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

...The truth is bad cops don't need probable cause, they lie and make it up. I.E."I could smell the odor of drugs coming from the car","The vehicle was weaving and crossed the center line". BAD cops are apt to advance rapidly in the ranks based on making many cases, but in the long haul situations arise that reveal thier dis-honesty.

....Young people are much more apt to encounter abuse by law enforcement. I say that based on my own expierence. As a young long haired fellow I was stopped MANY times by police who simply didn't like the way I looked with beard and long hair, and I expierenced considerable verbal abuse (sometimes including GOD's name in vain, or condesending remarks relating me to my mother). Such trash is difficult to absorb at times, even more so when you could easily beat down the person attempting to provoke you, but good sense (cops feel they have the law on thier side even when they're being bad cops), self control, and clean living (I was never into drug abuse)got me through OK.

....Now that I'm an elder citizen I'm treated very differently. Law officers now speak respectfully, not 'down' to me. Parents ought to offer focused training to thier children in dealing with people who have been given authority over them, teaching them respect, BUT also the "respectful exercise" of thier own rights, when confronted with abusive use of power by authorities.

....Sometimes bad people, and bullies are attracted to police work, we all ought to recognise that teaching citizens to exercise thier constitutional rights is not born of a dis-respect for law, but of the want that law be justly applied to all, including those charged with enforcement of it. After all, "who guards the guards?"

As a middle aged white guy who drives an unexciting vehicle, obeys the traffic laws, and treats cops like working people who don't need extra grief when doing their jobs (as I am, and do not), I have very little contact with police--and most of my few encounters have been relatively painless. Still, I have encountered cops who bring a lot of unnecessary attitude to a situation.

I don't see where not surrendering my rights should be taken as incriminating. I wouldn't be doing 20-over so that wouldn't be an issue. If I get pulled over for doing 57 in a 55 mph zone, then I have all the more reason to view that cop as one who is looking to make something out of nothing. It is not in my game plan to help him do it.

PS: I always refuse to consent to a search, if only because I still can. If the day ever comes when I can't do that, that tells me something important and it's something I want to know.

Exactly. We are taught from the beginning that officer discretion is a very big part of the job. It works both ways. I never fabricated charges, made up stories or lied about how I did my job. I never had to. If the people I had interactions with were straightforward and cooperative, that went a long way in how they were treated. It didn't mean I was looking the other way if a crime was being commited, but if I sensed there was a bit of cooperation, it would be annotated in the arrest report or noted on the ticket. I may be different than most cops out there, but I doubt it. Most of the guys I worked with were very similar in their work ethic, but there are always that few that give the rest a bad name.

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I encourage anyone who lives in a place where cops will lie (which eventually results in perjured testimony) to move. It is not worth it.

Nobody has to surrender their rights. But, rolling down the window an inch to hand out your DL, and locking your car when you get out looks a little suspicious, don't you think? Rolling down your window all the way and closing your door without locking it looks a little less suspicious, don't you think?

Yeah, and also makes it easier for him to snoop around, right?

Your attitude seems to be, fine, exercise your rights, but if you do I intend to take advantage of every compromise of those rights which has been authorized by the US Supreme Court. All those compromises taken together really make a mockery of the rights to begin with, don't they?

No, that is not my personal attitude, but it is legally permitted. I'm just pointing that out for people who don't understand that. The police have a decision tree just like the violator. The police reaction is tied to the actions of the violator. When people go out of their way to act in a manner that is contrary to the manner in which an ordinary citizen generally acts, it creates questions in the mind of anyone with a BS detector, and especially someone who regularly deals with criminal behavior. Why did that person feel the need to roll down the window a couple of inches? Usually it means that the person is trying to conceal an incriminatory odor. Locking the door after existing the vehicle is an obvious indicator that there is something the person wishes to protect from detection or seizure. So, rather than having an "ordinary" encounter, the violator has increased the suspicion of the officer, and may make it more likely that the officer will ponder whether a legally authorized technique to gain entry to the vehicle is the correct response.

They are "violators" after all.

Yeah, allowing a search of your vehicle when you know you have drugs inside is great advice if you want to see the inside of jail cell.

The advice to take away from this is not to carry around drugs because sooner or later you'll probably get caught with them.

Bringing the dog to the car while you're writing a ticket in the hopes that it will either sit down, roll-over, or play dead and thereby provide you with "probably cause" for a more invasive search is a nice trick....but IMHO wouldn't survive the laugh test in most courts. If your lawyer couldn't get that search tossed out he should look into taking the postal exam.

When I get pulled over, I tend to mirror the treatment that I receive. If the cop is reasonable and I am not getting the feeling that he's trying to play any games with me, I try to offer the same. If he acts like a jerk, I tend to respond in kind. Bottom line, its just a ticket, it's not the end of the world.

I alway put an alumni license plate rim of my law school on my cars. Because it sticks out loud and clear when they run your plate. Will that keep you from getting a ticket...hell no. But, I believe that it does eliminate alot of the extra "hassle" that can go along with it.

