TomLee

iTrader: (3)

I have never had a cop issue. I respect "authority" if you will. I plan on being an officer in the Air Force. But tonight was just ridiculous.

Location: Riverside, Ca
My Offense: Parking over 18" from the curb - $25
Other Offenses: 5+ parking violations for other cars, friends arrested.

To start off, my friend was arrested tonight. For having alcohol in his system or something and being a minor, even though he was in his own house. To a point that is legally justifiable, but if you hear me explain this situation your gonna think this is ridiculous. My friend never put up a fight with the police. when the cops asked him to kick people out, he did. He didn't force the people who had already consumed alcohol to leave. Around 10 people left and the cops weren't satisfied. They stayed around for at least an hour, citing every car around the house for anything they could. My friend parked on a white curb, and got a ticket for being within 15 feet of a fire hydrant. The fire hydrant was literally behind a electrical box and a mailbox. At most he was 13 feet from the fire hydrant. He was literally parked as far as possible from the fire hydrant as possible.

My car...I was on the second floor of he house watching my car, as 8 cops. YES EIGHT, hung out around my car, flashed their lights in and around my car for 30 MINUTES. For WHAT FREAKEN REASON? They found nothing and cite me for parking to far away from the curb, on a residential street that is like 40 feet wide. It's not that I can't pay $25, but that is just dumb.


Let me also say the house the party was in had around 30 people. This house was literally sound proof. Drunk people drove home tonight because the police gave them no choice. I have never had this happen. I have been to alot of crazy parties, and cops have never done stuff like this.

I got more to add later I guess, but this im too fumed to write.

/End Rant

eliteskill

iTrader: (8)

sounds like typical cops to me =( sorry for your friend getting arrested that almost happend to me once when i was drunk at 18.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

A couple of tidbits that I'll add:

Riverside police is notorious for being hard-asses. It's the County D.A. that is utilizing utmost force, encouraging police to be stern, and encouraging the judicial system to prosecute at the highest possible way. Police is following D.A. orders -- Riverside County will fine and prosecute to the max. It's been like this for years for every possible case scenario. (This is why I stay away from Riverside whenever I can.)

Second, police forcing drunk people to leave is Entrapment. As soon as they leave the house, police can follow them for drunk driving or public intoxication. They can't force anyone to leave a private home. Next time, offer your guests to sleep at the house, or call a taxi for anyone that wants to leave.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i agree with phil, i don't see how they can force drunk people to drive. they can urge to have someone not drunk as driver, but they can't force people to leave a private residence

4ntvings

iTrader: (6)

1. i heard somewhere that riverside county has a tough mayor who is cracking down on crime, like no tomorrow.
2. citations: these are tough times for many US cities. it really sounds like it comes down to economics. the police may be influenced to help produce revenue for the city
3. entrapment: gotta agree with Phil.
4. forcing house guests to leave may draw different views
a. dwelling max capacity vs safety
b. disturbing the peace (for those surrounding neighbors)
c. again the debate of those intoxicated and 'forced' to leave

i hope this incident doesnt deter your plans on being an AF officer. instead, maybe it will inspire you to do better than those you have seen as described. we are dealt many cards in life, what you do with them is what defines you.

vietunit

iTrader: (5)

Ugh, I always hear so much stuff about riverside cops, sucks that they treated you and your friends like that.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

District Attorney.

He represents law enforcement for the whole county of Riverside.

It goes beyond a police issue. This guy has his hands on lawmakers, the police, court system, jail system, fees and fines, etc...

bnizzle87

its really unfortunate what happened to you and your friends. Phil's entrapment comment really made sense. They couldve easily been pulled over after they were allowed to leave the part and drive while intoxicated. ive always known riverside to be more on the strict side when it comes to abiding by the law. in these tough times, as 4ntvings said, it could be an economical move. more cops are giving out tickets in the past six or so months simply because theres no revenue coming in for the cities. but what id like to know is that how did the cops find out about the party with the minor drinking in the first place.

Initial_K

iTrader: (2)

I've been to a couple of riverside house party in my college days. Everytime a cop would stop by when other people complain about the noise.

TomLee

iTrader: (3)

I understand the Entrapment deal, but is sooo messed up. i hate to see people drive drunk...and I guess they would rather have drunk people driving then to just pour out he alch and fine people and let them stay, which would be more reasonable imo.

I dont know how they found out about the party? It was soooo quiet.

All i want to know is why they ere checking out my car for so long. Obviously it is sexy...but come on. Haha I thought I was getting a ticket for illegal suspension/no front plate/ exhaust, but i get a parking from curb ticket instead? Wtf?

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

If you really want to mess around with the police, ask for a public lawyer. That stops EVERYTHING. The police will need a warrant to search your car (with probable cause), and that will take an hour or so.

As soon as you say it, it will take an hour or two for a public lawyer to arrive. The cops would then just sit there, or choose to forget about the ordeal and leave if they want. If they stay, they have to wait for the lawyer to come and describe to you your rights and what the cops can/can't do.

By the time the public lawyer gets there, the cops will most likely be pissed. However, they can't do anything but give out tickets. If you're clean, they just wasted their time and energy on a dead duck.

Only use this at your discretion. Remember, you're gonna **** off cops. It may backfire if you have some skeletons in the closet...

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

RPD, which is in basically all of riverside aside from the UCR area (which is a combo force of RPD/UCPD) is notorious for not taking any crap, and on occasion getting on people for partying. there is quite a lot of drug trafficking in Riverside as a whole, especially in some of the more destitute portions of the city and county. For this reason RPD vets are often times really jumpy, and tend to suspect the worst in people as it tends to keep them alive. do i agree with that? no, but it's nor my call. the cops you got dealt were probably worse than most in the area. i've dealt with my fair share of both RPD and UCPD (i go to UCR but spend a decent bit of time all around the area) and MOST of them are pretty good guys, wanting to clean up the area as best they can and then go home at the end of their shifts.

that being said, there are always some, possibly such as those you described, which just power trip, and give the rest a bad name.

Reference: UCR student, 3rd year.

TomLee

iTrader: (3)

Haha yeah, my friends go to UCR, I don't, and thy have never had this happen.



Phil, I wasn't by my car, nor did they know it was my car. They were just window searching my car for that long. I mean even if i had packs of white powder laying around, a bunch of oregano, and guns, what could they do? Break into my car?


Anyways they let my freind go this morning. He said he was taken into custody because he was drunk in public....when they arrested him in his drive way. He was only on the drive way because the cops told him to come here. Sneaky bastards.

Lazy

iTrader: (2)

Yeah RPD sucks ***.. Could of been worse.. They take one person to show that they are not messing around and want the party to stop right away. Whoever the cops talk to usually gets it.. Owner of the house could of got the 1000 dollar fine as well. They don't force anyone to leave just say they want everyone to leave.. The cops over there don't really target college parties as much as trying to crack down on the drug dealers. It has happened a few times to my friends in riverside as well.. **** sucks -_- you can fight your ticket and probably win. Do a trail by declaration n fill out the papers. More than half the time cops are too lazy and have too much **** to do so they don't fill it out

Nohawk Lex

iTrader: (5)

It always upsets me when I hear people talk about cops handing more tickets nowadays to add revenue for the state. IT IS NOT OUR FAULT THE STATE RAN OUT OF MONEY!!! Why the hell are they milking us for it? Now, the state is also adding speed sensors to all the traffic lights equipped with red light cameras. So soon enough, it's either you get a ticket for speeding or both speeding and beating the red light. Maybe instead of gouging us, they can put our budget to better use....Sorry for the rant.