Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 09:48:59 -0800
Reply-To: brady <dofunk@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: brady <dofunk@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: VW Van Profiling
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikg2Z0t=UF3F7EK4-XAgByrnevRSKqx_BWhmQWO@mail.gmail.com>
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Ha Lets see
I'm black.
Male.
Dread Locks down to my waist.
I grew up in a very rich very white area of which I'm neither.
I've been driving Vanagons since 1991.
I'll keep this short as I have alllllll kinds of stories for days!
I've been pulled over 178 times to date! No exaggeration!
My Lic is clean I have no tickets.
I think a large part for me not getting tickets is when I get pulled over
keeping my hands where the cop can see them on the top of the steering wheel.
Not moving around till they come to the window which is already down, then when
they ask for my papers I then tell them I'm going to reach for my wallet which
is in my front right pocket.
By this time they are confused because I don't smell of weed or cigarettes ( I
don't smoke)
When I speak I sound like I'm rich and white ( cause that's what I grew up
around) not like say a black guy from the city.
And then when I open my wallet I have a NYS EMT badge from when I was a EMT
there for 5 years they see this and then they are further confused by the fact
that I'm kind of like them or folks they work closely with.
So all of this said they just usually let me go or give me a written warning.
Now I have all kinds of stories from them putting loaded 9mm to my head or
telling me that they are " going to kick my ass"
I look at these as good stories because my brains are still in my head and I
didn't get my ass kick so nothing bad happened other than haveing a loaded 9mm
put to my head. But there oh so many more stories any time I meet any of ya
around a camp fire I'd love to share'em.
Brady
----- Original Message ----
From: Jonathan Poole <jfpoolio@GMAIL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Fri, January 7, 2011 12:16:23 PM
Subject: VW Van Profiling
Warning: Long email/rant following....
It's happened again, the experience that starts as no surprise and then
becomes frustrating as I wait to get my drivers license back. By the time
the cop is back to my van to apologize for the inconvenience I'm a mixture
of understanding, pissed, and frustrated. Today the cop confessed the the
vehicle that I drive is a big part of why he tail-gated me for a few miles
and then pulled me over. "It had a lot to do with it" was his answer when I
asked if my vehicle was why I got special attention from him today.
A few ways that I've modified my behavior at least partially because of this
re-currance:
- Wearing a collared shirt, which I have done exclusively for years now.
- Keeping my hair short, which I started doing after picking up 3 seat belt
violations in a short period, I know I should always wear my seatbelt but
the second and third were in situations where I still would likely neglect
to do so (parking lot hopping essentially))
-Keeping my van in great condition (recently waxed, was washed yesterday,
shiny/clean/straight etc.)
-Keeping all registration/insurance current, my record clean, getting no
tickets (except for the seatbelt violations) etc.
None of these appear to have made the difference. I did notice an
improvement in how things go after getting rid of long hair and moving to
collared shirts only. They may still pull me over but I haven't gotten a
ticket of any type since making these changes.
I've been driving VW vans almost exclusively since the early/mid 90's and
none of this started until 5 or 6 years ago with my Vanagon Westies. In my
younger years, while driving smoking/rattling/leaking bays and splits there
may have been a few laws broken, or at least bent, and I didn't worry about
the appearance of my van or myself yet I don't recall being pulled over and
know that I didn't get any tickets. There were a few road-block close calls
but they all worked out fine (miraculously). One funny one included my van
overheating and dying in a cloud of smoke while I was in a late-night, party
targeting, road-block. My van wouldn't restart and we had been cleared to
go so everyone stumbled out of the van to push us off the road. I wasn't
intoxicated but when my friends stumbled out of the back of the Westy to
push one of them fell over and had to be helped back into the van. It was
an odd scene, pushing my smoking van off the highway amid the flashing
lights and then sobering up as the van cooled and we watched lots of our
friends go through the road-block with some being ticketed etc.
Does anyone else get extra attention from the police? I'm doubting that I'm
the only one but it could be the part of the country that I spend most of my
time in? Most or all of these incidents where I've been pulled over for
little/nothing have occurred in North Carolina or Tennessee as I recall. I
rarely see VW vans on the road in this area so maybe it is a factor of my
standing out more coupled with a vigilant police force? I'm actually glad
to know (with confidence) that they are out there keeping an eye on things
(VW vans at least, ha ha). My biggest complaint is how long it takes for
them to run my background check (or whatever they do back there while I
wait). Maybe technology will improve and this will become a faster process
in the future. For the record North Carolina and Tennessee are good states
and good places to spend time. The cops are usually friendly as they
interrupt my travels and I don't ever worry about needing to pay bribes or
other things that may happen in other parts of the world.
O.K.,, thanks for the list therapy. I started typing this a few minutes
after being pulled over and am no longer pissed or frustrated. I'm glad it
was a Friday and I could share this with the list and move on (until it
happens again).
Jonathan Poole
'83 AC Westy
