You wouldn't see this post in a 1911 forum.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Its like in sexual harrasment the man may find it funny but women do not.  Its all about who has the power.  The boss finds stuff funny that the employees do not.  You have stated your position now 3 times.  Everyone understands it.  Thanks. I don't think it's like sexual harassment at all.   It was clearly a JOKE that lasted 5 seconds, and everyone knew it was a joke immediately (as the story is described).  There was no harm done, and the INTENT of the cops was just to joke around, NOT to abuse power or harm anyone. Sexual harassment is completely different, because the INTENT is to take advantage of people (ultimately harming them) by abusing power.   I only agree that it is "unprofessional" if you definition of professional behavior for police does not include any opportunity for them to actually have a sense of humor, joke around, and be friendly.  So, yeah - it COULD be considered unprofessional, but I think it's a stretch.  Definitely falls into the "sand in the mangina" category if someone were to get really upset about it. I once had a person at the BATFE jokingly threaten my immigration status - and we both knew it was a joke, and I laughed along with her.  Had I thought she was SERIOUSLY threatening me, I would have been outraged, but since it was clearly a joke, I laughed.  YMMV. If this guy KNEW it was a joke why did he get up and start to turn around?  You knew the woman was joking the whole time.  In this situation they demanded immediate action, and only let him in on the joke when he complied. OK I see 2 ways that this is funny. 1. HAH he actually got up.   2. HAH he actually told us what a joke. Either way is innapropriate in my opinion.  But YMMV.  I don't like to be toyed with. EVEN if the "victim" here thought for about 5 seconds that he was actually going to be frisked, or maybe put in the back of a cruiser while they checked his ID, WHERE IS THE HARM?? For the conduct to be truly "unprofessional", I think some kind of harm would have to be demonstrated as a result of their behavior. Making a guy believe for about 5 seconds that he might be slightly inconvenienced doesn't really meet that criteria to me.  I mean, it's not like he thought that he would be gunned down, or raped or anything (for those 5 seconds), right?  He probably thought "oh great, now I have to put up with this until they call in my CCW"   But, I do understand how someone could SEE it as "unprofessional", but I still think you'd have to be really thin-skinned and overly sensitive to see it that way.  But, just my opinion.  Like you said, YMMV.

I never said victim.  I just said its a shitty thing to do.  Where does it end?  5 seconds is fine for you.  Thats fine.  What about 10 seconds? 1 minute? 10 minutes?

Its not a big deal.  If it happened I would laugh it off then think they were "fucktards".  Nothing beyond that.  But it is an exmple of cops not taking their power seriously.

Let's review:
Assume the situation was true.
Assume the situation happened to you.

You now have two choices:
1) Acknowledge the fact the cops pulled a fast one on you; tell'em " you got me good with that one" and enjoy a good laugh with the cops. Then benifit that you are on their "good side" > which will probably mean they will do courtesy drive-bys while you are working at the bank, and possibly cut you some slack when that yellow/red light debate comes up one day.

2) Get your panties in a wad , complain to their superior, and permanently install your name and license no# on their shitlist. They then will be happy to assist you in memorizing every iota in the DMV handbook. Have a nice day.

Quoted: Let's review: Assume the situation was true. Assume the situation happened to you. You now have two choices: 1) Acknowledge the fact the cops pulled a fast one on you; tell'em " you got me good with that one" and enjoy a good laugh with the cops. Then benifit that you are on their "good side" > which will probably mean they will do courtesy drive-bys while you are working at the bank, and possibly cut you some slack when that yellow/red light debate comes up one day. 2) Get your panties in a wad , complain to their superior, and permanently install your name and license no# on their shitlist. They then will be happy to assist you in memorizing every iota in the DMV handbook. Have a nice day.

3) laugh so your name and license no# are not on their shitlist but think they were being assholes.


You have put in a perfect way.  See if I tell a joke and you think its stuipid you tell me the joke is stuipid and it stops there.  I think their joke is stuipid and my name and number is on a shitlist.  Thank you you just made my point.

I very seldom tell somebody they got their panties in a wad, but you have your panties in a wad.

First off, if I was an LEO responding to a potential bank robbery and somebody I didn't  know told me he had a gun and I didn't know him.  I'ld make damn sure he was supposed to be there and legally had the gun.  In otherwords that I didn't walk into a takeover hostage situation .  If it was hinky enough I might even draw down if I saw a gun printing and the guy didn't have some kind of badge or other ID showing.  If I was a local and I knew some of the bank people and I knew it was Code-4 I probably would joke.

Let's be realistic, being the first unit on the scene of a silent alarm has to be pretty high on the pucker factor.  (Think about you wearing a shoot me first sign.)Coming down a bit by joking has to be a bit of a relief.

Quoted: Quoted: Let's review: Assume the situation was true. Assume the situation happened to you. You now have two choices: 1) Acknowledge the fact the cops pulled a fast one on you; tell'em " you got me good with that one" and enjoy a good laugh with the cops. Then benifit that you are on their "good side" > which will probably mean they will do courtesy drive-bys while you are working at the bank, and possibly cut you some slack when that yellow/red light debate comes up one day. 2) Get your panties in a wad , complain to their superior, and permanently install your name and license no# on their shitlist. They then will be happy to assist you in memorizing every iota in the DMV handbook. Have a nice day. 3) laugh so your name and license no# are not on their shitlist but think they were being assholes. You have put in a perfect way.  See if I tell a joke and you think its stuipid you tell me the joke is stuipid and it stops there.  I think their joke is stuipid and my name and number is on a shitlist.  Thank you you just made my point.

