The other night driving home through Portsmouth, I was pulled over on Islington Street. I happened to be pulling into a store so carried on and parked. I was blocked in and when the officers approached the car, they flashed bright lights in the car and in my face and their K9 dogs were barking extremely loudly in the car behind me. It was quarter to nine on a week night.

Since I saw the cruiser several blocks back, I made sure to follow all traffic laws while traveling down the street - fully stopping at the corner, staying at the speed limit, etc. I honestly had no idea why I was being pulled over.

The office came up to the window, shining his flashlight in my face, and asked for my license and registration. I asked why I was being pulled over. He again firmly asked for what he wanted once again. While fumbling through the glove box, I asked again for what I wanted - a reason for being pulled over. Still no answer to my question, but rather a stern "License and registration". I had to ask three times before I was given a response.

Apparently, having a tail light out is now being treated as a criminal offense. Or could it be that I have an Indymedia sticker on my car? It was like the officer was just trying to aggravate me by waving his militant authority around.

When I questioned the necessity of two officers, searching the car with flashlights, and barking police dogs in the background to respond to a broken tail light, I recieved a fairly aggresive response. In a super sarcastic, caustic and taunting tone, I was told "these dogs are friendly..." Knowing how well shepards are trained, I am fairly confident that they were instructed to bark madly like that, creating this whole scene of fierce oppression and militant control.

I kept at my questions, and the second officer finally backed off, and shortly thereafter the dogs quieted right down. Unfortunately I didn't have the presence of mind to get the officer's name. I'd like to know, is intimidation like this a violation of any legal rights? Or is this to become the norm?

On a side note, I have taken great joy this week in counting the number of cars with burned out tail lights and headlights driving on our NH roads. And hey, I'll get the tail light fixed tomorrow!