arjay

NPR's Savvy Traveller program today had an interesting section of running afoul of the local authorities. Personally, I can't imagine anything worse, esp in a foreign country. Amid this well-travelled group here, I'm thinking there must be some interesting tales to tell?

Les

I don't usually respond to this sort of post (a time and bandwidth waster), but the subject is near and dear to my heart. <BR>Among the many encounters I've had with the local constabulary, my fondest memory is that of a "meeting" in Glasgow in 1969. It happens that a couple of local officers were driving the same type of vehicle that I was (a funny little Morris Mini, I think). I'm used to police driving full-size highway cruisers, and as a result, I didn't recognize the police car for what it was when it stopped next to me at a light. So naturally, I engaged it in a drag race down a long city block. <BR>Well, it's a long story, but at the end of a very heated conversation (on the part of the officer), his parting words were, "So when are you leaving town?" <BR>Damn patient, those Scots!

Cindy

Yup. Did get the chance to meet a police officer in Spain (Madrid?). I was out late walking with my fiance. A cop with a big German Shepherd-type police dog came by, and we had a brief conversation with the officer. I asked him the name of the dog. "Sergio," he replied. I bent over a little and said something like, "Hi, Sergio. Aren't you a handsome dog" or words to that effect. He immediately lunged for me, and the only thing that saved me was the alert cop had a good grip on him. <BR> <BR>So, er, never greet a police dog unless you ask permission first.

Judy

Around 80's, once I went fo Seul,Korea for business. After the meetings, still had some time left, I decided to walk to visit the old Palace.It was a cold January, probably half way, I saw a police, tried to ask him how much further I had to walk in English and Japanes(I don't speak Korean), he didn't understand, then I showed him the tiny map from hotel,he nodded and pointed the direction. I continued walking,it was getting colder and colder, and since I wasn't feeling well, I turned around and started to walk back to my hotel.Suddenly, a police car stopped by the curb, 2 police got out, and buddled me into the car. I tried to explain without success, and getting really apprehensive.After a 10 minutes ride in the police car ( the first time in my whole life), the car stopped by the Palace, they took me to the entrance and then waved me good-bye.

mike

Only in Spain when I travelled in NW Spain. The Guardia had road blocks set up and and waved me through when the police saw my American passport. They shot up a car (killing two people) who didn't stop at the road block about a day later. In all the years of travel, I have always been "waved through" when showing my passport (and of course I look like the typical tourist - dressed nice w/camera, and very cooperative, etc.

John

Got arrested for unpaid parking tickets in Edinburgh - usual grad student flippancy issue, but had a fun evening in the jail (make that dungeon) below the courts (formerly the Scots Parliament on the High St.) before my release and penitence in front of a judge a day or two later. <BR>Also got hauled off in Iran by a diminutive cop with a not very diminutive gun pointed at me. Turns out I'd inadvertantly taken a photograph of the Secret Police HQ in the town, and had to confess my status as an ignoramus before the chief. As I was working on a government project, it all eventually got smoothed out and we had a nice cup of tea together; the arresting cop fled the station house after being taunted by the others.

Patrick

Last summer we were driving out of Konya, Turkey, getting a later than anticipated start for the day's drive. We were definitely speeding. Suddenly we came around a curve and a policeman was standing by the side of the road, waving us over. A policeman came to each side of the car. We thought they had us. But they were just checking papers to make sure cars weren't stolen. When they realized we didn't speak Turkish, they said, "English?", to which we replied "American". They seemed surprised at finding independent travelers from the US rather than England and immediately became very friendly. They offered for us to come into their "trailer office" and share apple tea with them. Just like the state police in Georgia -- NOT!

Mike M

On a trip to CH in 1998, I got caught in a speed trap just outside the St. Gotthard Tunnel (north side). <BR> <BR>The officer, with a grin on his face, handed me the receipt for the 140CHF fine saying, "here's a memento of your trip to Switzerland...we only 'catch' Italians in this trap, you are the first American we've caught..." <BR> <BR> <BR>

steve

A couple of years ago we were in Annecy France and rented a small boat to drive around the lake. We we driving fairly close to the shore and admiring the homes when the "water police" drove up to our boat and started yelling something at us. After understanding a few of his words and some gestures we realized we were making a wake too close to shore. We apoligized in fractured French and more gestures and then he waved us on with his one English word, "Enjoy".

