night. Easy. No arrests. Nobody was shot.

 

[Court Jester]

Yep. I had a couple of cops watch me walk to my car from a bar once... I put the keys on the dash, very clearly. They drove up, asked what was up... I said I was waiting for a friend to pick me up but it was cold so I was going to sit in my car with the keys clearly not in the ignition. They said OK but clearly did not believe me. They took my plate number and said something like they were going to drive back in a bit and if my car was gone they would put out an alert and I would be found and arrested. I was half listening because it was clear I was not to drive. They drove away a bit, trying to be coy, and watched me while my friend drove up a few minutes later and I left my car there for the night. Easy. No arrests. Nobody was shot.

You have to be careful depending on the jurisdiction when you have access to the keys and are then in the driver's seat. Many states consider being in a position to operate the vehicle sufficient to prove "driving" hence DUI. Other states would say that if you are intoxicated, but in the passenger's seat, then you have clearly established no intention to drive while drunk, even if you have the keys. Having the keys is therefore logically not a problem; the car is your property, and the keys ALSO secure the car. But be careful about sitting in the driver's seat and waiting for a friend to drive you is all I'm saying.

Personally I think it kind of chicken sh** for a cop to automatically assume you are operating the vehicle DUI until you start the engine and get into gear.

Friend of mine was very drunk when he left a party and down the road decided to pull over and sleep it off on the side of the road. 3 hours later a cop was tapping on his window to wake him up and asked if he had been drinking? My friend was honest, said yes, and then said knew he needed to be safe and pull over and sleep it off. The cop was cool about it and agreed, but told him he ought to turn his car off as it had been idling for several hours--- LOL. Cop ended up telling my friend to crack the windows and the cop took the keys and said he would come back later and give my friend his keys back after a few more hours of sleeping it off, and he did. I doubt a cop would still stick his neck out that way today due to liability, but not all of them are always looking to lock people up; however times have changed a lot.

 

[Bodi]

You have to be careful depending on the jurisdiction when you have access to the keys and are then in the driver's seat. Many states consider being in a position to operate the vehicle sufficient to prove "driving" hence DUI. Other states would say that if you are intoxicated, but in the passenger's seat, then you have clearly established no intention to drive while drunk, even if you have the keys. Having the keys is therefore logically not a problem; the car is your property, and the keys ALSO secure the car. But be careful about sitting in the driver's seat and waiting for a friend to drive you is all I'm saying.

Personally I think it kind of chicken sh** for a cop to automatically assume you are operating the vehicle DUI until you start the engine and get into gear.

Friend of mine was very drunk when he left a party and down the road decided to pull over and sleep it off on the side of the road. 3 hours later a cop was tapping on his window to wake him up and asked if he had been drinking? My friend was honest, said yes, and then said knew he needed to be safe and pull over and sleep it off. The cop was cool about it and agreed, but told him he ought to turn his car off as it had been idling for several hours--- LOL. Cop ended up telling my friend to crack the windows and the cop took the keys and said he would come back later and give my friend his keys back after a few more hours of sleeping it off, and he did. I doubt a cop would still stick his neck out that way today due to liability, but not all of them are always looking to lock people up; however times have changed a lot.

In my case this 25 years ago or so.... like your friend. This was before everything was recorded too. Your friend is lucky that he did not get arrested though, for having driven drunk.

 

[Sagittarius83]

Driving requires starting the car. If one is waiting for an Uber one is obviously not starting the car much less “driving” it. Maybe this is a SUI. Standing under the influence.

More seriously, it might be public intoxication.

 

[Peter]

Driving requires starting the car. If one is waiting for an Uber one is obviously not starting the car much less “driving” it. Maybe this is a SUI. Standing under the influence.

More seriously, it might be public intoxication.

If public intoxication were a crime in the UK half the country would be in prison.
The guy was sitting down and not being a problem and was waiting for a ride home, I really don't see why the police felt the need to interact with the guy at all.

 

[Sagittarius83]

If public intoxication were a crime in the UK half the country would be in prison.
The guy was sitting down and not being a problem and was waiting for a ride home, I really don't see why the police felt the need to interact with the guy at all.

I actually agree with you. One should be allowed to drink in public as long as they are not harming anyone and this case seems like police overreacting to nothing.

In fact this person had the presence of mind to call Uber rather than try to drive which is laudable given how alcohol can muddy your judgment.

So yeah, the police were in the wrong in my opinion.

 

[bomberfox]

Why is someone from New Zealand so irate about American cops.

Don't you have any problems in New Zealand?

Like excessive alcoholism among the indigenous population?

.

Oh look more jingoistic nonsense. Maybe if our cops actually were held to higher standards, we wouldnt have things like police gangs.

 

[Bodi]

If public intoxication were a crime in the UK half the country would be in prison.
The guy was sitting down and not being a problem and was waiting for a ride home, I really don't see why the police felt the need to interact with the guy at all.

So would Americans. I worked in restaurants and bars for about 20 years. I have probably seen easily a million people intoxicated leaving.

 

[Bodi]

Oh look more jingoistic nonsense. Maybe if our cops actually were held to higher standards, we wouldnt have things like police gangs.

^^^ This

 

[Court Jester]

In my case this 25 years ago or so.... like your friend. This was before everything was recorded too. Your friend is lucky that he did not get arrested though, for having driven drunk.

Well, like I said, not all cops are a-holes, and sometimes having the right attitude can avoid a ticket. I recall many times as a teen/young adult cops would catch us with beer and just make us poor it out.

Today one of the things which drives cops to make more arrests rather than warnings, is that if it ends up on a court trial, they are scheduled to appear on their day off (so not to impact their regular shifts), and for a cop all court days are overtime (time and a half), so that can add up at the end of the year. Seriously, when you really start paying attention to some of the a-hole stuff, it really is about overtime and about how union employees want to bilk the system. Where I live a cop can basically double his yearly income with overtime hours, so arrests aren't about much more than padding their salaries. So, what some people assume with cops is all about bias, can really just be about greed. Being able to make a felony arrest will most certainly be court time. Court time is overtime. Overtime pays for boats and vacation homes.

 

[Lovebug]

Why is someone from New Zealand so irate about American cops.

Don't you have any problems in New Zealand?

Like excessive alcoholism among the indigenous population?

.

or picking kiwis.

 

[Bodi]

or picking kiwis.

The original fruit is from the Far East, having been grown in what is now modern-day China for many centuries. It was only at the turn of the 20th Century, in 1904, that it arrived on New Zealand shores, when New Zealand school principal Isabel Fraser brought some kiwifruit seeds back from her travels.

history if kiwi fruit - Google Search

www.google.com

You are welcome...