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Idaho trooper harasses old man due to Colorado license plate (with video)

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by DeskMonkey1, Apr 16, 2014.

  1. This ... a 1,000 times this.


    And kind of cops do you guys run into? The only time I ever ran into a cop with a bad attitude was when I earned it.


    Stupid cops, always sticking their nose into other people's business, wanting to know what's going on, using their hunches and such.

    And
    You guys should totally take some of the sound advice being doled on this thread during your next traffic stop, things will go super smooth.
     
  2. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Officer has a point -- why's the guy so worried about him if he has nothing to hide???
     
  3. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    About half the states have so-called "Stop and identify" laws, which to varying degrees allow officers to demand identification and require people to provide it, when the officer has reasonable suspicion of a criminal violation. The way the different statutes are written, some extend beyond identification as far as what can be demanded of people officers encounter.

    You do have the right to refuse to answer questions, although the Supreme Court has said that being required to provide identification when an officer has reasonable suspicion is not a violation of your rights.

    But as I said, the refusal to answer questions can be factored in with other observations to begin forming reasonable suspicion, which is a much lower standard than probable cause, to investigate. On one hand you have what the law allows and the other what is rationale in order to avoid escalating a situation.

    I'm not sure the guy in the OP could have said anything that would have shook that cop to his senses and not searched the car. And to be fair, my initial impression before the cop started talking too much was that he had reasonable suspicion for an impaired driving investigation. The combo of the sudden jerking of the vehicle on the off-ramp, the hitting of the curb, getting out of the truck before he was asked, the way he was walking and the glassy eyes would have been sufficient to ask the driver to submit to the HGN (eye-stimulus) test. But as soon as the officer starts talking he shows that he's only interested in one thing.
     
  4. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    I once answered a cop at a traffic stop that I was headed home and he gave me the business for driving with an out-of-state license. Didn't matter it was valid
     
  5. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    Maybe the guy, like millions of other people, doesn't like cops and being made to feel like a criminal when he has done absolutely nothing wrong makes him uncomfortable.
     
  6. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    So, what happens if you are walking the dog and don't take your wallet? The cops have a right to harass you? (I've seen this happen, within the past few months.

    What happens if you're a passenger in a car that gets pulled over, or better yet, stopped at a traffic stop and, since you weren't driving, you never grabbed your wallet? Or, take a step further, you're being driven home from surgery. Happened to me, but the officer wasn't a jerk about it. Just check my wife's license and insurance and told us to have a nice day. But, according to you, what recourse would I have had if the cop was having a bad day?
     
  7. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Don't get it. If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear.
     
  8. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    In your first scenario the officer has to have reasonable suspicion to stop you on your walk. There's no right to harass.

    In all your scenarios you tell the officer your name and birth date and he verifies that information as best he can. You're making it way more complicated than it is. In my jurisdiction the officers can pull up your drivers license on their smartphones if you give them name and DOB.
     
  9. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    Unless he's having a bad day
     
  10. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    The officer, if he's in that mode, can come up with anything he wants for reasonable suspicion -- anything from your shoes are the same kind that drug dealers wear, to the "you kinda sorta look like this guy we're looking for" excuse.
    And there's two kinds of people who aren't nervous being questioned by the police -- other police, and career criminals. The rest of us, on the rare occasions we encounter the police in these types of situations, our minds are racing wondering what is going on and why they're stopping and questioning us.
     
  11. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    Expanding on that, it's not just a fear or the worse-case scenario (being shot, for instance, or having evidence planted). There are also more mundane but no less concerning scenarios that could play out.

    For example, a bogus arrest marring a reputation (how big are headlines when someone is released? Outside Duke lacrosse, not very). Or being detained long enough to lose a job or miss an important event.

    Or if kids are with a parent and an officer with a bad mood decides to ruin said parent's day. At best, that sours the children's opinion of police officers.

    Or, if the officer does decide to trump up a charge, an innocent party having to come up bail money or a small fine which could still significantly hurt someone's finances.

    So, yes, whenever I encounter a police officer who I'm not either related to or have known for a while, I'm nervous. Even when I'm at the gym and an officer comes in to work (which happens frequently, considering the late hour I work out) I'm looking over my shoulder even though I've done nothing wrong.
     
  12. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Bingo. They're the kings of the street. Even if it's a bogus ticket and you win, or a bogus arrest and you later sue the crap out of them and win, you can still be left with the bad experience of being detained, treated like crap, carted down to the station and having to pay a fine or court costs. All because the officer "smelled something" or didn't like the tone of your voice, or became suspicious because you didn't answer every question in exactly the right way.
     
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