[Sales @ CAI Inc]

Originally Posted by F-16 Camaro

No you're missing the point. The OP stated he was doing nothing wrong. He had stock exhaust, and the officer was asking him questions unrelated to any infraction at all what so ever. Only when the officer was pressed did he make up a quick and lame excuse.

The evidence provided by the OP clearly shows the officer had 0 evidence or reasonable suspicion to initiate the stop. The stop ALONE was a violation of the OP's rights(at least in America)

Pulling someone over without cause or reason is an abuse of power. Those that allow that abuse indirectly condone it.

But yes, you're right. If I was doing 100 mph in a 45 I could be pulled over. If my tint is too dark, I can be pulled over. In CA if my car is too low, I can be pulled over. Do you notice a trend? I am describing violations of established law, OBSERVED by the officer.

None of which applies to the OPs story.

Nothing to see here, move along.

I concur.

On a somewhat related topic, 2 of my good friends are in a large MC (Motorcycle Club) and have to deal with stuff like this on a regular enough basis to where the MC has an attorney brief their riders on how to handle the situations, and what they and the LEO are in their right to do and not to do. Like any profession, a few bad apples give the rest a bad rap many of the times. There are a many great LEO's out there, but there are also those in power who abuse their position and infringe on others rights (not just LEO's), after all this is still America, which does give us certain rights. It's good to know what your rights are when dealing with one of the bad apples, and when you've got a good one, be respectful and cooperative and usually they are the same way right back.

[JTruck]

Originally Posted by Gillis

What is your view/opinion/personal experience with the "Who's car is this?" "Where are you going?" type of questions? Would you ask these kind of questions or have you ever experienced your fellow officers asking people these kind of questions?

It's called small-talk. If the conversation was strictly "License, registration and insurance, here's your ticket", you'd be complaining saying the officer wasn't nice enough (yes people have complained about this). You'd be amazed what some say, and just dig themselves deeper holes. Do you have to answer those questions? No.

Originally Posted by lbheat

I got pulled over because cop that i was drunk. When I told him "Did I swerve into another lane? Am I driving erratic? Am I exceeding speed limit?" he didn't answer me and just started giving me a field sobriety test. Of course I passed and he said nothing other than "your good" and then I was on my way.

If I remember correctly, there is a list of 26 different driving behaviors that when combined can allow you to articulate that you had reasonable suspicion that the driver is impaired.

Originally Posted by Jims Mongoose

Okay, not sure if you are a police officer or just trying to be a little smart.

Yes the offense was on their and he said he was giving me a break for the "swerving". So he just gave me a speeding ticket.

If I fight it in Arizona and lose because the Judge believes the cop it goes on my record. If I don't and take an online driving course. "Hah". And I pass it then I pay a smaller fine and no points. That's what I did.

I am also not understanding why you don't think it's possible that he was just out for me and my car. Do you think that profiling of 'high performance cars' doesn't exist?

Jim

In Arizona, officers can be certified to visually estimate a vehicle traveling at a speed and are legally able to write a ticket for it, even without confirmation from radar or lidar. Actually, the law REQUIRES the officer to first visually estimate within a certain deviation a vehicle speeding before using equipment to confirm their estimate.

An officer isn't going to jeopardize his livelihood over handing out a ticket.

Like any other profession, there are bad apples. But the profession also has a very large spotlight on it, so it's very very idiotic for officers especially in this day and age to have misconduct.

[Angrybird 12]

Try this next time.

[PalmerGA]

Originally Posted by Jims Mongoose

Yeah nice of him to let me off on the swerving, since I was not doing either one.

Judge yourself from up close before judging others at a distance.

Jim

That would be good advice for you, since I haven't judged you in the least. I just wanted to know what he wrote the ticket for. Lighten up!

[cypressh]

ok for all our American Friends.... Up here in Canada they can pull you over just to check license and proof of insurance/Registration. they do not need anything else to pull you over. In my eyes its a crock of (expletive) but it also helps out sometimes, keeping the lunatics off the road way or a simple drunk driver off the road. As for OP I feel your pain my SS is quiet loud, and been pulled over a few times and let off with warnings, all because of being polite, and courteous towards the officer. Sound like you had a power tripping cop, and you could get the ticket thrown out of court because as weird as it sounds they cannot properly do a decibel reading on the road side. look online for the specifications to testing exhaust decibels and you will amazed.

[atma]

when I was high school age in Philly, this sort of thing happened to me all the time. I never went two weekends without getting pulled over at least once in my sky blue '73 Bel Air. The car wasn't nice or showy. I wasn't doing anything wrong at the time. But i was young and in certain neighborhoods at certain times, the police felt it appropriate to pull over young people, make sure everything was legit and that they were aware of the police presence. I only ever had one officer be rude during the stop, and I had more than quite a few be more than polite, they were downright friendly. I never thought this was weird, I just always thought of it as officers doing their jobs and the policy was meant to keep neighborhoods safe (including my own) and kids out of trouble (including me). I dunno, was I weird for thinking that way? Or does the OP just have a strange way of looking at this?

