Adressing Mexican cops
I was stopped driving in Mexico today by a Mexican cop and I'm wondering if there are any mexicanos out there that could advise me as to how I should adress them. I want to be polite to try to minimize the mordida. Normally I call them "señor agente" or "teniente". I want to be polite, as I said, and also seem perfectly willing to go to the station which is something that he doesn't want to do because it takes up too much of his time where he could be out generating more bribes. Thanks.
1 Answer
I am not Mexican, but I reckon police are not all that different from one place in Latin America to the other.
Seems to me that you have it down pat except that I wouldn't risk calling a police officer "Teniente" unless I'm sure of his or her rank. It may flatter some, if they are or a lower rank, but it could also annoy them if they're of higher rank, or if they're just in a bad mood that day. "Oficial" or "Señor Agente" both seem pretty safe options to me. It it's a policewoman, I'd stick with "Oficial" or plain "Agente".
