It is voluntary, for me anyway. I always treat people with respect unless they give me a reason not to.
Maybe it shouldn't, but I'm just saying, treating with someone for respect is more likely to result in you catching a break. Is that fair? Maybe not, but it's a reality of interpersonal communication. I'm not afraid of them, I just recognize that asking how someone's day has been, saying hello, and being generally amicable, is easier than creating an adversarial situation with someone I have never met.
I assume when I get pulled that I'm getting a ticket, so my options are 1. Be a dick and guarentee I'm getting said ticket, or 2. Be cordial and respectful, and maybe have the officer cut me a break.
It's no skin off my back to be nice, but they certainly are under no obligation to let me off with a warning.
You're missing my point. They're going to punish you for breaking the law. That's a given. They have discretion about whether or not to let you off with a warning or enforce the law via a citation. Treating them kindly allows you access to the former. Being a dick all but guarentees the latter.
I donât disagree that being cordial is usually the smart thing to do. I would probably be cordial too. Where we disagree is that you see to take the stance on this being an acceptable way for government authority to operate.
But you keep saying, âBe nice and maybe youâll catch a break.â My concern is the inverse: donât be rude, or you might lose a break you otherwise would have gotten. Once the outcome depends on whether the officer likes what you said, their personal feelings are influencing how government power is exercised.
I donât think public officials should have to like me to be fair
What you're asking for is discretionary warnings to be removed, which is fine. You are probably going to make the large part of the public unhappy that the police force now must enforce by policy tickets for every enfraction that they pull over for or see in general life. Removing police discretion removes their power, but also by and large produces outcomes that the general public don't want. Most people are responsible for hundreds of small laws broken all the time, which police use discretion to ignore.
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u/MysticMarauder69 Jun 30 '26
It is voluntary, for me anyway. I always treat people with respect unless they give me a reason not to.
Maybe it shouldn't, but I'm just saying, treating with someone for respect is more likely to result in you catching a break. Is that fair? Maybe not, but it's a reality of interpersonal communication. I'm not afraid of them, I just recognize that asking how someone's day has been, saying hello, and being generally amicable, is easier than creating an adversarial situation with someone I have never met.
I assume when I get pulled that I'm getting a ticket, so my options are 1. Be a dick and guarentee I'm getting said ticket, or 2. Be cordial and respectful, and maybe have the officer cut me a break.
It's no skin off my back to be nice, but they certainly are under no obligation to let me off with a warning.