To Serve And Protect

So, I got pulled over by a Westchester County policeman this morning.

I was taking a group of students and faculty to JFK, departing at 5:30AM, for a flight to the Dominican Republic where they volunteer at an orphanage.  As the red and blue lights flashed, all I could think was "No good deed goes unpunished..."

The cop had been travelling at about 50-52 MPH in a 55 zone on the Hutchinson Parkway.  A group of cars snaked past him at 55, myself included.  He pulled out behind me and followed me for a while.  I kept it - pretty sure - between 55 and 60.  As we got near the 684 connection, I sped up to 65 with the rest of the traffic, and he pulled me over.

I did my best, "Aw shucks, office, I sure am sorry" all the while being glad that I'm a middle aged white man.  He let me off with a warning, which is good, because my Commercial Driver's License might not have tolerated a speeding violation.

But what was amazing was how incredibly belligerent the officer was.  He was basically screaming at me, impugning my intelligence, questioning my driving skills.

I haven't been in an accident or had a speeding ticket since my 20s.  I can drive a little fast at times, I admit it.  I stay as much as possible within 10 miles of the speed limit, since that's the rule of thumb to avoid tickets.  I was easily within 10 MPH of the limit when he was behind me.

For this I got treated like I was child molester.  Maybe his plan was always to warn me, and therefore he went with the "scare" option.  If I'm being charitable, I can give him that.  I was driving a little too fast, it was raining.  He wanted to scare me.

However, if I'm being objective, he was just being a colossal dick.  He had the power to give me a ticket, I was rolling over on my metaphorical back like a puppy, so he screamed at me for a few minutes and then pulled off.

As I've said, I've gotten tickets before in my teens and twenties.  Invariably, I was going far too fast.  And in those incidents, including going 83 in a 55 when I was 17, the officer treated me better than this guy today.  And as I said, I'm a middle class, middle aged white guy driving a Suburban on the Hutch.

Cops have become a nation unto themselves.