Badge = Powertrip

So I have to share what happened this morning on my way to work. First I should say that I'm from WV where brake-checking is common when someone is crowding your personal space. Anyway, I'm making my way up Washington Blvd. in Arlington and getting ready to turn onto Clarendon Blvd. when out of nowhere comes this black 3 series BMW with Florida tags. Just politely whip in front of me as I'm turning. This of course offends my sense of fairness and warrants a mild, but snotty reaction, but I resist the urge to honk and make a fool of myself. The music is good and the windows are down, so I'm in a good mood and decide just to hastily pass the guy.

Well he took this as a challenge and decided to jump into my lane and get right up on my bumper. I couldn't see any part of his hood in my rearview, so I did what any self-respectin' West Virginian would do. BRAKE CHECK!!! This must have caught him off guard since I heard the glorious sound of his tires screeching to avoid creating an abomination with an EP3 front and BMW backside. Feeling somewhat satisfied with my successful maneuver and the traditional middle finger follow-up, I motored on down Clarendon Blvd. He kept his distance after that, but attempted to pass me in the median on the right side. This sort of aggression is the sign of an unstable mind, so I cut the shenanigans and just tried to ignore him. Up to this point it was a normal occurrence of DC road rage, but then it got interesting.

So I'm stopped at a light in the Courthouse area and he's a car back and in the other lane. I glanced back to see where he was when I see him get out of his car and start walking toward me. I'm mentally preparing for a fight or to just floor it through the intersection and make a clean get-away. As he approaches the car, he pulls out a black leather billfold and flashes a little silver shield at me. The following is the dialog from this point...

BMW: I'm going to need you to pull over.
Me: Under what authority?
BMW: I'm an Federal Agent.
Me: Yeah, right. In a BMW with Florida tags? Have a nice day sir.
BMW: I'm writing down your tags.

Light changes and we wind up next to each other. He rolls down the window...

BMW: You have two choices. Either pull over or I'm going to report your tags.
Me: Well make sure you write it down correctly.

Light changes and he turns left. I keep going on to the office.

A while back another guy tried to steal a parking space from me and then told me, after words were exchanged, "I'm reporting you. You never know who your messing with. I'm a Federal Agent."

What's with the power trips guys? I thought they screened these guys better than this. How would they hold up under interrogation if they can't act civil in traffic?

thats why i hate most cops. MOST COPS not all. i was in a parking lot and this nissan titan backs out of a parking space and nearly hits me so i lay on my horn. he gets out makes a hand motion and a cop walks out of a bar and then the guy shows his undercover badge. i said but he almost hit me!?!?!? their response was do you want me to take you in boy? FUCK PIGS!!!!

now on the other hand there are some, VERY FEW THOUGH, cool cops. mainly the one that clocked me at double the posted speed limit and let me go with a verbal warning. actually there's been more than one, i can think of 3. lol.

Well, if he does "report you" ha ha, its not like they send the
swat team out. There would be a chance to tell your side
of the story, which is basically - I drive like an adult, he
drives like a 12 year old playing GTA.

I'm not saying you should do this at all. I'm speaking in general.
But a BMW can only run about 15 seconds with the radiator shot out
and not seize the engine. Just food for thought.

What a way to start the day......

"Federal Agent" if he was one very different that a cop.
They all have MS and PHDs in "as shole".

The good news, for you, he drives like that every day,
and pisses off 10 people, every day, and he's already
forgotten about you (meaning, he's not going to show up
at your house whether he has your tag or not)

lol ya dont worry about getting reported, if i had a nickel for every time ive been reported id be a rich man. just do what i do and downshift. lol. out run them. i outran about 10 cops one night, lol. suprised me the crx could pull it off.

I take it all in stride. Makes for good stories though. I'm not sure what he could report me for. I actually didn't break any laws and he has zero jurisdiction. What concerns me is what could have happened if I believed him and pulled over. What would have been his next move?

