The TV show "Cops"

[just Warren]

As much as I'm opposed to tax-funded, government-provided security and investigative services most of my personal experiences have been neutral to good.

Once, while coming home from a party we, including the driver were not only underage but drunk out of our gourds. We get pulled over by LASD deputies because of bad driving...and let go without even a warning. Another time hanging out at a beach, still underage and, yes, drunk some Torrance cops rousted us, refused to look at the ID one of us offered to show them and insisted we get in the car and leave.

Yet another time at a house party...still underage and drunk deputies show up and don't even hassle the homeowner despite the fact that he had a houseful of drunk teens about. All they wanted was for us to quiet down. So yeah, things have worked out for me.


Don't get me wrong I'm disgusted by the dog-shooting, wrong-door raids, sense of entitlement, and tone-deaf responses to outrage etc. and have had a few bad experiences but it's not all bad.

[Boomhauer]

Once, while coming home from a party we, including the driver were not only underage but drunk out of our gourds. We get pulled over by LASD deputies because of bad driving...and let go without even a warning

I'm pretty *expletive deleted*ing pissed that they didn't make yall at least get a non-DUI driver.

And yeah I have a thing against drunk drivers. Kind of hard not to after you've responded to a lot of wrecks and carnage caused by DUI drivers.

[RoadKingLarry]

Officer behavior when I'm stopped for traffic violations has usually, but not always, been pleasant or at least businesslike.  I've been held for rape, robbery, murder and some things I was never even informed of, and many times right up until my late 40's. My oldest brother was hospitalized for facial reconstructive surgery after three cops worked him over, and another brother was thrown in jail without being allowed to call anyone (after three days he was able to sneak a phone call to my father). So I've had a bit of a prejudiced view of cops, and it's only gotten worse with the militarization and behavior like that in Boston last year.

I've had a little bit of attitude over the years but I've rarely been stopped ad the last ticket I got that wasn't dismissed was in 1981. I was however considerably soured on police when the LVPD officer emptied his Glock into my unarmed cousin's back (well, 6 out of 17 rounds fired went into his back anyway).

[Northwoods]

I was however considerably soured on police when the LVPD officer emptied his Glock into my unarmed cousin's back (well, 6 out of 17 rounds fired went into his back anyway).

I would assume not, but did he live?  What justification did the cop give for using his weapon?  Did the cop (or LVPD) suffer any consequences?

[RoadKingLarry]

I would assume not, but did he live?  What justification did the cop give for using his weapon?  Did the cop (or LVPD) suffer any consequences?

No, he didn't survive, cop claimed he made a suspicious move and there has never been a "bad shoot" by a cop in Las Vegas. My cousin was the 2nd of three fatal shootings that particular cop was involved in.

[Northwoods]

Sounds like that cop would qualify as a serial killer. 

[Sindawe]

I used to love watching "Cops" in the early to mid 1990s.  Fun way to spend a quite Saturday evening when taking a break from the Metal bars and Techno dance clubs I used to frequent.  My favorite episodes were sourced from the Denver, 'specially the one where two cruisers are responding and have a bit of a problem trying to both occupy the same space at once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6ueNJPo1ko 

Now, after years of being "brain washed" by the Internet, watching "Cops" just makes me angry(er).

[KD5NRH]

Eventually they let him go . . . the cop who'd cuffed him came to release him, but he was already loose; the guy was some sort of amateur magician and had gotten out of the cuffs himself and tossed them into the drainage ditch alongside the road.

Had a friend who was semi-pro, and got arrested for doing an escape routine that included being tossed off a bridge shackled and cuffed.  (Seems it's illegal to dive from said bridge.)  Needless to say, they cuffed him.  He left the driver's door of the cruiser cuffed to the steering wheel.

I mean, really; you just watched the guy get out of multiple sets of cuffs, so you put one set on him and expect it to work?

[RevDisk]

I mean, really; you just watched the guy get out of multiple sets of cuffs, so you put one set on him and expect it to work?

Handcuff technology is the most basic form of "lock" one can envision. Why folks use them, I have no idea. I've heard on LawDog's blog that they've had to handsaw off broken cuffs, which confuses the hell out of me. Easiest way to open a handcuff is with a shim, a thin piece of metal. It's often easier than using a "key". A handcuff is a ratchet, not a lock. You have a "gear" that only goes in one direction and a pawl. Lift the pawl, and you're good to go. 

And handcuffs don't actually have keys. They have a lever. Any lever that fits works. It's trivial to find or make something that works as a lever.


The only thing that makes a set of handcuffs secure is a belief that handcuffs are secure. Now, if someone is very lacking in flexibility, they'd have a much harder time, especially with improvised materials.

[Balog]

Handcuff technology is the most basic form of "lock" one can envision. Why folks use them, I have no idea. I've heard on LawDog's blog that they've had to handsaw off broken cuffs, which confuses the hell out of me. Easiest way to open a handcuff is with a shim, a thin piece of metal. It's often easier than using a "key". A handcuff is a ratchet, not a lock. You have a "gear" that only goes in one direction and a pawl. Lift the pawl, and you're good to go. 

And handcuffs don't actually have keys. They have a lever. Any lever that fits works. It's trivial to find or make something that works as a lever.


The only thing that makes a set of handcuffs secure is a belief that handcuffs are secure. Now, if someone is very lacking in flexibility, they'd have a much harder time, especially with improvised materials.

Aren't the hinged ones better, especially when the lock hole is facing up?

[KD5NRH]

Handcuff technology is the most basic form of "lock" one can envision. Why folks use them, I have no idea. I've heard on LawDog's blog that they've had to handsaw off broken cuffs, which confuses the hell out of me. Easiest way to open a handcuff is with a shim, a thin piece of metal. It's often easier than using a "key". A handcuff is a ratchet, not a lock. You have a "gear" that only goes in one direction and a pawl. Lift the pawl, and you're good to go.

If they're "double locked," the pawl is held down, and the piece holding it has to be moved before a shim will work.  Still, doing that with some other slim tool ain't rocket science.

Aren't the hinged ones better, especially when the lock hole is facing up?

Hinged, with the hands in opposite directions can be even trickier.

[Ron]

I'll just leave this here

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/seven-reasons-police-brutality-is-systematic-not-anecdotal/?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=seven-reasons-police-brutality-is-systematic-not-anecdotal