Another Run-in with the Cops

This was the third time now within 6 months of living here that I’ve been stopped by the cops. At this rate, by the end of 27 months, I’ll have been stopped by cops 13 times. Hopefully that won’t come to fruition. This encounter was more serious than the other two because the cops actually had a legitimate reason to detain me (don’t worry I’ve been behaving. Read on to find out why).

It was after ecology camp this past weekend. I was in Kharkiv. I’d just bought my bus ticket home and had 30 minutes to spare. I was a bit thirsty for something carbonated, but not soda. So naturally, I got a beer and sat on the bench under the beer tent, enjoying my 1715 Lvivski lager. I was not the only one drinking there, mind you. But as soon as I was done with the first sip of my refreshing beverage, I was approached by a cop, who was telling me that it’s illegal to drink. He then motioned for me to follow him. So with beer in hand, I followed him.

He led me to his office trailer for a brief interrogation. Not a moment later, two other cops entered and nosily stood there to observe me getting grilled by this cop. To their credit, I’ll add that they were nice despite the circumstances. The cop sat me down and asked for my documents. I handed him my Pink Card. He then asked for my passport, which I didn’t have. Luckily one of the others mentioned that he was familiar with the Peace Corps and sort of vouched for me. The other cop instructed me to empty my pockets and then began to pat me down. The cop who’d detained me was adamant about finding out why I didn’t have my passport and kept probing me. He didn’t seem to want to let me go.

Meanwhile the second cop pulled out a law book and started reading from it. Then he pointed at the passage that described that it was illegal to drink in public places. I confessed that I knew the law and I’d just forgotten about it, which was true. But in any case, I’d thought that since there was a beer tent outside, with people drinking under it, it was okay to drink there. I made it known to them that I wasn’t aware that it was still illegal to drink under a beer tent.

The second cop asked me, “what are we going to do about this?” So I answered, “can I just throw my beer in the trash and be free?” After some hesitation, he finally conceded. However, as I was about to walk out, I eyed my beer and after a long hard stare asked the officer, “do you want the rest of my beer?” because I thought it would be wasteful to throw away a nearly full can of beer. He told me that he couldn’t and that I should throw it away in the trash. So reluctantly, I did.

I went back to my seat on the bench under the beer tent somewhat upset that the consummation of my beer was thwarted and that I was targeted because, like I mentioned, I was not the only one drinking there. I watched carefully to see if the cops would even approach any of the others who were breaking the same law as I was. It never happened. But mostly, I was thankful that I wasn’t locked up and that I was able to catch my bus.

In case you were wondering: Yes. It is illegal to drink outdoors in public places. And yes. They still sell drinks outdoors in public places. Is this supposed to be a de facto method for racial profiling and selective detainment? Who knows?