Nobody’s above the law, not even the law itself, or so you'd hope. Despite this, cops often act as if the rules don’t apply to them. This has led to significant rifts between portions of society and the police. Look no further than the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
One cop got exactly what was coming to him when he parked in a handicapped spot, only to be confronted by a man in a wheelchair who had blocked his exit. Hanging his head in shame, the cop pleaded for forgiveness, but only after insulting the man’s son.
More info: Reddit
Nobody is above the law, as this cop learned the hard way
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
After parking in a handicapped spot, a disabled man blocked his exit for a few hours
Image credits: Kindel Media / Pexels (not the actual photo)
When the man’s son went to unlock the car, he was verbally assaulted by the infuriated cop who’d stuck a bunch of parking tickets to the windshield
Image credits: razgulyaev_vladimir / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The cop was forced to change his tune when the disabled man showed up in a wheelchair
Image credits: Kindel Media / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Painfully aware of his mistake, the cop began removing several parking tickets he'd stuck to the disabled man's windshield
Image credits: hmsdexter
After much backpedaling and groveling from the lawman, the disabled man and his son let him off with a warning but still shared the story online years later
OP begins his story by telling the community that his dad is paraplegic but gets around in a specially modified car. One day, they went to watch a movie, but when they got to the mall, they found the handicapped spot occupied by a police car.
OP’s dad decided to park right behind the offending vehicle in a way that would block it in. The pair went off to see their movie and even had dinner. About 5 hours later, they left the mall, with his dad hanging back to pay for parking while he went on to unlock the car.
When OP arrived at the car, he was confronted by a furious cop who asked him if the car was his. When OP said yes, the cop went off on him. That’s when OP noticed he’d stuck about 20 parking tickets to the car’s windshield. OP adds that there was no handicapped sign in the car, so this didn’t surprise him.
Well, OP patiently let the cop finish his tirade as he waited for his dad to show up. When he did, OP says the look on the cop’s face was priceless. The lawman did his best to backpedal, but the damage was done.
After some groveling and apologies from the entitled officer, OP and his dad decided they’d let him off with a warning. In an edit to his post, OP mentions that this all happened in South Africa in the late 90s and that his dad was well known to the mall security, which is probably why his car wasn’t towed for blocking the cop.
The people who enforce the law shouldn’t be above it. In OP’s case, the cop didn’t have a leg to stand on, but what can be done to hold errant cops accountable? We went looking for answers.
In his article for HuffPost, Matt Kaiser writes that there are three main ways cops face consequences if they abuse their position of authority. First, they can be prosecuted for a crime. This is difficult and only happens in a rare number of cases.
Second, public attention can have some impact, but this isn't a widespread solution and only a fraction of cases will go viral.
Finally, people can sue bad cops, but again, doing so is extremely challenging. Many law firms just won't take a police misconduct case since police can hide behind a handy little doctrine called "qualified immunity."
According to the Equal Justice Initiative website, qualified immunity is a court-created rule that limits victims of police violence and misconduct from holding officers accountable when they violate a person’s constitutional rights. Doesn't sound very fair, to say the least.
Perhaps OP and his dad got off lightly, especially considering that it seems the police can get away with whatever they like.
How would you have handled the situation if you'd found yourself in OP’s shoes? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
In the comments, readers shared their own stories of nightmare cops and praised the mall security for not letting the handicapped man’s car be towed
