3 ms·

A cop's going to mess with a couple of kids because he might recognize them as having created an app? That makes no sense at all.

jarcane 11y ago
You don't interact with cops much do you? I got messed with by the cops just for being out after dark as a kid. A cop once made my whole family his personal mission just because he caught one of my brothers biking without a helmet. Makes perfect fuckin' sense to me.
cubano 11y ago
I was set-up and arrested in 2008 for simply being in a suspicious part of town where I knew an old family friend who fixed my car on occasion. I was charged with a felony "destruction of evidence" because a totally crooked cop, whom was eventually kicked off the force for messing with hookers, claimed I ate the non-existent drugs, and actually tampered with the swab he used to wipe my mouth. I was arrested and fired from my job the next week. Eventually, the case was "null-processed" as the cop had been fired for misconduct and the State had no case. In a life of bizarre legal experiences, it was perhaps the most bizarre of them all, and since then I put absolutely nothing past police, although I do recognize they do a dangerous job of which I would want no part of.
coldtea 11y ago
Well, people who speak up against cop brutality, corruption, etc have a big possibility of being targeted for harassment and intimidation, especially in they live in a small town, or they know who they are in their neighborhood etc. Of course people without experience with the police force, and without historical knowledge of other incidents and their frequency, often have no idea that this things even happen.
logfromblammo 11y ago
No, he won't recognize them. As he is running the plates and driver's license through the official public computer system, he will also be whipping out his personal phone to run that name through a few private databases, run by ex-cops, with subscription access granted only to cops and ex-cops. Those databases will tell him, essentially, "This guy created a popular app that puts your job under a microscope. Also, he probably got a bunch of money for it, and may be carrying a lot of cash." It won't actually say anything about harassing him. That will be entirely up to the investigating officer, and all the other investigating officers that he may have alerted via the aforementioned databases to watch out for cars with the same model and color.
- e28eta 11y ago
  Sounds like an excellent idea for a honeypot. Are you building it?
  - logfromblammo 11y ago
    I'd be a bit late to that party. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8632c929c3ba4773a2e130689f4b8e69/private-database-lets-police-skirt-license-plate-data http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8632c929c3ba4773a2e130689f4b8... http://consumerist.com/2014/05/19/private-companies-building-giant-unregulated-databases-tracking-license-plate-location-info/ http://consumerist.com/2014/05/19/private-companies-building... http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/st... https://desertsnow.com/ https://desertsnow.com/ https://bales.org/ https://bales.org/
    - chaqke 11y ago
      ugh, oh god
      - bitJericho 11y ago
        HN really freaks me out sometimes!

jarcane 11y ago

You don't interact with cops much do you? I got messed with by the cops just for being out after dark as a kid. A cop once made my whole family his personal mission just because he caught one of my brothers biking without a helmet. Makes perfect fuckin' sense to me.

cubano 11y ago

I was set-up and arrested in 2008 for simply being in a suspicious part of town where I knew an old family friend who fixed my car on occasion. I was charged with a felony "destruction of evidence" because a totally crooked cop, whom was eventually kicked off the force for messing with hookers, claimed I ate the non-existent drugs, and actually tampered with the swab he used to wipe my mouth. I was arrested and fired from my job the next week. Eventually, the case was "null-processed" as the cop had been fired for misconduct and the State had no case. In a life of bizarre legal experiences, it was perhaps the most bizarre of them all, and since then I put absolutely nothing past police, although I do recognize they do a dangerous job of which I would want no part of.

coldtea 11y ago

Well, people who speak up against cop brutality, corruption, etc have a big possibility of being targeted for harassment and intimidation, especially in they live in a small town, or they know who they are in their neighborhood etc. Of course people without experience with the police force, and without historical knowledge of other incidents and their frequency, often have no idea that this things even happen.

logfromblammo 11y ago

No, he won't recognize them. As he is running the plates and driver's license through the official public computer system, he will also be whipping out his personal phone to run that name through a few private databases, run by ex-cops, with subscription access granted only to cops and ex-cops. Those databases will tell him, essentially, "This guy created a popular app that puts your job under a microscope. Also, he probably got a bunch of money for it, and may be carrying a lot of cash." It won't actually say anything about harassing him. That will be entirely up to the investigating officer, and all the other investigating officers that he may have alerted via the aforementioned databases to watch out for cars with the same model and color.

e28eta 11y ago
Sounds like an excellent idea for a honeypot. Are you building it?
- logfromblammo 11y ago
  I'd be a bit late to that party. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8632c929c3ba4773a2e130689f4b8e69/private-database-lets-police-skirt-license-plate-data http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8632c929c3ba4773a2e130689f4b8... http://consumerist.com/2014/05/19/private-companies-building-giant-unregulated-databases-tracking-license-plate-location-info/ http://consumerist.com/2014/05/19/private-companies-building... http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/st... https://desertsnow.com/ https://desertsnow.com/ https://bales.org/ https://bales.org/
  - chaqke 11y ago
    ugh, oh god
    - bitJericho 11y ago
      HN really freaks me out sometimes!