Have you ever actually had a run-in with members of a gang? The idea that you'd equate incivility to gang behavior suggests that you probably haven't.
Incivility and even hostility is an unfortunate fact of life when dealing with urban police. You might just as productively complain about the weather. Or, if you're of a mind to see the other sides of issues, read a couple police blogs to get a feel for the shit city cops have to deal with.
They are, to be sure, authoritarians. The people that tend to post on HN, myself included, are not wired to be particularly tolerant of authoritarian behaviors. But they are not intrinsically bad people. They're doing an important and very difficult job, often under shockingly bad circumstances.
At the very least, try to remind yourself that when dealing with the police, you can get 1000x more power and control over the situation by being polite and (at least superficially) compliant than you can by being firm and unyielding. It is rare for people to be polite during police confrontations. Belligerent? All the time. Terrified? Sure. Calm and polite? Almost never. There's an exploitable vulnerability in police ability to handle calm, polite behavior.
Incivility and even hostility is an unfortunate fact of life when dealing with urban police. You might just as productively complain about the weather. Or, if you're of a mind to see the other sides of issues, read a couple police blogs to get a feel for the shit city cops have to deal with.
They are, to be sure, authoritarians. The people that tend to post on HN, myself included, are not wired to be particularly tolerant of authoritarian behaviors. But they are not intrinsically bad people. They're doing an important and very difficult job, often under shockingly bad circumstances.
At the very least, try to remind yourself that when dealing with the police, you can get 1000x more power and control over the situation by being polite and (at least superficially) compliant than you can by being firm and unyielding. It is rare for people to be polite during police confrontations. Belligerent? All the time. Terrified? Sure. Calm and polite? Almost never. There's an exploitable vulnerability in police ability to handle calm, polite behavior.