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gallesram
Nomad
Posts: 384
Registered: 7-6-2010
Location: Laguna Beach
Member Is Offline
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I used to pay the bribe (I didn't know there was an option NOT to) and frankly after reading this board and the postings years ago about the cops in
Ciudad Constitucion, I learned how to deal with the crooked cops. Now I never pay and just do the things mentioned above (speak only English, agree
to go to the police station to see the judge, etc.); happy to say I haven't paid a bribe in several years, either in Baja or the mainland. I have yet
to actually go to the police station, either.
Sorry to hear about your experience; it's enough to sour any future trips but hopefully after reading these comments you'll realize that by following
a few rules you'll be on your way without paying if this happens in the future.
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motoged
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6481
Registered: 7-31-2006
Location: Kamloops, BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gettin' Better
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Baptism by fire......
About 15 years ago I rode my moto down to San Jose and my better half flew down....The night before she flew back home I got terrible food poisoning
....and was barely able to walk....so she took a taxi from downtown to the airport (early evening).
It wasn't until a week later when I was back home that I learned she was robbed by her taxi driver and dumped on the highway outside the airport.
Needless to say I was enraged and was planning on returning to find the guy and mess him up REAL bad 
I got over it (sort of)....and when complaining about it on another forum, a response to my complaining was "what do you expect....she was an easy
target". That feed back stung....but it helped me learn to never do that again (leave vulnerable person in that circumstance)....and to see where I
did have any responsibility in the turn of events.
I hope your next trip goes more smoothly.
Don't believe everything you think....
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
Member Is Offline
Mood: Weary
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The guys I had the bad experience with were Army..
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64545
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Mexico is the AMIGO Country, remember?
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6334
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
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I see there are differing opinions regarding how to deal with the cops (please get one thing straight, the Federal cops drive back & whites and
clearly state POLICIA FEDERAL on the sides of their vehicles, municipal or estatal cops drive different color vehicles.)
ONE rule of thumb is to NEVER EVER pay any money to the cops. If available record and photograph the cops. They will eventually leave you alone and go
on to an easier mark.
My experience is that my fluent Spanish has clearly helped in the three occasions that is was intercepted by local cops over the 50 or so years
driving Baja.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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Hey, Udo......half of your house is on your lot.
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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Whale-ista
Super Nomad
Posts: 2009
Registered: 2-18-2013
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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Sorry this happened to you esp during first trip.
Agree with what others have said: never pay! Also, speak English, be polite, smile, offer to go to police station with them, ask for a receipt, ask to
see a judge or supervisor...any combination of those things will help you get away quickly and hopefully freely.
Also: carry an old expired drivers license and a decoy wallet with a few dollars and pesos. Give them that license first if asked, since they might
keep it. And show them how few dollars/pesos you have.
Hope all these ideas and suggestions help you avoid this in future.
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5861
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
Member Is Offline
Mood: Retireded
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After the first time I got shaken down in La Paz with the cop holding my licence hostage, I found out that only the Federales can take your ID. The
next time it happened, I showed the cop the licence but did not let him take it from me.
That was his first clue that I was not going to play the game without resistance. After a while he let me go after I told him "no mordida!" If he
had taken the licence, it was one that I had 'lost', and the duplicate was safely secured for the trip home.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Tioloco
Super Nomad
Posts: 1542
Registered: 7-30-2014
Member Is Offline
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1st rule is there are NO rules. I have experienced something similar to Chuckie in the past. I have also held fast against the mordida several times.
Corruption is NOT something you can control. You are the unarmed visitor, he/she is the armed official. Sometimes you just end up grabbing your
ankles. Don't think the judge and everybody else isn't in on the gringo lottery.
Just use your head and do not get combative.
In the end, the good outweighs the bad.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8923
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Its Pole Line Road time
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My last time getting stopped (in Tijuana), I went for a cruise with my wife to show her the town after checking into our Motel. We got stopped, and I
forgot to bring money - I would hit the ATM later that night. When we got stopped, I honestly didn't have any $$.
No money = broke Police officer! LOL
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gallesram
Nomad
Posts: 384
Registered: 7-6-2010
Location: Laguna Beach
Member Is Offline
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Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  | After the first time I got shaken down in La Paz with the cop holding my licence hostage, I found out that only the Federales can take your ID. The
next time it happened, I showed the cop the licence but did not let him take it from me.
That was his first clue that I was not going to play the game without resistance. After a while he let me go after I told him "no mordida!" If he
had taken the licence, it was one that I had 'lost', and the duplicate was safely secured for the trip home. |
This is great (and important) advice that I forgot to mention. Once the policeman has your license you're toast, so don't hand it over (assuming it's
not a federal policia).
