Tamara Faye
From North County (Grant Writer)
It was really embarrassing. I went camping with a bunch of people, back when I was in college. And they were creating such a ruckus. They were singing, yelling loudly around the campfire, and even banging trash can lids together. So, all the campers around that area called the police. They didn’t show up until the morning, though, and all the people that were drunk and loud had left. I was with my boyfriend in a sleeping bag. We wake up and we’re lying there naked, and cops and rangers are standing there with flashlights, telling us to get up. It was really awkward.
Diane Bosley
From Encinitas (Writer)
I have a few; one time circling Old Town looking for my son. He wasn’t answering his cell phone. Cops came over, yelling about me not seeing a stop sign. Once, when I was a flight attendant for Donald Trump, I got a call to work. I was six months pregnant and almost ready to go on leave. This was in Alexandria, on a Sunday morning. There was a car in the turn lane at a light, and I went around them, into the right-turn lane. The cop pulled me over and started yelling, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” He lectured me before giving me the ticket, and I saw the date to appear in court was my due date. I cried and tried to explain that, and he snapped, “Don’t get irate with me, lady!” And, there were no other people on the road.
Don Atello
From Carlsbad (Accountant)
I was 15 and a passenger in my buddies’ Datsun B210. We had been drinking beer, which he had rolling around in his trunk for a few months. We decided to look for a party around our neighborhood. We accelerated around a corner where the party was, and it was being broken up by the police. We were forced to pull over, and my friend was given a DUI test, which he passed. They were upset he passed. The police asked him to get out of the vehicle again and then cuffed him. They then asked me to get out of the vehicle, slammed my head against the hood of the car, and slapped cuffs on me. We were shoved into the squad car. When asked what we were being arrested for, he said curfew, which was 11 p.m. and it was around midnight. Someone that evening had been driving on people’s lawns. They assumed it was us. I think because we were white.
Javed Dakama
From Boston (Pediatric Allergist)
I was young and still going to medical school. I had heard that a cop doesn’t have the right to search you, and you can refuse to let them search your car. You always hear things and just assume they’re true. I got pulled over. The cop was doing what they all do, acting like a tough guy and I should be scared and kiss his butt. Sure, I was speeding, but just give me the ticket. He said he smelled smoke and asked if I had marijuana. I said no, of course. I really didn’t. He asked if he could search my car. I said something like, “No. And you don’t have probable cause.” I think that got him mad. He called another officer that brought out a dog to sniff around the car. It was a wasted hour, and they ended up searching my car. I think all they found was a dirty roll of Certs on the side of my seat.
Linda Brown
From Clairemont (Unemployed)
I was with a friend. This was back in Mississippi. And they knew this cop. We called him and he came over, and I asked him to cuff me. I wanted to see what it was like. After he did that, he couldn’t find the key. I had to go back with him, in his car, while he drove back to his place to find the thing. I guess it could’ve been worse, since I was handcuffed for pleasure, not for doing something wrong.
Portia Smith
From North Park (Consultant)
It was a time I was driving in P.B. This cop pulls me over and tried to give me a DUI. I told him I wasn’t drinking. He gave me a field sobriety test and said I failed it, which was a lie. I totally passed it with flying colors. He then made me blow into that thing. It said something like 0.00. He then said he was sorry, even though I was sitting in the back of his patrol car for, like, two hours while he did all this paperwork. And because of that, I’ve never been back to P.B.