There's been quite a lot of boogie man talk and groundless fears let loose in this thread, mainly based on anecdote, some personal and some based on the famous "I heard".)))
Reputations don't just come out of nowhere.
It's not unlike the developing reputations of some internet radio dealers. You don't get tons of lousy reviews if you've never screwed anyone over.
(((If Florida was so intent on running down and harassing radio operators, why would they issue an amateur radio license plate?)))
First of all, the amateur radio license plate --- the ones that actually say "amateur radio" on them are very new. They showed up in the last 2 years or so. Prior to that, they were treated as any other vanity tag.
Second of all, the people that make the laws and the people who enforce the laws are different people. Clearly the law has an exemption but the people who enforce it don't seem to want to accept that.
Third, the person that was mentioned in that other reply, MTS2000DES's reply is a radioreference member and maybe they'll get in here and give their first hand account. They're not very active on here but I know who they are and next chance I get I will ask them if they'll get in here and give their first hand testimony. Not that you'll believe that either.
(((Get the ham license and you'll be fine. For all this supposed reign of terror against radios/scanners in the car, not much of it seems to make the papers.)))
You are transmitting dangerously misleading and false information over the Internet.
(((And you can take my word for it, Florida is an Open Public Records Law State to the point where Police Internal Affairs cases are public once the case is adjudicated. That's rarely the case anywhere else.)))
Whoopty doo.
Open records and even the threat of being video recorded by bystanders does not stop bad cops from violating people's rights, abusing their power and using undue physical force. Or worse.
(((Were all these unjustified radio cases happening the media would love nothing more than to smear it all over the front pages.
The media has. You obviously haven't been paying attention.
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Precisely. If Florida cops were as aggressive in comparison to other states cops you'd never hear the end of it in the media.)))
Bad cops are in the media all the time in Florida. Why don't you "
make google your friend."
(((The problems that you allude to do not exist in the psyche of the average LEO.)))
Oh yeah?
(( JC, btw, is a well known police-baiter and annoyance to LEO in this area. The last thing SDPD would do is get into a physical confrontation with him as he is just itching to sue and become famous. )))
Here's the thing. Cops have taken an oath to serve and protect EVERYONE. Not just people they are afraid will sue them.
So wouldn't it be something if they treated everyone like they're going to sue if their rights are violated, and not just one particular individual with a camera and youtube account?
That's what they're supposed to do. Respect everyone's rights.
(((The problems you see as aggressive policing do not seem to affect the majority of us, which is why I surmise that those of you that do have that perception do so because of prior negative encounters, most likely brought on by your own actions. Got caught with beer or a joint in your car as a teenager? Didn't like the cop telling you to turn down your music in the shopping center parking lot after somebody complained?)))
So this is where we plunge head-first into the psyche of a LEO. And I don't know if you are one or just want to give the illusion of one, but this is what I suspected all along. And that's that cops choose their targets like wolves go after the most vulnerable weak and elderly bison. They profile targets and stop and harass certain people because they're easy targets that they feel might have a joint on them or something like that. But you have to have reasonable articulable suspicion to do that. You can't just do it because you think you're going to get lucky.
And to answer your question, no. I was never stopped for having a joint, playing loud music or having a beer while driving. I was a clean cut kid. I was into my heath, would ride my bike 20+ miles a day, my cousin owned a gym. I was in it daily. Ate right. Surfed. I didn't put that stuff in my body. And I didn't even have a car until I was over 18 and it didn't have a sound system like most people my age. It didn't even have a cassette deck. You shouldn't judge.
(((There's likely something. You can tell me you are a model citizen until you're blue in the face but you were wrong somewhere along the line and a cop called you out on it, plain and simple and you can't let it go.)))
Still no convictions for any of that stuff. Nothing but terry stops and endless harassment.
The first time I was ever pulled over was when I was 14 years old. I was stopped and ticketed for riding my bike on the boardwalk in Hollywood FL at the wrong time.
Another time or two I was stopped and harassed for riding my bike through Golden Beach at night. Not real late at night. After dinner. I wasn't doing anything wronge. There are no bike lanes in Golden Beach as you can verify by using google streetview and they obviously don't want people riding their bikes through their town. As it is, they think they own the shoreline and access to it. But the fact remains, they can put up all the guard houses and gates they want. It's a public street and violating people's rights because they want to pass freely through is wrong.
(
((I spent a week in South Beach Miami in November 2013 and saw wild and crazy things in the streets that I am positive would have attracted a police present in most populated night-life areas, yet no cops to be seen ANYWHERE. I did see a few bike cops detaining a kid (also on a bike) because he was selling drugs, and the kid was being mouthy and obnoxious so yes, there were 4 or 5 big guys there for the scrawny mouthy punk. So what? that's not aggressive or overkill, just safe practices. )))
I encourage you to revisit. Try doing nothing wrong and see what happens. Be sure to be driving a car and drive alone. And try Washington Ave.
What happened to me, happened a long, long time ago but I can see that they're still up to the same stuff. They even did it to Justin Bieber who blew clean when stopped for DUI and given a field sobriety test but arrested anyway.
(((I also spent the week before all over Florida from the keys to Tampa and to W Palm (and the year before in the panhandle) and didn't get pulled over or harrassed. I even got lost and made a couple lane changes that were probably illegal because of all the stupid tolls, inadequate knowledge of which "pass" I had and my unfamiliarity with the area, but I wasn't hassled by the cops. If anyone is drawing so much attention to themselves as to warrant an interrogation by the police "for no reason" perhaps they should take a better look at themselves in the mirror.
You got lucky.
As the saying goes, YMMV.
