today I had a police car follow me for almost a mile. I live in a big city and am a white middle

[demtenjeep]

aged, middle class woman.

I wasn't doing anything wrong, I kept an eye on my speed and made sure to use all driving rules.

I am sure he was just behind me because of the route I was driving but I got super nervous. Maybe it was because of all that is going on. I actually turned a block earlier because I didn't want him following me any more.

I can only imagine what others are feeling.

[villager]

1. I'm a middle aged white guy, but in my slightly "edgier" previous neighborhood, LAPD was "chumming"

...all the time, not really interested in keeping people "safe," but rather, at opportunities to pull people over, go on fishing expeditions and hopefully (from their standpoint) turn small infractions into larger ones.

If I saw them "chumming" near me, I'd take a different route.

[brush]

13. Yep! Many cops nowadays are predators looking (chumming) for prey.

That's what happened to Sandra Bland.

[Boxerfan]

2. I know the feeling & despite being sure I have done nothing wrong I get nervous

And I'm driving a old VW bus and do not even have a tan.

But swear to whatever the police are thugs in my mind & I can not imagine the terror seen daily by their abuses.

Seems they feel they have a free reign to just be abusive & justify it later. Kill someone-especially a minority?-odds are nothing will ever happen.

Sad days & they have generated such animosity with the general public they have made us all afraid for our lives-Just by being in their vision.

[Journeyman]

3. Had you "Almost Cut Your Hair" the other day? . . .

[center]Must be because I had the flu for Christmas and I'm not feeling up to par.
It increases my paranoia, like looking at my mirror and seeing a police car.
[/center]

Crosby Stills and Nash: Deja Vu -- "Almost Cut My Hair"

Feelings decades on decades old. Just keep "flying your freak flag high"!

[99th_Monkey]

4. This is what fascism looks like

The Officials, a) pick out a minority, b) brutally target them publicly
c) .. to the point of killing many of "them" .. d) scar the populus shitless,
so every time we see a cop, we are terrorized into being beside ourselves
with fear.

It kind worked for Hitler, until it didn't.

[Demit]

11. "Pour Encourager Les Autres."

For the encouragement of the others.

[olddots]

5. In L.A. the police motto is " To harass and annoy "

At one time they said it was to serve and protect but that was a lie .

[Skittles]

6. I work nights and generally always stay up all night

it is common for me to be followed for a while by cops when I am out and about

[RKP5637]

7. I've turned off before because I didn't like a cop(s) that seemed to be following me. In one

place I lived the cops would pull over people not in late model cars driving at night. Cops give me the creeps! I don't trust most of them one bit.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. I've heard that driving older cars is a way to catch their attention. Sucks for the poor

[RKP5637]

10. I've had them come up behind me before and rev. their engines, riding my bumper, trying

to incite something. Some cops are absolute assholes and are unfit to serve. Often they don't get weeded out because their superiors are just as bad. I know there are far worse places than the US, way worse, but a lot of it in the US really sucks. As one of my friends used to say, in the US if you have money you do as you fucken please.

[Cleita]

8. After I got a traffic ticket recently, I've really learned the routes they

patrol and take alternate routes instead. I can't really afford what those cost on a fixed income.

[Snobblevitch]

12. I know a guy who was driving after 10pm

with two of his sons and two of their friends. They were driving home after a sporting event. There was a burned out headlight that was not noticed until after they started for home that night. He was pulled over and the cop asked to see DL, registration, and proof of insurance. It was a Friday night and since the missing headlight was probable cause, the stop was made. The cop asked if he had anything to drink that evening, he had not. The driver told the officer the headlight just burned out and that he would get it replaced the next day. He went on his way. Ten minutes later and almost home, he was pulled over a second time. The boys in the car were laughing hysterically. The cop had a funny look and ecause of the laughter. The driver explained this was the second stop in ten minutes and that the headlight would be replaced. The other reason for the laughter is because the driver was himself, a police officer (but neither of the cops ever knew that).