Yes you were treated bad but you have to realize that these men were probably turned on by you which is why they made perv comments and kept asking questions. A man that shows you friendliness will be mocked and accused of being a tranny lover. But deep down they do secretly have a crush on you.
Wow. That is really sad. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I got read today in the tanning salon and I will not be going back. They saw my bikini top under my shirt. Not nearly as bad as what you went through, but I did find it embarrassing. Oh such is life, KS.
Just another man in a dress
And I would gurantee, within 1 year, curiosity will over come at least two of these guys, and they will "try" their SO's panties, or bra, etc when they're at home alone.Originally Posted by seanmuscle
For 2+ months, I was treated with the same disrespect.
Different comments, same line of bs.
In Ga, they can hold you until you get a bond, they can "delay" bond hearings up to 90 days,
at this point they must grant a "reasonable" bond.
Why do they hold you so long ?
Simple, so the thieves can steal everything that you've worked decades for.
No matter if it's your FIRST offense of any type, this is a "punishment" imposed before trial !
They'd tell the guys waiting for prison to get ready for their "Boyfriends" and say many ugly things like
"Get your mustache trimmed up for your daddy" etc etc
I reacted as if it were my 1st day at boot camp.
No matter what they'd say, regardless how personal and rude, I'd reply with of few specific words:
Yes Sir
No Sir
Thank You Sir
May I (whatever)Sir
When they'd call out "Line UP" I tried to be first.
NEVER talk during line up or risk a D.R. (Discplinary Report)
a "D.R" is given for;
unauthorized talking
extra linens
extra socks
unauthorized cleaning
smoking
feet on table
hanging things on the wall or windows
cell phones
radio or any electronics
refusing any order
fighting
unauthorized reading material
the list goes on as they make it up as they go.
At night, every hour they'd do a "head count"
The steel door would BOOM shut, then a 5 watt LED blasted in your eyes.
I finally turned around in my bed so they'd see only the top of my head.
a minor "D.R." (Discplinary Report) gets you :
3 days suspension of phone, visitors and store
In our jail, that meant NO Store, Visitors for a whole week, and no phone for 3 days.
(the Store is the only thing keeping off starvation)
They feed you, but the calories are minimal and sometimes the food is inedible by everyone.
The jail in Rome only allows ONE visit per week, all calls are "Collect" and cost $4.00 min
So a D.R. punishment varies from jail to jail.
Rome jail was reported in the Rome News Tribune as feeding inmates "rancid / spoiled" food
This resulted in some having to be sent to the hospital.
If a jail sends you to the hospital, you are near DEATH, as they don't care how sick you are.
After all inmates are criminals and don't deserve decent treatment(they think)
Lots of guys in there with me had been there for up to 5 months, waiting for a "Bed" in prison to become vacant.
The guys who had been to prison said they had "RATHER BE IN PRISON THAN JAIL" !!
In prison, they actually feed you, you can move around, have a TV, DVD, Mp3, CD player etc.
Also you're allowed almost unlimited reading material, you can use the phone whenever, you get more visits, etc etc
The "Rule Book" given to me in jail said that we'd get 1 hr "Yard Time" 3-4 times per week,
'weather depending'
In 2+ months, there were 3 yard calls, not 24 to 32 times.
When we asked about the book, they said we could go outside when they "felt like it"
IN other words you inmates, are scumbags ,, you are in here because you're garbage.
Yet, the majority of us had not seen a Judge or Jury to determine our guilt..
What's that saying ? "Guilty until Proven Innocent" I think that's the one..
I found it very odd that the ex-cons preferred Prison to Jail !
Gluck
Yolanda
If one of the guys were alone with the poster they would definitely treat her like a lady and make moves on her. Many men are curious about CDs but do not want any of the boys knowing
Wow, sounds like your state likes to persecute it's inhabitants.
I can't believe that the law can be such an ass, why would any sane government make a law that suspends your license to drive ALL vehicles if you have not renewed the insurance on ONE vehicle? And better yet make it so that it is not the governments responsibility to inform you if they have suspended you, that's just ludicrous.
And this happens in a lot of states judging by some of the replies here, and here was I thinking that the USA was the home of litigation junkies, maybe you can't fight City Hall after all.
Such a law would be laughed out of existence here in Australia, the media would have a field day.
This story reminds me of some bad 1950's B grade movie.
They acted childish and vulgar and it's a shame you had to endure that....Wanting your inner self to match your outer self is not too much to ask for, but there will always be boneheads out there to put up with.
At the very least you should send a letter to the ACLU. Maybe even the local papers or government offices.
A Member of the Revolution.
