By: Rolly Perry, guest blog
The Rumford Police are at it yet again. I was up at The Bridge (Boulder) past (High Bridge) on Friday February 24th at about 10:30am getting ready to climb the rock there. As I was getting ready a Rumford, Maine cruiser drove by. He goes “you alright?” I said I was and he told me to move my truck. It’s parked in the spot where I climb and maybe a foot or two on the road. I again explained why I was there and why I need my truck in this location. I also mentioned that I climb there all the time. To no avail.
He gets belligerent and starts to give me HUGE attitude! I’m actually kind of shocked and can’t believe this is actually happening. So I get in and move it off the road. He backs up off the road, gets out and sputters something. As I walk over to the spot where the truck was, I ask him how far do I need to move it [the truck]?
“Come over here I’m talking to you.” He said.
I keep walking to the spot to show him with my feet the distance I think I would need to move it. I said, “How far do I need to move it over to, here?”
Then he said “I’m done arguing with you!”
“Ok” I replied.
“The next time I see the truck parked there I’m gonna tow it.”
I said “ok.”. Then he drives off. I went to the town manager to complain. He said I should talk to chief. I said I did not want to talk him and was told a formal complaint can be issued in writing. He simply has no idea how to have any public relations or he made the situation worse by getting attitude with me. Much much worse. Pathetic… Really sad job performance. Escalate an almost completely benign situation into one that showed how poor of an officer he was.
Submitted by Rolly via CopBlock.org’s submission tab, feel free to share your views, encounters and videos with CopBlock.org.
Not arrested, not beaten, Not tasered, pepper sprayed, or clubbed, not cited, but a pissing match on the side of the road.
File a complaint of you do choose for the cop being unprofessional.
File a complaint? How easy is that to do? http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/02/29/hidden-cameras-reveal-citizens-arrested-reporting-police-abuse-88212/
“Not arrested, not beaten, Not tasered, pepper sprayed, or clubbed, not cited”
How sad and pathetic is that NOT having the shit beaten out of you can be looked at as a “good” encounter with cops.
Guy Fawkes I award you +20 internets!
….I wish you were wrong.
Again, this is a non-incident, the same encounter could have happened at a parking garage.
“you can’t park there”
“why, you are an ass”
“no, you’re an ass..”
Done, case closed, if you have a hard-on for the cop, call the chief, otherwise stop bitching…
just file a complaint and be done with it. make it a part of his official record.
The city manager told you to file a complaint.. which is kind of how you get the “accountability” wheels on the bus moving. If you had tried to file a complaint and they told you to pound sand, than yes, your title to the opinion piece would be correct.
My assumption is that you were illegally parked and got an additude when asked to move. yeah, you’ve parked there b4, but just becuase I didn’t get cause stealing the 1st time, doesn’t make the 2nd time legal.
Filing a complaint does exactly nothing whatsoever. Don’t even bother.
G. Asher.. so your aware that of the 17000 police agencies…NONE of them take them seriously??? I’ve suspended 1 officer for someone comming into file a complaint. I’ve also reprimanded several others. I think PD’s do take them seriously. Problem is, most “complaints” aren’t complaints over an officer’s actions, rather that they took action and someone is upset because someone went to jail.
Dude you said yourself that your truck was 1-2 feet on the road. Just because that is a convenient location for you to park doesn’t make it legal or safe for others trying to use the road.
You also said yourself that the first thing the cop said to you was “you alright?”. I take this to mean that he was giving you the benefit of the doubt and was concerned that you might need some help.
So instead of moving your truck off the road, you started arguing with him, and you expect us to believe that he is the only one who got belligerent? As others have said, he didn’t even cite you. I fail to see any abuse in this situation, rather it seems you just got pissed of at having to move your truck.
Now maybe he was rude to you or something… sounds to me like you, him, and the president need to sit down and have a beer.
Why didn’t the cop just give him a better place to park? According to the OP’s side of the story, he asked the officer where he could safely park and was refused an answer.
Cops, you know the use of force continuum. The very first level is issuing verbal commands (if you don’t count “physical presence”). When a cop gives an order, he is forcing a citizen to do something. Citizens do not like being forced and should not be expected to like it! If the OP’s car was truly a public risk, then the conversation should have gone something like this:
Are you alright sir?
Yeah I’m fine.
Can you move your care over here? It’s a risk to your car and other cars right now.
What like over here?
Yes sir.
OK.
It is the officer’s duty to treat citizens with respect and dignity. I’m tired of regular people being expected to treat officers with strict respect and obedience, yet officers are given a free ride when they’re downright rude.
@ angry… unfortunately, we’ll never know the real story, your version of a possibility might be closer to what happened to what was said above. we’ll never know.
