I got pulled over going home from class around 6 pm. When I saw him I just pulled over because I knew he had his radar on. I was just putting it up on the windshield when I spotted him. When he came up to the car I gave him my id/registration. He noticed my hand was shaking and thought something was up. He asked me if I drank or did drugs and said that my eyes were dilated and red.
I told him I was dehydrated and hadn’t gotten much sleep, I took adderall that morning, and my eyes always get bloodshot after deadlifting. He asked me tons of questions about my family, my major and where I had been/where I was going. He asked me to put all of my windows down halfway so he could check my tint.
He ended up asking me to get out of the car. He kept me outside for about 30 minutes talking to me. He kept saying there was something missing and tried to make friends with me. He was reading me the whole time. It seemed like he was trying to get me incriminate myself. He checked my windows, and they let 5 percent light go through, 15 is the legal minimum. While he was doing this he was shining his flashlight into my car.
He asked me what the book I had in the front seat was about. I then told him he was welcome to search it because I didn’t have anything to hide. He didn’t though. Then he ended up giving me a ticket for the tint and just gave me a warning for speeding.
He ended up giving me a ticket for the tint and a warning for speeding. When he let me go he shook my hand. He was very friendly.
What was he trying to do here?
I feel like I was getting mixed signals the whole time.
Same thing happened to me once except I got cuffed and put in the back of the cruiser while he searched my car.
My guess is that most cops, like a lot of people, are adrenaline junkies and that doing that kind of stuff, especially when you find something, gives you a huge rush.
Anyone know if there is financial or career incentive to make an arrest given that its so time consuming and involves so much boring paperwork?
[quote]Eli B wrote:
Same thing happened to me once except I got cuffed and put in the back of the cruiser while he searched my car.
My guess is that most cops, like a lot of people, are adrenaline junkies and that doing that kind of stuff, especially when you find something, gives you a huge rush.[/quote]
Dang that’s crazy. Did he find anything?
I see what you’re saying. But the part that confuses me is that he seemed like he was trying to get me to slip up with his actions, but gave me only a warning and a ticket instead of 2 tickets.
I’ve found that, if you are curteous to cops and give them what they want in terms of information and you aren’t a jerk about it…They will let you off. I got busted for speeding and I was totally complacent about it…I was following a car and just zoning 'cause I had been driving for like 6 hours…So I got pegged, when the CHP officer came up and asked, I had my information for him, and he asked why I was going 70 in a 55…I told him I zoned and was folling the car in front of me (he managed to pull us both over at the same time!) hah. And he asked some questions about my license (my currrent address wasn’t up to date) and he said ok. Well he went to the other driver and he was kind being a prick, because you could hear some raised voicing and mild arguing…The officer took both of our information to his car…and after a few mins came back and asked why I had a commercial license (I get double points and no option of traffic school with that baby, Not to mention half the BAC than the general public) I told him I have a commercial license so that I can drive Fire Engines in my county cause I’m a firefighter. And he was like oh…and he thought for a while on what to do, and he was looking for things to ticket me on ( looked at my window tint) and he finally made a decision and just tagged me for my not current address…He was a nice cop! (he tagged the other guy with the full ticket) ahahaha! And I honestly think it was because I wasn’t a jerk to the cop and I was just honest and straight forward with him!
[quote]Eli B wrote:
Same thing happened to me once except I got cuffed and put in the back of the cruiser while he searched my car.
My guess is that most cops, like a lot of people, are adrenaline junkies and that doing that kind of stuff, especially when you find something, gives you a huge rush.[/quote]
Dang that’s crazy. Did he find anything?
I see what you’re saying. But the part that confuses me is that he seemed like he was trying to get me to slip up with his actions, but gave me only a warning and a ticket instead of 2 tickets.[/quote]
No he didnt find anything. Its not that crazy though. I had a bench warrant for an unpaid speeding ticket at the time so he could have arrested me. Courtesy and honesty is your friend with cops in routine traffic encounters. Although what is crazy is I got pulled over at 10 a.m. for having a screw missing on my license plate.
I think for some reason your guy wanted to make a drug arrest just like my guy. I think we both got pegged for college dope smokers or something.
When he didn’t think there would be drugs he didn’t care much about the speeding, and realized he had inconvenienced you so he gave you a warning. Same thing in my case.
btw if you’re drinking and driving and you get pulled over… Never blow. You’ll lose your license only until you pay a lawyer to get it reinstated but its the only way of pleading to a lesser charge or fighting the case. If you blow you’re fucked and the DA won’t want to plea.
Ask your lawyer friends.
Also if you do have drugs in the car don’t consent to a search. If I had drugs in the car I would have taken the bench warrant arrest over a drug arrest.
If cops come knocking about a criminal investigation…you can still cooperate with an investigation with a lawyer present.
It is my understanding that breathalyzers take routine maintenance and calibration. Without access to the maintenance log (if one even existed) I wouldnt trust one of those things after a glass of wine with dinner.
[quote]EMT-FF Jordan wrote:
I told him I have a commercial license so that I can drive Fire Engines in my county cause I’m a firefighter. And he was like oh…and he thought for a while on what to do, and he was looking for things to ticket me on ( looked at my window tint) and he finally made a decision and just tagged me for my not current address…He was a nice cop! (he tagged the other guy with the full ticket) ahahaha! And I honestly think it was because I wasn’t a jerk to the cop and I was just honest and straight forward with him![/quote]
I think it had something to do with being a firefighter also…
[quote]Eli B wrote:
btw if you’re drinking and driving and you get pulled over… Never blow. You’ll lose your license only until you pay a lawyer to get it reinstated but its the only way of pleading to a lesser charge or fighting the case. If you blow you’re fucked and the DA won’t want to plea.
