Neither do I. I don't smoke and there isn't anything in my car that would be an issue in a search.texanjoker wrote:I don't smoke dope so I don't have to worry about DPS wanting to search my cavities.
I live in a little community where local PD arrested a lady (after screaming at her in front of her kids) for not wearing a seat belt. They took her to jail as they felt it was an arrestable offense. She wasn't a dope smoking hippie liberal. The case made it to the supreme court and she lost... It was years ago, but that's the community that I live in. Unfortunately, the pay for officers here is less than 50% of Austin and it's a place for starter officers.
Two years ago they stopped me, it was for speeding. I was speeding, under 10 mph over. I was not carrying nor did I have a CHL at the time. I admit to speeding and it was a legal stop.
They said that I was acting nervous because I placed my hand on the top of the door sill and kept them there. I've found that some officers appreciate this. Some take it as a sign that I'm doing something wrong.
They asked me if they could search the vehicle. I refused. They then told me that if I let them search and they found "a joint" they'd write me a ticket and I could be on my way and it wasn't a big deal. I appreciate that, only I don't do drugs.
They said if I didn't comply they would take me to jail when (not if) they found dope and tow the car. They said "it will cost a lot more". I refused again.
I admit, I was being an for not letting them search. I knew that was the easy way out.
They told me that they already had probable cause as I was nervous, which made no sense as they were still asking for consent. I asked that officer (politely) to get a supervisor as I felt uncomfortable and felt like I was being coerced.
He called a supervisor.
Supervisor shows up, puts me behind my car and they go have a chat.
They come back and this is what they say:
I can sign consent to search, as they already have probably cause or they'll call Travis county for a drug dog.
They say that when the dog gets here, it will indicate that there are drugs in my vehicle. They made it very apparent that the dog will detect drugs, not that the dog might detect drugs. They remind me that I'm facing a simple citation that can be resolved locally. They also tell me that it will take an hour to get the dog here and that they're content to wait and that they're happy to make me late to work.
After hearing that I'm going to be detained for an hour and believing it, combined with having a dog craw all over and scratch up my car, I sign their consent form. They search the car. The officer that stopped me starts to open one of my outgoing mail (packages, bound for USPS). I assume, but don't know for sure, that those packages are really what he wanted to have a look at. They were auto parts going out for sale. The supervisor shuts the officer that stopped me down when he started to open the package.
They find nothing in the car. I can only assume in exchange for my patience didn't cite me for speeding.
I learned two things that day:
1) Had they held me for an hour waiting on a drug dog, I would have had cause for civil action. Caselaw doesn't support an hour detention on the side of the road due to being nervous in a traffic stop. It would not be a reasonable detention in regard to their level of suspicion.
2) They cannot open mail during a traffic stop without additional cause or a warrant.
After that stop, I got real interested in protecting myself with recording devices.
If you're doing nothing wrong and don't mind rolling over like I did you've got nothing to get upset about.
However, most of you are strong 2nd amendment proponents... So I'm sure you feel just as strongly about your other rights as well.
Last, your word against an LEO with no video or audio, you're going to lose. Don't think that if something bad happens you can just file a complaint and it will be taken seriously because you're an upstanding citizen with a spotless record... It won't, trust me.