So the 4th amendment means nothing to you? They have to have reasonable suspicion a crime was committed in order to perform a terry stop which requires you to show ID.
You were speeding. That called for a summons -- nothing more. All the drama over an old BB-gun was redundant and should not have called for him behaving like, as you've said, "a class-A jerk." You said you had behaved properly and politely, which should have been sufficient cause for him to behave the same way regardless of your age and long hair. And therein lies the tale.Common sense seems to prove the old adage of catching more flies with honey. Years ago, I was speeding back to work at midnight on an empty stretch of road. I'd forgotten to lock the door of the business when I left and wanted to go back and secure the building, as a responsible employee would. I didn't see the cop until he lit me up. Stupidly, I got out of the vehicle. Here's what the cop saw: a long-haired teen in a van, speeding, expired tags, and the ONLY thing in the back of the van was a TV set I'd taken to work to watch the game that night. The cop was a class A jerk. At one point, he looked under my seat and saw what he thought was a pistol. He pulled his gun on me and frisked me. Within seconds, there were 7 or 8 other police vehicles there. At no point did I argue with him or refuse any of his requests. The gun was an old, rusty BB gun that I'd long since lost. Once he and his backups discovered this, he lectured me about how he could still charge me with carrying a concealed weapon, etc. Again, I complied with all his requests. I had no record,etc. Finally, all his backups left and it was just him and me. Because of my attitude, he ONLY wrote me a ticket for the expired tag and we ended up telling jokes and laughing before he left. He had realized I wasn't a jerk or a criminal so his attitude changed. If I had stupidly been belligerent and questioned his authority to stop me and ask for ID, I'd probably still be locked up.
Even though I was not up to some nefarious deed, I could have gotten several tickets AND been arrested if I'd been a jerk back to him. I didn't have time for that so I was nice and compliant and all ended well. He actually turned out to be a nice guy. He came by the business a few weeks later and recognized me. He looked at me and said, "You carrying any concealed weapons?" as he put his hand on his holster. I told him no and laughed. He grinned and said "I'm keepin' my eye on you!" and took his purchase and left.
In all my interactions with the police (which haven't been many), I've always done what they asked and never had a problem. Works for me.
Having watched the TV "ride-along" documentary, COPS from time to time I have seen enough to agree that some people behave stupidly and provocatively when stopped by cops who have perfectly legitimate cause to stop them. On the other hand there are cops who derive perverse satisfaction from giving orders and asserting their authority on intimidated people. If you are stopped by one of these guys and you fail to behave timidly and submissively you will be subjected to excessively aggressive and contemptuous conduct as well as cited for any possible offense.