Cops of Reddit: A lot of people get jumpy and try to 'act normal' around law enforcement. How can you tell genuinely suspicious people from self-conscious idiots acting weird?

1. I knew a police helicopter pilot and I asked a similar question when searching for suspects. He said that the bad guys were the ones NOT looking up at the helicopter. Innocent people look, point, stare, etc. I thought it was funny but true (to a point).
   — inyourinterest


2. Pulled over for being lost in the wrong neighborhood. Was relieved as I did not have a GPS at the time, horribly lost was hoping the cop that had been tailing me for the last mile would pull me over to get directions. Wants to know why a white boy like me is in a neighborhood like this. I explain I'm lost. Doesn't believe me says I'm here for drugs. My whole attitude changed because I'm suddenly nervous... Why would he think that and realizing this could go badly. He says only guilty people act nervous. He ends up calling a k9 unit to search my car. Other cop is really cool. We chat and he apologized for first cop being a jerk. After search he gives me directions on how to get to my destination. Good cop/bad cop is real.
   — yxlist


3. I got pulled over for speeding on Canada Day on my way up to Ottawa from Toronto. I did the usual routine of pulling over somewhere safe, taking the registration out and putting both hands on the wheel at 10 and 2. The cop approaches and I ask if it's ok for me to reach over and turn down the music which I forgot to do. He starts laughing and says ok. He tells me to put my hands down since I'm making him nervous. I'm like "you're making me nervous". Back in Toronto I don't take any chances and the cops are usually appreciative. But the have never told me to relax. It's best to err on the side of caution with Toronto police. But the out of city cops are usually pretty laidback. We had a good ol canadian laugh wished each other a happy Canada day and then he gave me a ticket for 115 in a 100. Sigh. Edit: I was caught going 125km/h in a 100km/h zone. The cop reduced it to 115km/h.
   — originalnutta






4. UK police officer here. There is no single factor. But here are a few things I'd look for: "Police aware" is an expression we use. Like OP said, most people feel guilty and try to act normal around the police, which normally means pretending we're not there - e.g. you begin to concentrate on e.g. eating that sandwich to an almost comic extent whilst sneaking the odd look to see what we're doing. Then you have the people who stop what they're doing and watch you *intently* to see if you're coming for them. These are the people who are "police aware". Of course, sometimes they're just tourists hoping to take a sneaky photo of a British copper. Mostly it's people whose appearance or manner doesn't fit in. For example, if you go to a busy taxi rank at rush hour and then just casually mooch about rather than queuing or leaving then that's an odd thing to do. If you walk into an expensive shop wearing tatty clothes and with ingrained dirt on your hands then that's an odd thing to do. If you walk into a bar, order a drink then leave it on the counter then that's odd (and probably means you're either passing counterfeit money or pick pocketing). None of these things is illegal, but they're all things that are not entirely normal and would attract the eye of an observant police officer. Don't misinterpret these examples as "looking scruffy", that's not what I mean at all. It's about not fitting in because of your context, not just a sudden bout of "I'm normal" from someone who clearly has a reason to be where they are. Visible signs of drug use. Sometimes in the UK you'll hear the term "heroin diet" but the same would be true for meth in the US. You can spot addicts from a mile away because they have the same look and behaviours. Without wishing to tar all addicts with the same brush, hard drug addiction and acquisitive crime often go hand in hand so when I see someone who is clearly an addict I'm immediately interested in them. Lastly, there's intelligence. A lot of what we do is guided by specific knowledge about an area. In some areas I'll be looking out for teenage kids hanging around bike racks, in others I'll be looking out for drug addicts meeting dealers, in others still I'll be looking for bag thieves amongst drinkers. Anyone who matches the sort of person who I'm on the lookout for who also looks jumpy is going to pique my interest, but 'normal people' less so. Sorry it's such a rambling answer. The truth is "there are many factors and it just depends". **Edit: if you want to try this yourself [just take a look at this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqxyHJTWi70) and try and spot the pickpockets (I won't spoil it by telling you who they are). You won't actually see the theft itself because it's obscured from the camera, but you'll know what they're doing because they stand out so clearly. Just look at who looks out of place, if they're looking at the merchandise they're pretending to inspect or looking around the room, how them move around the room, that sort of thing. It's pretty much a perfect example of what I'm talking about.** Edit 2: Cheers for the gold
   — Patnet


5. Your post reminds me of a funny piece of info. a good friend of mine works as a lawyer for one of the bigger insurance companies in defense. A good % of accidents happen because people freak out about the mere presence of the cop and don't focus on the actual driving. Like literally during a deposition "I didn't see them pull out, there was a cop on the same road".
   — anonpropdata