Thread: Pleasant Encounter With Leominster, MA PD Last Night

We hear about all the problems with LEO's, so I figured I ought to comment on my very pleasant run-in with 3 members of the Leominster, MA Police Department last evening.....

I was meeting my girlfriend Jen at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Leominster for dinner at 7:00 last night. I arrived about 10-15 minutes early, and as I was sitting there in the car waiting for her, I suddenly heard someone try to open the front-passenger side door of my car. I looked over and there was a woman leaning towards the door. I thought at first it might by my girlfriend, so I moved to exit the vehicle. As I got out the woman came around the back of the rear of my vehicle and it definitely was not my girlfriend. I said... "Excuse ME?!" She was obviously shocked to realize there had been somebody in the vehicle and she responded "Oh, I'm really sorry." and moved on rather quickly.

I then proceeded to watch her try to gain entry to at least a half dozen other vehicles the same way she'd tried to get into mine. She was not able to access any of the vehicles while I was watching. At that moment my girlfriend arrived. I made sure she locked the doors to her car, and when we went inside the restaurant I informed the staff of what was going on outside. They told me she'd come in asking to use the phone a few minutes earlier and that they'd tell the manager.

As we were waiting for our dinner to arrive, the manager approached our table and asked me if I was the one who had reported the woman in the parking lot. I informed her that I was and she indicated that the Leominster Police were outside and wanted to speak with me. I went outside to find three Leominster Police Officers talking with the woman I'd seen earlier. They had a selection of items laid out on the grass strip between the parking lot and the road and were asking her where they'd all come from. One of the officer's approached me, asked me to tell him what had happened, and then took my information. He was totally polite and seemed to be genuinely thankful that I'd been willing to report the incident. He told me that they'd get in touch with me if they needed anything else. While I was out there the officers also had the restaurant manager inform the woman that she is no longer welcome on the property.

So, see there are instances where the cops aren't total A-Holes, as it would seem some of you might believe. I'm just hoping they throw the book at this thief.

I agree. I have a great deal of respect for those that are in LE, firefighters, and public safety. I can only recall one incident in which I had a questionalble run in with a police officer. Yet looking back, the LEO was acting properly. The rest of the time the encounters have been proffessional, supportive, and showed they care about their work.

The news tends to concentrate on what LEO do wrong or the few bad apples in LE. I always wondered if a person who has destain for police would call them names etc as they tried to investigate the murder/rape of a loved one. (you worthless fxxking pig, I hate police, please catch the one who did this)?

The restraint shown by the cop in this famous clip is incredible.

Originally Posted by Manc Skipper

The restraint shown by the cop in this famous clip is incredible.

Its funny you mention that.

Because that is pretty much the STANDARD for police officers where I work.

It is interesting though, seeing people view this guy as some extremely patient "oddball" in police work. It shows that those who view him that way really don't know police officers very well.

For the most part if you are polite and respectful to the cops, they will treat you the same way. I've only had a few run-ins with police over the years, but none of them have been bad experiences, even when I was getting a ticket or something. Unfortunately the few cops who are power-hungry abusive assholes give the rest a bad reputation.

The other thing that I've seen that bothers me is when a cop does something that pretty much everyone knows was wrong and over the line, and whatever PD he works for backs him up anyway. I kind of understand it. Working in that kind of environment would create a very close bond between officers, and I'm sure they get a lot of fake accusations of abuse too, but when I see a whole police department standing up for someone who was legitimately abusing their power, it makes me lose a lot of respect for them.

Originally Posted by molten_dragon

For the most part if you are polite and respectful to the cops, they will treat you the same way. I've only had a few run-ins with police over the years, but none of them have been bad experiences, even when I was getting a ticket or something. Unfortunately the few cops who are power-hungry abusive assholes give the rest a bad reputation.

The other thing that I've seen that bothers me is when a cop does something that pretty much everyone knows was wrong and over the line, and whatever PD he works for backs him up anyway. I kind of understand it. Working in that kind of environment would create a very close bond between officers, and I'm sure they get a lot of fake accusations of abuse too, but when I see a whole police department standing up for someone who was legitimately abusing their power, it makes me lose a lot of respect for them.

Unfortunately there is a disconnect between what some folks in the public think is an "abuse of power" and what reality is.

Thats not me saying that all cases are like this... But I have seen many argued as an abuse of power when its not...

(Like the NYPD Cop arresting girl for trespassing when she didn't have her ID on her thread example here on DP).

Originally Posted by Caine

Unfortunately there is a disconnect between what some folks in the public think is an "abuse of power" and what reality is.

Thats not me saying that all cases are like this... But I have seen many argued as an abuse of power when its not...

(Like the NYPD Cop arresting girl for trespassing when she didn't have her ID on her thread example here on DP).

No doubt. I'm sure that cops get falsely accused of abusing their power quite often. But it does really happen sometimes, and it shouldn't be defended when it does.