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I am travelling right now and without much else to do in a hotel room, so I'll provide the following tidbit for the rest of you to dissect.
I was detailing my car's interior (flood light, Armour-All, Shop-Vac, the whole nine yards) after dark (about 8 pm) a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday night. I do this every month. The car was in the driveway. It was boxed in by my family's other cars/the garage (i.e. impossible to steal without a giant crane-mounted magnet).
Two police cars were cruising the neighborhood with their searchlights on, facing the houses on each side of the street. They passed me momentarily and then backed up, threw on the light bars, and an officer approached me. He asked for ID. I stated that my wallet was inside on the kitchen table.
Another cruiser showed up. A total of six officers were now in my driveway. I politely explained that I was just cleaning my car. I had hoped to have gotten to it earlier, but time had gotten ahead of me, so I had the flood light.
The officer made a big deal out of recent burglaries and how he just wanted to verify that I lived there. I understood, but said that I didn't have my license on me (I had my car/house keys in my pocket). I did produce a picture student ID with the same DOB/name as an antibiotic prescription in the car (which listed that address). This wasn't REAL ID Act compliant, but under the circumstances, I thought they'd understand. I had gone out to my car more concerned about having Sham-Wows than a license.
To make a long story short, I was detained in my driveway for a half-hour. I offered to allow the officer to go into my kitchen to get my wallet. I offered to give him the phone number to call the house so he could hear it ring. I offered to go talk to any of the onlooking neighbors about my identity. One of his officers had responded to me being bitten by a stray dog on that property a few years back. He vouched for me living there. No good, according to the head officer.
It got to the point where he told me, "Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to ring the doorbell, and if no one opens the door and IDs you, I'm arresting you for trespassing, breaking and entering into a vehicle at night, attempted motor vehicle theft, and giving false information to an officer." We rang the bell. No one answered.
Then it got weirder. He told me that a bunch of teenage girls had been seen being let out of a car down the block. They were wanted for questioning in connection with the string of burglaries. I pointed out that I was both a male and 25. He asked me if I was the driver. I said, "I'll pop every hood in my driveway. All my engines are ice cold." Again, no takers.
I was being polite and let this guy get progressively more out of line with me. He asked me "what are you going to tell the judge?" I just looked confused. I finally told him that he really needed to go find those kids. He once again threatened to arrest me for my "suspicious behavior." I offered to let him search my car and my house. No takers. Then he goes, "Why would I take consent from someone who's trespassing?"
I turned to the other officers and said, "You'd better call dispatch and let them know that I have exactly five more minutes to spend with this man before I go back to cleaning my car." A neighbor stepped in and vouched for me. The cop told him to butt out. I pointed to my watch and said, "four minutes." The cop said, "This is still under investigation." Then they left.
Am I just being an oversensitive civilian or was that possibly the least effective use of police time ever conceived? I understand that cops have a job to do, but I think he was over the line on a lot of points. I was on my property, minding my own business, and that happens. I wasn't pulling a Gates. I was very cooperative. I feel like writing a letter to the police chief. Is there anything here that stands out?
P.S. I wasn't going to be rude, but bluffing about arresting someone and saying that they don't live in their own home was pretty good provocation for me to drop the Mr. Nice Guy courtesy. It honestly felt like this guy was just having a bad day and didn't want to admit that he'd called out all these people for nothing.
P.P.S. It stinks to have to explain to 15 neighbors why a small squadron of police just detained you. It's the kind of thing that can ruin someone's reputation in a small town.
I was detailing my car's interior (flood light, Armour-All, Shop-Vac, the whole nine yards) after dark (about 8 pm) a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday night. I do this every month. The car was in the driveway. It was boxed in by my family's other cars/the garage (i.e. impossible to steal without a giant crane-mounted magnet).
Two police cars were cruising the neighborhood with their searchlights on, facing the houses on each side of the street. They passed me momentarily and then backed up, threw on the light bars, and an officer approached me. He asked for ID. I stated that my wallet was inside on the kitchen table.
Another cruiser showed up. A total of six officers were now in my driveway. I politely explained that I was just cleaning my car. I had hoped to have gotten to it earlier, but time had gotten ahead of me, so I had the flood light.
The officer made a big deal out of recent burglaries and how he just wanted to verify that I lived there. I understood, but said that I didn't have my license on me (I had my car/house keys in my pocket). I did produce a picture student ID with the same DOB/name as an antibiotic prescription in the car (which listed that address). This wasn't REAL ID Act compliant, but under the circumstances, I thought they'd understand. I had gone out to my car more concerned about having Sham-Wows than a license.
To make a long story short, I was detained in my driveway for a half-hour. I offered to allow the officer to go into my kitchen to get my wallet. I offered to give him the phone number to call the house so he could hear it ring. I offered to go talk to any of the onlooking neighbors about my identity. One of his officers had responded to me being bitten by a stray dog on that property a few years back. He vouched for me living there. No good, according to the head officer.
It got to the point where he told me, "Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to ring the doorbell, and if no one opens the door and IDs you, I'm arresting you for trespassing, breaking and entering into a vehicle at night, attempted motor vehicle theft, and giving false information to an officer." We rang the bell. No one answered.
Then it got weirder. He told me that a bunch of teenage girls had been seen being let out of a car down the block. They were wanted for questioning in connection with the string of burglaries. I pointed out that I was both a male and 25. He asked me if I was the driver. I said, "I'll pop every hood in my driveway. All my engines are ice cold." Again, no takers.
I was being polite and let this guy get progressively more out of line with me. He asked me "what are you going to tell the judge?" I just looked confused. I finally told him that he really needed to go find those kids. He once again threatened to arrest me for my "suspicious behavior." I offered to let him search my car and my house. No takers. Then he goes, "Why would I take consent from someone who's trespassing?"
I turned to the other officers and said, "You'd better call dispatch and let them know that I have exactly five more minutes to spend with this man before I go back to cleaning my car." A neighbor stepped in and vouched for me. The cop told him to butt out. I pointed to my watch and said, "four minutes." The cop said, "This is still under investigation." Then they left.
Am I just being an oversensitive civilian or was that possibly the least effective use of police time ever conceived? I understand that cops have a job to do, but I think he was over the line on a lot of points. I was on my property, minding my own business, and that happens. I wasn't pulling a Gates. I was very cooperative. I feel like writing a letter to the police chief. Is there anything here that stands out?
P.S. I wasn't going to be rude, but bluffing about arresting someone and saying that they don't live in their own home was pretty good provocation for me to drop the Mr. Nice Guy courtesy. It honestly felt like this guy was just having a bad day and didn't want to admit that he'd called out all these people for nothing.
P.P.S. It stinks to have to explain to 15 neighbors why a small squadron of police just detained you. It's the kind of thing that can ruin someone's reputation in a small town.
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