Ask your lawyer friends.
Also if you do have drugs in the car don’t consent to a search. If I had drugs in the car I would have taken the bench warrant arrest over a drug arrest.
If cops come knocking about a criminal investigation…you can still cooperate with an investigation with a lawyer present.
He didn’t buy your story about being dehydrated and deadlifting and all that. So if he suspects that you are driving under the influence he can pull you out of your car and “observe” you, basically waiting for you to give him probable cause to search you and the car, since the lack of visible drug paraphernelia or the smell of booze prevents him from being able to do so. After asking you a bunch of questions and seeing that you were handling yourself too well to be under the influence, he let you go. If you had given incoherent or contradictory statements to him, eventually he would have said “breathe into this.”
By any chance, did he recommend the land crab to you?
The cops will ALWAYS pretend to be your friend (if they arent being asshole cops that day). by asking you lots of questions, he is hoping to incriminate you. you figure ‘hey this cop is nice, i might as well just tell him about the bag of weed i have, he seems nice and likes me so he will let it slide’.
seems like he put alot of work into pulling you over, he must be new, or have just started his shift so he had some energy to bother with something like prying small possession charge.
because you are young, you gave him the deer in the headlights look, and answered all his questions. pulling you over for a half hour and taking you out of the car is bullshit and he is abusing his power for a TINT ticket.
[quote]Eli B wrote:
btw if you’re drinking and driving and you get pulled over… Never blow. You’ll lose your license only until you pay a lawyer to get it reinstated but its the only way of pleading to a lesser charge or fighting the case. If you blow you’re fucked and the DA won’t want to plea.
Ask your lawyer friends.
Also if you do have drugs in the car don’t consent to a search. If I had drugs in the car I would have taken the bench warrant arrest over a drug arrest.
If cops come knocking about a criminal investigation…you can still cooperate with an investigation with a lawyer present.
words to the wise.[/quote]
you shouldnt give out blind advice like that, each state is different with their rules. refusing to blow in CT is a automatic 6 month suspension, NO MATTER WHAT. no amount of lawyer power is going to help that. i have lawyer freinds, first hand experience, and freinds and co workers with experience since they are cracking the fuck down here. first time offense, you lose your license for 90 days, but you get a work permit and can still drive, its no big deal. if you refuse to blow, then you lose it for 6 months and dont get a work permit.
[quote]clockworkchad wrote:
Ritter, here is a life lesson:
The cops will ALWAYS pretend to be your friend (if they arent being asshole cops that day). by asking you lots of questions, he is hoping to incriminate you. you figure ‘hey this cop is nice, i might as well just tell him about the bag of weed i have, he seems nice and likes me so he will let it slide’.
seems like he put alot of work into pulling you over, he must be new, or have just started his shift so he had some energy to bother with something like prying small possession charge.
because you are young, you gave him the deer in the headlights look, and answered all his questions. pulling you over for a half hour and taking you out of the car is bullshit and he is abusing his power for a TINT ticket. [/quote]
Right. I think it’s odd that I’ve been asked to get out of the car three times out of the 7 times I’ve been pulled over. Almost half? One of those times the trooper actually took me out of the car and frisked me, looked at my license, and then went on his way.
So what is the best thing to do in this kind of situation? Do you have to get out of the car if he asks you? Do you have to answer all those irrelevant questions? Is he going to screw you if you don’t?
[quote]Eli B wrote:
btw if you’re drinking and driving and you get pulled over… Never blow. You’ll lose your license only until you pay a lawyer to get it reinstated but its the only way of pleading to a lesser charge or fighting the case. If you blow you’re fucked and the DA won’t want to plea.
Ask your lawyer friends.
Also if you do have drugs in the car don’t consent to a search. If I had drugs in the car I would have taken the bench warrant arrest over a drug arrest.
If cops come knocking about a criminal investigation…you can still cooperate with an investigation with a lawyer present.
words to the wise.[/quote]
you shouldnt give out blind advice like that, each state is different with their rules. refusing to blow in CT is a automatic 6 month suspension, NO MATTER WHAT. no amount of lawyer power is going to help that. i have lawyer freinds, first hand experience, and freinds and co workers with experience since they are cracking the fuck down here. first time offense, you lose your license for 90 days, but you get a work permit and can still drive, its no big deal. if you refuse to blow, then you lose it for 6 months and dont get a work permit. [/quote]
I am not a lawyer. You should not blindly follow my (or any) free advice on the internet.
Missouri is supposed to be a 12 month suspension but a friend in law school was telling me that its bullshit and any decent lawyer can get you re-instated especially if you don’t get convicted because they don’t have any hard evidence. We were talking about it because he had just gotten a DUI prior to learning that piece of information.
I don’t know what the laws are but I don’t think you should ever tell a cop there is something wrong with you. Don’t tell that your tired or dehydrated or taken any kind of medicine. If your hand is shaking just tell him your nervous from being pulled over. If you’re under 20 you are nervous so get over it. If you are truly not nervous and your hand is shaking tell him your nervous anyway. Then, when the cop is gone, pull over somewhere and get a fucking ride home.
(he tagged the other guy with the full ticket) ahahaha! And I honestly think it was because I wasn’t a jerk to the cop and I was just honest and straight forward with him!