Now that the weather is perking up with days filled with glorious sun and clear skies, you may be inclined to roll up your sleeves and clean up your car at the curb in the street.
If you live in West Hollywood, you may want to think twice about that, unless you do not mind a shake-down by the local Sheriff's department.
One resident flung the doors of their late model vehicle open wide, and started an energetic purge, when a squad car cruised by.
Huh?
In a jiffy, the officer made a quick "u" tune, and proceeded to drive up the "wrong side" of the street (causing other drivers to shake their head in disbelief) and slowly ease his vehicle alongside the individual's car until his eyeline was just slightly forward of the back hatch which was wide open and revealed the contents packed inside.
"What are you up to, Sir," he asked in so many words.
Duh!
To most reasonably intelligent folks, it probably would have been obvious that some spring cleaning was going down.
Shaken, but not stirred (as James Bond might quip) the driver politely informed the Sheriff that he was tidying up his vehicle since it was great weather to be outdoors and active.
At this point, the Sheriff (obviously with a stick up his butt) asked the WeHo resident if he had any ID on him.
Huh?
A uneasy feeling rippled through his body as he tried to fathom what was going down.
Was a Law Enforcement Officer legally entitled to ask for identification from a citizen without provocation or reasonable grounds to make such a demand?
The resident hesitated, and wondered to himself if he should perhaps deny the request, on legal grounds.
Because he'd heard horror stories - as he put it - about what happens to individuals when they stand up to a cop's alleged authority (getting mouthy or treating them with disrespect in their mind set) he was inclined to hand over his license with some reservations.
The Sheriff proceeded to input his name and address into the computer.
Nada.
After noticing that the mailing address on the license was a P.O. Box he quizzed the driver about his home address.
Again, the WeHo resident was a little taken aback, bywhat he thought was an inappropriate question.
Was he entitled to obtain that information - or request it - in this particular instance?
Needless to say, afraid that cop might react in a negative way (or try to find some fault to retaliate), he complied reluctantly.
When it came to the interrogator's attention that the owner of the vehicle lived a few blocks away, the bully demanded to know why the spring cleaner was "over here".
Gosh, the driver explained to moi, I didn't know there were so many silly restrictive laws in West Hollywood.
Who would have thought that cleaning out your car on a sunny day was illegal, or travelling from one section of a neighborhod to another, required permission from the local Sheriff's department!
At this point, the smirking Sheriff handed back the license, before slapping him in the face with some stupid comment like:
"Have a nice day."
What an a**hole!
No wonder, when you consider the criteria for landing a job at the WeHo Sheriff's Department!
The candidate need only pass a GED (a "D" will squeak him or her through), stand at least five foot nothing, and love to gobble down doughnuts with sprinkles on top.
And, have a psycho yearning to wear a badge to bolster his manhood!
After all, I expect these wobbly-kneed jerk-offs were once nerds who got sand kicked in their faces, and laughed at day-in and day-out at school.
And, just try to fight a ticket in court, when these slippery characters show up to tell their side of things.
It is pretty much a given they will lie through their teeth.
What is a synonym for law enforcement officer?
Professional liar!
It's pretty obvious from other stories I've heard that WeHo Sheriff's have a flagrant disregard for citizen rights.
Because of it, the upscale community is fast-becoming a police state, of sorts.
They were scraping the barrel when they rustled up these pigs, one astute neighbour asserted.
Amen!
