I'm always courteous and cooperative with police officers, and I've never had any trouble with them. Crazy, I know.

running a stop sign does not give any US cop the right to search your car

if you want to waive your rights, fine

But NEVER give consent - you don't make the probable cause or reasonable suspicion decision, a Judge does. Just calmly say, I don't give consent to a search. If the police want to search real bad they will order you to unlock the car or whatever. At that point, ask is that an order? Then comply. Be polite (even if they are not).

The officer is not going to be very happy, but if enuff people do what Rick and I say, then they'll get used to it, and better govt. will result.

- has it passed anyone's mind that two people with differing political views are telling all of you the exact same thing???

Now, if you are driving your Buick in China and get stopped by a Chinese Cop, well....

i went through the "get out" & "can i search your car" years ago when traveling out west.

I said "No. I hang out with cops." then he took a second to figure that out. Then the usual "keep him talking" routine.

As soon as possible, maybe two sentences from me, "That's a huge gun. My bud is a transit cop and he blows off a snub .38 at 60' into a small sticker on my locker for entertainment. Those transit cops have to drop someone in subways so they're the best. I have to keep body plastic and a paint can in the bottom."

then i ask him to suggest an area that has a river or stream in the area

we were buds by the time it was over



now that i'm a lot older if it happens again he'll gently get beamed in that i'm more trouble to him than it's worth if he wants to continue

I can't blame the cops for doing what they think is best but keep in mind if you're not PD/HP you're little people

There are LEO BBS's like this one, I like to lurk there just to see what they talk about.

The prevalent "guilty until proved innocent" mentality is a little disturbing.

I think we all agree we need the police... but the last thirty years they have switched from servants to overlords... not a good thing.

I'm not always a big fan of media copies realiy... however notice how cop shows and movies form the 60's and 70's the cop always stuck to the rules and did the right thing... now they are depicted as cutting corners and breaking the rules to get the job done.

YMMV

Yes, I lurk on Officer.com sometimes and the prevailing 'tude there is downright frightening. It's totally an "us vs. them" vibe and "everyone's a perp, some just haven't gotten caught yet."

I'm also very polite and cooperative during stops and have never had a problem. Even had a statie write a note to the prosecutor once, telling him I behaved and he wouldn't object to my getting a deal (for refusing a breathalyzer in a serious police state!). But don't mistake asserting your rights for being uncooperative. I knew they couldn't draw my blood in that state and I was pretty sure they'd not report it to my home state's DMV (I was correct). Letting the cop know you know your rights can sometimes stop a bad thing from happening right there. Playing the roadside sobriety test or consenting to a vehicle search is only helping them build a case against you, not helping you go free at all. They don't take it personally if you exercise your rights and once in a while might just figure you're not worth their trouble and then they'll move on to some other, easier sheeple.

"media copies realiy"



or reality copying media
How about a prosecutor trying to get a convict without some high level of scientific evidence that'll convince a jury

I find it funny that you seem to know your rights up one side and down the other yet can't figure out how not to get pulled over as often as you do. ;)

Well, after thinking about this, I am thinking you broke the law, Got searched, turned out clean, and you were released with no violations.

I could live with that.

Actually, the stop two weeks ago was the first time I've ever been stopped in my 993 in eight years of ownership, other than a front license plate stop in VA about six yrs. ago. I do a lot of driving in the desert out here and there's no reason not to go fast except when the tax collectors are hiding and using instant-on. My rights have nothing to do with that. I don't have a right to not be robbed by the state whenever they need money.

I had a nasty encounter with a MD cop about a year ago. Traffic on 70 was thick and there was no place to go. I pulled into the left lane hoping to get moving a bit faster. The car behind me starts to tailgate me aggressively and I have no place to go. Finally, I got a break and moved over a lane. The guy behind me moves over too and keeps the pressure up. I got really angry and brake checked him. Right then, he lights me up. It turns out the whole time he is driving an unmarked vehicle. I pull over and he starts screaming and yelling at me for being a road rage case. I tried to stay as calm as possible because this guy was losing it. I politely and firmly told him my side of the story. He made we wait a while as he pondered what he was going to do. During that time I vowed that I would meet him in court for this one. He decided to give me a warning. It could have turned out a lot worse. He was angry, it was dark and I could have had a really bad night if he decided to beat the crap out of me (he basically threatened this). I was lucky it didn't end badly. Scary stuff.

When i was a young lad around 20 years old I had a '66 GT 390 Fairlane. It was a pretty loud car. It could be heard 3/4's of a mile away if it was on throttle.

My girlfriend lived about 1/2 a mile from where I lived and there was an alley that I could take straight home and miss 3 traffic lights.

I used this alley several times a week for a few years. I knew that this car was loud and I would just lope it down the alley at idle in 2nd gear trying not to wake anyone.

I would get pulled over every few months in this car. It was kinda known in the neighbor hood:cool:

I studied Criminal Justice in college! ( realized that I didn't like around 50% of the laws and that I couldn't feel good about writing someone up for jaywalking if they didn't cause a problem with traffic )
Anyways I got used to the "taillight out", "Too much smoke out of your exhaust pipes" "failure to signal" " I thought that I smelt weed" etc from the PoPo that I kept my school books in the car.

I think that I must have been tossed at least 6 times in 2 months in '86

One set of jackholes did the "stand in the spotlight on the ground routine" on me and moved the light and yelled at me for not staying in the light. bullshot with me.

I called him on it and he got really pissy with me but once his partners found my school books he was all peachy keen.

AXEHANDLE! like I want to be your bud after you jumped my ship for standing where you told me to but then you moved the light.

I've been pulled over by far too many cops, & Chp and most of the time they've been cool.

I'm getting tired of the chp officer attitude lately.

so the just say no to the breathalyzer thing was a strike for rights and not because you had been drinking and driving? :)

speeding and lottery tickets are self imposed tax perhaps? What does it take to get pulled over for speeding?