Ryan Waller, a 22-year-old man who, despite having a bullet in his eye, endured 4 hours of interrogation by cops who thought he was lying—only to receive medical help too late.

[u/SilkenSeraph]

[u/SelfServeSporstwash]

I don't think people grasp how monumentally stupid cops are in the US.

I have been detained MULTIPLE TIMES for driving a "stolen" vehicle. In fact, its been the same vehicle every time. I even got arrested once for it. It was, and indeed still is, my own damn car. Its registered in my name(which perfectly matches my drivers license), I have the proper insurance on it, the plate is the same one the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issued to it on the day it was deemed a historic antique vehicle. Its. My. Car. I have only ever received one moving violation, for going 39mph in a 35mph zone.

So how have I been given so many issues by cops? Because they are almost impossibly dumb. Its a Triumph Spitfire. Once a cop simply refused to believe that I, a teenager (at the time) , could possibly own and maintain an antique car like that. He didn't let me go until I called my dad who verified that it was indeed my car. Once a different cop believed my clearly marked Triumph Spitfire was actually a cleverly disguised stolen MG midget and that I was clearly a master criminal since I so expertly made it look like a Spitfire. Obviously I was involved in a car theft ring since I had "forged" (real) documents regarding its ownership and I had "hacked" (properly registered) the state database to make the plates point to me... this is the time I got arrested. Again, I was literally arrested because a cop was too stupid to figure out that an MG Midget and a Triumph Spitfire are different cars.

My favorite story though is from last fall. The cop who pulled me over comes out of his car immediately in a huff, yelling at me, with his hand on his gun the whole time. He screams "you must be a god damn moron if you thought you'd get away with that!". Curious, I ask him what exactly I did. He *screams* that I know exactly what I did (I did not). Come to find out he believes I have a motorcycle license plate on my car. I do not, the plate on this car was issued specifically for this car, it has never been on any other vehicle, and I feel compelled to point out that it is a full-sized car license plate. It is not a motorcycle plate, which is MUCH smaller. But this man is convinced its a motorcycle plate, nothing will change his mind. He thinks this because the plate is tied to a Triumph (Spitfire) and "Triumph makes motorcycles". I tried, gently, to explain that actually they are different companies, although a very long time ago they were the same, and the company that made this car did, in fact, manufacture cars for several decades. He wasn't having it. This moron detained me for almost an hour until his sergeant came and chewed him out for being incomprehensibly stupid.

[u/SuperPipouchu → u/SelfServeSporstwash]

Wait, so they pull you over because it's suspicious that you're young and driving that car? Then double down when you show documentation? (I'm Australian, so while our cops here aren't a shining example, at least they're generally better than in the US- hence why I'm asking, because I want to make sure I'm understanding what they've done to you, because it's so extreme! Not saying you're lying, just that it's bonkers that they do that.)

Even if they saw you driving and it's less common for a young person to own an antique car, why isn't it possible that, for example, it's your family's car? Or you inherited it? Or your parents bought it for you? Or even that you're renting it for the day for, say, a photoshoot? There's plenty of plausible reasons for a young person to have an expensive car, none of which involve a teenager saving up to buy it, then maintaining it. And even so, perhaps you earned a bunch of money as a child from acting or something. Perhaps you started a business and got lucky. Perhaps you won a competition. Perhaps you love and are very talented at fixing up cars. Hell, perhaps you made a terrible financial decision and got a ridiculous loan for it. There are a whole bunch of reasons that you could have that car!

Ugh. The criminal justice system in some countries is so unjust and biased. We can do SO MUCH BETTER, but that requires a complete overhauling of the system, and unfortunately it becomes a huge political debate. We know what doesn't work to reduce crime (being "tough on crime" and punishment systems with pretty much no rehabilitation) and what's much more effective (things like the Norweigan criminal justice system, that looks at the systemic causes of crime and works to reduce those, leading to a reduction in crime, and actually rehabilitating prisoners with prison workers who have extensive training.) It shouldn't be such a huge political debate, but unfortunately, it is...

Sorry for ranting! I'm a criminologist, and the way so many countries have set up their criminal justice system frustrates me to no end.

[u/SelfServeSporstwash → u/SuperPipouchu]

No, it’s literally just that I was young and had a nice car. To clarify, spitfires are dirt cheap, are at least they were in 2016. I think they are beautiful, but the one I own now only cost me $2,000. Before that I bought a TR6 for $600 as my first car. I’ve had to learn a LOT about cars and do an insane amount of work to keep it running well, but I did that, and now I have a really nice antique car that I’m really proud of.

When I was 17 someone stole an MG Midget in my town. I got harassed by cops for a good 3 years after that, but usually they saw the car was a Spitfire and let me go, at most they’d usually see my license and registration and send me on my way. But I have a handful of stories of cops being incredibly dense.

I’m 28 now, I really don’t get bothered by them anymore, I guess I look like someone who’d own an old car now. So last year was really odd, but that guy was just beyond stupid.