Scott Morgan, one of my favorite bloggers, also works to produce valuable videos that explain your rights whenever being pulled over by police. Here’s a preview they’ve put out for their latest video – 10 Rules for Dealing with Police.
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I’ve said this for years. The WORST time to have a screaming debate over your “rights” is with a man with a gun in the middle of the night on the side of the road. If you think your rights have been violated, bring it up with the judge, lawyer or ACLU, but not by arguing with a cop. The cop might be right or wrong, but they’re nervous about pulling over a car and approaching it at night too. People, as we know, DO shoot at cops. It’s a VERY dangerous job. You need to understand that perspective, how they view their environment, when you react. Now if the cop is a jackass, sucks but lots of people (including trolls on this blog) are thoughtless and mean. Deal. If they ACTUALLY do something illegal, bring it up with a judge or lawyer, but arguing the cop NEVER works. Ever. Wrong time, wrong place.
# 1: I agree whole-heartedly. A few years back there was a black police chief (assistant police chief?) , I think he was from Miami, pulled over on the highway by an officer from another jurisdiction. The police chief was in his civies and not on duty at the time. Apparantly there were issues in this particular jurisdiction about motorists being pulled over for the crime of “driving while black”, so the police chief comes out of his car being quite upset and somewhat confrontational. Within a few minutes it is determined that the driver was law enforcement and armed, so the police officer called for backup. He insisted he was going to write a ticket for an obstructed license plate, if I remember correctly (the license plate holder barely covered the rim of the tab). The situation escalated, with the Miami police chief insisting the officer bring his supervisor to the scene, and the officer calling for backup. It ended in a scuffle between the Miami police chief and two or three local officers, and the Miami police officer was charged AND PROSECUTED for assault upon a police officer, resisting arrest, etc.
I forget how the trial turned out. But if a Miami Police Chief can have that much trouble arguing with an officer over a roadside stop, then imagine what success the rest of us would have in that situation.
That being said, there is no reason why you should find yourself being talked into consenting to a roadside search of your vehicle. Officers in some jurisdictions have been known to plant evidence so they could seize your vehicle for their department’s own use, and they use the video/audio from their dashboard cams to show you consented to the search. (Yes, it’s rare, but it does happen in some places).
You can politely but firmly say that they have no reason to search your vehicle, so you will not give your consent. When they try the “If you don’t have anything to hide…” argument, simply shrug and say you have the right to refuse to consent to a search, and you are exercising your rights, and it’s not up to you to prove your innocense. Of course, they will probably search your vehicle anyway, but you won’t have given them the green light to do so.
Your civil rights case is not going to be solved right there by the road. No matter how much the officer pushes, calm and polite will strengthen your case in the long run. That dash board cam becomes evidence against the officer.
The request to search your car is a difficult one. Yes, you can politely refuse permission, but the officer may decide to impound the car and secure a warrant. (Whether or not he is successful getting the warrant isn’t important if your car is impounded.)
The other thing to keep in mind is that the majority of cops are truly good men and women. When they walk up to a car they don’t know what they are going to get. Part of their attitude is to trigger a reaction to gauge your response.
Actually, the best way of dealing with being pulled over by an officer is to be an attractive, young woman. Much easier to talk your way out of ticket using that approach.
@3 Yeah, but if they have to get a search warrant to search your vehicle, that gives you time to arrange to have a lawyer present during the search, so they can’t accidentally drop a baggie of cocaine from the evidence room under the seat.
Simple solution: Don’t break the fucking law! Wow, what a concept. :)
And Lee, just leave your bong at home. Safer that way. Good day all!
#7: Predictable response.
I’d love to see your face when you drive through one town that was the subject of a 60 minute report several years ago, located along the interstate in western Louisanna, I think. Anyone with out-of-state license plates was likely to get pulled over for – well, whatever they could think of at the time. Then they conduct a search and – voila! a small amount of drugs are found in the trunk (just enough to pass as “intent to distribute)! You protest that there were no drugs in the trunk, but they just laugh, and say “yea, they all say that”.
They confiscate your car, you post bail and call someone to give you a ride out of town. Later you find out that they will reduce it it a citation for simple misdomener possession with the fine pegged at the amount of your bail – but they still get to keep your car.
Every police officer in that town drives an expensive sports car, collected through confiscations of cars used “in the drug trade”. The police department was the town’s largest employer, with exhorbatant salaries (for a small rural community with a population of less than a few hundred souls). To them, the drug-trade confiscation laws had become a thriving industry.
You could, of course, insist on a trial to clear your name. Of course, the trial would be held in front of the local judge in the town, or a jury made up of it’s citizens, who benefit one way or another from the practice.
If you win, you still have to pay your attorney’s fees, unless you cannot afford one, in which case a public defender (the only one in town) will be assigned to your case – I think his brother-in-law is the chief of police. If you lose, you get to do a few years in the state pen for possession with intent to distribute illegal drugs.
And yet, you still believe that only criminals get pulled over by the police.
@8:
They can search me, my car, run my license or criminal history check, or whatever else if they want. I have nothing to hide. Sounds like you do however, and I am shocked. :) Simple huh? Let me guess; you’re one of these douche bags who hates cops until you need one right? Who woulda thunk it….
This was an excellent video. I was angry for the kid and felt myself wanting to explode at the officer for the officer’s lack of common courtesy. However, the truth is also that they do have a dangerous job and we should treat them as dangerous animals. As when approaching any dangerous creature, we should always be calm and collected, even when the reaction of the dangerous creature seems irrational. Makes sense to me.