During the formative years of my driving career the guys piloting the cars with flashing lights on top were called “Peace Officers”. You could have rational conversations with them.
I, in fact, had a large number of those conversations, resulting in very little paperwork. I got out of my car carrying registration and DRAWING my license out of my hip pocket to met them between our cars to calmly, politely discuss “why they pulled me over”.
Their line of work did not seem to attract or tolerate fearful people hiding behind badges, guns and mobs of similar dangerous people.
That is not to say all cops are dangerous, but calling themselves “Law Enforcement” is a really bad start when you consider the nature of the people writing laws today. Enforcers are NOT something we should allow their kind to have on payroll.
“Officer safety is Job One” is another discomforting phrase they share among themselves. Old-school peace officers had it the other way around, often calling themselves “Public Safety Workers” I find that preferable… by A LOT.
Once in a 5,000-pound ’62 Cadillac with crappy brakes, then twice each it’s polar opposites a ’66 Porsche 912 and a ’56 Porsche Speedster I suspected the ensuing conversation was not destined to please me, so I chose to not be there for it. While I certainly do not recommend it, deciding against pulling over is much more rational in today’s environment than it was then.
It is the “LEOs” themselves who make these encounters dangerous for both employer and employee. Until they change their culture and the direction it is heading, theirs will be an increasingly dangerous line of work for us all.
