Police procedure question (1 Viewer)

Lars

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I am hoping to get a little info and this place has an incredible variety of people from many walks of life.

Is it an acceptable procedure for an office who has pulled you over to request multiple times that you go sit in the front of their patrol car with them?
 
Sit on the front of their car or in the front of their car? On is normal. In is strange
 
Back when I was much younger, (late '70s and '80s) it was not uncommon for to be seated in the front seat of a patrol car while an officer ran your license and wrote a ticket.... at least in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. I know; I got pulled over a LOT during that period. They used to issue a lot of warnings vs actual infractions back then, too -- I didn't get my first real speeding ticket until the 25th time I got pulled over.

I remember one time in Toledo OH on Thanksgiving break from college, when I got a chance to see a three-digit output on an officer's radar display while seated in his car (eventually was charged with 101 mph in a 50 mph zone). I asked about his calibration certification, arguing that I wasn't going any faster than 95 (like that would have made any damn difference....).

At some point in time, I think procedures changed in the interest of officer safety -- now they typically don't want you to leave the vehicle whatsover.
 
That is definitely not a normal thing for UHP to do. Is it acceptable? I would doubt there is any rule against it, but it is odd. I would decline. If there was as safety concern they should normally ask you to exit your vehicle and move well off the shoulder, but it's hot right now so he probably wanted to sit in the A/C I guess? If you felt there was something else weird going on you could call dispatch and maybe talk to his sergeant or the watch commander about it.
 
Yes, normal in the Carolinas. At least I have seen it done many times.

Yup...Happened to me in NC about 20 years ago. Officer gave me a ticket and told me I had no choice but to appear in court. Couldn’t pay the fine.
 
If patrol officer looks like this, then it's perfectly acceptable. :sneaky:

Imagep1.jpg
 
Oops I misunderstood the situation as this happened to my wife 1,000 miles from our home on her way to visit family. It was a city police officer not a highway patrol officer who pulled her over on I-80 for "following too closely". She was by herself. The officer asked her to get out and sit in his car several times but when she said no each time he took her license and papers back to the car and then she called me. She was upset by this and wanted me on the line. The officer returned and gave her a warning and then started asking her questions:

Officer: Where are you going?
Wife: To visit my sister in law and her family in Iowa

Officer: What do you do for a living?
Wife: Describes job.

Officer: Where do you work?
Wife: Tells him where she works.

Officer: Where did you stay last night?
Wife: At a camp ground.

Officer: Was the camp ground busy?
Wife: Kind of???

Office: Do you have other vehicles?
Wife: Yes I have a 4-runner

Office: Why would you be driving this truck? Big trucks like this get terrible mileage.
Wife: I have a smoker in the back for the brother in law and some skis.

Officer: It doesn't make sense for you to be driving this truck so far.

Office: How long have you had the skis?
Wife: I don't know maybe a year. Why

Officer: You are behaving suspiciously and we need to search your truck.

She is crying by now and asks me what to do. I tell her that if I were there with her I would say no to the search but as she is alone and far from home so I don't know.

A second officer joins and asks if she is ok. She tells him that the first office wanted her to get into his car. The first officer thrn says that he only asked once as a courtesy so that they did not have to yell over the road noise and denies pressing the issue.

I hear one of them then ask:
Do you have meth in the truck?
Wife: No

Officer: Do you have cocaine in the truck?
Wife: No

Officer:Do you have anything illegal in the truck?
Wife:No-I don't know why this is happening. As she is sobbing.

The second officer then says that they need to inspect the back of the truck. My truck came with a locking bed cover which has to be unlocked.
I can't tell what is said as they move to the back of the truck.

One of the officers says:
What is that?
Wife: It is a radio controlled monster truck for my nephew.

They peer over the back of the truck without even opening the smoker or the sealed tote that I filled with wood chips.
I can't hear their last comments and then they drive off.
They both leave and she and I talk while she tries to collect herself.
I tell her that we will try to do something about this but that she needs to eat a little something and get a cold drink out of the cooler and get down the road and away from there.
 
Does anyone know do most states require that officers record pull overs? Does anyone know how long they have to keep recordings if they do? I'm tempted to call someone tomorrow be it police chief or possibly mayor, but I am concerned as she will have to pass through the same area next Monday to come home.
 
Is it an acceptable procedure for an office who has pulled you over to request multiple times that you go sit in the front of their patrol car with them?

Unusual, but not inappropriate.

this happened to my wife 1,000 miles from our home on her way to visit family. It was a city police officer not a highway patrol officer who pulled her over on I-80 for "following too closely". She was by herself. The officer asked her to get out and sit in his car several times but when she said no each time he took her license and papers back to the car and then she called me. She was upset by this and wanted me on the line. The officer returned and gave her a warning and then started asking her questions:

...

Officer: What do you do for a living?
Wife: Describes job.

Officer: Where do you work?
Wife: Tells him where she works.

Officer: Where did you stay last night?
Wife: At a camp ground.

Officer: Was the camp ground busy?
Wife: Kind of???

Office: Do you have other vehicles?
Wife: Yes I have a 4-runner

Office: Why would you be driving this truck? Big trucks like this get terrible mileage.
Wife: I have a smoker in the back for the brother in law and some skis.

Officer: It doesn't make sense for you to be driving this truck so far.

Office: How long have you had the skis?
Wife: I don't know maybe a year. Why

Officer: You are behaving suspiciously and we need to search your truck.

Completely inappropriate.
 
