Why am I a target?

[xman59]

Honestly you're a lot nicer then me to police when they are fishing. You don't have to answer any of their questions about where and why you're going through there. It's honestly none of their business. Seems like more and more police officers need to be reminded folks have rights.

I went on a ride along with my brother. I was very impressed with how proffesional he was and aware of a persons rights. I told him he should apply down here! We need more like him.

your right he doesnt have to answer any questions about it,, but rest assured not answering arouses suspicions a lot more and an average cop can turn those suspicions against you,,, and will lead to more, longer and detailed questions and more than likely a longer wait until the puppy shows up and sniffs around and crawls through and under your vehicle,,, if youv'e done nothing wrong answering the questions is far simpler,, cops have a hard enough time without honest people becoming jerks and making it worse,,, they stop a lot of drug traffickers too,, simply by asking those same questions... they lead to arrests and seizure of drugs that might eventually wind up in your town and your kids hands and arms....... the closer to the border the more likely the chance of stopping the drugs,, the farther east you get through the state the less the frequency of those stops and questions....
i arrested two wanted murder suspects years apart from simple traffic stops,,, i suppose i should not have asked any questions?

[xman59]

It has not bothered me until the guy threatened me with jail and the only law I broke was not using my turn signal when changing lanes. HWpatrol is just doing their jobs and I don't imagine most smugglers are doing 120 mph or driving vehicles that have numerous violations. So if a 39 yr old, 240 lb white boy, clean shavin, dressed decent is what they profile as a smuggler, I will continue to pull over for them. Don't see a reason to make myself a bigger target by running my mouth.

most people do not realize you can be arrested for those traffic violations,any of them , its mostly city and department regulations that prevent a lot more of those arrests,,, the only charge you can not be arrested for is speeding,,, but if they have even one more charge you can be arrested on that charge and speeding added to the list of charges.... lots of arrests for traffic violations are not in the best interest of the officer, or department since there is a lot more expense encountered when those little arrests take place,and a lot more court time, your signature on the ticket if you get one is a promise to appear,, you dont sign, you get arrested,, for whatever the charges were...
you are very smart not to make yourself a target by mouthing off,,, far to many people do,,,many of them learn to regret it.

[tvc184]

your right he doesnt have to answer any questions about it,, but rest assured not answering arouses suspicions a lot more and an average cop can turn those suspicions against you,,, and will lead to more, longer and detailed questions and more than likely a longer wait until the puppy shows up and sniffs around and crawls through and under your vehicle,,, if youv'e done nothing wrong answering the questions is far simpler,, cops have a hard enough time without honest people becoming jerks and making it worse,,, they stop a lot of drug traffickers too,, simply by asking those same questions... they lead to arrests and seizure of drugs that might eventually wind up in your town and your kids hands and arms....... the closer to the border the more likely the chance of stopping the drugs,, the farther east you get through the state the less the frequency of those stops and questions....
i arrested two wanted murder suspects years apart from simple traffic stops,,, i suppose i should not have asked any questions?

I did the same thing. Stopped a guy for a headlight out and asked "routine" questions. He was nervous so my partner and I ran him NCIC. He had two murder warrants out of Louisiana.

Darn prying cops............

[tvc184]

most people do not realize you can be arrested for those traffic violations,any of them , its mostly city and department regulations that prevent a lot more of those arrests,,, the only charge you can not be arrested for is speeding,,, but if they have even one more charge you can be arrested on that charge and speeding added to the list of charges.... lots of arrests for traffic violations are not in the best interest of the officer, or department since there is a lot more expense encountered when those little arrests take place,and a lot more court time, your signature on the ticket if you get one is a promise to appear,, you dont sign, you get arrested,, for whatever the charges were...
you are very smart not to make yourself a target by mouthing off,,, far to many people do,,,many of them learn to regret it.

....and open container.

[Matt_from_CP]

You don't have to tell him if you have a weapon in the car.

True, unless you have a CHL and than you have to notify. Seems backwards, but it is the law.

[Matt_from_CP]

your right he doesnt have to answer any questions about it,, but rest assured not answering arouses suspicions a lot more and an average cop can turn those suspicions against you,,, and will lead to more, longer and detailed questions and more than likely a longer wait until the puppy shows up and sniffs around and crawls through and under your vehicle,,, if youv'e done nothing wrong answering the questions is far simpler,, cops have a hard enough time without honest people becoming jerks and making it worse,,, they stop a lot of drug traffickers too,, simply by asking those same questions... they lead to arrests and seizure of drugs that might eventually wind up in your town and your kids hands and arms....... the closer to the border the more likely the chance of stopping the drugs,, the farther east you get through the state the less the frequency of those stops and questions....
i arrested two wanted murder suspects years apart from simple traffic stops,,, i suppose i should not have asked any questions?