No - because there IS a third option in the situation.  

1.5)  Tell them immediately "Dude - that's not funny!  I almost shit my pants (or something like that ).  But, I will admit, you got me"

That way, you tell them it's inappropriate, but do so without appearing overly whiny and complaining to supervisors, etc (which might result in making their "shit list").


I don't think there would be anything wrong with that, and my guess is MOST decent cops would say something like "sorry man, we were just funnin with ya" - no harm, no foul - but they get the message that not EVERYONE thinks a "joke" like that is funny.

You are complaining about something that might or might not have really happened to someone else on the net?

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Let's review: Assume the situation was true. Assume the situation happened to you. You now have two choices: 1) Acknowledge the fact the cops pulled a fast one on you; tell'em " you got me good with that one" and enjoy a good laugh with the cops. Then benifit that you are on their "good side" > which will probably mean they will do courtesy drive-bys while you are working at the bank, and possibly cut you some slack when that yellow/red light debate comes up one day. 2) Get your panties in a wad , complain to their superior, and permanently install your name and license no# on their shitlist. They then will be happy to assist you in memorizing every iota in the DMV handbook. Have a nice day. 3) laugh so your name and license no# are not on their shitlist but think they were being assholes. You have put in a perfect way.  See if I tell a joke and you think its stuipid you tell me the joke is stuipid and it stops there.  I think their joke is stuipid and my name and number is on a shitlist.  Thank you you just made my point. No - because there IS a third option in the situation.   1.5)  Tell them immediately "Dude - that's not funny!  I almost shit my pants (or something like that ).  But, I will admit, you got me" That way, you tell them it's inappropriate, but do so without appearing overly whiny and complaining to supervisors, etc (which might result in making their "shit list"). I don't think there would be anything wrong with that, and my guess is MOST decent cops would say something like "sorry man, we were just funnin with ya" - no harm, no foul - but they get the message that not EVERYONE thinks a "joke" like that is funny.

Yeah basically.  

There is no rant mode on here. Just responding.

I love how some people believe that they are so important that I would even take the time to memorize their specific information so that I could put them on a "s#!tlist". Trust me, nobody is that important. All of the cops I know including me, have a lot of other things going on. The cops that do that crap annoy us as much as they annoy you. If I did that, that's all that I would do.

Lets just assume that the story that started this whole "lets bash a cop today" thread is true. Please don't attempt to play it off as anything other than what it is.

One, they handle it "professionally", ala Dragnet style, robotic, "just the facts ma'm" style. I can guarantee they would be considered humorlous assholes.

Two, lets say they did nothing and just flubbed it off and it turned out it was an actual break-in. Now, they're Barney Fife.

Three, they handle it strictly by the scared book of infinite paranoia. Everybody gets taken to the ground and secured until ID's are verified and the financial institution confirms there was legitimate business going on after banking hours. Now, we're JBTs.

We can do nothing right if you are the object of our inquiry. Or, we have infinite power if we are acting on your behalf. Both wrong. I'm doing my job as safely as I can and then going home to my wife and kids.

I don't get paid very much, none of us do. The "power" you refer to is more of a responsibility than power. I have to justify every thing that I do, in writing. Writing that is going to be Monday-morning QB'd by Lawyers, Judges, and everybody else who wasn't there but can criticize me all they wish. I am forbidden by policy from retorting this criticism because it's unprofessional.

So that there is no misunderstanding. CCW or not, I'm going to secure every weapon on my scene that I'm not carrying myself. At the end of the contact, you'll get it back but, not before I decide that the lawfully carried weapon isn't going to be used for something unlawful. The vast majority of CCW carriers are the most law-abiding people period. However, there are exceptions to everything and I don't want the bullet in the back of my head caused by my own complacency to be that exception.

I do not have a crystal ball. I do not know everybody and what their personality is. Cops are not of a hive mind and know everything every other cop knows.  I don't trust you or anyone else I have a contact with because it is detrimental to my health.

Was their behavior professional? No, they should have secured eveybody on scene until the information was verified. They were apparently attempting to be non-confrontational. They apparently attempted to have a sense of humor. You not "legally being able to joke with cops" is bullshit. We can be joked with. We can be insulted. We can be cussed at. Know why? Don't give a shit because I'm going to get more of the same on my next call.

Quoted: We can be joked with.

Bull shit.  What if the next time i got pulled over i "joked" that i had a handgun pointed at him and i wanted him to get on theground.  Then when he started to comply I said...."hah just fucking with you"

You would be just fine with that right?


And this isn;t lets bash a cop day.  If you look at my posts I don;t bash cops.  And I have not bashed any here.  Als it does matter if the story is true or not.  The only logical time to say it was not true is if you think the actions were wrong.

Quoted: Quoted: We can be joked with. Bull shit.  What if the next time i got pulled over i "joked" that i had a handgun pointed at him and i wanted him to get on theground.  Then when he started to comply I said...."hah just fucking with you" You would be just fine with that right? And this isn;t lets bash a cop day.  If you look at my posts I don;t bash cops.  And I have not bashed any here.  Als it does matter if the story is true or not.  The only logical time to say it was not true is if you think the actions were wrong.

You can joke with a cop, as long as you don't joke about something involving danger to them, like that stupid shit you just said.

Are you going to continue this "oppressed" shit all night?

[MontyPython] Help! Help! I'm being repressed! [MontyPython]