Does anyone know do most states require that officers record pull overs? Does anyone know how long they have to keep recordings if they do? I'm tempted to call someone tomorrow be it police chief or possibly mayor, but I am concerned as she will have to pass through the same area next Monday to come home.

FOIA the body/dash cam. Hurry. They overwrite it rather quickly.
 
Abuse of power. Either charge her with something or let her the ef alone. Seems like officer 1 was trying to get alone w her imo. Then it becomes a he said/she said vs cop. Can't win.
 
Lawyer here with defense and prosecution experience. Depending on the jurisdiction it’s unusual but not necessarily inappropriate. It’s not a violation of your rights or anything but It might violate their own SOP. I assumed the reason was they were going to conduct a search and they didn’t want you to be standing along a busy roadway while they conducted it, nor did they want you in the back seat as if you had been taken into custody.

It’s also worth noting that I-80 is a popular drug corridor for traffickers, which could offer some insight as well. Out of state plates and a large vehicle would draw police attention especially in the Midwest/Great Plains where drugs are being transported between large metro areas. While the officer was more of a dick than he needed to be I don’t think you’re going to get much traction trying to address it. You can file a complaint but nothing much else will come of it.
 
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Oops I misunderstood the situation as this happened to my wife 1,000 miles from our home on her way to visit family. It was a city police officer not a highway patrol officer who pulled her over on I-80 for "following too closely". She was by herself. The officer asked her to get out and sit in his car several times but when she said no each time he took her license and papers back to the car and then she called me. She was upset by this and wanted me on the line. The officer returned and gave her a warning and then started asking her questions:

Officer: Where are you going?
Wife: To visit my sister in law and her family in Iowa

Officer: What do you do for a living?
Wife: Describes job.

Officer: Where do you work?
Wife: Tells him where she works.

Officer: Where did you stay last night?
Wife: At a camp ground.

Officer: Was the camp ground busy?
Wife: Kind of???

Office: Do you have other vehicles?
Wife: Yes I have a 4-runner

Office: Why would you be driving this truck? Big trucks like this get terrible mileage.
Wife: I have a smoker in the back for the brother in law and some skis.

Officer: It doesn't make sense for you to be driving this truck so far.

Office: How long have you had the skis?
Wife: I don't know maybe a year. Why

Officer: You are behaving suspiciously and we need to search your truck.

She is crying by now and asks me what to do. I tell her that if I were there with her I would say no to the search but as she is alone and far from home so I don't know.

A second officer joins and asks if she is ok. She tells him that the first office wanted her to get into his car. The first officer thrn says that he only asked once as a courtesy so that they did not have to yell over the road noise and denies pressing the issue.

I hear one of them then ask:
Do you have meth in the truck?
Wife: No

Officer: Do you have cocaine in the truck?
Wife: No

Officer:Do you have anything illegal in the truck?
Wife:No-I don't know why this is happening. As she is sobbing.

The second officer then says that they need to inspect the back of the truck. My truck came with a locking bed cover which has to be unlocked.
I can't tell what is said as they move to the back of the truck.

One of the officers says:
What is that?
Wife: It is a radio controlled monster truck for my nephew.

They peer over the back of the truck without even opening the smoker or the sealed tote that I filled with wood chips.
I can't hear their last comments and then they drive off.
They both leave and she and I talk while she tries to collect herself.
I tell her that we will try to do something about this but that she needs to eat a little something and get a cold drink out of the cooler and get down the road and away from there.
Sounds like trolling out-of-state drivers for the purposes of civil asset forfeiture.

Don't answer questions, don't consent to any searches. If they really want to search, they'll find a way, but you may have some recourse if you don't consent.

Edit: I'm reading over it again. Makes me so goddam mad. Little men trying to use the fact that they're armed "authorities" to manipulate an innocent person into consenting to a search so they can steal money.
 
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Sounds like trolling out-of-state drivers for the purposes of civil asset forfeiture.

Don't answer questions, don't consent to any searches. If they really want to search, they'll find a way, but you may have some recourse if you don't consent.

Edit: I'm reading over it again. Makes me so goddam mad. Little men trying to use the fact that they're armed "authorities" to manipulate an innocent person into consenting to a search so they can steal money.
Can you get in trouble for not answering their questions? Obviously there’s a middle ground but I don’t have a clue what it is lol
 
Unfortunately you are unlikely to get anything other than a complaint filed away somewhere. You might have more luck with the mayor's office/sherriff if it's a small jurisdiction but it's slim, and you will need to start with a complaint to the involved department to get anything on record. The arrival of the second officer definitely points to he intended to search the vehicle as soon as he pulled her over and then bullied her until she consented because he had no probable cause. I don't think there was any intention to get her alone because he was a creep, but I would have had strong words about liberty with him had it been me. UHP does this as well, and they frequently do this to utah residents coming across the Colorado border. She will be unlikely to have any problems coming home.
 
I asked her if he was wearing a mask and she said no.
To be pressured to enter a police car during a pandemic by an officer who is not wearing a mask and who possibly had an infected person in that car which he may not properly sterilize is troubling as well. Especially over a driving infraction that he decided to write a warning for.
She is wiped out from this and the long drive but I will find out tomorrow if the second officer was wearing a mask or if they both stood right next to her inspecting the truck bed for absolutely no reason. She has been extremely diligent with safety precautions during this pandemic as has my family and her friends in Iowa and now she has potentially been exposed. Her closest friends live in the same area that she has not seen in over a year and I am not sure if she will be able to see them now as their sons girlfriend is a cancer survivor.
 

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