If they EVER tow the truck you should file a law suit against the officer. You see the fifth amendment to the U.S. Constitution does more than verify your right to remain silent. It also says you cannot be deprived of your PROPERTY without due process of law. Unless that officer happens to be a duly sworn judge AND has also cloned himself 12 times over and is a full jury-then you haven’t had due process. Again it is VERY important NOT to sue the municipality or his department-but him personally. Once you win the lawsuit (and you will because of the 5th amendment) you can then have your attorney arrange a meeting between you and the local prosecutor at which time you can demand charges of armed grand larceny be leveled against the officer-the officer’s OWN police report will verify it and should give the prosecutor grounds to have a warrant issued and file charges in court.
@PSOSGT good that you’ve suspended an officer. Have you ever had an officer arrested for doing something another NON-leo employed citizen would be arrested for doing? e.g. without naming names what did you susped the officer you mentioned for-and would another citizen not employed by your department have been arrested for the same thing?
@Grant
And then, and then becaue the cop was armed, yuu can call the State Attomeys General Office and have him indicted for a hate crime!!!
The more I learn about the traitors representing us, the more I understand why they surround themselves with toadies….
http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/campaign-2012/santorum-says-killing-americans-good-but-killing-iranians-is-wonderful-.html
To all COP lovers and badge-LICKERS:
It’s not that I “hate” cops for hatred’s sake.
What I really hate is the PRIVILEDGES that Cops [also known as “Law Enforcement”] have in this country that the average citizen doesn’t.
Let me put here some of the things I HATE about cops:
• You Cops can usually commit the most heinous crimes and get AWAY with it and an average citizen CAN’T.
• When sentencing a cop for the SAME crime committed against a citizen, I have seen that the sentences guidelines that usually apply to an average citizen, do NOT apply to cops. For example, if a citizen kills somebody he/she is going to get the tougher sentence for the same crime than if a cop does the same.
• Cops can shield behind this: If a cop is pursuing a “suspect” and the “suspect” tries to reach into his waistband the cop can shoot him and kill him on the spot, even if he WASN’T trying to reach a gun and then, in court, the cop can allege that he thought the guy was trying to reach a gun and, because he was ‘fearing” for his life, he had to shoot the guy. Usually, the case is dismissed and the cop’s actions are justified.
• Cops [in absence of video-cameras or witnesses], can beat a citizen nearly to death and then can allege that the citizen was “RESISTING” [a word widely used by cops nowadays] the arrest and they were “forced” to use force to “subdue” the citizen. If something like this has the luck to go to court [because the citizen dares to sue the cops] it will probably get dismissed because it’s 2 or 4 cops word against the plaintiff.
• Cops hate being filmed when they are dealing with someone on the street, where they are NOT supposed to have any expectations of PRIVACY. You Cops usually tell us: “If you are NOT doing ANYTHING WRONG, you have nothing to fear”, so what’s the point of OVERREACTING when being filmed?
• If you badmouth a cop or show him the middle finger, he then comes up with the infamous “DISORDERLY CONDUCT” charges to justify throwing you in jail.
• A cop can ILLEGALLY try to arrest you [sometimes based on a WRONG tip] and if you try to resist an illegal arrest, he slaps more charges on you rapsheet; among those “resisting the arrest”. Then, some so called “erudite” recommends to let yourself be arrested and thrown in jail without resisting the cop and…WAIT to fight that arrest in court. Who guarantees you that once you’ve been in jail you will be able to PREVAIL in a judiciary system that has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that USUALLY SIDES with Cops?
• I have read news about Cops sometimes arresting someone due to a MISTAKEN IDENTITY and, after Cops have found out that this person has been illegally in jail in lieu of somebody else, they are NOT held accountable for the mistake. The affected person cannot sue and, Cops usually don’t even bother issuing at least an apology for THEIR mistake. [There is a case like this that happened in Colorado to a woman last year 2011].
• Cops can conduct NON-KNOCK home searches based SOLELY on suspicion that they “SMELLED” marijuana and can even shot people or pets and not be held accountable for their actions because they were…”DOING THEIR JOBS”.
• Cops can tase people [which sometimes leads to deadly injuries] based solely in a LOOSE charge of “disorderly conduct” and, if the person gets a brain damage or other related injuries, Cops can still get away with it because they were…”doing their jobs” and the person was acting “disorderly”.
• Cops can touch you or beat you but, sometimes for no reason, but you cannot do the same to them or make physical contact with them because if you do, it’s called “ASSAULTING a police officer” which leads to a harsh sentence in court.
• Cops are PAID with our TAXES but we cannot demand accountability when they break the law.
• The so called “GOOD” cops NEVER turn in the BAD cops. Whenever a BAD cop has been brought to justice for his/her actions is mainly due to courageous and responsible citizen[s] or the FBI.
All these things exposed above have me FRUSTRATED and distrusting the FAIRNESS of our judiciary system and… Cops. It’s not that I hate Cops to death; it’s just that I dislike INJUSTICE and, PRIVILEDGES for a FEW that are paid with OUR TAXES and on which we put our trust.
This is a society where SUPPOSEDLY we ALL have the same rights and no one should be granted privileges at the expense of others.
Carlos
@ Grant. No I’ve never had an officer arrested. Violating a department policy is not an arrestable offence.