"COPS," (Part Deux)

My June 22nd posting, "COPS," Operating Under a Misconception," generated far more response than my little blog normally receives.  Owing to the subject matter more than anything else, I would guess.  It all came via emails and texts and phone calls, as it seems folks are hesitant to reply to my blog.

I don't bite.  

However, the response was predictable.  Pro-cop folks defended the cops, and anti-cop folks joined in with condemnation.  I received many examples of middle incomers getting nicked for a $500 ticket for 5 or 10 over with no traffic anywhere nearby.  From a surly "civil servant" who acted like a tyrant.  It pisses folks off.  It makes them think they're being figuratively sacrificed on the alter of "wokeism" to finance their illegal alien homeless shelters and their civil servant's Christmas party.  

Or "Holiday" Party, if it's in a Big Blue City... 

If you doubt my comment up there, ask yourself why our In(fer)ternal Revenue Service spent $1,500,000,000 of our tax money, that's with a "B," on firearms to have something to put in the shoulder holsters of their brand-new 87,000 Agents.  That's $One and One-Half Billion Dollars.  Of Glocks.  And Smith & Wessons.  And Sig-Sauers.  And a veritable boxcar full of ammunition.  More than 100,000,000 rounds!  To make sure they can blow a hole right through you, the taxpayer, if you happen to get on their bad side.  Or simply threaten to.  Which works almost as well...

BTW #1, that $1.5 Billion would have built 250 miles of wall on our Southern Border.

BTW #2, did you know that "Turner vs. Driver," a Supreme Court decision, permits you, the Citizen, to record the actions of your police and fire and other first responders in the conduct of their duties, subject only to 'time, place and manner?'"*  

And "Terry vs. Ohio" proscribes that before asking a citizen for their I.D., cops have to believe a citizen "has committed, is commiting, or will commit, a crime."  Absent that, no I.D. from you.  They'll ask, but you don't have to provide.  Since the average cop doesn't know this, watching their actions should prove priceless.

And did you know that our 1st Amendment to the Constitution makes each of us a journalist?  Able to record and report on anything we as a citizen desire?  Just a suggestion, install a dash cam with rear view.  It might save you a bundle from a fradulent citation.  And an investment in a body camera isn't a bad idea, either. 

We employ road pirates to roam around looking for $income and promotions via the wallets of those they're here to "protect and serve."  Don't help them.  Learn all you can about the laws they use to separate you from your cash, and you'll hold on to your cash...

And did you know that California penal code 148.G specifies that you do not have to identify yourself to any peace officer unless there is RAS: "Reasonable Articulable Suspicion."  The cop has to articulate the RAS before you're stopped before you have to say a word.  And you do not have to say a word, BTW.  You do not have to identify yourself in CA until you've been arrested, fergodssake!  

(All bets are off if you're driving.  You have to present that license upon request.) 

UNLESS, you are a passenger.  Then the 4th Amendment kicks in.  You must remain "...secure in your person, your home, your papers and your effects."  Therefore, unless there is RAS, as a passenger you don't have to identify.  

Pull this one and watch the cop go nuts.

And then there's the "Plainview Doctrine."  This little Supreme Court decision allows the police to search your car with a flashlight and their eyes on a traffic stop.  And if they see something incriminating, even if they are in error, you're toast.  Similarly, that same "Doctrine" permits you to record them, their cars, their activities, and anything your eyes can see from anyplace you're legally permitted to be, subject once again to "time, place and manner."

See "go nuts," above.

And as we're rounding the Clubhouse turn, lemme' add this: cops and sheriff's deputies and constables and all other first responders are below you on the food chain until or unless you break the law (see above).  They work for you.  Until then, they are "civil servants," like the guy who sweeps up their HQ, who've taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution.  And you are the "civil" for whom they labor all day.  Unfortunately, the activities of many of their cadre bely their stated goal, as they do not seem to know what I've written above. 

I think many of them think they are our appointed gladiators to go forth and seek out lawbreakers and evil doers and bring them to heel.  Using their own specific laws if the ones we provide them prove insufficient.  Unfortunately, since our schools stopped teaching civics when they started teaching D.E.I., many of our newer cops don't know squat about your Rights.  So you'll have to educate them.  Which could prove messy.  And land your ass in jail.  

And lastly, I believe that many cops exist to get your I.D.  It's like crack to them.  It's the only way in many cases that they can hem you up for wants and warrants.  And then hook you up and take you off to the Gray Bar Hotel.  Which makes their day.  However, you have the absolute Right to your anonimity so long as you're operating within the law.  And (lotsa' "ands") it's a good idea to learn at least as much about the laws that can impact your pocketbook as the police who are authorized to take your money.  They had 40 hours of legal training in the Academy.  Only.  Years ago.  Focused around taking your money from traffic stops and the like.  You should have many more if you wish to protect yourself from these city-sanctioned road pirates.  As I blared out earlier, they just won't know how to handle it.  Plus, it could be entertaining.  

Ahem.

Sorry for the foul attitude this morning.  I'm just in a bad mood as I write this, having realized that I'm a 25 year-old dude being held hostage in a body nearly as old as Joe O'Biden's.  And nobody's stepping up to pay the ransom.  My bones creak and my corpsucles aren't corpsuckling so very good.  Thank God I gain in both mental acuity and knowledge for every day I live.  What a shame our POTUS can't say the same.  Or nearly anything legibly.  Thus earing the moniker, "Mumbler-in-Chief.'  So I apologize in advance for the rude and unseemly commentary which will surely follow.

Which usually means it's right as rain.  

Talk with you in a couple of days, fellow Pilgrims.  After I oil up my gun collection, which should take the rest of the morning, I'll make a tasty lunch of my signature bacon cheeseburger, fries, sweet pickles and a cherry Coke.  Plus that old faithful carmel swirl ice cream sundae, with carmel and choclate sauce, and sprinkles, of course.  After every. single. meal.  Never know when it'll be one's last.  I'll then load up the Jeep and head off to the mountain cabin, away from all the hubub and lying, power-hungry, money-grubbing politicians.  

One can't get a speeding ticket in the woods, can one?  

*   Among the bad habits I've never taken up, becoming a lawyer is one.  Therefore, please presume that all the jailhouse legal advice provided above is absolutely worthless.  And could wind your ass up in jail.  Truth is, the poor bastard who wrote this has been kidnapped by a band of roving Gypsies and hipppmotizzzed into believing we still have Constitutional Rights.  You're thus warned...