Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Because You Can't Make a Denver Omelet Without Cracking a Few Heads

Radley Balko | 9.30.2008 1:50 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

T-shirt handed out by Denver's police union to commemorate the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Rash, Insular, and Proud

Radley Balko is a journalist at The Washington Post.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (37)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. z   17 years ago

    Love it!

  2. The Angry Optimist   17 years ago

    Holy. Shit.

    “No, see, don’t you get it? “BEAT” the crowds…like, smack them about the head?! No, not funny?”

  3. Paul   17 years ago

    ’cause it’s 187 on a mother fuckin’ [fill in the blank]

  4. Episiarch   17 years ago

    This is a joke, right?

  5. the innominate one   17 years ago

    stay classy, cops

  6. Citizen Nothing   17 years ago

    I was at the Dem. convention in 96 in Chicago. The cops sold shirts that said something like “We kicked your fathers’ asses in 68. This year it’s your turn.”
    I still have mine.

  7. KT   17 years ago

    Protect and serve

  8. Mfd   17 years ago

    As someone who has been thrown around by the Denver police can I at least get one of these free?

  9. libertarian democrat   17 years ago

    Very classy. And professional. Didn’t you hear how professional police are nowadays?

  10. Episiarch   17 years ago

    I thought Denver was this, like, granola-crunchy great mid-sized town. But all police everywhere are scum, so I guess Denver wouldn’t be immune.

  11. dhex   17 years ago

    hilarious!

    who wants to bet the first enterprising denver chaps who make up shirts after a cop death get their shit raided, tasered and maybe spayed?

  12. J sub D   17 years ago

    Who wouldn’t like a bunch of guys with such a great sense of humor?

  13. SIV   17 years ago

    I once went with a friend to “get his seized money back” from narcs after all charges were dropped(busted his roommate and took his cash too). They had a large poster on the wall which said:

    “When Drugs are Legalized We’re Out of a Job”

    Narcs were “nice” about it and sent him to the DA who threatened to immediately charge him with everything his roommate was facing if he didn’t get the fuck out of his office.

  14. svf   17 years ago

    “When Drugs are Legalized We’re Out of a Job”

    once many years back I was handling out LP literature at a county fair thingy… a couple of cops strolled by, asked why they should be interested in the libertarian party. I said we want to end the war on drugs so they can focus on the real criminals (or something to that effect.)

    cop said — I shit you not — “No way! The War on Drugs is job security for us!” and laughed and walked off.

  15. Episiarch   17 years ago

    My ex was at a small party recently at a house in a small city. A cop shows up and (nicely) says there’s been a complaint about the music. They turn it down. A few minutes later 2 other cops show up and one announces “OK, party over”. They say “what? We turned the music down.” This mild disrespect of his authoritah causes the cop to bellow “anyone still here after I come back in 20 minutes will be arrested!” Not wanting to possibly be arrested, everyone left.

    She was pretty pissed because this type of thing doesn’t really happen in Spain, so she devised a speech in her head when driving home afterward for what she would have liked to say to them. It was basically her ranting about “I’m a psychologist, and I know when you have a small penis”. Hilarious. We’re going to film it tomorrow.

  16. SugarFree   17 years ago

    We’re going to film it tomorrow.

    Your penis? Yuck. TMI, dude.

  17. The Angry Optimist   17 years ago

    What the hell are you going to get arrested for in that situation? I believe that there’s just a ticket for public nuisance. That’d be like getting arrested for jaywalking.

  18. Other Matt   17 years ago

    What the hell are you going to get arrested for in that situation? I believe that there’s just a ticket for public nuisance.

    My thoughts exactly. I’d probably be standing in the living room quietly sipping a rum and coke when they returned, just waiting to hear the justification. Of course, one can usually rig a clandestine video cam in 20 min even with no warning.

  19. Just Plain Brian   17 years ago

    What the hell are you going to get arrested for in that situation? I believe that there’s just a ticket for public nuisance. That’d be like getting arrested for jaywalking.