Elspeth

I was marched off a bus at gunpoint by LA police on my third day in the US in 1999 - turns out they were looking for someone with a gun, so they searched all of us.

bashful

A couple of years ago in Portugal, we left our camera behind in our room after we'd checked out. About two hours later discovered it was missing! Hurried back and of course it was gone. We thought we should report it to the local authorities in case our insurance co. required it when we returned home. It took several hours to sort it out as they had to bring in an officer who was out on the streets to interpret. Finally got our report after wasting the better part of a day and when we returned home and reported it missing to the insurance company, they never did ask if we had reported it missing in Portugal. Paid the claim quickly and easily, by the way.

Rex

In Bergamo last fall, I found myself (not) in possession of the (lost) airplane ticket I needed to get home. the Air France (actually Gandalf, their regional partner) agent was sufficiently helpful in getting me re-ticketed, but explained that i would need a police report to claim the reimbursement. <BR> <BR>I thought I was going to have actually assault the airport to get them to help me. Ultimately, a female officer helped me with the necessary form, was very nice, very apologetic and implied that getting the (men) officers to respond to a man was almost impossible. She told me that my problem was that I wasn't in a skirt! <BR> <BR>C'e Italia! <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

maureen

We were motioned over by some gendarmes in a small village in the Yonne who had set up the French version of an American DUI checkpoint. We weren't wearing our seatbelts. We showed our passports and attempted to converse in our poor French. The officer seemed excited that we were American and wanted to speak English. Whenever I would attempt to answer his question in French he would ask me to speak English. The stop lasted an enjoyable 20 minutes and we heard about his desire to visit the US. He reminded us that French law requires seatbelts and that he wanted to make sure we were safe and could continue to enjoy his country. He sent us on our way with some suggestions on what to see up the road.

buffums

Yup, had an unpleasant encounter with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Northern Ireland. <BR> <BR>This was about seven years ago, before the peace settlement. <BR> <BR>Seven of us--three Irish guys from the South, three American females, and one British female--had piled into a very small car with Republic of Ireland tags. <BR> <BR>We had been staying in a small town in County Monahan and wanted to go to a disco. The nearest one was across the Ulster border. <BR> <BR>RUC pulls us over for having too many people in the car. The guys from the South don't want the RUC to hear their accents, so they ask the Americans to talk. The RUC were not impressed. <BR> <BR>But the minute the girl from Berkshire opened her mouth, they let us go. <BR> <BR>

Melissa

In an effort to crack down on Metro fraud, the police in Paris will randomly stop you in the station and you need to prove that you have the appropriate stub to match your Orange Carte. Well, I was randomly picked, and my bag was such a mess that I couldn't find my ticket! One officer turned to two, two turned to three, and it was looking like I was about to be arrested. I was frantic! I finally found the right ticket in an obscure pocket, and the officer and I looked at each other and both said loudly, "PHEW!"

karen

After dinner in Bayeux, we (two couples) got into our rental car and headed back to the B&B just outside town. Somebody said, "Let's drive by the cathedral one last time." So we drove through town and proceeded out toward the ring road. A gendarme was slowing cars down and indicating we should move to the right. We said, "Uh-oh, there must be an accident or detour." Then we noticed one stopped the car in front of us and another indicated we should pull over. "They must be looking for someone." The gendarme came to the window. My husband rolled down the window and the gendarme handed him something unusual. My husband looked at it and shrugged to indicate, "What is this?" and the gendarme mimed blowing into the little tube. All our collective brains and hearts sank with "good grief, it's a breathalyzer." My husband does most of the driving while in France and is always careful to have very little to drink. He blew into it - the gendarme took a long time to read the results, walked around the car, shined his flashlight on the rental car stickers (he knew we were American tourists)and asked, in French, if he had had any alcohol this evening. I answered in French, saying "Only one glass of wine, with dinner." He shined his light on all of us and then finally motioned for us to move along. An incredible relief, especially for my husband who says all he could think of was the Napoleonic code of "guilty until proven innocent." To this day, when the four of us are out together, the line that provokes memories is, "Let's drive by the cathedral one last time." Of course, we shake our heads thinking of all the tandem trailer trucks on the autoroutes and their drivers who stop for lunch and down a bottle of wine or hard cider!