I am a strong supporter of law enforcement, hate criminals and im no bleeding heart, but that sure sounds like the 4th amendment is being abused. Unless you suspect me of committing another crime, write me my ticket and send me down he road. 4th amendment is supposed to protect me from these fishing expeditions.

[BigTex.308]

Honestly you're a lot nicer then me to police when they are fishing. You don't have to answer any of their questions about where and why you're going through there. It's honestly none of their business. Seems like more and more police officers need to be reminded folks have rights.

I went on a ride along with my brother. I was very impressed with how proffesional he was and aware of a persons rights. I told him he should apply down here! We need more like him.

Ike

[Stick em]

....and open container.

Beat me to it.
We are trained to ask questions to anybody we come in contact with. I'm not abusing anybody's rights I'm just doin my job.

[Kodiakk]

Do you believe that an officer asking questions violates a person's rights?

Nope, but police officers shouldn't "make me pay for it" when I don't answer them either. Look at xman59s post above.

My own brother is a police officer, and I'm very interested in the field myself. I'm not anti police, but being a grown law abiding adult a police officer isn't my daddy either. Hope that is fair enough for you.

[tvc184]

Nope, but police officers shouldn't "make me pay for it" when I don't answer them either. Look at xman59s post above.

My own brother is a police officer, and I'm very interested in the field myself. I'm not anti police, but being a grown law abiding adult a police officer isn't my daddy either. Hope that is fair enough for you.

I went back and read it and didn't see where he said that he would "make me pay for it".

I did see where he said that if he was suspicious, he would hold a person until a K9 unit arrived (or puppy as he called it).

If your brother is a police officer, I think that he is likely asking the same questions. Probably 98% of the time he gets an answer that makes sense and goes about his business. That after all is why he is out there.

[Kodiakk]

your right he doesnt have to answer any questions about it,, but rest assured not answering arouses suspicions a lot more and an average cop can turn those suspicions against you,,, and will lead to more, longer and detailed questions and more than likely a longer wait until the puppy shows up and sniffs around and crawls through and under your vehicle,,, if youv'e done nothing wrong answering the questions is far simpler,, cops have a hard enough time without honest people becoming jerks and making it worse,,, they stop a lot of drug traffickers too,, simply by asking those same questions... they lead to arrests and seizure of drugs that might eventually wind up in your town and your kids hands and arms....... the closer to the border the more likely the chance of stopping the drugs,, the farther east you get through the state the less the frequency of those stops and questions....
i arrested two wanted murder suspects years apart from simple traffic stops,,, i suppose i should not have asked any questions?

So if a citizen doesn't comply to what you WANT you will make him pay for it. Isn't that wonderfully SS of you. That's a very worriesome statement you made. Remember? Land of the free, home of the brave?

The reason why dope won't show up in the hands of my kids more then likely is due to me being a engaged parent. I don't know anyone that does drugs right now, however if I wanted some dope I'm sure I could find it within a day. Thanks for taking some of those scumbags out though!

So how many law abiding citizens did you put through the ringer to find those two criminals?

I don't want to tick anyone off. I do value my privacy though, and still value our Constitution.

[Kodiakk]

I went back and read it and didn't see where he said that he would "make me pay for it".

I did see where he said that if he was suspicious, he would hold a person until a K9 unit arrived (or puppy as he called it).

If your brother is a police officer, I think that he is likely asking the same questions. Probably 98% of the time he gets an answer that makes sense and goes about his business. That after all is why he is out there.

So if I person doesn't want to tell their business to a stranger, he's suspicious? Can't you just run the check through your data base to see if a person has a warrantt? I can fully understand going through all that if a officer smells dope or sees a roach in the ashtray, but do you folks really waste that many resources due to a citizen caring just a little about their privacy?

What do you mean exactly by "If my brother is a police officer?" Do you beleive I'm lieing to you? For your info yes he does ask those questions, however if the person doesn't want to answer he doesn't bring out the drug dogs unless he has more of a reason to be suspicious then the person values their privacy just a little.

