Five American cops pin British professor to ground and jail him.....for jaywalking

L Gilbert

L Gilbert

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tracy said:
I've managed to live here for almost 3 years without being wrestled to the ground once by cops. I wonder why that is?
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Probably don't jaywalk in Atlanta for one thing, being a "Tracy" might make you a female for another and tackling and pinning by several armed men may indicate that they are overusing authority for another, you've probably got an American accent, too, so not being a "forrinner" helps.
 
hermanntrude

hermanntrude

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it's common enough in london for a pedestrian to get so tired of waiting for a gap in the traffic they stick their hand out and start to walk
 
L Gilbert

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karrie said:
Oh, and one more complaint.... not one of the officers in the picture (except the man in the suit), is dressed in civilian clothes. all are clearly badged as police officers. assuming the original officer to address him didn't run off for some weird reason, how could he have not known any of those men were officers?
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On the other hand, it occurred to me that the pic could also indicate the older gentleman had tripped in front of a copshop, several cops came to assist, and he was being helped up.
 
L Gilbert

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hermanntrude said:
hmm so maybe it went like this:

old guy, crossing a road, not really thinking much, used to being allowed to cross the road wherever he is, knew vaguely about jaywalking but didnt know how much trouble it could cause or just wasnt thinking about that, maybe he had a cool research idea about growing ears on the backs of pigs or something.

Old guys viewpoint: some random guy in a weird outfit he didnt associate with police (there wasnt a tit-shaped helmet on his head) tackles him and starts to pull him around. He struggles, he's alarmed, doesnt know what's happening, suddenly the pig-with-an-ear-on-it's-back idea is lost. The other guy calls for assistance and five men are on top of him, then he realises, hey maybe these guys are cops, crikey they're being a bit rough arent they? i'm pissed.... grrr

cops point of view: There's nothing to do and i have no donuts.... Maybe i can arrest someone... i'll keep an extra good eye out for misdoings and make an example of someone. I discovered i had erectile dysfunction last night and i need to show i am still a man. WOW there's a misdemeanour right there... that guy's jaywalking. I'll arrest him. Grabs the guys arm, guy jerks violently away, cop realises the guy might resist, pins him down, guy struggles, surprises cop with his strength, cop gets nervous that he might be seen to be unmanly, calls for a assistance ina deep manly voice, his friends drop their donuts and jump on him, guy seems to get very angry, maybe he is resisting arrest cos he has drugs on his person or something? better be strong with this guy....
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rofl It's probably happened before.
 
T

tracy

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L Gilbert said:
Probably don't jaywalk in Atlanta for one thing, being a "Tracy" might make you a female for another and tackling and pinning by several armed men may indicate that they are overusing authority for another, you've probably got an American accent, too, so not being a "forrinner" helps.
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Right, because cops in America are all redneck idiots eager to get themselves sued by using excessive force on random people who have done nothing wrong simply because they speak with an accent... Couldn't have anything to do with the forinner's actions... He was just minding his own business being perfectly polite when 5 cops jumped him.
 
T

tracy

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hermanntrude said:
hmm so maybe it went like this:

old guy, crossing a road, not really thinking much, used to being allowed to cross the road wherever he is, knew vaguely about jaywalking but didnt know how much trouble it could cause or just wasnt thinking about that, maybe he had a cool research idea about growing ears on the backs of pigs or something.

Old guys viewpoint: some random guy in a weird outfit he didnt associate with police (there wasnt a tit-shaped helmet on his head) tackles him and starts to pull him around. He struggles, he's alarmed, doesnt know what's happening, suddenly the pig-with-an-ear-on-it's-back idea is lost. The other guy calls for assistance and five men are on top of him, then he realises, hey maybe these guys are cops, crikey they're being a bit rough arent they? i'm pissed.... grrr

cops point of view: There's nothing to do and i have no donuts.... Maybe i can arrest someone... i'll keep an extra good eye out for misdoings and make an example of someone. I discovered i had erectile dysfunction last night and i need to show i am still a man. WOW there's a misdemeanour right there... that guy's jaywalking. I'll arrest him. Grabs the guys arm, guy jerks violently away, cop realises the guy might resist, pins him down, guy struggles, surprises cop with his strength, cop gets nervous that he might be seen to be unmanly, calls for a assistance ina deep manly voice, his friends drop their donuts and jump on him, guy seems to get very angry, maybe he is resisting arrest cos he has drugs on his person or something? better be strong with this guy....
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Or Old Guy is a bit of an arrogant prick. He knows jaywalking is illegal (cause what sort of a moron doesn't?). He hears a cop's warning and just thinks he can ignore him because he's above it. When the cop gets more insistent with him, he gets pi$$ed because he is so fabulous he thinks "how dare this peon speak to me this way? I'm a British professor! I'm absolutely brilliant!". He gets beligerant, he is told he will be placed under arrest and he refuses to submit. Then extra help is called and the professor still refuses to submit and then fights with the officers.

