He forgot the part where the reavers rape you to death, eat your flesh, and sew your skin into your clothing… in that order if you’re very, very lucky.
Samuel AdamsMay 7, 2012 10:13 pm
Good advice here. The key is to build a record so that you can move to suppress evidence. Remember the magic incantations: “I do not consent to any searches.” “Am I under arrest or am I free to go?”
Matt, anotherMay 8, 2012 7:39 am
In my area if the police think they really need to search your car or residence they will be polite when refused and come back shortly with a warrant. If it is a vehicle search they will detain you while waiting for the drug dog or warrant.
It took a bit, but I taught my kids the answer to can we search your vehicle or can we come in your house is always no. If they truly have probable cause they will get a warrant. If it is a single officer they won’t barge into your residence, they wait until they can come in force.
JBMay 8, 2012 4:31 pm
Samuel – The question is simply “am I free to go?” There are not just the two alternatives – leaving and being arrested. There is also detention. For that, an officer only needs “reasonable articulable suspicion” of you having committed a crime. So just ask if you are free to go. If not, then the cop may be taking a middle course of detention (a temporary situation while he investigates). Then ask him to articulate his reasonable suspicion. Read You and the Police by Boston T. Party for a better explanation.
just waitingMay 9, 2012 1:44 pm
My daughter was taught these lessons at an early age, especially to ask am I free to go and if no, why not.
She had her drivers license for a couple of months when her and a girlfriend got pulled over for being 2 young girls in a car. The cops in town are notorious for smelling marijuana on everyone they pull over.
When they asked my daughter for consent to search, she said no, and asked if she was free to go. Her friend almost had a heart attack “what do you mean no?” She said “my dad’ll take my car if he finds out I consented to a search” (note: her and her friend were both clean, sober, straight A HS students)
At that point, they told her they smelled burnt marijuana, made her get out, and searched her car. They found nothing. She again asked if she was free to go. She took her purse when she got out, they asked to search that and she told them since they found nothing in the car, she refused searching her purse as well. For the third time, she asked if she was free to go. Thats when the cop said he was calling for the sniffer dog. She said go ahead, call, but you’ve searched and found nothing, you have no grounds to detain me, I’m not waiting.
The cop threatened to call her parents. She burst out laughing “Please do, and can you do it on speaker so I can hear what my Dad has to say to you?”
She came home with this tale and no tickets to a very proud papa.
ClaireMay 9, 2012 1:56 pm
What a GREAT story, just waiting. What a good dad; what a gutsy, smart daughter. (I love the line about please do and call him on speakerphone.) Creepy damned cop.
He forgot the part where the reavers rape you to death, eat your flesh, and sew your skin into your clothing… in that order if you’re very, very lucky.
Good advice here. The key is to build a record so that you can move to suppress evidence. Remember the magic incantations: “I do not consent to any searches.” “Am I under arrest or am I free to go?”
In my area if the police think they really need to search your car or residence they will be polite when refused and come back shortly with a warrant. If it is a vehicle search they will detain you while waiting for the drug dog or warrant.
It took a bit, but I taught my kids the answer to can we search your vehicle or can we come in your house is always no. If they truly have probable cause they will get a warrant. If it is a single officer they won’t barge into your residence, they wait until they can come in force.
Samuel – The question is simply “am I free to go?” There are not just the two alternatives – leaving and being arrested. There is also detention. For that, an officer only needs “reasonable articulable suspicion” of you having committed a crime. So just ask if you are free to go. If not, then the cop may be taking a middle course of detention (a temporary situation while he investigates). Then ask him to articulate his reasonable suspicion. Read You and the Police by Boston T. Party for a better explanation.
My daughter was taught these lessons at an early age, especially to ask am I free to go and if no, why not.
She had her drivers license for a couple of months when her and a girlfriend got pulled over for being 2 young girls in a car. The cops in town are notorious for smelling marijuana on everyone they pull over.
When they asked my daughter for consent to search, she said no, and asked if she was free to go. Her friend almost had a heart attack “what do you mean no?” She said “my dad’ll take my car if he finds out I consented to a search” (note: her and her friend were both clean, sober, straight A HS students)
At that point, they told her they smelled burnt marijuana, made her get out, and searched her car. They found nothing. She again asked if she was free to go. She took her purse when she got out, they asked to search that and she told them since they found nothing in the car, she refused searching her purse as well. For the third time, she asked if she was free to go. Thats when the cop said he was calling for the sniffer dog. She said go ahead, call, but you’ve searched and found nothing, you have no grounds to detain me, I’m not waiting.
The cop threatened to call her parents. She burst out laughing “Please do, and can you do it on speaker so I can hear what my Dad has to say to you?”
She came home with this tale and no tickets to a very proud papa.
What a GREAT story, just waiting. What a good dad; what a gutsy, smart daughter. (I love the line about please do and call him on speakerphone.) Creepy damned cop.