So what exactly creates probable cause?
May 8, 2009 | 10:06 am
#316
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: FrostByte Falls, Mn
Programs: Holiday Inn Plat NW gold AA gold
Posts: 2,157
A cop looked at a bottle without permission. I'm not going to rank that up their with Darfur, if that's what you mean.
It was poorly done and beyond the pale. It was not a moral outrage nor a travesty. Had he beat you down to get the bottle away from you I would respond more vehemently. As it was - there are worse things that I see fairly often that warrant more of a response from me than that. Sorry.
It was poorly done and beyond the pale. It was not a moral outrage nor a travesty. Had he beat you down to get the bottle away from you I would respond more vehemently. As it was - there are worse things that I see fairly often that warrant more of a response from me than that. Sorry.
May 8, 2009 | 11:11 am
#317
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Southern California
Posts: 898
Law Dawg, I used to work with a guy who was on the reserve police officer force of Mesquite, Tx. One Monday, he came to work and said that he'd given a beating to a lippy hippy. I asked him what he'd attempted to do in the course of that beating and his response was "teach him a lesson." My reply to that was, "all you've succeeded in doing is to forever make him, his friends, and family distrust/hate all police officers." He pretty much stopped talking to me after that. Some police officers do commit excesses in real life that would be better left to Hollywood fantasy.
Without accountability, minor excesses tend to become major very quickly.
May 8, 2009 | 4:05 pm
#318
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,704
Here is the problem. How do I know the difference between you making a friendly conversation or a fishing expedition trying to pin something on me? How do I know that I don't fit some vague description of some suspect? And, worst of all, how do I know that you are a "good" as opposed to "bad" cop who might try to shake me down? The latter did happen in a Polish community in Chicago. Cops were shaking down legal immgrants threatening to deport them.
Of course, if I know why the officer approached me, such as, say, a traffic stop, then I will be as polite as I can without being subservient. I will of course, be mindful of what I say to avoid confessing to something. However, once I detect a fishing expedition, such as a request to open the trunk, I will immediately shut up.
May 8, 2009 | 4:07 pm
#319
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,704
Law Dawg, I used to work with a guy who was on the reserve police officer force of Mesquite, Tx. One Monday, he came to work and said that he'd given a beating to a lippy hippy. I asked him what he'd attempted to do in the course of that beating and his response was "teach him a lesson." My reply to that was, "all you've succeeded in doing is to forever make him, his friends, and family distrust/hate all police officers." He pretty much stopped talking to me after that. Some police officers do commit excesses in real life that would be better left to Hollywood fantasy.
May 8, 2009 | 4:08 pm
#320
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,704
This is precisely why it is very important to take even minor excesses with the utmost seriousness. That is, we the citizens, should report them, and the appropriate levels of supervision must act prompty with proper discipline.
Without accountability, minor excesses tend to become major very quickly.
Without accountability, minor excesses tend to become major very quickly.
May 8, 2009 | 4:22 pm
#321
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Salish Sea
Programs: DL,AC,HH,PC
Posts: 8,972
May 9, 2009 | 7:04 pm
#324
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 30,987
I agree!
Problem is, with respect to TSA checkpoint screening, that many do not report these matters for a variety of reasons. I'm a big advocate of reporting these types of incidents and have posted such in this forum on many occasions. Problem is that there are many who either refuse (thinking that just a verbal is sufficient) or who are so skeptical that they think it's not worth the effort.
Feedback works.
Problem is, with respect to TSA checkpoint screening, that many do not report these matters for a variety of reasons. I'm a big advocate of reporting these types of incidents and have posted such in this forum on many occasions. Problem is that there are many who either refuse (thinking that just a verbal is sufficient) or who are so skeptical that they think it's not worth the effort.
Feedback works.
TSA does not want feedback, otherwise it would be much easier to give it.
May 9, 2009 | 8:40 pm
#326
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: DFW
Posts: 30,987
It has been a long time since I posted one of my often-repeated recommendations, so here it goes:
Why not report it through the airline station manager? It is easier to obtain a comment card and/or email address through the airline to post your concerns, not to mention that you can do it at your leisure while at the departure gate or aboard the flight.
When the station manager passes it to TSA, the issue is not only the specific incident itself, but there's also the working relationship the FSD has to maintain with the local airline, so there's a vested interest for all parties concerned. There's also a matter of credibility, too. I don't think any respectable station manager would pass along a complaint that has no validity. So it works in the best interest of all parties.
There's also a web site, as I understand it, where passengers can go online to post their concerns. I don't know if it's a cyber version of the complaint form; however, I do know that it's no longer an email address which had a tendency to either get backlogged or stuck in the queue until the addressee finally answered the mail.
Lots of choices other than leaving a comment card at the checkpoint. However, I still recommend leaving a comment card at the checkpoint because it allows the supervisor to do something about it promptly. Otherwise, the complaint will eventually make it back but without the specifics of who did what, and that makes it difficult for supervisors to take any corrective action.
Your choice, pal.
Why not report it through the airline station manager? It is easier to obtain a comment card and/or email address through the airline to post your concerns, not to mention that you can do it at your leisure while at the departure gate or aboard the flight.
When the station manager passes it to TSA, the issue is not only the specific incident itself, but there's also the working relationship the FSD has to maintain with the local airline, so there's a vested interest for all parties concerned. There's also a matter of credibility, too. I don't think any respectable station manager would pass along a complaint that has no validity. So it works in the best interest of all parties.
There's also a web site, as I understand it, where passengers can go online to post their concerns. I don't know if it's a cyber version of the complaint form; however, I do know that it's no longer an email address which had a tendency to either get backlogged or stuck in the queue until the addressee finally answered the mail.
Lots of choices other than leaving a comment card at the checkpoint. However, I still recommend leaving a comment card at the checkpoint because it allows the supervisor to do something about it promptly. Otherwise, the complaint will eventually make it back but without the specifics of who did what, and that makes it difficult for supervisors to take any corrective action.
Your choice, pal.
May 10, 2009 | 9:44 pm
#328
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,015
Also remember, Boggie, HOW that information is used, and why, may or may not ever be disclosed to YOU, as you are not at all subject to the privileged ins and outs of SSI or the mystical workings of SOP or the Patriot Act, as are the TSA operatives. That is ALSO Federal Law. Guess who ALWAYS gets pre-empted.
Best not forget it.
Best not forget it.