He could have just said "Oh sorry I didn't realize that wasn't allowed here, I'm just visiting from England". Probably would have ended the meeting in a friendly manner, but that would have required him to be polite and that's apparently too much to expect. The fact that he didn't and the fact that he seems so proud of wrestling with police officers make me think he's just a complete a$$. Visitors to a country should have some manners. Can you imagine how they'd be b*%tching if this was an American who argued with a cop in the UK? The concensus would be it was just another ugly, arrogant American with no respect for other countries and their people. But, apparently if it's an Englishman in America it must be someone else's fault.
 
hermanntrude

hermanntrude

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well it's bound to be america's fault, isnt it?

seriously though you might be right, although my scenario is more likely i think. Are there states where jaywalking isnt illegal? i honestly dont know. I can guarantee though that if i ever spend more than 45 minutes (my record) in the USA, i'll probably cross a road without thinking about it. crossing a road is an instinctive thing to do and we don't really think about it much. it's an ingrained response to a desire to be on the other side, not a planned expedition. Even the chicken would agree i think.
 
hermanntrude

hermanntrude

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lol gilbert u didnt have to change your avatar. Creepy is creepy. I can handle it. Although i have to say i approve of your union jack... what the hell's that stuff underneath though? <snigger>
 
AndyF

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He was targetted allright. Any NewYorker wouldn't bat an eye if someone was crossing the road or catching a bus, or weaving in and out of traffic. Wife and I did it many of times. Last was at times square at New Years. Saw a guy with a pizza over his head dodging cars while crossing, a woman with baby doing the same, a guy in a suit and briefcase running across diagonally to catch a cab, etc,etc. Not the safest thing in the world mind you, but not as earth shattering as the police make it out to be.

AndyF
 
L Gilbert

L Gilbert

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hermanntrude said:
lol gilbert u didnt have to change your avatar. Creepy is creepy. I can handle it. Although i have to say i approve of your union jack... what the hell's that stuff underneath though? <snigger>
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Not a biggie. I changed my avatar to Alfred when the line under my name became "ubergod" or something. Got lazy about changing it when the line changed. :) Put the BC flag up cuz it was the first avatar sized pic I had in "MyDocs".
 
T

tracy

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hermanntrude said:
well it's bound to be america's fault, isnt it?

seriously though you might be right, although my scenario is more likely i think. Are there states where jaywalking isnt illegal? i honestly dont know. I can guarantee though that if i ever spend more than 45 minutes (my record) in the USA, i'll probably cross a road without thinking about it. crossing a road is an instinctive thing to do and we don't really think about it much. it's an ingrained response to a desire to be on the other side, not a planned expedition. Even the chicken would agree i think.
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As far as I know it's illegal everywhere. I've done it. We've probably all done it. The difference is when a cop reminded me it was illegal I said "Oops, sorry" and walked to the light to cross. A friend of mine in Portland actually got a ticket for jaywalking on New Year's eve.
 
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T

tracy

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L Gilbert said:
Ah. So all the stories of false arrests and the Rodney King thing and the corruption in LA and the rest are all lies. I see.
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If this was truly police brutality then where is the lawsuit and follow up? This happened in broad daylight with plenty of witnesses.

It was in Atlanta btw.
 
EagleSmack

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tracy said:
Or Old Guy is a bit of an arrogant prick. He knows jaywalking is illegal (cause what sort of a moron doesn't?). He hears a cop's warning and just thinks he can ignore him because he's above it. When the cop gets more insistent with him, he gets pi$$ed because he is so fabulous he thinks "how dare this peon speak to me this way? I'm a British professor! I'm absolutely brilliant!". He gets beligerant, he is told he will be placed under arrest and he refuses to submit. Then extra help is called and the professor still refuses to submit and then fights with the officers.

He could have just said "Oh sorry I didn't realize that wasn't allowed here, I'm just visiting from England". Probably would have ended the meeting in a friendly manner, but that would have required him to be polite and that's apparently too much to expect. The fact that he didn't and the fact that he seems so proud of wrestling with police officers make me think he's just a complete a$$. Visitors to a country should have some manners. Can you imagine how they'd be b*%tching if this was an American who argued with a cop in the UK? The concensus would be it was just another ugly, arrogant American with no respect for other countries and their people. But, apparently if it's an Englishman in America it must be someone else's fault.
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Tracy... thank you. You saved me from typing all of this.

Even worse... can you imagine an "ugly American" mouthing of to the Mounties! It would be in the headlines for weeks up there.
 
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