Police Harassment
Now that the test was complete, that they'd gone through everything that I had on me. My pouch had been thoroughly looked through without probable cause. That my bicycle had been looked over, under and into to see if any drugs were hidden within its framework. That I'd been humiliated, degraded and interrogated for what I could see as no logical reason whatsoever and made to feel like a criminal in front of the neighborhood. That my self-esteem had been lowered to that of a farm animal, I tell ya, I was pretty disgusted. Chavias then looked at me from where he was standing at the back of the car. He had a sarcastic grin on his face and yet when he spoke to me it was in a very forceful manner. "You be careful, I might be putting you in jail next the time I see you, you got that?" I nodded and said, "yes sir." That was one of the most disturbing statements that had come out of his mouth throughout the whole interrogation. So what does that mean exactly? Anytime I'm out on my bicycle just riding through the neighborhood and he sees me, I can be arrested? What kind of lawful statement is that? Is that part of their motto, "a tradition of service." I'm sorry, but that is way out of line, period! Before leaving I asked if I could look inside my pouch incase they'd decided to keep something, had forgotten to put something back or for that matter had even added something to it. Those thoughts are mine alone, but after what I'd just gone through with these two, anything seemed possible! A quick glance told me that all the contents seemed to be there. I then got on my bicycle and thankfully cycled away from what I can only describe as a living Hell. But as I was riding away, within three or four seconds of being mobile again, I'm almost certain that I heard some phlegm being bought up into someone's mouth and then being spat onto the tarmac below. There was no one else around apart from the two officers and I, so I'll leave that up to the reader to decipher, but I'll tell ya now, it certainly wasn't me. In the past six weeks (before this incident) I have witnessed two cyclists in this town being questioned by police. I watched as one guy was even put into the back of a police car. That actually happened within one mile of what I've described above. I had always wondered what in the Hell these poor individuals had done. Now I've gone through exactly the same experience and know first hand what it feels like to go through such an ordeal. I have also questioned myself wondering if it was Chavias and Maicas who were responsible for those incidents. The reason I have written this story is to express my complete and utter disgust toward police enforcement in this country. If it's not what I read or see on the television, it's what I hear first hand from friends and others with whom I'm in contact with on a day to day basis. For those of you who know me well enough, you're well aware of the unnecessary harassment that I've gone through over the years with police as I've tried hitchhiking around the world. But even then, never once have I been rude or given any police officer any reason whatsoever to treat me like I was in the story just told. Aside that, and having gone through what I did, it gave me that reality check once again on why so many people out there have such hatred toward cops. If you want my opinion, from what I just went through, I personally feel that many of them deserve the bad karma that comes to them. And that statement comes from a cyclist who was minding his own business, cycling down a quiet residential street, simply on his way to the post office. And look at what I went through. There are few things that I'd like to add here though before this story ends. This is what I find quite interesting. I filed a complaint at the local sheriffs department the following afternoon. It took some weeks before a Lieutenant finally looked into the matter and asked the officers in question about the incident. Completing his report he told me that according to Chavias and Maicas I was "in the middle of the road and that they were going to pull me over and give me a citation for doing just that." What I'd like to add here, is that I've been riding, building and pulling bicycles apart since I was five years old. I personally feel that I'm one of the most considerate, cautious and alert riders that I know of. And to further my point, I also find it interesting that never once during the whole episode mentioned above, was any reason given for why they'd pulled me over to begin with? I'm fully aware that reading a story is never as real as actually being there and experiencing what that person went through first hand. But I will state one thing here. That, on my father's grave, a man who I loved so dearly, that what I have written above has not been exaggerated in any way whatsoever. I have and need no reason to! If I can say the following and once again said in my own words, I feel like I was treated like total crap and made to feel like I was some kind of farm animal that could be pushed and shoved around at the persecutors own free will. There's one last thing to add to this story and ironically enough it certainly wasn't planned this way. The following morning I went to a scheduled drug screen at a medical clinic that had been set up some three days before. That test was to see if I had alcohol, cocaine, speed, marijuana, barbituates and any other of the main drugs used, in my system. The results from that test were negative. So what was all this fuss about me having drugs on me, hiding them in my bicycle, checking my pockets for drugs, going through my belongings, scanning my arm for track marks, having to stare at an officer in the eye, making me do a test in the street and threatening to take me to jail to do a urine test? In my opinion there was no excuse at all for everything that I was subjected to and had to go through in the above story! I thank you for your reading, as always, Johnny Anderson. What you all had to say about this. Any comments please email me or make an entry into the guestbook thanks. Click below to see:
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