4 ms·

I dread seeing a cop on the highway when driving from Houston to Dallas and back, and I'm a law-abiding college graduate. The drug war is not being kind to the

I dread seeing a cop on the highway when driving from Houston to Dallas and back, and I'm a law-abiding college graduate. The drug war is not being kind to the relationship between civilians and law enforcement here.

jasonwatkinspdx 13y ago
Yup, even if you're totally innocent you can be held in jail for 3 days if a cop decides they don't like you. Once you get before a judge, the pretext charges are dropped and you're free to go. This happened to a friend. At that point you can counter-sue and you would eventually win, but not without a potentially expensive legal battle. Organizations like the ACLU can only work so many case, so they're pretty ruthless about prioritizing the ones likely to make a media impact. The worst thing is you can't avoid the police in Texas if you need to drive for work/life. There are mandatory immigration checkpoints miles away from the border. Everyone is stopped and questioned. It's not just Texas. I was illegally detained and had my car searched despite refusing on the interstate in KS. But it seems to get progressively worse the closer you get to the border with Mexico.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  >Yup, even if you're totally innocent you can be held in jail for 3 days if a cop decides they don't like you. Yup. Happened to an acquaintance who was in town for a charity event. He was arrested in Fort Worth, and when we tried to post bond for him, the jailers "couldn't find" him. Went on for 3 days. The ironic part was that the guy was a prosecutor (from Mass.) See also: http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/12/tarrant-county-bail-politics-keeps.html http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/12/tarrant-county...
sixothree 13y ago
Having grown up in the "jocks vs. nerds" deep south myself, I worry deeply about interactions with police. If there are ever two sides to a story and they have to pick one, they're certainly not going to pick yours.
- jasonwatkinspdx 13y ago
  It amazes me how tolerant we are of law enforcement misrepresenting the truth. Making cops wear tamper proof cameras will fix it, but don't expect that to be an easy political battle.
  - gohrt 13y ago
    Seattle is ramping up cameras on officers.

jasonwatkinspdx 13y ago

Yup, even if you're totally innocent you can be held in jail for 3 days if a cop decides they don't like you. Once you get before a judge, the pretext charges are dropped and you're free to go. This happened to a friend. At that point you can counter-sue and you would eventually win, but not without a potentially expensive legal battle. Organizations like the ACLU can only work so many case, so they're pretty ruthless about prioritizing the ones likely to make a media impact. The worst thing is you can't avoid the police in Texas if you need to drive for work/life. There are mandatory immigration checkpoints miles away from the border. Everyone is stopped and questioned. It's not just Texas. I was illegally detained and had my car searched despite refusing on the interstate in KS. But it seems to get progressively worse the closer you get to the border with Mexico.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
>Yup, even if you're totally innocent you can be held in jail for 3 days if a cop decides they don't like you. Yup. Happened to an acquaintance who was in town for a charity event. He was arrested in Fort Worth, and when we tried to post bond for him, the jailers "couldn't find" him. Went on for 3 days. The ironic part was that the guy was a prosecutor (from Mass.) See also: http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/12/tarrant-county-bail-politics-keeps.html http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/12/tarrant-county...

sixothree 13y ago

Having grown up in the "jocks vs. nerds" deep south myself, I worry deeply about interactions with police. If there are ever two sides to a story and they have to pick one, they're certainly not going to pick yours.

jasonwatkinspdx 13y ago
It amazes me how tolerant we are of law enforcement misrepresenting the truth. Making cops wear tamper proof cameras will fix it, but don't expect that to be an easy political battle.
- gohrt 13y ago
  Seattle is ramping up cameras on officers.