-
This is not shameless promotion...
but because I don't want to write it out twice and go through it a million times, I urge everyone to read my latest blog entry and learn from it.
Wednesday about 1:30am I was arrested for DWI and also experienced discrimination against strippers and minor police brutality.
Everyone, please learn from my story and especially you girls who, like me, drink at work... even responsibly as I normally do. Take the time to read it because it can happen to you.
Even though I disagree with many of you, I do care about you all and wouldn't wish this upon anyone.
MR.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
WOW! That is disgusting that you got treated like that. You never got to blow?!
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Get a lawyer who specializes in DWI. It is essential that he specializes in it and is not just a regular defense attny ok?
Please everyone, read the laws in your area and know your rights!
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
^^ Will do. And I am filing a complaint against the officer in question.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
^Yeah I was gonna suggest that too actually.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
omg...I'm sorry this happened to you and another dancer. Reading that was seriously terrifying.
I always have my fiance come pick me up from work, and I now I know that I will always have to because if something were to happen and I was alone, shit like this ends up taking place
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
I got a DWI last year and was not treated well either. And I got hit hard at my sentancing. AA, probation, crazy high fines, court ordered counseling and rehab, had to attend MAD seminars, alcohol tether... and this was my first, last and only offense. Ever. I didn't even get pulled over for being suspected of DUI! They are getting way harder on this offence.
I recommend going to AA (collect signatures) and do some community service now so you look repentant in front of the judge.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
^^ Ugh, is there secular AA? Cuz I can't do all that Jesus stuff.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
I'm sorry you got arrested but am I missing something? What went so terribly wrong? Were you not really drinking and he thought you were?
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Quote:
I actually didn't get pulled over initially for DWI. I got pulled over because, by my club, there is an on ramp to I-35 South that you can get on, if you drive the wrong way on the street for oh, ten feet. EVERYONE DOES IT. I have done it a million times. Why drive thye extra three miles down to get on the proper way when you can do that? I mean honestly.
You screwed yourself on this. The guy was agressive but you weren't beaten or anything. What's the big deal? Cops aren't supposed to be cheery. What you did was illegal.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Optimist
You screwed yourself on this. The guy was agressive but you weren't beaten or anything. What's the big deal? Cops aren't supposed to be cheery. What you did was illegal.
This is what I'm trying to figure out. I was thinking maybe I missed something or mis-read something......
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mediocrity
^^ Ugh, is there secular AA? Cuz I can't do all that Jesus stuff.
You can find groups that are more lax on religion and focus on personal stories and just chit-chat. Or speaker meetings where you just listen to a dude talk for an hour and you never have to say anything, or do any of the steps.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
I'm sorry if I sound cold, but where is this awful brutality and cruelty you spoke of?
You were driving at 1 in the morning on the wrong side of the road. I think it's a fairly safe assumption on the cop's part that you were drunk. I would have thought the same thing. Even though you were sober, it was still illegal and extremely dangerous.
He did nothing brutal or untoward to you. Handcuffs are not supposed to be comfy. They're supposed to be tight. Most people who have cuffs on have bruises.
And also, you did start hysterically screaming. I understand you were terrified, but in his mind, you sounded like a crazy drunk. He didn't let you blow because 1) you were sobbing, which can wreck your chances of being able to do it correctly anyway and 2) you got angry and started yelling, and was probably thinking you might get hostile if he got you out of the car again.
When dealing with police, you have to remain calm, seriously. They're so used to crazy drunks and druggies shrieking, a hysterical woman will be easily confused.
I highly recommend you get a lawyer who specializes in DWI, and like others said, sign up for AA and community service.
I wouldn't bother with the complaint against the officer. From your own account, he handled everything according to procedure.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
This sucks Med.
I somewhat disagree with some of the previous posts, in that if things happened like you said, you did not become irate until AFTER feeling harrassed. Sounds like you were compliant at first.
I would certainly file the complaint against the officer. At 1:30AM on an empty street? This is BS, and really didn't deserve more than a warning or at worse a ticket and release. Pfffft.
