Discussion with ISP Officer who Detained Mario and I

For those who are not aware, in 2003, Mario and I were detained by Islip Airport Police (branded as Suffolk Police then) for a couple of hours for the horrible nonexistent crime of aviation photography. We were first met with extreme attitude from an officer whose anger level I've still yet to see elsewhere, who treated our cameras like we were holding guns. The whole experience was a sad collapse of police procedure and our freedoms....and it's not common for me to say such things.

Well, the other day I came off of a Southwest flight, and saw the very officer sitting at a police podium. Ah, we meet again!

My flight had come in a little late and I was expecting to have my ride home that my company arranged to be waiting for me. I'd hate to sound snotty, but I was expecting the guy with the sign with my name on it to be there, but he wasn't. In fact, I didn't see any area where such drivers would be waiting.

So, I decided to take the opportunity to confer with my old officer friend! As I walk up to him, he's talking with a female who asked him a question, and he was being very nice to her....VERY nice. She walks away and I he looks at me. I begin to say "Hi, excuse me. Do you know where I ca-" He interrupts and says "Where are you trying to go?" It's one thing to interrupt if you know what the person is about to say, but it's clear if he'd let me speak, he'd know.

"Is there an area where limo drivers assemble to meet with their passengers?"

Almost annoyed, he says "Cars can't STOP here. Cabs are outside."

He was so incredibly unhelpful that I walked away from the podium feeling stupider than before I walked up to him. Who gave this man Sgt stripes?

I'm always so supportive, friendly and cooperative with all members of law enforcement, and this guy is an example of what gives police a bad name. Ugh, I don't even like calling this guy a police officer.

You know Phil its just sad that a person like that wears a uniform and is a representative of Suffolk county. Someone like that should not be in a position where they have to deal with the public.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Phil D.

Who gave this man Sgt stripes?

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whoever had OD duty that day :lol:

Well you don't have to call them police officers because they aren't. The LIMA Airport Officers are actually Peace Officers. If you take a good look their patches have changed. They use to say police but now they say public safety. They are employed by the Town of Islip not Suffolk County.

In fact the TSA made them become peace officers. Before that technically they were armed security guards.

SCPD needs to have a presence at the airport because LIMA cannot by law perform certain duties.

Wow, interesting to run into someone like that again. Do you think he remembered you or was he just being pissy because?

He was probably one of those kids that got bullied in school and now has a vengance against the world.

Not to excuse the individual's behavior but if your original incident was in 2003, recall that in that year, with the buildup to and then the initiation of the Iraq invasion, they kept moving the color-coded alerts between orange and yellow and airport security was really on edge. It was a much more touchy situation than the 'normalcy' we have now settled into. I flew into BOS a couple of weeks prior to the Iraq invasion and was hassled by a customs officer who found my business trip to Europe suspicious on the grounds that he 'hadn't heard of' my company, which is a small family business. The implication being that if I had said I was from some global corporation he had heard of, I wouldn't have necessitated further questioning.

Tommy is exactly right; this guy shouldn't be dealing with the public.

He doesn't appear to execute his job properly - even when assigned a very simple task.

His employers should be very embarrassed.

Tom

Well, Phil, calling him officer is not a note of respect.
he is forever a lowlife to me. I doubt I'd recognize the trash if I were there.