Cops and Poolrooms

our_auctionguy

our_auctionguy

The Wall.....
Silver Member
To avoid getting bad reps for this post, the author chooses to delete it. Not good subject matter to elevate the sport.
 
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our_auctionguy said:
Just thinking back over the years of being in poolrooms and bars around the country, it seems to me that most of the poolrooms I have been in were never hassled or visited by the cops like some of the bars I have been in. Rarely did they come into the poolrooms unless they were called, and calling them was always a last resort or part of a 911 call for paramedics. It seemed to me that in a few places, if you had to call 911 for very serious problem, they even took their sweet time responding, unless there was mention of a gun involved. Cops love to have a reason to draw their weapons whether they will admit to it or not and a gun call gets their attention. I had to call for paramedics on a guy that was unconscious and bleeding pretty badly from brass knucks to the forehead and the response time was was well over 10 minutes pushing 15-20 which seemed like an eternity. The cops didn't show until the ambulance arrived.

On the other side of the coin is bars. I have been in bars where the cops loved to make almost a nightly appearance and even throw their weight around by going behind th bar to check for watered down alcohol just to hassle the owners, and generally flashing their presence on a regular basis as if to scare away the custmers. I could understand this to be because a bar has gotten a bad rep for problems but in some towns, it seems they just have a hard on for the local bars.

I am curious whether my assertion that poolrooms are pretty much off the radar of most police departments is correct, even though they know drugs, illegal gambling such as side betting, cards, coin tosses, and occasionally prostitution by some barfly railbirdies, are all there to be had in some of them.

Let me also clarify poolroom as being one that does not cater to hip-hop or loud gangsta rap music and teen-agers with their clicks and gang affiliations. The poolrooms I am talking about are the ones where you go for experience of seeing someone's wallet get fatter or thinner on the felt jungle.

What does your take on it an experience say?
Click to expand...

I disagree with that part. No comment on the rest.
 
Point taken... Cops don't like to draw their weapon unless they have to.

My Bad. Thread not worthy!
 
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our_auctionguy said:
My Bad. Thread not worthy!
Click to expand...

our-auctionguy,

First, I would never give you bad reps for voicing your opinion. This is America! You're allowed to share too!

But I would like to point out 2 things from your original post.

You said "Cops love to have a reason to draw their weapons..." Well, not always. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS1gk4ZkyYE&feature=related

I don't know how to post multiple attachments in one post, so this will be continued in the next post.
 
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I had a lot of friends that were cops in NY, both the city and the Island. Most never had to fire their gun in many years on the job...some their whole career. They say that when you do have to draw and shoot it's a pain in the $ss with the paperwork and investigations and what not afterwood. Yes their are a few cowboys out there that can't wait to draw and fire...but damn few. They also have a few codes that almost anybody would agree with if they became a cop. The court system is the problem. Johnnyt
 
Encouraged them

When I had my bar the cops would stop in almost nightly. In fact we encouraged them to stop by. It was very good for our business and our relationship with the cops. I never saw them draw a gun or get pushy with our customers or with us(ownership). When we did call because of a problem they would be there is a matter of a minute or two, we liked that.

Short story about one incident: One night a very large guy comes in and from the looks of him you know there is going to be a problem. You can feel it. Well he does try to start trouble and he is huge. Everybody is trying to ignore him but he keeps it up. Finally the cops are called. In a minute or two in walks a 5' 6" cop. I just said to myself this isn't going to work because of this guys size. :eek: :eek: The cop does have a buddy though, a 3' german sheperd on a leash with him. The big guy morphed into a timid gentleman in a second. :D He finished his drink and left, with cop and pooch right behind him. Never saw him again. Thanks officer and friend!
 
I disagree

our_auctionguy said:
My Bad. Thread not worthy!
Click to expand...

I think you made some good points and you were not too far off with your comments regarding the weapons.

I have a close friend who is in law enforcement, and we talk a good bit about this very subject, becasue he is also part owner of a very nice Pool Room. He has made some of the same obseravtions that you just made.

It's the alcohol in a bar (Hard liquor, not necessarily the beer) that has the attention of not only the cops, but the county commission as well.

The reason, as he has put it, is because the hard liquor factor generally brings the violent type crime with it; and since you know it's there and where it's coming from...it's easy to focus on. Right or wrong...that seems to apply here.

Drugs and gang stuff is everywhere you look now days. But, a little tougher to identify until something happens to bring attention to the situation. It's also a little more dangerous to try to deal with.

While most Cops are on the right side of the law, they really aren't much different than crooks when it comes to an "Easy Mark".

