Maybe he didn't trust the cop. Can't imagine why...

It will get to where this is all that is needed for many people's "fight or flight" instinct to kick in.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1312496100.jpg

What a beech. You live here? No...
He knew he was provoking the officer.
You play with fire, you get burnt.

I don't know much about the law or what cop should ask or not ask. That, to me, is like asking me where I am going when I get pull over for 45 in a 35 zone. Seriously, WTF do they want to know where I am going. JUst give me the ticket and go off to the donut shop already. I am a 40 year old(clean cut with a pair of glasses, no tats or anything like that) in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt going home to my family in my SUV after dark with a bag of vegetables from the market. What's the fcuking deal with the flash light in my eye? It fcuking hurts like hell when they do that crap. It never fails, when I get pull over at night. I always want to ask them where they are going?

Some of these guys have to say something just to let you know who's on top. About 20 years ago, I was on my way home from a friend's with a printer (They were the size of a bus) sitting on the passenger seat in my MR2. I can't fit it anywhere else. I had to get off the fwy to take a pee stop at a Danny's. As soon as I drove into the parking lot, the lid me up. Again, the flash lights. The cops ask what I was doing there? This was 9pm on a week night. I told him I needed to use the bathroom so I stopped here. He then ask," Are you looking for a date here, be honest with me?" Now I am angry, and ask him where was I going to put the hooker? on the roof? You do see this is a two seater and I have a huge printer in here? i told him to look before you ask the question. I have not done anything wrong. None at all. They wouldn't let me use the bathroom, not just yet until they are done showing me how big their balls are. They ask for my driver lic. and looked around then gave me my ID back and told me to go. I almost pissed in my pants I needed to go so badly.

Why was the cop holding his hand up as to hide his identity when he walked up initially? What a douche! You can tell right away this 'dude' didn't know how to handle the situation as a professional.

OTOH, I agree that the guy doing the filming should have admitted this was where he lived, when asked. I think that's a legitimate question by law enforcement.

Nevertheless - the cop was very disrespectful and was obviously enjoying his power trip ("You're in a world of hurt now!") - I mean c'mon....who speaks like that in the law enforcement community?

I've always felt cops were no different than the criminals in their personalities except for the badge they are allowed to wear. And this has been confirmed by cop friends of mine too....

:rolleyes:

They can ask any question they want (except if you're here illegally). But you're not required to answer. The only question you are (in some states) required to answer is your name.

And even then, only if you are being arrested for a crime.

Some states have "stop and identify" laws where a cop can stop you on foot and you have to show ID if he asks. They can't stop you in a car for no reason, though. Generally, you do have to give your name and show ID. Nothing else though. And usually no good can come of it if you give them more info than you have to. They're not asking you to be friendly or to help you.

I was only on the rough end of a cop once, and that's because I was acting up and deserved it.
From then on and for the rest of my life I have cooperated and answered the questions, and so far I've never had anything but pleasant encounters with the police. After all, if you have nothing to hide, whats the harm in answering the questions?

So I'll ask again.....

Why would anyone would do anything other than answer the questions and be cooperative? I'm not trying to be a tool here, but really, why would anyone do anything but be polite and cooperate?

I never said anything about not being polite. And it's not uncooperative to exercise your rights. In the US exercising your rights cannot constitute probable cause of criminal activity. Refusing to answer questions is your right and there's a good reason why the cops remind you of this during an arrest. Sure, it might get the cop pissed off or raise his antennae a little more if you don't play along. But as long as you are within your rights and are polite about it, you should have nothing to fear.

Now, let's say a cop stops you for some pretext like failing to signal at least 300' before a turn. They only do this when they want to look for something else, not because you're really getting a ticket for failing to signal. If he asks you anything other than for your documents, your answering him is only helping him build PC for a search or worse. If he asks if you know why you're being pulled over and you say, "Probably because I forgot to signal," then boom - you just admitted guilt and have no case in court. Very easy ticket to write. If he asks you where you're coming from and you say, "From my GF's house," he'll then ask where she lives. If you hesitate answering that, he'll get more suspicious that you're lying. All the while he's shining a light around your interior, looking for contraband or anything else that could get him PC to get into the car. What if there was just a hit and run by a car matching your description and you, unaware of this fact, tell him you just came from where it happened? See where this is going?

You are only causing more trouble for yourself by playing 20 questions with a cop. They are the experts at this, they are legally allowed to lie to you and they have as much time as it takes. Maybe you'll get one who is immediately convinced you're not worth his time and just lets you off with a warning. But when the game starts, do not play along. If for no other reason, it'd be nice to force the cops to stop wasting honest people's time with pretext stops by showing them that you know your rights and won't help them further the police state.

So Rick, what's a good "non-answer" that won't piss off the cops? Just wondering. How have the non-answers played out in the past when asked?

Complete fking silence works pretty well. Try asking a cop something he doesn't want to answer some time, he'll show you how it's done.

I don't know that I've ever been asked anything other than for my docs. For some reason, all my police stops are all business and that's it. I did answer a cop once when he askd where I was headed, because anything else would have raised more suspicion. I was near Pahrump, NV in a rental car with CT plates, handed the cop my AZ driver's license and NV CCW. They were all 100% legit, but did arouse some curiosity. Since my wife was with me, he probably didn't think I was headed to the Bunny Ranch. And the only other reason to possibly be in that God-awful place was because it's on the way to Death Valley, which was where I was headed. So I did tell him that. However, had I suspected he was fishing, I'd have said something like, "With all due respect officer, I don't think that's relevant to the reason for this stop. You have my docs and they are in order. You already said you're writing me for speeding, so let's be done with it."

A good non answer is to respond with a question.
Officer..."Where are you coming from?"
Motorist... "How is that pertinant to why you stopped me?"

I always use "Your mom's house. She says hello."

That's a good one. How does it work for you?

Actually, I do try some small talk once in a while in an effort to get a warning instead of a cite. But I only do that when I know they're only intersted in writing me. That last one NV, the cop asked why I had a NV CCW. I thought that was a nice setup for me to explain how I come to NV often for business and tourism and spend a lot of money there. He was uninterested, "Press hard, make three copies. This conversation is being recorded, blah, blah."

Really there is no answer to that line of questioning that does not benefit the officer.

If you answer no then he writes you anyway. You can't defend it because you admitted to being unaware of your surroundings and what you were doing at the time.

Or depending on time of day what you were doing, "having dinner?" Why yes. "Have you had anything to drink" A glass of wine. "How long ago?"

Basically every question you answer leads to another question. Once you answer the 1st question it becomes harder to end the conversation because it makes you look like you are hiding something.

Because if he'd turned off the camera, we'd never see what happened next ;)

The cop acted outside of his authority, and I'd do my level best to own his house.