[Superman]

I regret the digression. Didn't mean to hijack this.

On those rare occasions when I have an opportunity to speak to the folks in Blue, I am enormously respectful and cooperative......to a point. Indeed, I have walked up to State Troopers out of the blue to tell them how professional I notice Troopers are, and how much we appreciate their service to the community. No kidding. I really think that.

Anyway, when the police person walks up to the car, my window will be rolled down and my hands will both be on the steering wheel. I'll offer whatever paperwork they request. Then of course, the trick questions begin. "Do you know why I stopped you?" "Do you know how fast you are going?" "Have you stopped beating your wife?" The answers are "No," "Yes" and "No."

I have not been placed in a situation where a police officer asks me whether I have his permission to search my vehicle. I almost certainly would refuse. But....I look like a 49 year-old Altar Boy.

In fact, if the officer starts going down the road of harrassing me, I will become less and less cooperative. Not antagonistic or disrespectful, but not cooperative. Naive. Ignorant. I would answer his harrassment questions by saying I do not know what my rights are, and will respond to his requests after I have gotten advice as to what they are. If he tries to pretend to be my attorney and interpret the law for me, I will thank him but decline.

I might at some point tell him I believe I have broken no laws and that I should be on my way. But ultimately, if he wants to arrest me, I'll go along peacefully. And continue to reject requests until I have received legal advice. I happen to know that attorneys and judges prefer that motorists and policemen refrain from practicing law or offering legal advice. In other words, I think the strategy described above, in court, would seem at least somewhat reasonable. And......getting me there will not be fun and easy for the policeman.

It's like parking your bicycle next to another bicycle that's much nicer than yours. Also, some police guys are just uniformed bullies. I've dealt with bullies before, and they don't have the stomach for a fight. They greatly prefer hastling people who roll over.