As far as the gun comment...I don't think you were too far off base. While they may not neccessarily like to draw their gun (mainly because that means thier life and subsequently someone elses life might be at risk) they certainly do like the idea that they are carrying one and they don't mind you knowing they have one either. :)


I can only attribute this to the "Growth Factor" of carrying a gun.

When I am not carrying, I am 5'-8" and weigh 190 lbs.

When I am carrying, I am 7'-10" and am an 800lb Gorrilla.

Funny thing is...my buddy is a mini King Kong as it is. Add the Gun, and you have Godzilla!!! :D

I should say that he is as good as gold too. There is not another person on this planet that I would more willing trust my life and the life of my family with.
 
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Terry Ardeno said:
our_auctionguy,

You also said "....a gun call gets their attention." You are right there.:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fktjw7gNv3M&feature=related
Click to expand...

Terry, I used to LOVE SledgeHammer, even though I was just a kid when he was on. His most memorable line for me was when he was talking to a woman (I think she was his partner or something), and she was trying to give him the old "Guns don't kill people, people kill people speech". I think it went like this:

Her: "Guns don't kill people Sledge"
Him: "You're right, bullets do"

I guess it's not as funny without seeing his expressions, but that show cracked me up. Thanks for the memories!
 
our_auctionguy said:
To avoid getting bad reps for this post, the author chooses to delete it. Not good subject matter to elevate the sport.
Click to expand...

TOO little ... TOO late. It's out there. You thought it. You put it out there. You have to live with it.
 
my bodyguard and driver is a former NYPD detective. In all the years on the force, including in some in the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country, he had pulled his gun only twice, and never fired. That's 20 years!! And since he has worked for me, 2+ years, he has only pulled it once.

He is in no hurry to shoot someone, but wouldn't hesitate to if absolutely
necessary. I'll also reiterate what another poster said, this guy is as good as gold, and I DO trust him with my life, as well as those
of my wife and child.

Rg
 
cops and dollars

There are some very good cops out there who do the job because they believe in what they do. However, except for one meeting with an older cop which did result in a ticket, my meetings with cops over the last roughly ten years haven't been pleasant. Young cops that are dumb as a box of rocks and poorly trained are the issue.

I called the Sheriff's department because some parents let their kids come onto the back of my place to cut firewood. Of course the first thing they chose was my young pecan tree about twenty feet tall that I had been babying for years. The cop said there was no way that they could connect the cut trees to the stumps. When I pointed out that the base of the cut tree and the stump would be an exact match he threatened to arrest me. When I called his superior to complain about this moron's belligerence, I was told he was a fine young officer who had had a fight with his wife that day! With two years experience he was the trainer for the rookies. A similar experience with a state trooper recently tells me that even the state police that were once the class of the LEO's in this state are poorly chosen and poorly trained now.

The reason for the vast majority of cop related problems is simple, money or lack of the same. There is more money to be made doing almost anything around here so you get the people who think that the uniform and vest make them look good, the power trip kids, and the people who are too dumb or insecure to want to risk getting out in the competitive job market.

Once the departments are forced to hire mostly the lowest end of the job seekers, then they are rushed out onto the street. No time or money to train them properly and rarely do they spend the year or so with a more experienced partner that they once did.

To the good LEO's, I salute you. You are doing a tough job for lousy pay. To all of the jackasses I have been encountering in the last ten years that don't know how to do their job, are scared, stupid, or arrogant bullies, you are the ones that give law enforcement officers a bad name. Once I wouldn't even refer to an officer as a cop out of respect for them and I have personally contributed thousands to the police over the years as well as two vests. I have also voted for their pay raises for years. My reward has been a constant deterioration in the quality of the men and women I meet on the street. No more donations, no more vests, no more free coffee, no more automatic respect for a law enforcement officer. They as a group have earned my low regard for them, they as a group will have to give me reason to think differently.

My apologies to any good law enforcement officers on this forum who find this offensive but take a hard look at the people around you and you will see I speak the truth. I supported law enforcement for over forty years despite the occasional screwing but when the raw treatment becomes the norm I am fed up. If forty years of supporting the local and state police forces have led to this I am through giving or voting for a penny for LEO needs or wants. I don't expect special treatment but I expect every citizen to be treated with a certain level of respect.

"To Protect and Serve" Just the opposite, often the cop is the biggest problem in the area.

Hu
 
I quit calling the cops to my poolrooms 30 years ago. They take their good old time to get there (after everything is long over with) and never do much anyway. Maybe ask me a few questions and leave.

I learned a long time ago in the poolroom business, you better figure out a way to handle your own problems. Now, outside the poolroom if I see something strange going on, I wouldn't hesitate to call the police.