I'm not trying to bash cops at all. I've had experiences with both good and bad cops. More often than not, I'm in the wrong and they are kind enough to let me off with a warning. Lucky I guess. Neither of the experiences I described involved traffic officers. I think I might make one of those "thin blue line" stickers for my car though. On my blue EP it will look like an equals sign.

i got taken to jail one night for askin a cop what he was doin. no shit. he drove by, i said hey, what you doin(its a thing me and my friends used to say to eachother) and he got out of his car slammed me on the hood proceeded to search without consent. thought i had drugs in a pouch and told me i was going to jail until he realized what a moron he was because it was what i kept my money in. he said if you even look at me your goin to jail, i look away and he walks in front of me and then freaks out and slams me on the car again. went to internal affairs and the video "dissapeared". case got dropped lack of evidence.

Sounds like you should just stay away from cops.

Well I dont know how long you have been living here man but not many other people have this problem we have. We have federal, state, local, special, secret, undercover, park, and even campus police... besides all the other bunch of government jackasses. You will get used to it and to recognize them even if they are driving out of state cars. You are lucky you are not black or Latino man. Around here they cross state lines and shoot people while off duty and in civilian clothes and still get away with it. Man the power of being WHITE. you guys have the luxury or being free to face the law in a one to one basis. We are more like "MR pig has the rights I got the right to remind silent".

Oh thank God... There are still people in this country who don't blindly do what someone says just because they flash a 'badge'.

If he was a real agent, I doubt he has the authority to play traffic cop and was just trying to scare you to save face because you got the best of him and his ignorant driving. Or it may not have even been a real badge!

Don't think for a second that I take my racial good fortune for granted when it comes to matters of the law. I'd like to think that we are all treated equally, but I've heard too many stories to the contrary from close friends and associates. You should just carry a token white guy in the car for emergencies.

But I've been in this area since 1998 and I'm pretty used to the law. I'm really just glad I don't live in Fairfax County anymore. I swear they have more cops than civilians and they all have an asshole quota. I got pulled over by two different cops for those little windshield wiper lights (installed by the previous owner) within 5 miles of each other. One of them actually gave me a ticket for it!

DC city cops are the best (for my skin color anyway). They have much bigger fish to fry than aggressive driving. I've sped past them on numerous occasions and all I got were dirty looks. I may have just been lucky though.

Oh please emphasize on the being white part. What do you mean? The power of being white?

They just arrested a 25 year old here in Colorado for impersonating a police officer. He pulls over what he thinks is just some guy, and when he walks up to the window, he sees he has just pulled over a real police officer on his way to work!

What a dumb ass.

But seriously, there are two kinds of people who become cops. People who genuinely want to make a difference (most of them in my opinion), and the people who become police officers because there afraid NOT to be one (those are the ones you need to watch out for).

Cops have a dirty job to do, and they are not paid shit to do it. If you have a problem with the fuzz, call your local station, and participate in a "ride along" one night. It'll change your view. You will also make a handy friend in the process.

David

Federal Agent huh!

Well, flash this in HIS face;

badge

Tonite my wife asks me to run up to the local Homeland (doubles as a kids hang out on Fri. and Sat. night while cruising)to pick up some asprin. No biggie I run out jump in the rex flip on my lil green neon light i have behind my grille (ricer I know but i like it) and off i go. Get two blocks away stop at a stop sign and notice an officer pulling up as i pull away. He starts to go gets half way through the intersection and cuts the wheels and starts to follow me (I notice he didnt use his turn signal too). I get irratated, I am perfectly legal, So i do the speed limit and pull into the parking lot a few blocks away and grab a spot. He just stops in the street. I get out he notices I am an adult and not a kid and then pulls past me and starts to harass the few teenagers that are sittin in the parking lot. Couple of them were having a problem with their cars and their friends were helping out. He rudely tells them to hurry up and leave....Does a full circle around all the cars and leaves. Got to talking to the kids to see if i could lend assistance and they all said he has been a jerk all night. While we do have a few good police officers here in my town a few are just plain Jerks and can take a long walk off a short peir.