I would never, ever be rude to a cop. It doesn't do any good. And most of the time, if you talk to them like a fellow human being, nothing bad will happen, you'll get a ticket or you won't, you'll get arrested or you won't. You will probably live to see your day in court.
The Christmas before last, I got stopped by a Skokie cop for an expired tag on my plate. The tag had expired in May. He had me dead to rights. My fault totally, I was in violation of the law.
I don't look at the back of my car..and I didn't get a renewal form, so I just forgot all about it.
So, this officer starts asking me questions, politely, and I start answering them, politely, using "sir" and "officer" I told him that DH was unemployed(the truth)and that I didn't make much money(the truth), and it was all I could do to afford gasoline and insurance for my car(the truth).
He said Merry Christmas and let me go. It certainly was not because I'm good looking, because I'm not at all. I think it was because I treated him like a human being that he is, was polite, and told the truth. Or maybe he was just in a good mood that day.
Plus, he had a gun. I certainly wasn't going to get up in his grille.
I lived in Chicago for a long enough time to see some bad police officers do some very bad things.... I have photos. Telephoto lenses are wonderful investigative tools.
Cops have a hard job, I don't feel the need to make their job harder. Or my penalties stiffer