Picked on by cops

[freedom-wedge]

No as already mentioned several times this would only identify if it had already been reported, not if it is in progress or false plates etc.



No one said anything about being detained. I would imagine that the guy got pulled over and once he supplied his drivers license to confirm he was the registered owner (cops would have known this before pulling him over), they would've realised their mistake and sent him on his way. If the guy was detained for an unreasonable amount of time after confirming ID then yes harrassment would be valid but since this isn't mentioned in the original post I guess it didn't happen.

Both your points are valid, I did ask I think how long they chatted for, that was my concern and the manner with which they may have conducted themselves. After a certain amount of time you are being detained however.

[freedom-wedge]

Yeah its fair enough, but I think the cops should do their checks politely and dispense with the full attitude check.

It also wouldn't go astray for the officer to offer an apology along the lines of "our apologies, just wanted to make sure that it wasn't someone ELSE on YOUR bike", and maybe a little thanks from the member of the public like "hey thanks for watching out for my gear", because we really DO appreciate that. The problem is the full multi-car multi-cop shakedown followed by the full attitude check, tends to swing everyones' feelings in the wrong direction.

Maybe the fuzz should review their procedure there.

Steve

I think these are fair comments, anyone stopped for any reason should be presumed innocent, if its obvious that this ist the case then by all means turn up the attitude, the coppers need to be treating all interaction as a PR excersize no matter what, sadly they dont.

[Berries]

In London my brother was forever getting pulled over in his Cortina 1600E because it was "a black mans car" (their words) and he's white. This of course was on the surface wrong but their justification was for the right reasons (in their eyes). Annoying yes but wrong? I still can't decide.

Memories. I had a Mark 2 Cortina when I was learning to drive in Nottingham. Long story short, came to a roundabout in the centre of town on a Saturday night after being followed by a marked car for a while and heard sirens coming from every direction. Pulled over to let them past and ended up with a marked car pulling in front of me half on the footpath, a marked car right up the back of me and two bikes at the drivers door. They were mob handed because they thought we would do a runner, but we hadn't done anything wrong. I got a long talking to, mainly so the cops didn't look bad in front of the queue outside the cinema and all the other onlookers who came to have a look at the commotion. And I'm white, which is a rarity in Nottingham.

Re the OP. I can't see anything wrong with this. If the rider and bike don't appear to fit together it could well be stolen so it is good that it gets checked out. It could have been your bike that had been nicked.

[Big Dave]

Back in Sydney I had a neighbour and friend from the US.
Very black and very clever man. His first hand stories of the Police in the South were pretty scary.
'Ol Larry got hissself an eduction and got outta Ken Tucky, Dawg.'

[Coldrider]

What self respecting bike thief would be seen on one of these?

Has both gang colours.

[CookMySock]

the coppers need to be treating all interaction as a PR excersize no matter what, sadly they dont.

Well they are, but not the type you are suggesting. They are conducting a PR-exercise-gone-wrong type, and the outcome of that is abundantly clear.

Anyway, if we want to CHANGE it, we have to DO something ABOUT it. I have suggested in other threads a "thumbs down to bad policing" campaign, where the public directly shows (in the obvious way) just how much they dissapprove of poor policing methods. It needs to be in the media as well, so the police are told clearly EXACTLY what the problem is.

I would say the result of such a campaign will be swing one way or the other. Either they will outlaw the "thumbs down" sign to police, or they will change their behaviour. Either way, I bet it would happen rather quickly.


Steve

[BoristheBiter]

Well they are, but not the type you are suggesting. They are conducting a PR-exercise-gone-wrong type, and the outcome of that is abundantly clear.

Anyway, if we want to CHANGE it, we have to DO something ABOUT it. I have suggested in other threads a "thumbs down to bad policing" campaign, where the public directly shows (in the obvious way) just how much they dissapprove of poor policing methods. It needs to be in the media as well, so the police are told clearly EXACTLY what the problem is.

I would say the result of such a campaign will be swing one way or the other. Either they will outlaw the "thumbs down" sign to police, or they will change their behaviour. Either way, I bet it would happen rather quickly.


Steve

And it should be followed by a "thumbs down to bad ice cream making" campaign. Where the public directly shows just how much they dissapprove of poor ice cream making methods. It needs to be in the media as well, so the bad ice cream makers are told clearly EXACTLY what the problem is.
Snow freeze ice cream should be banned becuse its not ice cream.

[Ixion]

Is the instance of the OP bad policing though? It might be, or it might be very good proactive policing. It all depends on the cops atttude. So often that is the case.

[Pixie]

Cops are meant to do that. That's their job to be nosey.

Or......they could patrol crime ridden areas like the cop on TV last night.
...and is probably in the shit today for making the rest of the cops look bad