The Life Of A Cop

Developer asked:

Every time I watch Cops, the cop walks up to the car and is like "Got any pot in the car?" and the person says "No.". One way or another the cop searches the car, finds pot then goes to the driver and is like "Why'd you lie to me? Why'd you lie? Now I have to throw you in jail. You should've lied!"

I have never seen anyone ever admit to having pot and not get arrested.

Should we the citizens just lie until we are caught red-handed? Does being upfront and honest ever work? I would rather be honest with cops but if they are going to throw me in jail either way then I'll just lie.

Citycop replied:

If you tell on yourself you're sure to be guilty, but if you make them work for it maybe they won't find it. I don't think it's very realistic to expect people to tell on themselves. Just don't answer the question, you're required to identify yourself but you don't have to answer questions about an investigation into your activities on the side of the road without some sort of representation. If I can't see any pot through the windows and I don't get consent, it's really difficult to get in there and search. I could call a dog. You are also required to get out of the car if asked to for officer safety. Once you get out of the car you can also be patted down for weapons (this does not include digging through your pockets).

Being upfront and honest does sometimes work, but it's not going to work with a large amount of dope.

CrazyPanda asked:

How good is your sense of trouble? If you walk into a neighborhood can you tell something is about to happen? I heard being a police officer hones in your ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, is this true? What other abilities have you gained in your perception of people by becoming a police officer?

Citycop replied:

Your sense of trouble is honed as an officer, I can also tell if your lying to me (most of the time). Some people are great a lying and you will never tell, but most won't look you in the eye and they spend a significant amount of time making excuses instead of pleading their case. I've taken classes and read books that teach you how to tell when someone is lying.

If I go into a certain neighborhood and there is no one outside, no music playing loudly and I'm the only one there, I know something is very wrong. That is an easy example but your brain can pickup on patterns and events that are out of place and your not quite sure what it is but you know something is bad wrong. I go to 911 hang-up calls all the time where someone misdialled the phone. When you answer the door I can tell my looking at you if something is wrong, I won't leave until I'm satisfied it's all ok.

oddcrap asked:

If I may ask, how much do you get paid by the city? I here the money isn't that great, but did you go to college? I think law enforcement would be a dream job of mine, but the money is holding me back

You'd probably not want to stay just an officer, perhaps you would want to rank up to say detective?

Citycop replied:

About $13 an hour now, I have a high school diploma. Detective pays the same, it's a lateral transfer. I get paid in other ways, I like to think the entertainment value is priceless. For example you could never pay enough money to be able to speed around town chasing another car with lights and sirens until you catch them, at which point you get to kick some ass and lock them up. It's like TAG for adults with big toys.

spog asked:

You mentioned that you have changed since you first started - i.e. your confidence had increased.

But how have you changed in how you handle your work - do you perform differently when you handle a situation - do you give more warnings rather than tickets for some situations? Or do you come down harder on certain cases?

Citycop replied:

The change in the way that people react to me has been profound. They typically do what I ask them to do, or show me more respect. The actual changes that I have made in myself have been pretty minor. It's true when they say that body language is responsible for 90% of the spoken word. In most respects I'm more apt to give a warning instead of a charge.

When I first started my body language probably said "What the hell is going on, what are we going to do?". Now my body language says "Hi, I'm here because someone called, I'm just a guy trying to solve the problem, lets figure it out, I'm not scared of you".