Off duty police harassmant

Finally have settled down from the situation thought id share my story. Running through curbco last Wednesday I swing through my last addition that has only turned up one aluminum handle ever. I always ask myself why i waste me time on this one. Low and behold there is Libman mop handle poking out a can. get out grab it toss it in nice easy quick didnt even have to touch the can. Getting back in truck i hear a guy holler HEY YOU. I just holler yea and get in truck as most people just stare and I wave or they thank me for getting the eyesore out of their drive. Tired and wife is wanting me to hurry up and get home I dont hang around to see if they wanted to give me more scrap or not. Driving down the street i see a car flying up on my tail and than flips on cherries. Great. Knowing its not a cop for the town i was in as it is not against the law to pick scrap from the curb. Have friends on the dept and state police that confimed my questions years ago. So i pull over and he walks up to car not presenting himself just asks what am i doing. I say whats it look like?? picking up scrap. His response ya wanna make this real we can make this real, real quick. I laugh and ask him what do ya want. He asks for ID i give it to him as i have nothing to hide. So he goes to car sit there for five or so min finally he comes back gives me my license and tells me go find a different neibhorhood to scrap in said ok and il be back thru next week. He scowls at me and I ask his name and badge number he says it back to me as im writing it down. So im just annoyed by the whole situation. Thinking about it later i should have called 911 while i was sitting there as he did not present himself as a police officer. But ive always respected the police to do their job correctly and figured the whole situation wasnt worth being bothered over a 3 pound mop. BTW i made sure i honked as i drove by his house friday morning to go to the 3 garage sales down the street from him. sorry for the long rant just thought id share.

The police are just like politicians anymore. A bunch of a-holes with their own agenda. Sorry if anyone is offended by this, but its the truth.

Very well aware that its what we have to deal with. And i dont think anyone is an a-hole or anything along those lines, we all have our bad days. I have more assumptions about the situation but i did not know for sure so didnt say.

I never answer questions from police our any other authority figure and record all encounters just my 2%

Agreed never show an ID to any one out of uniform and Never answer any questions....What you say can and will be held against you,,,,Him being OFF DUTY was total BS doing that.. When then are off duty there no differant than Joe Smoe pushing buggies at the local Walmart ..

I cant believe you wasted your time on that guy, I would have told him off and took off and went about my business, lol. I hope it happens to me, so I can laugh at the person.

Haha...ya'll love this then.

Kid calls out cop for parking illegally while grabbing a soda..lol.




Sirscrapalot - Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. - Oscar Wilde

I have the sneaking feeling that the OP stumbled into a 'operation' by accident & that the 'off duty officer' was actually doing a bit of 'grey area ' work.

I have had it happen before a few times.

Originally Posted by PAScrapPappy

Agreed never show an ID to any one out of uniform and Never answer any questions....What you say can and will be held against you,,,,Him being OFF DUTY was total BS doing that.. When then are off duty there no differant than Joe Smoe pushing buggies at the local Walmart ..

First of all, what you say to a police officer can NOT be used against you unless the officer has read you your rights. Once he reads you your rights then anything you say can and will be used against you. Second, a police officer is a police officer 24/7. If he sees anything out of the ordanary his oblegated to check it out. Taking something from somebodies yard is probable cuase for pulling you over and checking you out. None of us like it when we get bad mouth for doing what we do(scrappig) but you all are first to bad mouth a police officer for doing his job. If your not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worrry about. End of rant.

Interesting story, I have no idea what I would do but I know that I would be sweating profusely and looking guilty cause that what happens the few times I was stopped in the last 35 years. Trouble is I never have anything to hide. Tends to get them suspicious though.

Its really one of the situations that you think of a 1000 things afterwards that you should have done. At the time i just wanted him to go away and mind his own business as i pretty much mind my own business when i scrap. When i make a mess i make sure it was cleaned up better than before i started. I do my best to be as quiet as i can as its usually after 10 when i am out scrapping. I am no expert on most laws pertaining cops but I was sure that they can pull you over anytime is they suspect you of doing something your not supposed to do. But i also have been was told by an officer that pulled me over for speeding once that the first so many feet of a persons property is public easement hence why its ok for an officer to sit in a private driveway and clock motorists. So that tells me if your trash can is at the curb its in the public easement. The most irritating part for me is someone that has no business in my business where i can and cant collect scrap. On the humorous side for the day i made sure to toot the horn 3 times last night as i passed by the road that is on the back side of his property. While I was hauling home the 3 truck loads of curbco goods.

I got no beef with police who do their jobs. I got beef with the ones who abuse their position. Watch the video I posted...Kid asked the cop why he parked illegally on a public side walk to go grab a soda. If I did what that cop did and parked my motorcycle like he did on a sidewalk I'm sure I'd have a ticket a the lest and impounded at the worst. Kid asked the cop for his badge number and name, dude just ignored him then tried to be a **** about it. 12 year old kid was being respectful no less.

Just cause you got the badge doesn't give you the right to break the law or the rules for your profession. I'm friendly with a few of the cops down here on my sandbar, and there are others that have that 'big man with a badge" syndrome. The majority of them tho are some good folks, but like the old saying goes..one bad apple spoils the bunch..or something like that.

Far as calling anyone out...I don't care if your a cop, doctor, McDonalds burger flipper, Albert Einstein, whatever..You act the douche bag, I'll call you out on it. Badge or no badge. You act an idiot your an idiot. I give respect till you give me reason to lose it. Cop, doctor, whatever.

If you don't act the fool I won't call you out as one.

Sirscrapalot - Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.- Abraham Lincoln

Everything a cop asks you during a stop us an attempt to escalate it to an arrest its their top priority that's how they generate income

Originally Posted by happyscraper

First of all, what you say to a police officer can NOT be used against you unless the officer has read you your rights. Once he reads you your rights then anything you say can and will be used against you. Second, a police officer is a police officer 24/7. If he sees anything out of the ordanary his oblegated to check it out. Taking something from somebodies yard is probable cuase for pulling you over and checking you out. None of us like it when we get bad mouth for doing what we do(scrappig) but you all are first to bad mouth a police officer for doing his job. If your not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worrry about. End of rant.

I think you may be mistaken: "Please be advised that if you do answer questions before being arrested, your statements may be used as evidence during trial."

Source: Pre-Arrest Questioning