Most police vehicles are equiped with a video system that should have captured your field spobriety test. If you did like you wrote, it should be fairly clear to someone watching it that you were not drunk.
Glad to at least hear that you are out now.
Take care.
PS: I know it is so hard to rember all the little things when in a moment of panic, but if something like this should ever happen again lock your car door when you exit your vehicle. This would have helped to prevent his ability to go get your purse, etc. Here is an old thread you may find helpful...
CITIZENS GUIDE TO SURVIVING POLICE ENCOUNTERS: Interesting!!!
http://forum.stripperweb.com/showthread.php?t=133890
ETA: How close are you to the management of your new club? They might help you with the legal side, as they would certainly have an interest in their dancers being harrassed on their way home from work. Especially since it happened to at least two of you.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
I would suggest getting a lawyer who specializes in DWI and disclose everything to them, including your blog, and follow their advice. This is what they do and what you need to protect yourself Med. Sorry things went badly.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
mini-rant coming on....
I hate that our country is turning into a police state. We have gone WAY overboard with the way that we allow the police and our government to run our lives. At one time, police were respected. Now, they are feared and disliked. That in turn breeds more antipathy on their part for civilians. Police these days, rather than fight real crime, sit around on street corners waiting for someone with a busted tail light to cruise by and bust them, or arrest people for BS charges...and why? To justify their jobs. Better arrest records, tickets, etc make it look like they are fighting crime when in reality they are just padding stats that don't mean shit.
One of the worst things that Bill Clinton did was add 100k police officers to our streets. We have thrown quantity at a problem over quality and now the result is a a police force that is composed largely of people who should not be in their positions.
We are only getting one side of mediocrity's story but I tend to believe it.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mediocrity
^^ Ugh, is there secular AA? Cuz I can't do all that Jesus stuff.
AA doesn't have Jesus stuff, though it is basically quite religious. That's why there is Christian AA for actual Christians, with a very different structure than regular AA. I think there's $religious AA including atheist AA for other religions as well. The higher power stuff is no more 'Jesus stuff' than Deepak Chopra or 'spiritual but not religious'.
anyway AA of all stripes often meets in churches, so perhaps that is where the myth arises.
as for your personal issue with the popo, you were in the wrong and the cop was rude and probably has a quota to make. the bail bond thing is weird, not a problem in houston or dallas for dancers there.
i'd have done the three miles, but then i always enjoyed driving in tx.
ETA: I would actually suggest NOT going to AA if you think your drinking is fine, because going in hopes of getting out of a DWI just seems a complete disservice and rudeness to the people there who are actually struggling to work through their alcoholism/problem drinking. just super rude and totally using and abusing others who have been through the wringer.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Did they at any point do a blood or breathalizer test to check your alcohol levels? and i hate to say it, man, but regardless of however many people may do it, driving even 10 feet down the wrong side of the road at 2 am is a bad idea. So is counting for too long - alcohol is a depressant, it slows your brain processes down.
once you get arrested for dui or dwi, they automatically treat you like shit.... my bf's best friend basically got the shit beat out of him in jail because he asked the cops why they were being so rude towards him in jail.
once you admit that you're coming from a bar, regardless.... most cops will say they smell alcohol on you. it's the easiest way to justify a search, sobriety test, etc.
get a good lawyer. if you weren't blood or breath tested, then he should be able to poke a ton of holes in the case. i'd suggest you talk to a lawyer before anything else. also, notify management about what happened. ESPECIALLY since this happened so close to the club. the management might have a good suggestion about a lawyer, etc....
*hug*
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mediocrity
Wednesday about 1:30am I was arrested for DWI and also experienced discrimination against strippers and minor police brutality.
When a peace officer arrests a drunk driver, he is simply doing his job. It cannot be called a police brutality.
There is nothing in his action that shows that he discriminated against you for being a stripper.
Here is the logic he followed:
- You came out of a bar
- Drove on the wrong side of the road
- Failed the sobriety test
Conclusion:
You are drunk.
His duty:
Arrest you and put you in the jail so that you do not endanger anyone's life on the road.
