Re: Questions answered here
Kenimpzoom, yes it is your right to say no to a search of your vehicle. Your vehicle is your personal property and carries the same expectation of privacy as your homw. You can deny the right to search. BUT the officer can then, if he has reasonable suspicion, detain you waiting for a dog. If you then agree to a search the officer should not conduct the search. We can not cooerce someone into a search. If the reason for denying the search is because they don't have time to wait, we can explain it won't take long, but a definate no we have to either get a dog or let you go. So far to date the supreme court has not established how long we can wait for a dog. They have ruled on several cases what IS reasonable time to wait, but not what is NOT reasonable. I think they have said in one remote area that 1 1/2 hours is not un-reasonable wait since that is how long it took to get a dog to the area. Now if probable cause exists we don't need a warrant like we would a house. if an officer sees something he or she can immediately identify in plain view from outside of the car as an item of contraband, such as a pot pipe or a can of beer for a minor, then a search can be conducted without consent. This is due to a vehicle being easily moved or concealed. Recent case law also says we can not request a search while the subject is in custody unless we have probable cause or have made an arrest from the vehicle. In short if I want to search a vehicle I have to first let the suspect know they are free to leave. So it usually goes like this. "Here is your license, registration and insurance card back and you are free to leave by the way do you have anything in this vehicle that I should be aware of? Any illegal drugs weapons alcohol or other contraband?" Let them know they are free to leave but don't allow time to process that information. Otherwise we are supposedly giving the impression that we will detain them until they give consent, and we also run into Miranda territory. <br />It would be great to park a car on every corner, but manpower is too limited. We could pull our officers (assuming we had multiple officers) from their beats and target high crime areas, but then low crime areas would suffewr and soon would become high crime areas. We do target patrol our problem areas. Visibility is the best deterant we can find for criminal acts.<br /><br />Loaded weapon is the hard one. Is it legal in your state to carry concealed? What are the cops views on gun possession? If it is legal to carry one under the seat, definately tell them. They will have you get out of the vehicle, and will probably secure the weapon until after the stop for their own safety. If it is illegal to carry concealed, as you are stopped take it out and place it on the dash out of reach. If not, keep quiet about it. if you tell them, that gives probable cause for a search, your gun will be taken and you will be arrested for CCW. So, if it is illegal to carry concealed, your local cops don't like guns, then keep quiet. if they start for a search of the vehicle, then tell them just so there are no accidents or surprises. <br />Around here people always lay their guns on the dash when stopped. I see the gun, and know it is there. If I am nervous about the person I will get them out of the car, away from the gun. I won't do anything about the gun, it is in plain view and legal. <br />The Misdemeaner would still be on your record most likely. depends on the state and the offense. Your finger prints will still be on file. The prints themselves will be destroyed, but they will be assigned a henry Finger Print classification, a series of numbers and letters. These numbers and letters will be on file with your name. Any time a person is booked into jail and printed, the FBI gets the prints and starts a file on this person. Even if printed for certain government jobs, your prints will remain on file as a number classification. <br />I wish I could tell you how to check your record in texas. Maybe some of the TX boys here can help with that.<br />Lake, I have often wondered about the cases where someone crossed the center line. I would never do this, and would recommend firing the first officer on my department that stopped someone for this if they did not do it. That is lying and can not be tolerated. BUT I suspect some of our local troopers do this on the interstate when they see a profiled drug runner. BUT then how close do you come to this. If a wheel touches the left side of the center line, is this crossing the line? Here a big one uised to be driving on the shoulder. The troopers stopped a lot of cars for this and found a lot of dope. Finally a judge looked at a tape and found that the vehicle only crossed the white line with 2 wheels. He decided this was not driving on the shoulder as per statutory intent. It was simply crossing the white line, which is not illegal. Now crossing the center line, there is no ddefined law about how far over the line the vehicle needs to be to be considered a violation. This added with a video camera will not generaly pick up a vehicle slightly over the line. The 2 dimensional image makes it hard to see where the vehicle is compared to the center line, at night. If you watch it fast forward it will show, buit try to get a defense attorney to allow that! <br />It is possible being tired that you drifted, but it is also possible that the cops were stretching and making up probable cause. <br />I have often suspected officers of making up probable cause such as crossing the center, failing to signal, etc. I would like to think this never happens but am sure it does. Any cop that does this would be smart not to tell anyone he does this, it is lying and if taken to court would be purjury. That one lie would end his entire carreer.<br />I am sorry you had this experience, but am also glad you left it with a good feeling about the officers. It sounds like, with several officers there, they had something going on. I know at least two drug dealers here that used to go onto county roads in the middle of nowhere to make their deals. This makes it hard to catch them, but we did.
<br /><br /><br />Ken- Yes and no. If he has reason to search then he can, against your wishes and without consent. If he doesn't have legal reason then no, you should be free to go.<br />Yes, it still shows up. Even the stuff you did when you were 15 will show up, regardless of what the courts will say. There are several different checks, some more intense than others. Yes, your fingerprints are still around.<br />On the gun- Judgement call. If I knew that I was breaking the law and I wasn't carrying money fromsay my businees to the bank I might have to be quiet about it. At the same time I say that I have arrested 3 for gun issues. None of them told me about the gun. I have let 3-4 go without citation for the gun because they did tell me. You gotta go with your gut there bud.