Police officers, if I were getting a ticket, could I say this to you without getting arrested?

Depends on how you say it, where you are when you say it, at what point in the TS you say it, who else hears it...

If you use so-called "fighting words" together with a stance that I could articulate as a "fighting" stance...your day is going to hell. Many people when they start talking sh!t will automatically take such a stance without even thinking about it. You'll be in cuffs before you can blink...officer safety issue. I can also articulate that it would be Interference, arrestable or citation depending on what I decide.

If you're outside the car or in an area with peds or other motorists who could hear...then I could articulate disorderly conduct.

If you say it when I'm asking you for your DL/registration/insurance then its Obstruction, an arrestable offense (or I can just add it to the ticket).

If I decide to arrest. Then its jail with a $50 booking fee, $50 bonding out fee; impounded car with $95 tow fee and $35 per day fee. And it allows me to "inventory" your car...you won't believe how many people who want to cause sh!t with the dirty hunters who have stuff in their car they wish we've never see; priceless.

Had a guy with a broken headlight flip me off as he passed me. Thought it was worthwhile to pull him over for the headlight. Guy decides to be an ***-clown and every other word out of his mouth is "pig". Sadly his insurance card was expired and my best efforts to confirm his coverage failed. Impounded his car due to lack of insurance, found meth during the inventory. His 4th felony and some nice jail time...

In NY, you could face a disorderly conduct charge. You MIGHT beat it, but do you want to waste that kind of time when it is easier to treat a cop (and everyone else) with the respect you would like to be given? And, since there are a great many Vehicle and Traffic Laws, a police officer could probably write a heck of a lot more tickets than he originally planned.

***This is copied off a website--but it is an answer to your question --finish reading the article to find out the result****

Screaming an anatomically impossible obscene suggestion at a police officer is against the law, a Manhattan judge has decided.

The quirky ruling, made public yesterday, concerns the case of Brooklynite Ramon Morena, who is charged with creating a public disturbance by shouting "Go f - - - yourself" at a cop in the Theater District in March.

Morena's lawyer had tried to convince the judge that civilians enjoy a First Amendment right to criticize and verbally challenge police officers. The charges, he argued, should therefore be thrown out of court.

But Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Richard Weinberg didn't buy it. If you're disorderly, you're disorderly, the judge wrote - and there is no "police officer exemption" to the rule.

Morena now faces up to 15 days jail if found guilty of disorderly conduct.

I have a friend (been friends for almost 20 yrs) who told an officer who ticketed him "Eff you," and also "shut the eff up." I told him he was full crap but he swore it true (we are in our 30's, so it's not like he'd make up this story).

Also, he contested the ticket, and for whatever reason, the judge found in his favor.

I do not recommend anyone do this, but, at least in CA, it can happen because it did.

This might have been some sort of exception to the rule, but it is true. If i get thumbs down, I guess I understand, but this is a true, real life story.

There are different laws everywhere but here as long as you weren't in public (in your car on the side of the road is unlikely to be heard by the general public) Then you can happily say that. Personally I consider it all a part of the job and move on but some people take it personally.

In the Uk you can get arrested for disorderly behavior (section 5 )for swearing at police officers . You will generally just get a fine for it but if it is repeat offences you can be locked up.

As others have noted if you "say" the words is different than having an aggressive / threatening body posture. All cops have been called all sorts of names and had all sorts of things said to them. I never got real upset over it, just considered the source. There is an old law enforcement saying in my part of the world....cops always get the last laugh....

M~

The first amendment doesn't protect this type of speech. "Loud, abusive or profane behavior that would tend to cause or provoke a disturbance" <-- The legal definition of disorderly conduct in my state

I could care less what you say to me. I'm better than that and don't take it personally.

But I would ask that you enunciate clearly so the lapel mic. I have on which goes to the squad camera I have recording leaves no doubt of what you told me.

I have a sense of humor, Judges don't.

It isn't what you say, it's *how* you say it - tone, body language and so on. You CANNOT be arrested and charged just for swearing at a cop - not legally, anyway. Bear in mind, though, that most police are very dominance oriented; they will arrest you anyway, rough you up, and make up a story about how you provoked it. And their fellow police will back them up, even if it means perjuring themselves; the judges know and don't care. So don't do it unless you have a hidden camera to record the whole thing, and VERY good lawyers. Cops have been caught on camera engaging in felony aggravated assault (as in breaking bones) simply for swearing at them.