Kilted encounter with my city's finest

[Dall_Piobaire]

Not sure when exactly my post turned into your barrage of assumptions and what ifs. I simply posted my experience while kilted.

Now, as for my response being 'hostile and sarcastic'? Now THAT one I don't understand.

If exerting my civil and constitutional rights, to you, is hostile and sarcastic....well, that's another thing altogether.




Again, I was being rude to the officer in question by letting him know that I am aware of my rights and exercising them?

We must be talking about a different country then.

One of those protections includes me eating lunch for days on end, while wearing my kilt, in front of a library.
Which by the way is NOT a government building.

.

Moderators please, as things do tend to happen, this is taking an unintended turn, so please keep an eye on this thread. I'm not requesting it to be closed...but a nudge here and there would keep it in track.

.

No one is attacking you, we have all been in similar circumstances. It's just a what if thing! No one is disputing your right to wear what you please or eat what you please where ever you please to eat it!

Speaking for just myself I am just saying that that guys job is to make sure no one takes your head off while you are doing it!

This is the kind of thing that terrorism and hate crimes create, and attitude of distrust towards everyone. Let's not let the bad guys change how we live our lives

Slainte

[Tony Miles]

anyone in here lose any loved ones in 9/11??

[Streetcar]

Not sure when exactly my post turned into your barrage of assumptions and what ifs. I simply posted my experience while kilted.

Now, as for my response being 'hostile and sarcastic'? Now THAT one I don't understand.

If exerting my civil and constitutional rights, to you, is hostile and sarcastic....well, that's another thing altogether.




Again, I was being rude to the officer in question by letting him know that I am aware of my rights and exercising them?

We must be talking about a different country then.

One of those protections includes me eating lunch for days on end, while wearing my kilt, in front of a library.
Which by the way is NOT a government building.

.

Moderators please, as things do tend to happen, this is taking an unintended turn, so please keep an eye on this thread. I'm not requesting it to be closed...but a nudge here and there would keep it in track.

.

Hector, again I am truly not trying to antagonize you or anyone else.

Let's take the police aspect out of it.
If an average citizen walked up to you and said, "I work in the library, and I noticed you watching the building for the last few days and I just was curious who you were and what was going on."
Would your response still be "it's hard not to look at a building when it's right in front of me," then refuse to answer any further questions?
It may not be intended as rude, but would you really interpret it as a friendly or polite response?

All I'm trying to do is show how the officer's thought process might have gone, and why he reacted the way he did.

Again, I'm not trying to upset or accuse anyone of anything, but at the same time, I'd hate to see this turn into some sort of "Those lousy cops!" rant without reason.

[McFarkus]

Well done! You struck a balance between politeness and insisting on your rights.

[Wolfhawk]

I feel the same way. I would require the officer to produce his reason for approaching me. Eating at the same location, day in and day out, would not cause a need to be investigated. If this cop had been observing this for days in and days out, then he has already lost some reasons for questioning the situation. It sounds like this has been going on for quite sometime (eating and sitting at that location. Once this person has not done anything after quite some time, when is this person allowed to do his legal right without question.

It is important to allow the police to do only what they are allowed to do, within reason. Once their is not a reasonable cause, the police would be no longer able to be intimidating. My wife has her car stopped all the time because it has flames on it and the police are always shocked that a 40-something is driving this car. But their only reason is to stop her because she has flames on her car. This is abusive and past the point of anything but profiling.

[Wolfhawk]

Hector, again I am truly not trying to antagonize you or anyone else.

Let's take the police aspect out of it.
If an average citizen walked up to you and said, "I work in the library, and I noticed you watching the building for the last few days and I just was curious who you were and what was going on."
Would your response still be "it's hard not to look at a building when it's right in front of me," then refuse to answer any further questions?
It may not be intended as rude, but would you really interpret it as a friendly or polite response?

I would respond the same way that Hector responded to anyone walking up to me and stating what you presented them saying.

[hospitaller]

This is abusive and past the point of anything but profiling.

yeah, the nerve!

how dare they profile THE kilted one.

ith:

.

[hospitaller]

All I'm trying to do is show how the officer's thought process might have gone, and why he reacted the way he did.

oh I know what their reasoning is and how they are taught to approach citizens and question them, I also know the things they are not required to tell us (as in our right to terminate at any time), we also do training and seminars for police departments nationwide.

believe you me, if someone walked with an attitude, it was the officer after he found that I was aware of my rights, and what he could and could not do/ask.

Again, I'm not trying to upset or accuse anyone of anything, but at the same time, I'd hate to see this turn into some sort of "Those lousy cops!" rant without reason.

Agreed! This is more of a 'this happened to me while kilted and involved cops, what's your story'.

NOT a blanket statement about how bad/good policemen are/are not, please.

.

[O'Callaghan]

Most people aren't used to being questionned by the police. If we act a little annoyed, it's just because we aren't doing anything wrong!

I had a recent experience myself with police questioning. There are a lot of homeless people near where I work, and I am forever giving them money. One evening after work I rounded a corner and met a panhandler I already knew. As I was handing him some cash, a couple of cops sprang out from nowhere and one of them started asking questions, while the other one brandished a gun.

I was asked for ID and showed it, but told him I didn't think he could demand ID. He wanted to know where I worked and all kinds of other things, including my social security number. I told him I didn't think he had a right to ask that either, but gave it anyway because I wasn't sure. When I said I worked in a law firm he quoted a precedent at me to supposedly justify all this, but when I checked it turned out not to be relevant. Of course, he's a cop, not a lawyer, so no surprise there, but I suspect he knew it didn't allow him to do these things. I'm a patent agent, so not an ace on the criminal side of the law myself.

As Hospitaller obviously already knew, US law only requires that you provide ID if you are in a vehicle, and not otherwise. Apparently, also, I only had to tell him my name and address, and no other info, certainly no social security number or place of employment. I know this now.

I wasn't attired in a kilt, but I do have waist length hair and a beard. It is obvious that the cops first thought that I was buying drugs from the homeless guy. Why they had that particular spot staked out is a mystery, though. If they thought someone was dealing drugs on that corner, then it's pretty clear they had no description.

Maybe some of you are cops. Please be aware that the average person can get a bit irritated when there is suddenly someone waving firearms at us and asking inane questions, and we haven't done anything. If that annoys you, remember it cuts both ways.

[O'Callaghan]

Hector, again I am truly not trying to antagonize you or anyone else.

Let's take the police aspect out of it.
If an average citizen walked up to you and said, "I work in the library, and I noticed you watching the building for the last few days and I just was curious who you were and what was going on."
Would your response still be "it's hard not to look at a building when it's right in front of me," then refuse to answer any further questions?
It may not be intended as rude, but would you really interpret it as a friendly or polite response?

All I'm trying to do is show how the officer's thought process might have gone, and why he reacted the way he did.

Again, I'm not trying to upset or accuse anyone of anything, but at the same time, I'd hate to see this turn into some sort of "Those lousy cops!" rant without reason.

I think it's different if the person is not a cop. They would be forced to be more polite by their lack of authority. It might not hurt if the cop took that attitude and at least pretended to be asking like a normal citizen. In some places they do, you know.