[trungonnews]

Santa Clara city has some racist cops. I was pulled over, accused of DUI, arrested, illegally searched my car, brought back to the station for a blood test. Blood test came back with zero alcohol in my body. They treated me like I was criminal, finger printed, mugshotted. After being held for two hours, I had to pay $300 to retrieve my car from the impound. I guess we still have a lot of bad cops in the Silicon Valley then we thought.

[Meegul]

How is it at all legal for the government to demand payment for something when you are not convicted of a crime? It's effectively a 100% discriminatory, corrupt, and unaccountable tax. Completely reprehensible.

[duaneb]

This isn't even the most absurd part about citizen/cop cash transactions: under civil forfeiture, they can take up to (iirc) $10,000 of your cash no justification or remediation path. Really, all they need is a traffic stop or a (suspect) smell of cannabis in the air.

[SwellJoe]

There is no such limit, in most jurisdictions, as far as I know...and, if you happen to be carrying a lot of cash, it is viewed as evidence of wrongdoing.

Hell, Oklahoma has begun using a device that allows them to take money from debit cards, as well.

My position on police has evolved over the years to the point where I don't even really believe in "good cops", anymore. The entire system seems built to excise honest cops and reward bullies; I can't name a single whistle-blower cop who has kept their job, while the crimes they documented have generally gone entirely unpunished and the perpetrators often remain on the police force.

The only reasonable path forward I see is tearing the whole damned system down and starting over, with a focus on prevention, rehabilitation over punishment, restitution when plausible, de-escalation rather than military style raids, and overall a lot better training in psychology and community policing and less training in how to kill and maim people.

[M_Grey]

Don't forget that the average victim of such a tax can ill afford it, and is the least likely to be able to make their voice heard.

...Which is why the system works the way it does in the first place.

[trungonnews]

I didn't pay the cop. I had to pay the towing company. The cop told the towing company to impound my car.

[Meegul]

That makes no difference in the end. The police caused you financial harm, with no restitution. They should be held liable for that under civil law.

[trungonnews]

Forgot to say that they also took away my driver license for a whole month. I wish I knew how I can get the tow fee reimbursed.

[markdown]

In my country we have a Small Claims Court for situations like this (under USD$2500), where you get to go before a judge and plead your case.

There are no lawyers involved and it costs nothing if you handle the entire case yourself or a small amount of money (that you can add to your claim) if you want to pay a bailiff to serve the papers to the defendant for you.

[AnimalMuppet]

Small claims court might be worth a look. I'm not sure if you can sue a city there, though.

[roflchoppa]

when i had to pay a ticket at the santa clara court house the cops there are a bunch of smart asses. Except for that black cop who was at the door, he was very helpful.

[trungonnews]

Agree, officers of color are usually nicer. The Asian cop who helped me retrieve the impound release paperwork was nice to me. Even waived the $100 paper work fee.

But I'm still pissed about the whole situation. Wasted three hours and $300 because of some cop decided to arrest a sober person to kill time rather than patrolling the street and catching the real criminals.

Edit: had to change colored to officers of color to be more PC.

[otterley]

I'm sure you didn't intend any offense, but for future reference, "colored" is considered archaic and borderline racial-epithet in the U.S. (I realize it's quite normal and non-offensive elsewhere.)

[trungonnews]

I didn't mean to offend. What word is more appropriate to describe cops who are not white?

[trungonnews]

I only learned English after 11 year old. What a confusing language... I thought you guys might know some fancy word, but you only switched the words around.

[SwellJoe]

Race relations are complicated in the US (and in most of the world). A term that wouldn't seem problematic can become problematic because of its historical context. That's the case with many racial epithets in English...words that seemingly have no negative connotation can take on negative connotation when used for a period of time to insult or separate people based on their race, religion, origin, gender, sexual or gender identity, etc.

No one blames you for not knowing; all you're responsible for is how you respond and correcting future usage. The appropriate response is something along the lines of, "I didn't know. I will say X in the future. Thanks for the heads up." And, if you haven't been told what a better option is, you can generally ask without causing upset.

[Broken_Hippo]

English is really confusing as a second language. To make it even more complicated, words with racial or other 'insults' change from place to place. Not only that, but the English that is standard through Europe (outside of the UK) is slightly different altogether - folks will be able to talk to other Europeans, but yet get lost when going to an English speaking country.

But no worries, honestly, except for this minor slip, you seem to be doing well.

[pessimizer]

If someone had made up a fancy word, would that have been better for you? Just accept what people want to be called. Calling black people in the US colored is fraught with problems; I'm sure you wouldn't go to Northern Ireland and call people Fenians.

[sfrailsdev]

Person of Color or POC. You might say, "Cops who are People of Color."

[beisner]

"Officers of color" is more palatable.

[roflchoppa]

i knew what you were saying. no harm intended <3

[roflchoppa]

What a complete waste of time, impound lots are even worse, i assume they did not give you an opportunity to call someone to get your car.

No breathalyzer on spot?