Ahh.. I've never made the thousand mile journey to the slammer. I've had a handful of run-ins with the cops, and that's the thing, it's always been a reasonable exchange between me and the police. Yet it's always at a party, in the woods, or in a car. We weren't exactly innocent of any law-breaking, and so I never know what's an arrestable offense or just a citation. Do cops chat with you before they arrest you? I think my confusion stems from the fact that as a clean white boy in Baltimore, a cop has never stopped me and asked me what I'm up to, so I don't really know what a routine stop is. They only talk to me if they're investigating a call, usually a noise complaint for some party, but otherwise they're busy doing lots of other things, including making their presence known by driving around with their lights on.