My third and last entry detailing my worst travel fears for travelinsure.com 's iPad giveaway at http://www.travelinsure.com/contest/ipad.asp is interactions with foreign law enforcement or customs.
This stems from horror stories I've heard here and there where for some minor infraction (or no infraction at all) tourists are (or at least feel that they are) blackmailed by police officers or other enforcement agencies. The stories vary but one basic example goes something like;
For a minor offense like jaywalking, you get stopped by a police officer.
He/She makes it clear the easiest way out is by direct handing them cash. The alternatives may be that you get taken in for processing (which could take long enough you miss your flight) or they may allege you've done something much worse than jaywalking which, again, would take time and resources to counter.
Bottom line, you're on vacation and it's a lot easier to fork over cash then put up with whatever else could result from dealings with law enforcement. In particular because the vast majority of us don't know the line regarding our rights and protections while traveling.
The best way to combat this fear is to probably know your rights well, including your embassy etc.... If they want to make things nasty for you I'm sure they still can, but if you clearly know your rights or lines of defense, hopefully, they'll find an easier mark to pick on.
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