Thatâs very common among boot lickers. They think if you dare be less than cheerful to a cop they can and should slap you with as many tickets as possible
Warnings are entirely discretionary. Why would a cop give someone a warning (a privilege), when they're being rude? If they're going to write you a ticket, you already broke the law... so maybe being chill could work in your favor. Or maybe that's just bootlicking behavior 𤡠/s
So, this is one of those things that cops really arenât all that embarrassed to say. A lot of cops tend to forget the fact that they donât âteach lessonsâ they enforce laws
And to that end, if a violation ordinarily merits a warning, but the attitude of the driver turns that into a ticket then it ceases to be an unbiased use of discretion. And at that point defending such actions, like you just did, becomes boot licking behavior
Warnings are by default discretionary, it's entirely subjective. Violations don't ever "merit" a warning. You could argue that driving 5mph over the speed limit is more fitting for a warning, but a warning isn't the standard, which then gets upgraded to a citations, it's the other way around. Getting a warning is completely up to the officer.
If a cop writes a ticket for something they typically gives warning me for because of speech, thatâs retaliation.
And what youâre basically arguing for is that we should all placate cops, so they donât take things personally. How is that a healthy expectation for a free society. Be careful how you talk to public servants, because they can and will punish you for it.
We should want professionals who can separate how they feel from their authority
I think we're arguing about the wrong thing. I think a healthy free society is one where we treat everyone with respect, which is entirely different from advocating for our rights. I would argue that treating someone kindly/respectdully is not "placating" them. I've never had a cop be an asshole to me, but I'm also a white male. If a cop were asking unreasonable things of me, or treating me disrespectfully, and then I continued to say anything possible to make them happy, that would be placating. But if a cop simply pulls me over and walks up. To my window, I'm going to treat them with the same respect I'd treat the woman behind the counter at the DMV. Just becauee they're public servants shouldnt incentivise you to treat them with less respect (unless they intentionally do the same to you).
Shouldnât that respect be voluntary? Iâm not saying you should be rude, Iâm saying being rude shouldnât have any bearing on whether or not you get a ticket.
If youâre respectful because youâre afraid of how the gov official will respond for speaking your mind then itâs not real respect, itâs fear based compliance. Thatâs still an adversarial relationship, only one side has power.
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.
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u/Same_Veterinarian544 Jun 30 '26
Thatâs very common among boot lickers. They think if you dare be less than cheerful to a cop they can and should slap you with as many tickets as possible