[tvc184]

I am a strong supporter of law enforcement, hate criminals and im no bleeding heart, but that sure sounds like the 4th amendment is being abused. Unless you suspect me of committing another crime, write me my ticket and send me down he road. 4th amendment is supposed to protect me from these fishing expeditions.

He is talking about merely asking a question or two. You don't have to answer.

I have made some of my best criminal cases like that. On one such occasion I asked a guy (that I had lawfully stopped) where he was going. He said to his grandmother's house. I then only wanted to ask one more question, where did his grandmother live? He gave me her address.

The problem was that he was going away from his grandmother's home (or what he claimed it to be). I ended up finding property on him from a couple of vehicles that he had just broken into near by.

I did not violate his rights by asking him where he was going. A couple of people got their property back and got the chance to prosecute the person that damage their property and stole from them.

With all the threads in this forum about people getting their homes, cars, ranches, etc., broken into, you would think that some people would be excited that the cops are out there looking out for crime. Apparently that support is not universal.

I am not for violating anyone's rights even a little bit for any reason. Asking a question that you are not required to answer does not violate any rights and it may solve a crime that happened to you.

As the OP said in his original post, usually they ask a few questions and then he is on his way. No illegal searches, no tearing the car apart, no long detentions past the time it takes to check his record by computer.

And bear in mind, if I really wanted to mess with you, as some people believe, except for speeding and open container, I have the lawful authority to arrest you, bring you to the county jail and tow away your vehicle. License plate light out and you didn't know? Sorry, that is a crime where an arrest can be made. Put on your turn signal about 50' from the intersection where you turned? Great but the law requires a minimum of 100'. Sorry, you are off to the county jail and the next available wrecker will get your vehicle.

If the police really wanted to mess with people, there is no need to violate a person's rights with illegal searches or detentions. There are plenty of laws to enforce like the woman that was arrested in Texas for not wearing her seatbelt and the case went all the way to the SCOTUS in 2001 in Atwater v. Lago Vista.

I am not going to dismiss the little cop with the big badge syndrome because they are out there and always will be. A huge percentage us are out there on the streets trying to find the guy that stole your pickup, broke into your deer camp or is hauling 100 pounds of dope into your neighborhood. Sometimes asking a couple of questions allows us to do exactly that. If that offends someone then don't answer the questions or drive away mad... realizing that the next guy I stop on routine traffic might actually be the one that really did violate your rights.

I understand that some people feel that the police asking them even a single question is interfering with their life and is somehow a violation of their rights but it is lawful. From our side, asking you simple questions like where you are coming from, where are you going and how long were you there might be questions that solved a child rape or bank robbery. Remember that Timothy McVeigh was caught after the Oklahoma City bombing on a routine traffic charge. About 95% of the people that I ask those kinds of questions (and I do not do so routinely) drive on their way in a couple of minutes with a warning for a traffic violation. I can't begin to remember all of the felony arrests that I have made from traffic stops including murder. I honestly don't want to waste my time bothering with someone that isn't out there bothering other people. I think that is why xman said what he did. Answering a couple of routine questions can get you on your way and me back to what I want to do and that is arrest criminals. You don't have to answer and you can be mad at the cops but at least try to see it where most of us are coming from. We are out there trying to find the guys that you want us to catch.

[tvc184]

So if I person doesn't want to tell their business to a stranger, he's suspicious? Can't you just run the check through your data base to see if a person has a warrantt? I can fully understand going through all that if a officer smells dope or sees a roach in the ashtray, but do you folks really waste that many resources due to a citizen caring just a little about their privacy?

What do you mean exactly by "If my brother is a police officer?" Do you beleive I'm lieing to you? For your info yes he does ask those questions, however if the person doesn't want to answer he doesn't bring out the drug dogs unless he has more of a reason to be suspicious then the person values their privacy just a little.

I didn't say that someone is suspicious for not answering.

If you brother... is a rhetorical statement. It is not questioning your veracity.

If someone doesn't want to answer questions and I have nothing else on them, I send them on their way. As a supervisor I try and make sure that my officers do the same.

[Kodiakk]

If someone doesn't want to answer questions and I have nothing else on them, I send them on their way. As a supervisor I try and make sure that my officers do the same.

Thanks for that. You have my respect!

PS tvc it is good to ask questions. I'm amazed about the stories my brothers tells me on how stupid some criminals are. There's a reason why they're a criminal most of the time. Not much between their ears except air.