Re: Supreme Court Ruling -Reply

[Linus Toy <linust@mindspring.com>]

I leave town for a few days, and you guys just ... i mean, we don't hear boo
from Unka' Bart for weeks, then twice in a couple days--wow! 

couldn't leave this one alone for some reason. 

At 03:10 PM 2/21/97 +1000, Andrew Fletcher wrote:
>Very interesting. Here in Oz it seems to be common to pull over when
>instructed, the driver exits the vehicle and generally stands beside it and
>waits for the police to come over.
My cousin is a Seattle cop;  used to drive a 5.0L Rustang on DWI patrol.  On
another assignment, he relates a story about a Southern (US state) trooper
riding along with him one night, observing our version of law enforcement.
Key distinction:  In his Southern state, the troopers *expect* someone they
stop to step out and stand next to their car with license and registration
in hand before the trooper gets out.  Oh yeah, don't forget to say "Sir"
when talking to him, either.  A few of his other stories, meeting some of
his colleagues, and even his attitude give me reason to wonder sometimes
about the power we give to police.  Suffice to say, even with a reasonably
educated police force (college degree unofficially required to get on to
SPD) there's still some scary cops out here.  

Someone else wrote that they are not likely to be stopped at random by the
cops.  Maybe true--many of us on this list probably fall into this
category--I sense this group (in the US) is primarily White or Asian (me)
and live in a middle-class or better neighborhood.  Even growing up near
"problem" neighborhoods, it's easy to miss the issues they face (i did).
Not many of us can really relate to being a black teenager in a late model
car going through a nicer part of town and getting stopped at random.
Oops--that's Captain ---'s daughter.  Made the front page of the Seattle
newspapers a few years ago.  

2 pennies.
--Linus
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* linus toy                       email:  linust@mindspring.com      *
* mercer island, wa                                                  *
*                                                                    *
*             The obscure we eventually see,                         *
*             the completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.        *
*                               - Edward R. Murrow                   *
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