Once I was driving and saw a lady driving so erratically she was endangering everyone around her. I mean she was driving on both sides of the road, stopping and starting while cars are streaming by etc. I followed her (at a distance) and when she parked (badly) in a bank parking lot, I blocked her car with my car. Then I went to a pay phone and called the cops. When she came out of the bank and saw her car was blocked she screamed bloody murder.

I told her it was my car and I wasn't moving it. She screamed at me so hard she wet her pants. TRUE! The cops finally came. I told them what happened and they started talking to her. She flipped out and they cuffed her. That's when I left. I'm sure she was high on something. She could have killed someone. About 20 years ago.
 
I couldn't agree more with this eloquent assessment. Several departments in my state are putting armed men on the street with no academy training whatsoever... This is a dangerous practice that is becoming widespread as small towns encounter rapid population growth.

Banger
ShootingArts said:
There are some very good cops out there who do the job because they believe in what they do. However, except for one meeting with an older cop which did result in a ticket, my meetings with cops over the last roughly ten years haven't been pleasant. Young cops that are dumb as a box of rocks and poorly trained are the issue.

I called the Sheriff's department because some parents let their kids come onto the back of my place to cut firewood. Of course the first thing they chose was my young pecan tree about twenty feet tall that I had been babying for years. The cop said there was no way that they could connect the cut trees to the stumps. When I pointed out that the base of the cut tree and the stump would be an exact match he threatened to arrest me. When I called his superior to complain about this moron's belligerence, I was told he was a fine young officer who had had a fight with his wife that day! With two years experience he was the trainer for the rookies. A similar experience with a state trooper recently tells me that even the state police that were once the class of the LEO's in this state are poorly chosen and poorly trained now.

The reason for the vast majority of cop related problems is simple, money or lack of the same. There is more money to be made doing almost anything around here so you get the people who think that the uniform and vest make them look good, the power trip kids, and the people who are too dumb or insecure to want to risk getting out in the competitive job market.

Once the departments are forced to hire mostly the lowest end of the job seekers, then they are rushed out onto the street. No time or money to train them properly and rarely do they spend the year or so with a more experienced partner that they once did.

To the good LEO's, I salute you. You are doing a tough job for lousy pay. To all of the jackasses I have been encountering in the last ten years that don't know how to do their job, are scared, stupid, or arrogant bullies, you are the ones that give law enforcement officers a bad name. Once I wouldn't even refer to an officer as a cop out of respect for them and I have personally contributed thousands to the police over the years as well as two vests. I have also voted for their pay raises for years. My reward has been a constant deterioration in the quality of the men and women I meet on the street. No more donations, no more vests, no more free coffee, no more automatic respect for a law enforcement officer. They as a group have earned my low regard for them, they as a group will have to give me reason to think differently.

My apologies to any good law enforcement officers on this forum who find this offensive but take a hard look at the people around you and you will see I speak the truth. I supported law enforcement for over forty years despite the occasional screwing but when the raw treatment becomes the norm I am fed up. If forty years of supporting the local and state police forces have led to this I am through giving or voting for a penny for LEO needs or wants. I don't expect special treatment but I expect every citizen to be treated with a certain level of respect.

"To Protect and Serve" Just the opposite, often the cop is the biggest problem in the area.

Hu
Click to expand...
 
There was a policeman who was a regular at my favorite hall. He started dropping in for coffee during his overnight shifts as the hall was a 24 hour joint. He would also regularly drop in for coffee on his days off. Other than he did not play pool, it would be hard to tell him from a regular. Many times I'd pull up to the hall and see a police car running out front, and Ken would be at the bar having a coffee. When he retired a year or so back, he made one more round but this time when I dropped into the hall there he was at a table with some staff, the owner, and a couple of regulars having a drink. I sat and had a couple of drinks with them rather than play pool. When he left he asked if he could stash his bike in the back as he thought it might be safer to walk. It was rather funny when the waitress wanted to call him a cab, he just looked at her sideways and said "after walking the downtown beat for 30 years I can make it to my next stop just fine, thank you", and off he went to have some more drinks with other friends in another of his regular stops. That's my cop-in-a-pool-hall story, and I'm sticking to it.

Dave
 
our_auctionguy said:
To avoid getting bad reps for this post, the author chooses to delete it. Not good subject matter to elevate the sport.
Click to expand...

Gee... I'm away from the board for 1/2 a day and I FRIGGIN' MISS SOMETHING. :)

That's it, no more outside, just pool table and AZ :)

I feel like those who never got to see the GR___ MATH____ Woofin/"Poolroom Talk" video. :):)
 
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cops pool rooms

I have 3 officers that play in my room at least once a week, no finer guys you want to meet!! they know that there small wagers in pool as in golf, well all like some sports, let live , and enjoy life, as long as you hurt no one!!! I for one love to have them come in as if i have any customers that want to give me lip, they know not to!!!:D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 
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