TexasCHLforum.com

I once got caught in a checkpoint situation, but they said they were only checking licenses and insurance. I was flagged over, asked for my papers, and I politely asked why I was being stopped/detained. The officer remained polite and said they were just checking......I asked what his probable cause was to stop and detain me. He said they were just checking documents. We were still being polite with each other. He said this was routine and he didn't need probable cause. I asked to speak to the supervisor on site, and the officer politely told me to go my way, as traffic was backing up.......

I would have been more than happy to show him my papers, and I had everything and it was all in order, but I was not real happy that I was being detained and really wanted to know just why they were stopping me. We were all polite and civil, no voices raised, but he just couldn't answer my question.

I didn't even make any wiseacre comments, such as "when did we start needing "papers" to go from work to home?" or "Did we become a police state while I was asleep last night?"

While I admit to being prone to wiseacre comments and a dry sense of humor, exhibiting those with a police officer in the performance of his duties would be entirely counterproductive. I don't think the law enforcement officer I dealt with that day was of the opinion they should be there doing that, either.

Note: This was pre-CHL days, somewhere around 1993.