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13166
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
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I am so glad that I didn't read this until tonight and I am safely home here in Baja.
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Tioloco
Super Nomad
Posts: 1542
Registered: 7-30-2014
Member Is Offline
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Blanca- well put!
And again, the good does outweigh the bad by a huge margin.
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lamissmanners
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: 9-13-2015
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Ha so many memories.
I lived in Durango for two years and was always getting pulled over for driving while gringa. When I was working at the university at night, they
would issue a parking ticket by removing my license plate and having to go down to the station to get it back. ( I was parked legally)
So then I taped my license plate inside of my window and I would get pulled over for improper plate display.
I always hand a copy of my documents to the officer, so if they want me to give them money to get them back then too bad.
My most amusing time was when I was coming back from swimming at the dam at around midnight with my then boyfriend. On the way out a cop car was
coming in and stopped us and told me I was going to be accused of having sex in a public place and they were going to publish my name on the crime
page of the local newspaper. I paid the money and then reported him to the head of all the police, who frequented the same folkloric bar that I lived
at. He wanted to fire the officer immediately and I said no way, I don't want to get killed or hassled by other police. I said I only ask that I be
left alone by the police, leave my license plate alone too. After that, most was quiet.
I too have faked not knowing Spanish. My favorite is saying, "No hablo espanol." pronouncing the silent h in hablo.
I've had much success with carrying small bags of school supplies to give to officers for their children.
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
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In the U.S. and other countries the roads and highways fall under the jurisdiction of each section of roadway -- remember the notorious "Kangaroo
Courts"? Some wiseguy in Catavińa bought an old police car, scrounged up an old uniform and for a long time made a comfortable living as a lone wolf.
Drove into San Felipe once, road was blocked by one police car. The cop handed me an old beat up, faded official looking document with the city seal
on it. It announced a raffle where you could win a new truck. I gave the cop a couple of bucks so my greenhorn passenger gave him some too. We drove
off to our motel.
My passenger said "What was that?" I told him it was a raffle. He said "We can't win, we don't have a ticket."
I explained "That won't matter tonight downtown when we are raising hell, falling down drunk that's the guy who will remember us and we just got a
pass for 2 bucks"
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monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: Originally posted by chuckie | | HEY LOCO, Its not his fault...First time in BAJA cops can be pretty intimidating...This kind of thing is becoming more and more common in Baja Sur...I
have been going back and forth for over 40 years.My last trip north, at a military check they planted some 9mm cartridges in my truck. I am now 80
years old, by myself and in handcuffs.Ya know what? I PAID...That's a decision to be made by the individual on the spot. Not by some armchair hero who
wasn't there... |
I would also like to point out that paying a bribe is just as illegal for you as it is for
the cop to ask for one. Grow a pair and stand your ground, it's the only way that this culture of looking at gringos as rolling ATM machines will ever
change. 99% of the time these guys will fold like a house of cards when you demand to have them write the infraction. There is absolutely no upside
for them to write an infraction after they have hit you up for a bribe, they won't see one dime of the money, and they risk you turning them in for
being a mordelon.
[Edited on 10-29-2015 by monoloco]
"The future ain't what it used to be"
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dasubergeek
Senior Nomad
Posts: 694
Registered: 8-17-2013
Member Is Offline
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For a while I was getting stopped on the regular in Tecate. A friend of mine in Ensenada gave me one of these to put in the window and then they would
just yell at me and then let me go.
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boe4fun
Super Nomad
Posts: 1040
Registered: 1-22-2006
Location: Margaritaville
Member Is Offline
Mood: Circling the drain........
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Here's what's worked for me: I carry my "Baja wallet" on me, with a copy of my current CDL and an expired CA license. In addition I have a
"Sindicatura" sticker plainly visible on the rear driver's side window. Haven't been hit up for years.
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: Originally posted by gallesram | ......... I haven't paid a bribe in several years, ......
.... I have yet to actually go to the police station, either. |
....funny how that woiks 
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amigobaja
Nomad
Posts: 151
Registered: 6-3-2009
Member Is Offline
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baja police
I learned a little trick traveling by motorcycle to the Panama Canal. Many of the bikers go to AAA and for ten bucks they buy a international driver
license. Make copies and laminate them. If asked by a police offer only give them your international license so if they take it big deal.Have your
traveling partner also have the AAA license. Carry 4-5 of them and let the thieves have them.
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