It all seems reasonable to me.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
...fortunately, the court system will determine if his actions were abusive, reasonable or justified based on the real evidence. Cases get dropped or plea'd down plenty of times due to unethical/bad enforcement (such as bad cops looking to fulfill unwritten quotas (justifying their jobs or justifying more city funding requests)).
BTW, Med, all that screaming did'nt help your case, sorry. I was on a jury that convicted a woman for DWI and the deciding factor for most of the group was the video of her ranting behavior while in the holding tank.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Mediocrity, I'm sorry you had a terrible experience. :grouphug:
I have friends who are police officers that have said it's alright to continue driving to a well-lit, public place with witnesses (if possible) before getting out of your car. Just do so slowly in a calm manner (so they don't think you're trying to make a run for it). As for your current situation I agree with the other posts: get a good DWI attorney & file a complaint against said officer.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
You need a DWI lawyer and personally, I would forget about filing a complaint.
In Chandler, Arizona; a cop (who had previously been charged with excessive force) shot a woman to death as she was driving away from him. He claimed he "feared for his life", as the bullets passed through the trunk of car and hit her in the back.
The Chandler PD cleared him of any wrongdoing. Happens all the time. I assume Texas departments are about as honest when it comes to investigating themselves. You have no chance.
The kicker is: the officer was prosecuted for manslaughter (if I recall correctly) and was found not guilty. I'd say that is due to 80% of citizenry having a fetish for police officers. They are incapable of imagining cops could ever do anything wrong. For that matter, most are incapable of understanding "innocent until proven guilty", in my opinion.
Unless you have pictures of the officer sodomizing a child, you're wasting your time filing a complaint. Maybe even with such photos.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
I just took a long drive from the west coast to the east coast. Wow. What a great (and a long) country USA is. The flora, the fauna, the landscape, everything was just amazing. Anyhow, on my way, I crossed the greatest state in the union. You guessed it right, the Texas. I do not know whether due to lack of funding or for some other reason, the condition of the highway was bad. So, the speed limit was only 70mph. At some point, due to the momentary lack of concentration, I went over the speed limit. I think I drove over 85mph. I was clocked by a Texan cop and pulled over. As I was pulling over, this thread came to my mind and it made me a bit apprehensive. But to my surprise, the cop was very nice to me and let me off with a warning. This was my first encounter with a Texan cop and it left me with a good first impression.
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Did they give you the breathalizer test at the police station? I honestly fail to see what the police did wrong in this case or in what way it was undeserved. "Everyone does it" is never going to fly as an excuse, we all do things we are not supposed too that are illegal and while we might be used to speeding, smoking pot, or downloading illegal songs when you get caught it is still on YOU no matter how many other millions of people are doing it. You never actually cleared up whether you had been drinking or not, you say you don't get "shitfaced" but that's in no way the same as "i was not drinking".
-
Re: This is not shameless promotion...
Med, I got some bogus DWI charge this year, and as of right now it looks like it's going to get completely dismissed. I went from being arrested, to going to the jail, to waking up on a hospital bed with an IV in my arm. I went out drinking by myself like a fool, and after 2 drinks felt tipsy, so I headed home, and got pulled over. Although I blew UNDER the legal limit, I was swaying and I guess I looked fucked up, because the cop arrested me! Who cares about my health, just another citizen to throw in jail! The RN at the jail immediately had me taken to the ER, I was drugged. The fact that you didn't blow could also be seen as a GOOD thing, now the state has no proof against you that you were drinking. For future reference, NEVER BLOW! I wish you lots of luck!
I swear to God Texas cops are on a serious power trip. Just recently, a guy was speeding with his wife in the car, they received a call from the hospital that his wife's mother was in the throes of death, and to come immediately. A cop followed them with his lights on until they pulled up to the hospital, and wouldn't let them go in, giving him a lecture about speeding. The poor guy was crying and pleading with the cop that his mother in law was dying, and the nurse even came out to talk to the cop. The cop then arrested the guy for "mouthing off", and at that moment, the Doctor came out to inform all of them that the wife's mother had passed on. Watching that on the news made my blood boil! Ugh, I fucking HATE cops!