[Manbearpig]

Originally Posted by F-16 Camaro

No you're missing the point. The OP stated he was doing nothing wrong. He had stock exhaust, and the officer was asking him questions unrelated to any infraction at all what so ever. Only when the officer was pressed did he make up a quick and lame excuse.

The evidence provided by the OP clearly shows the officer had 0 evidence or reasonable suspicion to initiate the stop. The stop ALONE was a violation of the OP's rights(at least in America)

Pulling someone over without cause or reason is an abuse of power. Those that allow that abuse indirectly condone it.

But yes, you're right. If I was doing 100 mph in a 45 I could be pulled over. If my tint is too dark, I can be pulled over. In CA if my car is too low, I can be pulled over. Do you notice a trend? I am describing violations of established law, OBSERVED by the officer.

None of which applies to the OPs story.

Nothing to see here, move along.

For my first point, I misunderstood you and apologize. My second however still stands.

In no way shape or form did I condone or imply condoning the actions of that officer. Everyone can agree that as the story stands the OP was in the right. I explained that there is a time and place to fight a power tripping cop, and on the side of the road is not it. Even if OP had been given a ticket what court of law do you think would entertain the notion that a stock SS (and this is before decibel testing) could cause a huge enough racket to be a disturbance at the speed limit?

Officers are trained to insinuate small talk. Namely because how many people do you know would readily admit to doing something they're not supposed to. In most cases, it amounts to nothing, in others they actually find something. The stop itself was done on suspicion of the cop which is allowed no matter how ridiculous the suspicion, whether the courts find the stop feasible is another story and that at the end of the day is what protects said driver's rights.

[F-16 Camaro]

A cop can stop you "no matter how ridiculous"

Uh. So in your mind it's ok for a cop to sit on your street and pull you over everyday on your way to work simply to make small talk.

Oh you say that's harassment? Right it is. Because there isn't a viable reason to stop you.

So where is your line drawn? How many stops?

The correct answer is 1. One stop without just cause is wrong.

[Manbearpig]

Originally Posted by F-16 Camaro

A cop can stop you "no matter how ridiculous"

Uh. So in your mind it's ok for a cop to sit on your street and pull you over everyday on your way to work simply to make small talk.

Oh you say that's harassment? Right it is. Because there isn't a viable reason to stop you.

So where is your line drawn? How many stops?

The correct answer is 1. One stop without just cause is wrong.

And how many cops do you know that do this? Is it a common occurrence for you on the way to work?

Stop playing the snowball into avalanche game.

[Angrybird 12]

Just a what if.
What if there have been several reports in the area of a car like yours wreckless driving, speeding or swerving but they did not get a tag number. Is it ok for the cop to stop you and ask questions to help determine if you were the vehicle in question?

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by 2012-1822

I'm going to go over this again. It's profiling/harassment after the third baton swing.

It's just like deja-vu, ain't it?



It's just like deja-vu, ain't it?

I was once chased down like John Dillinger for a blown tail-light in my '70 Buick. Two cop cars after me, the one right in back of me tailgating me like it was Mad Max

And you know why? The cop in the closest car wanted to know where I bought my restoration parts- he had a '70 GTO. The other guy figured what the hell, he'd hit the bubbles and have fun too.

Probable cause. Slow night. This ain't new, that was in 1994. And 20 years before that...the same things happened. I was pulled over once because the cop wanted to buy my car. Boo-hoo.

[cypressh]

Originally Posted by F-16 Camaro

A cop can stop you "no matter how ridiculous"

Uh. So in your mind it's ok for a cop to sit on your street and pull you over everyday on your way to work simply to make small talk.

Oh you say that's harassment? Right it is. Because there isn't a viable reason to stop you.

So where is your line drawn? How many stops?

The correct answer is 1. One stop without just cause is wrong.

its only harrasment if the officer pulls you over 3 times for the same thing with out issuing you a citation

[F-16 Camaro]

I'm trying to establish your threshold. Play along.

When does it become excessive for you?

[ChrisBlair]

I could say "the first time is excessive" but that doesn't mean they'll stop pulling me over

While it is true that some cops do abuse the power to pull a car over for slight or imagined infractions, it is also true that cops are on the lookout for all sorts of things you and I cannot know anything about: a gray four door ran a light and hit a pedestrian. A drunk driver was seen in a sporty blue car. A green Ford was stolen, no license plate at this time, baby in vehicle. Yes, sounds dumb, yes does happen.

So if you think it's "harassment" you do a quick fact-check of your situation- have I done anything to the car to warrant this? have I acted in a way to warrant this? If the answer is "yes", then suck it up. If the answer is "no" then you don't know why the cop did it. You just know it annoyed you. Every cop I have been pulled over by, without exception, will speak to me if I'm civil. If it keeps happening "for no reason", you contact the local pig pen and ask 'yo cop dudes, what's up with this?'. Getting snotty with the cop that did it by the side of the road will not work.