Thursday, July 27, 2006
Jerks in Uniform, Pasadena Police on the Rampage
I was not going to reveal the name of the town in which we are living, but due to circumstances, I must say something that needs to be said, whether any one is listening or not.
We live in Pasadena, Texas. It is one of those cities that borders Houston on the east side, and it sucks on an average basis. Lately it has begun to suck even worse. Let me explain.
Karim bought another car. He bought a '98 Mercedes S320 (or something like that). Black. It hasn't even got its license plates on it yet, and he has gotten two tickets already in the last two days. Yesterday he was pulled over for "failing to stop at a stop sign". The woman that he sold his old Mercedes to was in the car with him and they were on their way to her husband's store where it was parked. She was a witness to the fact that he stopped. Today, we were on our way back from Baytown where we had been helping the same lady with the car, and we had pulled onto a street from a freeway feeder road and drove happily onward for about a half mile when we were pulled over by a motorcycle cop. His excuse? Karim turned left from a straight lane. He claims that we were not in the left turn lane on the feeder road when we turned left. YES WE WERE, and I was witness to that. However, to make matters worse, I asked the policeman if the reason Karim is getting so many tickets is because it's the end of the month and the quota has to be filled. The officer didn't hear me. He didn't hear me three times, until I had to raise my voice. When he finally understood what I was asking, he got irate and said, "I was only going to give him a warning, but now I'm going to give him a ticket." Balderdash. He wanted to give him a ticket when he pulled himself out of the "barbecue" parking lot and followed us a mile down the road.
I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I have the suspicion that the officer was "not hearing" me so that I would raise my voice at him and so that he could use that against us in court (as if I were being belligerent). I also think that because it's a black Mercedes S320, it is targeted as a "money machine". I have further toyed with the thought that the second ticket is a result of the first ticket. When the first officer found out that Karim is an Arab with a Mercedes in Stinkydena--er, Pasadena--(which often means "drug car", but for an Arab probably gets profiled as "al-Qaida sympathizer)--word got around. I have the feeling this will not be the end of the tickets.
At any rate, Karim is getting himself a lawyer. He also has an outstanding ticket from a couple months ago with the old Mercedes where he ran a red light that he didn't run. He delayed the court on that and pleaded Not Guilty.
We live in Pasadena, Texas. It is one of those cities that borders Houston on the east side, and it sucks on an average basis. Lately it has begun to suck even worse. Let me explain.
Karim bought another car. He bought a '98 Mercedes S320 (or something like that). Black. It hasn't even got its license plates on it yet, and he has gotten two tickets already in the last two days. Yesterday he was pulled over for "failing to stop at a stop sign". The woman that he sold his old Mercedes to was in the car with him and they were on their way to her husband's store where it was parked. She was a witness to the fact that he stopped. Today, we were on our way back from Baytown where we had been helping the same lady with the car, and we had pulled onto a street from a freeway feeder road and drove happily onward for about a half mile when we were pulled over by a motorcycle cop. His excuse? Karim turned left from a straight lane. He claims that we were not in the left turn lane on the feeder road when we turned left. YES WE WERE, and I was witness to that. However, to make matters worse, I asked the policeman if the reason Karim is getting so many tickets is because it's the end of the month and the quota has to be filled. The officer didn't hear me. He didn't hear me three times, until I had to raise my voice. When he finally understood what I was asking, he got irate and said, "I was only going to give him a warning, but now I'm going to give him a ticket." Balderdash. He wanted to give him a ticket when he pulled himself out of the "barbecue" parking lot and followed us a mile down the road.
I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I have the suspicion that the officer was "not hearing" me so that I would raise my voice at him and so that he could use that against us in court (as if I were being belligerent). I also think that because it's a black Mercedes S320, it is targeted as a "money machine". I have further toyed with the thought that the second ticket is a result of the first ticket. When the first officer found out that Karim is an Arab with a Mercedes in Stinkydena--er, Pasadena--(which often means "drug car", but for an Arab probably gets profiled as "al-Qaida sympathizer)--word got around. I have the feeling this will not be the end of the tickets.
At any rate, Karim is getting himself a lawyer. He also has an outstanding ticket from a couple months ago with the old Mercedes where he ran a red light that he didn't run. He delayed the court on that and pleaded Not Guilty.