I am so sorry you went through that. I understand how you must have felt. I am not familiar with the laws of Georgia but at a minimum, contacting lambda legal and/or ACLU should provide information on your options at no cost to you. You have to decide how much you want to fight and then take the steps necessary to do that level of battle. I didn't have the stones to go beyond the ACLU letter campaign but i do believe there will be positive from it. We can all write our congressional delegates to ask when they will support legislation that provides safeguards for transgendered people. There are bills working through congress that have some of those safeguards but they are being blocked by republicans in the "moral majority." we are a minority that only has a voice when more of us stand up. letters are a great way to do this without outing ourselves. I am sending a letter to Senator Patty Murray and Representative Jay Inslee this week regarding this treatment.
Please know that time does heal these wounds. While I am still fearful of something like this recurring, You should know it isn't your fault. You are still special and we all care about you. We are here to support you.
Hugs,
Christy
First off, let me say I'm sorry to hear about how you were treated by those in Law Enforcement in that department. It sounds like they have some serious issues that they need to correct. And if not done soon, it could land them in a very serious court case. Being in law enforcement, I also cringe every time I hear stories like that and am thankful my departments culture does not allow that. I also cringe when I see a post like this turn in to cop bashing and generalizations that all cops are bullies or are criminals with badges. For a group that wants others to be so tolerant of them, it's rather ironic to hear these statements being made about law enforcement in general.
Now to the part you probably don't want to hear. Do you know what the number one excuse we hear from people when we find out they don't have a license, or they have a warrant, or they have 10 pounds of weed in their car, or, well, you get the point. The number one excuse is - I didn't know. "I didn't know my license was suspended." "I didn't know I had a warrant." I didn't know that was illegal." etc. After a couple days of hearing that, the officer pretty much becomes deaf to that phrase, because it doesn't matter to them. As they always say, ignorance is no excuse (even when it's not your fault. That's why they have courts to correct that stuff). I've arrested quite a few people for having a suspended license. I've also let quite a few go with a ticket and a cab ride. I've never let someone just drive off. The reason you were arrested is because it was at a checkpoint. Checkpoints are set up for a reason - to make a point. In most cases, during a checkpoint, the officer will not have any discretion to cite and release you v. taking you to jail. The commanding officer will tell everyone on that detail that everyone is going to jail for certain offenses.
Based on your second comment above, you stated that the cop wanted to put you in jail because you were a "freak." Step back a minute and think about that. How did he know you were underdressing when he hadn't patted you down yet? They found out you were crossdressing after you were already on your way to jail. (I'm not making excuses for their actions, because that type of behavior is something that nobody should go through. Just explaining how I see it as an outside observer, with some inside knowledge - of both sides, hehe.)
Now, here's the good part. I don't know how your state works, but in my state the Sheriffs department controls the jails. Most local agencies bring the people they arrested to the jail or the Sheriff's department comes and picks them up from the city jails. Find out who controls your jail. If it is the Sheriff's department, find out who the Undersheriff is that controls the Jail facilities. This info is usually available on their website or just call their main number listed on their website. Write a letter or even an email to that Undersheriff explaining to him/her how you were treated by those officers/deputies while in their custody. Send a copy/CC to the Sheriff/Chief/or whoever runs that entire department/jail. Send a copy to their Internal Affairs/Professional Standards Division or whatever they call it and tell them that you would like to file a formal complaint.(More than likely you will need to go to their HQ and file the report). Find out if the department has an Office of Internal Review(OIR), which is an outside agency that usually reports to the county Board of Supervisors or other agency that has oversight over the agency running the jails, and contact them about your treatment and that you would like to file a formal complaint (The OIR may or may not exist in your location. It does in Los Angeles because of instances similar to this.). However, this may all fall on deaf ears if this is indeed an problem with this departments culture. And unfortunately, it can take a very long time to change the culture of an entire department. If you don't hear back from anyone or don't get a response you like, forget the ACLU, go to your local media. They'll take on a story like that in a heartbeat. Change can come a lot quicker in that situation.
I honestly couldn't imagine that every officer you encountered would have gone out of his way to make comments like this on his own. They must be required to do it to people in their custody. And that sounds like this place has a serious culture issue that needs to be corrected. It was like that in LA even back in the early 90s. The gay dorms in the LA Jail used to be known as the "queen tank." That was a common term back then, but now you could get fired for saying it. The more complaints that are received, the quicker things change.
Yeah? Well, guess what?! Speaking from some personal experience, and that of people I know... those aren't excuses, they're the God's honest truth.
And that's no excuse to treat citizens as criminals anyway.
Be honest here. Most of what "law enforcement" hauls people in for nowadays is bull****. But nicely, it ends up collecting revenue.
I've seen it. I've sat in city council meetings where members of the council -- and the mayor -- debate the virtue of hiring more cops to enforce more codes to -- you guessed it -- collect more revenue for the city. Brazen, in your face, no excuses made. I have recordings. Wanna try me? This is how it works -- never mind your idealistic vision. We live in a totally ****ed up system. Deal with it.
