I was lucky in that I had experience in the service at a young age, so I'm used to being very docile when the situation calls for it.
An interesting thing I learned from those videos is that cops can say anything at all to you -- they are not required to actually tell you the truth. I found that very unnerving. On the other hand, I found that you can ask if you are being detained and if not, if you are free to go. It's a funky kabuki dance you do. There actually a video on that site of interacting with a border patrol agent. The agent wanted to detain, search, and interrogate the driver but the driver understood that since they were not at the border the agent did not have authority to do so, even though it appeared that the agent stood his ground. It was a very interesting interaction.
I remember in my mid twenties I was driving with the chief of a local police department in his personal car a good ways from his home (long story). While we were talking, his speed got too fast and he passed a radar checkpoint that a state trooper had set up.
I never saw a man go from totally macho to totally polite and subservient quicker in my life. It was all "yes sir" and "no sir" and "I believe I was not paying attention to my speed and was probably speeding, but I have no idea how fast I was going", etc. You would have thought that the man's personal deity had appeared to him from the way he acted.
The trooper gave him the ticket too! It my my heart warm to see the system working the way it should.
Of course, many times the system doesn't work the way it should, and once you have too many laws you easily reach a point where law enforcement officials can capriciously determine which ones to enforce and which ones not to. (We reached that point a long time ago) Adding extra cops and border agents does not make these problems go away and in fact just make them worse. (Insert long little "l" libertarian text here)
An interesting thing I learned from those videos is that cops can say anything at all to you -- they are not required to actually tell you the truth. I found that very unnerving. On the other hand, I found that you can ask if you are being detained and if not, if you are free to go. It's a funky kabuki dance you do. There actually a video on that site of interacting with a border patrol agent. The agent wanted to detain, search, and interrogate the driver but the driver understood that since they were not at the border the agent did not have authority to do so, even though it appeared that the agent stood his ground. It was a very interesting interaction.
I remember in my mid twenties I was driving with the chief of a local police department in his personal car a good ways from his home (long story). While we were talking, his speed got too fast and he passed a radar checkpoint that a state trooper had set up.
I never saw a man go from totally macho to totally polite and subservient quicker in my life. It was all "yes sir" and "no sir" and "I believe I was not paying attention to my speed and was probably speeding, but I have no idea how fast I was going", etc. You would have thought that the man's personal deity had appeared to him from the way he acted.
The trooper gave him the ticket too! It my my heart warm to see the system working the way it should.
Of course, many times the system doesn't work the way it should, and once you have too many laws you easily reach a point where law enforcement officials can capriciously determine which ones to enforce and which ones not to. (We reached that point a long time ago) Adding extra cops and border agents does not make these problems go away and in fact just make them worse. (Insert long little "l" libertarian text here)