Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Why The Innocent Flee From the Police - William Norman Grigg

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Funny how being honest can make a guy downright confident in himself and his profession!

My hat off to you and many more like you!

Likewise. Next time any of you get stopped by a cop and he asks "Do you know why I'm stopping you?", tell the truth and see what happens.
Honesty is the trait that all decent people share. It's absense is what we abhor about politicians and criminals, and presense we charish about friends and family.

I can tell ya lots of things not to say....

Hey LT., how many cops you know that are out there saying, "Hey, there's a guy not doing anything wrong, lets see if we can get him to run so we can do a bunch more paperwork?" I'm betting not many.

I swear some people think we get paid by the arrest or the paper we generate.

None, but I try to remember that the majority of people that are here at the "Campfire" are the independent, self-sufficient types who really don't encounter LEO's very often, because they are good citizens and can take care of themselves. They just need to remember that they(we)are a minority in this country.

I love that question. I usually answer it by asking, "Why did you pull me over?" I try to get mine out first if I can. I figure he pulled me over, so me must have a reason. Why is it up to me to figure out why he did what he did? PO don't seem to like answering dumb questions any more than I do.

I'm telling you. It's a test. Saying, "Ugh, 'cause I was going a hundred and twenty?" may get you a warning when "No Sir." will get you a ticket. Cops HATE liars and thieves.

120 is going to get you a ticket. Anywhere. I don't care what you say.

I never did ask that question, I always told them my name and why I was stopping them. I might say, "Is there any legitimate reason you're going 120 MPH?"

And if the answer is "Someone is raping my little girl, please come help." They automatically get a ticket. Anywhere? No matter what I say?

I have a lot more respect for that kind of direct approach. I'd rather hear that than, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Hell if you don't know, then why are you asking me?

I think way too much effort is spent on traffic stops trying to get a self-incriminating statement. What's the point, if you saw it, make the decision to give a warning or a ticket, then move on. I had a cop nearly stand on his head trying to get me to admit I was speeding. I wasn't, I knew I wasn't and I stood my ground. I got a warning. I figure he wasn't really sure himself and was just trying to get me to make the decision for him.

I don't care that much about receiving a ticket, I can live with that, but I'm not ever going to admit to any PO that I broke a law. If you do that you deserve what you get.

That does not conflict with my advice. Remaining silent is cool. Lying is not.

Lying buys yourself a coupon every time. I can't stand a liar. More people will talk themselves into a ticket when none was going to be given than most people would imagine.

And for the most part people are good and decent enough folks. Some are sheep, some aren't. 10-15 percent are your problem.

I completely agree. I dislike police lying to me just as much. I remember being pulled over in FL many years ago. The officer made the statement, "You better tell me if you have any guns in the car because if I find any later on...it'll be a lot better for you if you admitted it to me first."

Even as a kid I knew that bullshiz. First, I don't have to tell you about any guns in my car, whether I have them or not. Second, if I do tell you, it isn't going to "go better for me" because of it. Third, this is a traffic stop. Once you write the ticket, or give me a warning, our business is concluded.

Now, which one of us was doing all the lying there?

First of the month and end of the month always worth a coopen'.
Not much middle anymore, society as a whole less friendly, less civil, pissin' up a rope bemoanen bad cops. Lottsa' a bad people period. YMMV

Well, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm glad both New Jersey and Florida are off my beat.

Off my beat, too. No requirement to tell about guns in the car where I come from, we just assumed everyone had one. It's safer that way. It's legal to carry in your car with a Firearms License, (on your person) and legal inside a car if it's not on your person. (In my state.)

I didn't mind them lying to me, in fact, I expect it. I never was a traffic cop, though. In fact, come to think of it, I liked them to lie, since it was a contest I could always win. Most liars are so transparent it's not even close.

TomSmith, it's possible you don't understand Ammendment 4 if you make blanket statements like you did. "It's just a traffic stop" isn't an eternal truth.

Agreed on all counts, and in Texas, it's legal to carry anytime in a vehicle, permit or not. I guess I'm spoiled, but in Texas guns would not be an issue for anybody if the Feds didn't say it was so.

Same here. It's nice to live in a Pro 2nd amendment State. I would loose my mind with what some people are forced to live with.

Got pulled over by a Florida Highway Patrolman about 11:30 PM in the spring of 1970 doing 120 mph in my Barracuda on a newly opened stretch of I-95 in Ft. Lauderdale. I know it was 120 because I checked the speedometer when I saw his lights. He said he clocked me at 112 and I didn't argue the point.

Told the nice officer that I needed to get my 12th grade English term paper to my teacher's house (Mrs. Rhoda Radow) by midnight that night or I would get an F, subsequently flunk English and might not graduate high school. Offered to show him the term paper on the front seat if he wanted.

He seemed to think that sufficient, gave me a lecture about how going so fast might negate my graduation in other ways and let me off with a warning.

Karma got me 36 years later when I got the one and so far only speeding ticket of my life doing 31 mph in a 20 mph residential zone.

And the above is entirely the truth. I swear!

I have extensive knowledge of the 4th amendment, at least for a lawyer. I never made any blanket statements regarding anything. I was discussing a specific incident and I believe that you've attributed a quote in your posting to something that I never said.

Of course a lot can escalate a traffic stop into something much more, such as things you see, smell, hear, answers you get or don't get, outstanding warrants, etc. However, if none of that happens, the initial traffic stop has a limited life span.

Police searches incident to traffic stops wasn't the point of my story. I was merely pointing out that police-civilian lying can often be a two-way street and I am sure that neither group appreciates it very much.