I am a little torn as I write this but I have to get it off my chest. Being in the bail bonds industry and having some experience with law enforcement in the past, these are my opinions but I am expressing them in a way that I feel is utilizing my knowledge and experience to reach said opinions.
Last night I was riding my bike home from work, I was on Mesa Drive heading towards the OC fairgrounds. Now this street isn’t exactly bike friendly but there is plenty of room for bikes and when I looked it up on Google maps, with the bike option selected this is the route it recommends. I was stopped by Newport Beach Police, I also saw him make a U-turn when he saw me and I am not dumb, I know what that means. However, I go about my business because ultimately I know I am not doing anything wrong.
So he flips his siren on, I know he was tailing me for a while because I saw no cars passing, which seemed out of the norm. He then tells me “I stopped you to tell you to be careful on this road.” Which I replied; “Well when I looked it up on Google Maps it said this is the route to take.” His reply was, “I am not telling you not to take it just be careful. I tell everybody” At this point, I realize that is just his guise to check me out, oh great! But he wasn’t being rude or aggressive towards me so, if you show me respect, I will reflect that back. He asks if I have ID and says, “On probation or parole?”; “Nope.”
Call comes back over his radio and I am clear, he was trying to make small talk, which I indulged but I wasn’t nervous or upset, because again, I knew I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
The reason I am torn is because, as a public servant, I know he is “Just doing his job” and I can respect that. I also know that wasn’t the real reason but since his approach was respectful, I indulged him. I kept thinking to myself, if things escalate, I will be the first to pull out my business card holder, which has this information on the back.
I had nothing to hide from him but also I don’t have to prove that to him either, again because I wasn’t doing anything wrong. If he was going to start asking to search me or my bag, these statements would be the first things out of my mouth! It sucks to be doing nothing wrong but get treated like a criminal, the one other thing that I will add in his favor; he seemed to be a new cop to the force. I could be wrong, but he seemed a bit “green” under the collar and so maybe he wanted some practice. Fine! I’ll give him that, just sucks when you have already biked 3 miles after a full day of work to get a shake down because he wants practice and I caught his eye for whatever reason. In all my years of riding my bike and in as many place I have lived and done so, this is the first time I have been stopped on my bicycle.