Stopped by the Cops
This evening, I got stopped by the cops. My family and I were rounding PJ Old Town in search for a house to rent. This has been my daily activity in the past few weeks. We're looking for a single-storey terrace, something easy for my mom to move around in due to her recent stroke.
So we turned into this lane, and the cops moving in my opposite direction made a U-turn and tailed us. Honking twice, I thought I was in their way for an emergency. As their honks grew more and more urgent, I made a left turn, only to watch them follow me. I pulled over. They approached my car. Two middle-aged cops checked the car and wanted to view my I.C. and Driver's license. I'm allergic to bogus cops. So, I demanded their Identity first. Hastily, he showed me his I.D. no., name tag and registration card - He was a genuine cop, but wasn't an inspector (Blue card: Inspector and above, Yellow: Below inspector and White: Police reserve).
Regretfully, I was abrupt responding to some of his questions/statements. He asked for all our identities, but in the end only saw mine. I asked what their reason for stopping us was. Apparently, some one 'radio-ed' their patrol car to check ours since we'd been rounding the area. (Bravo to civic-conscious citizens) In the course of discussion, he mentioned that we weren't allowed to request for their identities (absolute bull! Check the Police Red Book). He deduced that I was probably a law student. [Hmm.. maybe I should do law some day.]
Getting stopped by the cops can feel like an embarrasing thing. And thus, make you feel defensive. As much as there are bogus cops out for a bribe, there are those who're responding to the call of duty. Nevertheless, as citizens we're called to do the right thing - clarify, verify and ratify any claim to an offence based on the law and moral judgement. The verse from the Bible that spoke out to me this evening was - be slow to anger, slow to speak but quick to listen. At the end of the day, if you're blameless there's nothing anyone can do to you.
Hmm... I wonder if I had shut up, whether I would have been asked for a bribe eventually . That would've been an interesting issue to grapple with.
****
Possible reasons why we were stopped:
1. I look like a terrorist (I knew I should've shaved for church yesterday)
2. My brother was in the car.
3. My mother's quadrapod (walker) looked like it had a built-in machine gun. The ones mafia's get for their birthdays.
4. The extra pair of BATA sandals in my car booth looked stolen.
5. The dead body in my car booth smelt suspicious.
So we turned into this lane, and the cops moving in my opposite direction made a U-turn and tailed us. Honking twice, I thought I was in their way for an emergency. As their honks grew more and more urgent, I made a left turn, only to watch them follow me. I pulled over. They approached my car. Two middle-aged cops checked the car and wanted to view my I.C. and Driver's license. I'm allergic to bogus cops. So, I demanded their Identity first. Hastily, he showed me his I.D. no., name tag and registration card - He was a genuine cop, but wasn't an inspector (Blue card: Inspector and above, Yellow: Below inspector and White: Police reserve).
Regretfully, I was abrupt responding to some of his questions/statements. He asked for all our identities, but in the end only saw mine. I asked what their reason for stopping us was. Apparently, some one 'radio-ed' their patrol car to check ours since we'd been rounding the area. (Bravo to civic-conscious citizens) In the course of discussion, he mentioned that we weren't allowed to request for their identities (absolute bull! Check the Police Red Book). He deduced that I was probably a law student. [Hmm.. maybe I should do law some day.]
Getting stopped by the cops can feel like an embarrasing thing. And thus, make you feel defensive. As much as there are bogus cops out for a bribe, there are those who're responding to the call of duty. Nevertheless, as citizens we're called to do the right thing - clarify, verify and ratify any claim to an offence based on the law and moral judgement. The verse from the Bible that spoke out to me this evening was - be slow to anger, slow to speak but quick to listen. At the end of the day, if you're blameless there's nothing anyone can do to you.
Hmm... I wonder if I had shut up, whether I would have been asked for a bribe eventually . That would've been an interesting issue to grapple with.
****
Possible reasons why we were stopped:
1. I look like a terrorist (I knew I should've shaved for church yesterday)
2. My brother was in the car.
3. My mother's quadrapod (walker) looked like it had a built-in machine gun. The ones mafia's get for their birthdays.
4. The extra pair of BATA sandals in my car booth looked stolen.
5. The dead body in my car booth smelt suspicious.
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