Interesting Encounter with the Police

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

timelord

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 30, 2017
949
1,966
Gallifrey
Pretty much every morning I go for a 10km walk; the first hour and a bit is done at a fastish 'exercise' pace but then I usually reach quite a nice large bench which surrounds 3 sides of a large planter (with large trees) on the street outside an indoor games/entertainment complex on the main street (Avenida Paulista for those who know São Paulo, near the Casa das Rosas cultural centre and rather a nice rose garden).

I know smoking is OK there because a) the games centre puts out large ash trays for their punters and b) 'cos there are a lot of cigarette smokers on the streets of São Paulo.

Anyway, I was having a relaxing smoke watching the world go past when up screams a motorbike belonging to the Policia Militar (despite the name, they are state uniformed police although closest international equivalent is probably French Gendarme - we have Policia Civil - plain clothes/detective - and Guardia Civil - city police - too).

He said something I didn't quite catch over the engine of his bike then waved a cigarette and demonstrated his Bic was out of fuel; so I leant him my pipe lighter, he lit his cigarette, said thankyou and then left with a friendly wave.

(The police don't smoke on duty but they do park up their bikes and have a smoking break just a short distance away from where I was; I guess his mates weren't around and he spotted I was smoking so problem solved.)
 
so I leant him my pipe lighter, he lit his cigarette, said thankyou and then left with a friendly wave.
Oooo man, I was hoping for something more exciting, like face punches, car crashes, guns going off from every direction, explosions!!! You Brazilians need to get more lively. Live it up a little. ha ha. JK
Sounds like a very nice encounter. No one was killed, and no ammo wasted. :::sigh::: puffy
 

timelord

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 30, 2017
949
1,966
Gallifrey
Oooo man, I was hoping for something more exciting, like face punches, car crashes, guns going off from every direction, explosions!!! You Brazilians need to get more lively. Live it up a little. ha ha. JK
Sounds like a very nice encounter. No one was killed, and no ammo wasted. :::sigh::: puffy
Oddly enough; from the same spot last Friday I saw a car cut up a taxi at a pedestrian crossing (cross walk) and three blokes in jeans and t-shirts leapt out with pistols in their hands approached the taxi; all right in front of a crowd of people waiting to cross the road. It was only when I took a second look at their car I realised it had Policia Civil markings and they were in fact plain clothes police and not car jackers.

It calmed down quite quickly once they checked the id of the passenger in the taxi; presumably they originally thought he was a person of interest but changed their minds.

On that note; until he got a redress number one of the directors of my former company used to have all sorts of trouble entering the US; apparently his finger prints matched someone who was very much of interest to the US authorities. He said even with a redress number there was a lot of questioning but before that there used to be guns all over the place and all pointing at him!
 
Jul 28, 2016
7,564
36,059
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
Gendarmerie Francaise, Carabinieri Italiani, Spanish Guardia Civil*and German BundesPolizei(are all equal to U.S State Troopers/State police) whose main duty consist of traffic supervision and surveillance of law and order on the rural areas
 
  • Like
Reactions: jpmcwjr

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,675
29,393
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I used to hand roll cigs and left my lighter in the car after me and a friend drove to philly No one would give me a light because everyone thought it was a joint. The only person that gave me a light was a cop. I asked him cause I thought he'd be sure it wasn't a joint and would check if he wasn't. Good plan.
 

unadoptedlamp

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 19, 2014
742
1,368
The police in Sao Paulo make me twitchy as hell. My house is on Lake Billings, not far from Diadema, so I have to cross through some periphery areas to get there from Paulista.
There are often patrols and checkpoints with heavily armed police and when they look my way, I avoid contact at all costs.

I had one run of bad luck in a checkpoint control where my car got impounded and I nearly got tossed in jail. All over a simple matter of some paperwork not being exactly right (perfectly routine in Brazil). Being polite as can be and groveling like a pauper to de-escalate a situation that was rapidly going sideways because someone was on a real power trip that day was the only thing that kept those police at bay.

A lot of good ones, no doubt, but I've heard so many stories from friends and family that I give them a very wide berth. Some very unpleasant things can happen with the police there.

Good thing you didn't use your last match to light the pipe! Things may have gone differently for you if you had to deny him!
 

unadoptedlamp

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 19, 2014
742
1,368
I forgot to mention. I was having a tough time getting tobacco through customs to Brasil and stumbled on a source from Argentina. He was based out of Buenos Aires. He made blends with latakia and even some with perique.

A lot of his tobacco was sourced from the North. Jujuy, Salta, etc.

I was going to visit him when I was in Buenos Aires to buy in person, but our schedules didn't match up. Unfortunately, this is some years ago now and I've lost his contact information.

But... with some clever online searching, I think you'll find his contact information. He said he could ship to Brasil (knowing the border / import situation) and has successfully done so. Probably a quicker ship time than anything from the U.S.

Anyway, he had some really interesting looking blends. I posted about it here years ago, but I can't find the thread.