Would you care to explain for me why "Police Officer" is capitalized in your post, as if cops are somehow better than everyone else?
Orwell rolls in his grave, awaiting an answer.
Oh, you're funny!
Here's an idea: try to get even one of your "public servants" to do anything which serves the public. That should be a wake-up call.
Wow. Your story makes me want to vomit in my mouth. How horrible that you had to endure such injustice.
Please don't give these bigoted morons power over your future. Make the transition you want (you may find yourself less suseptable to depression) and try your best to avoid "good ole' boy" situations like that one.
I can tell you EXACTLY what those M.F.'ing pigs were trying to do -
They were trying to get you to screw up.
When cops do that, DO NOT take bait.
DO NOT talk to the cops. ALL you have to say to them is - "I have nothing to say". Not "I didn't know" or "it isn't mine". You say - "I have nothing to say".
Cops will try to taunt, will lie, will try to get under your skin, lie about what they know etc. It can be aggravating but it is just a game - they talk enough crap hoping you will give away too much info, say the wrong thing, or worse yet, assault them.
You do NOT have to talk to them. You do have to identify yourself but never answer their questions.
I can tell you they probably do this crap to about everyone they arrest in hopes people will screw up. Ignore their taunts, their threats etc. Cops are nothing more than bullies looking to get you to screw up. Remember growing up how there would be the one kid who would cause all the problems but somehow come out being the innocent one? COPS.
It takes a true Erin to be a pain in the assatar.
Just when you think we have evolved as a society. It saddens me to hear it, but I know it is there. I live in FL and know the same thing would happen to me. Keep your chin up. They can damage your dignity, but they can't take it away..
I can only imagine how that must have been I know nothing I can say will make it feel better it does sadden me deeply
Michelle
The reason you close your eyes when you dream, when you kiss, and when you pray is because the best things in life aren't seen with your eyes, but are felt with your heart.
I have a general rule for everything. 90% of any group really does try and do the right and fair thing, it is the other 10% who are the ones who get the publicity.
It is easy to take the low road here and just lump police into a brown shirt bully group of people. It isn't true. It is also easy here to lump this particular incident into one toothed backwoods Roscoe P Coltrane good ol' boys fraternity morons. Rikki makes a point, if that is the case this department is headed for a huge law suit eventually. Cameras are getting smaller everyday and undercover stings on such prejudiced government services are more common. One good piece of advice I had was always pretend you are being filmed.
Many things are wrong in the OP. Every civil right from point A to point Z was violated. There is two sides to this story also and we are getting one. Truth is we need police. We need police because 10% of the population would lie, cheat, steal and generally act like politicians if they weren't there. It does seem in this case that things escalated way beyond what was needed. A suspended license should be a bail by recognizance issue at worst (unless there is more here we aren't hearing). There would be absolutely no excuse to insult or bully anyone no matter what the offense. That is a given in this type of case. The backwoods mentality of "In the heat of the night" or "To kill a mockingbird" should be long dead, but it isn't as we well know. There is little we can do when it is a private citizen who is ignorant and moronic. People who are paid to be protectors of our rights have no excuse. Every department has cowboys. They are the ones who believe that might makes right or that being aggressive is the way that enforcement should be handled. Large cities have quelled such action. Smaller forces are very much still directed and supported by the climate of the area. But we are becoming a larger more melded community thanks to media. Local dialects and accents are fading. There is a McDonalds in almost every town now. Why are we outraged at the OP? Because it is no longer the norm. It is the unusual, anachronistic way things go now. Yes it is aggravating. It is hurtful. It is something that needs to be addressed. Rikki gave many good options but I understand that there may be some repercussions to the OP if they pursue this. If this is truly BF county Georgia and it is a small area (checkpoints are not as likely in small departments though as manpower has to be utilized better), then first she has been "outed" to the department. They know who she is and any action she takes will be known to come from her. So either she has to take what she got and be silent or be prepared for at least local media coverage and if the department is as backwards as she intimates, harassment for the officers. (She will have to be an absolute angel or they will be on her for everything from littering to sneezing at a buffet). I will assume that this is at least a moderately large department like Rikki described and would do what Rikki suggested, file a complaint. I would also go above the local department and contact the state justice with copies of the letter. (actually I am not a chain of command person, I go directly to the top to start...things trickle down faster than they rise). But this has to be done now. Not in a week (memories fade and it looks like it wasn't important).
The main thing I wanted to say is that police in general are not jack booted bullies as some have said. Yes there are some who are, that is the nature of the beast. Most still believe that they are there to make a difference.
The earth is the mother of all people and all people should have equal rights upon it.