    True, but anyone in possession of drugs would have a lot more to worry about as a result of that initial arrest.

  20. Episiarch   17 years ago

    Your penis? Yuck. TMI, dude.

    Is that all you think about? Jeez.

    But seriously, it should be pretty funny; small, energetic foreign girl ranting in a classic Mediterranean style (with gestures, voice modulations, etc.) about little cop penises.

  21. kinnath   17 years ago

    What the hell are you going to get arrested for in that situation?

    Start with “interfering with official acts”, then escalate when people mouth off.

  22. JD   17 years ago

    They’ll arrest you on something bogus (disorderly conduct or whatever – basically just “disrespect of cop”). Then they’ll let you go after you sit in jail for a while, because it’s obviously bogus, but meanwhile they got to mess with you and not suffer any penalties for it themselves.

  23. Episiarch   17 years ago

    What the hell are you going to get arrested for in that situation? I believe that there’s just a ticket for public nuisance.

    Nobody wants to take the chance and call his bluff. Sure, if he did arrest you, you could get it dismissed, but most people don’t want to spend the night in a holding cell to prove a point. It’s unfortunate, but people making such stands need to either be wealthy, connected, or don’t mind being arrested.

  24. JMR   17 years ago

    And boy do cops act mature when they’re videotaped, especially when they have such ‘protect & serve’ attitudes. Sigh. I miss PEACE officers.

  25. Reinmoose   17 years ago

    They deserve leeway on this for keeping us safe from ourselves for all these years.

    Thank you sir, may I have another?

  26. Joel   17 years ago

    Heh, heh…

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ll5chfz1qFU/SOJfT6RkKuI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/VYXLVKLuWfo/s1600-h/ScreenHunter_05+Sep.+30+13.15.jpg

  27. mediageek   17 years ago

    That’s really a horrid design, Joel.

  28. Joel   17 years ago

    That’s really a horrid design, Joel.

    Really? I thought it was kinda cool. And certainly in the spirit of the original.

    Not mine, BTW. I’d never do anything like that…

  29. madmikefisk   17 years ago

    Were it not for the fact that these were for the unofficial Hippie Containment Squad* at the DNC, I’d probably get offended by this. As it stands, not so much.

    *No offense meant toward the uncontained hippies that may be reading this; the Hippie Containment Squad is for those who are contained for the protection of others (including the HCS, the hippies, and/or DNC delegates).

  30. Malto Dextrin   17 years ago

    Oink, oink.

  31. Thom   17 years ago

    Cops always seem to dumbfounded when people don’t “respect” them…

  32. Jamie Kelly   17 years ago

    Sigh. I miss PEACE officers.

    There’s life on other planets?

  33. zig zag man   17 years ago

    Protect our asses and jobs and Serve ourselves and our corporate masters

    There, fixed it for you.

  34. Citizen Nothing   17 years ago

    The cops have corporate masters? I though they served the F.O.P. and the local pols.
    Who knew?

  35. Anonymo the Anonymous   17 years ago

    But but somewhere a Negro is wearing a “Stop Snitchin'” shirt!

    Dysfunctional culture!

  36. chancelikely   17 years ago

    Somebody call Scalia and tell him some of the “Old Professionalism” got through.

  37. miche   17 years ago

    A “How To Deal with Police Brutality” video.

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

How Tariffs Are Breaking the Manufacturing Industries Trump Says He Wants To Protect

Eric Boehm | From the July 2025 issue

The Latest Escalation Between Russia and Ukraine Isn't Changing the Course of the War

Matthew Petti | 6.6.2025 4:28 PM

Marsha Blackburn Wants Secret Police

C.J. Ciaramella | 6.6.2025 3:55 PM

This Small Business Is in Limbo As Owner Sues To Stop Trump's Tariffs

Eric Boehm | 6.6.2025 3:30 PM

A Runner Was Prosecuted for Unapproved Trail Use After the Referring Agency Called It 'Overcriminalization'

Jacob Sullum | 6.6.2025 2:50 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!