Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ways to Handle a Police Stop

I've been stopped probably about ten times in my life. Only two of which did I avoid trouble. One time the cop noticed the little badge I used to keep strategically affixed to my wallet. He asked about it, and I told him my uncle's a policeman and gave me this badge. He let me go with a warning.

I typically sir them to death, and always get a ticket when I do, except for that one time with the badge.

The only other time I was let go with a warning was the only time I didn't sir the cop to death, as I usually do. I was pissed, got out of my car and angrily approached him asking why he pulled me over. He said I failed to stop at a stop sign, which I angrily denied. He let me go. I don't recommend that approach, but for some reason it worked that time.

The thing is, when I was the stoppER, the threat of the dog wasn't idle. If I called the dog and it sat after sniffing the vehicle, that gave me probbale cause for a search. I never had the dog miss-- if he sat, there was dope. Its best NOT to have dope in the car...

Time to rewind the Chris Rock clip. You were just lucky.

I think so, too. Don't recommend it. Cops are dangerous, and you should think "vicious dog" when dealing with them. No sudden motions.

RDFinn, there's a misquote in there.

Interesting attitude. I hope you don't need emergency medical treatment someday. In the event you do, call a crack head first and report back.

Roy

If our Bill of Rights were still in force, "getting the dog," absent probable cause for a search, would be unlawful.

My gawd i've never read about more knuckleheads acting like knuckleheads.

I don't think me and my friends were any smarter than normal folks, but we learned at an early age to not get into AH contests with the popo. We took it like men and then dealt with it up the line. Still works to this day years removed from the problem years.

Not true, the dog is only allowed to smell the area outside the car-- he just can smell better than I do. The dog indicating the presence of drugs IS the probable cause. However, that being said, I rarely called for a dog unless I had already smelled the dope myself, usually on the perp after he exited the vehicle. The dog was just a "legal" way to verify it.

I can't speak about MV laws in sates other than where I worked. In my state, driving was a privilege, not a right. On the other hand, I can see why some folks do have a piss poor attitude toward the police. The officers today, IMO, have a different mindset than the ones I worked with and was trained by. In my day, you needed a reason to stop someone and that does not seem to be a major requirement these days. I'm not sure why that is.

I think the two scenarios are backwards, and the scenes were scripted in a way to make the �right way� appear to be correct and the �wrong way� to appear to be wrong.

The search in the �wrong way� was totally illegal for many reasons, and the incriminating statements would be suppressed as well. I didn�t have to watch past the first 2 minutes, although I did. The actions of the violator in the �right way� were highly indicative of criminal activity because the violator made it very clear he had something to hide.

If a dog can be obtained during the time frame in which the officer is appropriately handling the traffic incident, without prolonging it, and the dog alerts to the vehicle without entering or touching the vehicle, the dog alert ripens into probable cause to toss the car. Also, the general rule applicable in many states is that, if an officer wanted to get into the car in either scenario, he need only arrest the violator for the traffic infraction (assuming it is a criminal violation in the applicable state) and search the car under the prevailing Belton rule (not per se applicable in Wyoming).

By acting like a normal person, you are more likely to be treated as a normal person. By calling attention to yourself, you raise suspicions. If you raise suspicions, you run the greater likelihood that an officer will go the extra distance to make a case under the many legally recognized ways of doing it.

YMMV

Edited: I forgot to add that a real cop wouldn't let the passengers walk behind him while he's dealing with the driver.

If the folks here read nothing else in this likely 50 page thread, this is the main point. Like it or not, it is what it is. Great advise.
Roy

To detain longer than a reasonable time to fill out the ticket would, if the Bill of Rights were still in force, require probable cause. To detain longer than that is a seizure of the person, and a violation of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure of one's person.

Correct, unless you develop reasonable suspicion under Terry for an infraction other than the reason for the stop.

In the nature of cop stops as in tango, it takes two.

Snot never helps, especially if the cop is also a snot.

Cops are people too, even though some are well trained to be very impersonal � almost as if they aren't human at all. Even they are still human beneath that trained shell. I'd be awful careful not to probe for cracks or soft spots in that shell. Even if I found one, the result might not be to my advantage.

Exactly....Hence my saying earlier that I usually wouldn't call the dog unless I had already smelled it myself... OR, the guy was acting like the driver in the second video. That non cooperative attitude would have gotten him arrested for the traffic violation and I would toss the car on principle.

One piece of advice paid my not-small annual salary as PR director for a wood-products association (or so the president of the associaton told me).

"You can have one or the other of two options," I told the directors. "You can have the satisfaction of 'having your say' [in your conflicts with these militant 'environmentalists'] and exacerbate the situation, or you can talk nice and try to improve the situation. Not both."

On the strength of this advice, one hold-out prospective member joined the association � his corporation's annual dues were far greater than my salary.

That'll teach em.

If the violator wants to stand on his rights and play it by the book, you get to play by the rule book as well. It is a two way street. I think that is a point that Barak and others need to understand.

I have probably had the normal number of contacts with cops. Most were ok, and none resulted in my detention or arrest.

Be polite, don't show an attitude, and volunteer NOTHING. The less you say to a cop, the better off you are.

Still, I feel that for the most part, the police have zero concept of the sinking feeling, and the whispered "Oh Scheit" that is the average Citizen 's reaction to an 'interface' with a cop.

I feel that way too many police these days are possessed of a profound 'us against them' attitude, and a huge case of arrogance.

While I am not someone with a visceral dislike for (most) cops, I don't trust them at all, and do not want to have anything to do with them, period.