I don't "sir" anyone to death, because I think it sounds too phony. I also don't admit to any violations. I don't care how many times or different ways he trys, don't admit to breaking the law or agree with his leading questions. Such as..."You know you were driving x in a 55...?" The answer is, "No, I wasn't. I was driving 55mph."

He'll then offer some kind of "proof" such as he clocked you on radar, or my favorite, I clocked you with my speedometer, etc. Doesn't matter, stand firm. I usually then ask when he last had it calibrated. I try not to antagonize them beyond that, because they hate being put on the defensive.

You have to realize that some cops will never let you off because writing tickets is basically their sole objective. State police are a good example. In NJ our state police function mostly as highway patrol, if you get a warning from them...I salute you.

I feel that cops are basically honest people, probably more so than most others. I don't believe that they want to give a ticket to someone when they aren't positive you broke the law. That's why its important not to admit breaking any laws during the stop. If you do, then you're making it very easy for them....once you agree with them or admit to the violation, they feel obligated to give you the ticket, not to reward you for your honesty by letting you off with a warning.

As a retired over the road driver I've had more than a few encounters with law enforcement both while driving an eighteen wheeler and driving my own personal vehicle and I can honestly say that I have walked away from about 98% of the Stops without a ticket. The secret in my case has been treat the stopping officer with respect don't get out of the vehicle with a chip on your shoulder in most cases the officer is just doing a job and I have just been the unlucky recipient of his attention and unless it is a major infraction or if he has just come from a serious encounter somewhere else then you are toast. The secret in how to handle a situation is in knowing how to read the officer and handle the situation. Knowing that and you are in good stead.

I don't believe that I suggested that people should allow searches of their vehicles for any reason. If the cop has PC, he will search your car. And yes, I agree with your assessment about NJ troopers. If you drive away from a stop without cardboard, your next stop should be to purchase a lotto ticket.

TomSmith

Bingo, we have a winner. The police do have a prime function, and that is to raise revenue.

The last time I called the po po to handle an aggressive homeless trespasser that threatened me (on my business property), it took 35 min on a Sunday morning to get the police girl there. The fellow in question was gone, but just down the street. She refused to get him and charge him, but she is known to be quick as lightening if you are driving 5 over in her section. Oh, and it does NOT take her 35 min to grab a speeder or to nail someone that turned left on a red.

Cheyenne,

You will never get them to concede that acting like a paranoid cocaine addict is the wrong way to "handle" the police.

They are metaphorically sticking their tongues out at the police. Not metaphorically shooting the police the bird; that comes later in life, like high school.

I'm curious how much contraband I have been missing over the years. I assume the majority of the posters here are honest, hard working people like myself. I would never think about asking consent to search arbitrarily unless something had set my radar off. Once I return to my car and punch a name in the computer and see a few prior controlled substance violations, my radar starts pinging a little more.

Most people watched an episode of cops and the people whom we tend to hook make it easy for us. I'm not sure if their brain is corroded but they make themselves stand out from the pack, while having a suspended ops, warrants and ect. This is the reason for the majority of the seizures: incident to arrest.

I have searched vehicles by consent and without. With recent court decisions, the odor of burnt marijuana in a motor vehicle will meet the probable cause criteria. Three years in an "undercover cover" concept team has increased my standing with the court as well. Bottom line, dopers tend to be their worse enemy. They leave their stems, seeds and other paraphernalia strewn about , visible from the drivers window.

There have been times when I was denied a search and it was respected without retaliation,(tickets.) But, except for some hard core criminals, smoothing your way in without coercion isn't too difficult.

BTW: Cheyenne has been added to my listed of respected posters.

I've never had a problem, met a few that were a little full of themselves, but it was easily handled.

Comedy has helped much also. Years ago a Trooper pulled me over for speeding. Came to the window and said 'what's the hurry?' I told him 'My wife ran off with a State Trooper, I thought it was you trying to return her'

He laughed and off I went!

Be professional and kind to a professional and maybe you'll get treated that way, in return!!..............

donkeydung

Or be a paranoid freak with authority issues.

....My elder brother retired after 27 years in police uniform. He served the majority of those years with Broward county Sheriffs office (often featured on the TV show "Cops"). Of course a fellow knows his brother very well, and in his case I observed his personality change over the years. It seems to suceed in police work it helps to be suspicious of people. Over time I saw my brother become suspicious of ALL people ,with very few exceptions. He became a very sucessful, highly regarded detective, suceeding in busting many drug money laundering operations in the Fort Lauderdale/ Miami area, but to me it wasn't worth the change in personality that in many ways stole a great deal of joy from his life.

....I'm thankful that there are good people who are involved in very necessary police work, and pray for all of them to suceed in maintaining an appreciation of the many wonderful people amoung thier fellow men..... Material success in one's career is laudable, my brother certainly achieved that, but of even greater importance in the end, is satisfaction and contentment in living a life that has a great content of love. Love for others, and the fullfillment of being loved, will become of the greatest importance for most people as they draw near the last breaths on earth.