Chief Joseph
Nez Perce
“Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” - Fred Rogers,
The reason we have bad cops isn't because we tolerate them, but because GOOD cops tolerate them. Good cops, relatively speaking. A really good cop wouldn't tolerate bad cops. They would work to rid their ranks of the bad ones.
I agree with others who say the license/insurance issue is one thing, but the troubling issue is the sexual harrassment issue. The questions asked were totally inappropriate and irrelevant to your arrest. I hope the cops will be held accountable.
Anna Marie,
First of all, like the others, I'm sorry to hear you went thru such a horrible experience !!
What you went thru was an example of how badly some people are treated by police here in the US. It may be that in GA things are worse, I'm not sure. I think there are a lot of good, professional LEO's around though.
I wanted to tell you that your future is better than it may appear to you now. I live full time and was pulled over after about 7 months of RLE. It was for a broken tail light, and missing reg sticker. As it turned out, I also did not have my insurance card ( my mistake, it was at home on the table - not a good move). Now the kicker in this story is that my car registration had not come up for renewl yet and so it gave my old name. All of my other documents were in my new name. So, there was a prob there, and I got outed immediately to the cop. He was completely polite, never missed a pronoun and treated me very well. He also did our business pretty quickly when I told him I was on my way to a medical appt. So, there are good cops, and even when they know of circumstances like mine, they are professional.
OH, he let me off of everything but not having the sticker on my plate, just a small fine.
There is a road—no simple highway—between the dawn and the dark of night.
And if you go no one may follow. That path is for your steps alone.
Hey,
Here is some information for you, as I live in Georgia as well. If your license is suspended for ANY reason they have to notify you by a certified letter. I know this because a few years ago I was pulled over one morning on my way to work for having a headlight out. When my DL was ran it came back as suspended. While I did not go through all the stuff you did, I got to go spend the better part of the day in the county jail waiting on my wife to be able to bail me out. My License was suspended, but I was never notified. When you get to court if you plead nolo contesto (I think that is what it is, it is no contest) you are admitting that you were in the wrong but you get a chance to tell the judge your side, and if you tell the judge that you did not get notified of the suspension, and that is verified by the recordes that the court has access to, the ticket will get dismissed, and you will not have to pay court costs or anything. The judge told me that since I had never been notified I could not be held accountable.
As to the rest of what you went through, you do have a harassment suit against the APD. Good luck with everything.
Last edited by cdbrandi; 01-20-2011 at 09:03 PM.
In California we get fix or repair tickets for taillights etc. All you do is get it fixed and take the ticket to any CHP office and they sign off on it. No fines, no courts and definitely no jail. I had an expired registration ticket a few years ago. I got a court date written on the ticket in another 3 months and all that was necessary was to get it registered and no fine etc. No jail, no impounding of the car although the cop COULD have, I was nice to him and drove away.
I have a had a couple issues with a Barney Fife probie when I was stopped for having a trailer hitch ball mounted on a stock bumper of a Ford ranger that was inspected and registered by the California DMV when I came to California. I printed out the Cal Vehicle code part he cited and took that with me to court. The magistrate had never seen that section cited and certainly never for a legal factory approved trailer hitch.
The "cop" had been on solo duty 3 days and was trying to make points. All he got a was a reprimand from the magistrate in open court and a lot of chuckles as I mentioned Barney Fife loud enough to be heard as I left the courtroom.
BTW just for the record, checkpoints are for one purpose -revenue. Technically, they come under the "illegal search and seizure" and "probable cause" statutes.There are numerous current lawsuits pending on these.
Not too steal a thread, but that's exactly what happened with the biggest bullies/a--holes I went to school with. 3 or 4 of the worst in my school are now city police officers.
I'm so sorry to hear this happened to youwhat they did to you was just...evil and undeserved
Officers aern't immune from sexual harassment laws, even when talking to persons incarcerated. Everything is recorded now adays, lawyer up and send thoes sob's where they belong...a 10x10 cage with a cell mate that thinks they look real pretty...
AnnaMarieYelton - really sorry to hear about what happened.
They also grow up to be politicians.
Amen to that!
My name is Carol.
Not to comment on the unethical treatment by law enforcement, but, that is one reason I have absolutely no inclination to go to Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and the rest of those states. That's a hold over from my days of being in the army. A to the insurance company, I dropped/changed my company because of their billing practices. Anytime the insurance company changed anything in the policy, the agent, anything, the last digit was changed on the policy number. That canceled the old policy. Of course, my lender got a canceled policy notification and alerted me to buy their policy for collision at an ungodly sum. I always had to take my change into the bank and show them. That's why I changed companies. I would recommend contacting your state's insurance commissioner and the state patrol to see if they could put pressure on them to correct these termination errors.
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