[ipince]

I grew up in Venezuela. Most of what he says is true, except I'm not a drug-dealer, so I haven't been in many at-risk situations. I've either provided some "documentation" in cases in which my license or medical certification was expired, or I've taken the "confrontational" approach: provided valid real documentation and not letting myself be intimidated/harassed by them. I've done this in cities though, where the risk is much lower.

I hate being part of the corrupt system. I rather have them give me a ticket. Problem is, they don't want to give you a ticket. If they find something that they can hold you up for, they will try to get money out of you instead of arrest you. In the end, for practical reasons, it's better to just part with a few dollars.

In some cases, I've had to watch them as they "search" my car. You keep an eye on them as they do it so they don't plant drugs on you (they sometimes do).

Name-dropping is a common tactic too, but I've never used it myself. My friends have.