What are my rights when being pulled over by the police for no reason?
In my experience, and talking to many cop friends over the years, it’s my feeling that with very few exceptions the vast majority of cops are not looking to give you trouble. However, they are understandably suspicious of anyone who doesn’t “fit” in a situation or anyone who gives them any reason (at all) to suspect something fishy is going on. Why? Because their instincts are often right. Also, they play the odds and go fishing. All of these reasons to pull someone over can appear to you to be “no reason.” Lots of crimes are discovered and criminals arrested because of judiciously nosy cops. A couple personal experience examples… I (white bread and clean cut as they come) was pulled over driving a new sports car north of LA many years ago. Cop slowed down in front of us, then slid around behind and stuck to my rear bumper for a mile or three, then pulled us over. Cop #1 gave me several sobriety tests which I passed, then insisted that I or my passenger threw a cigarette butt out the
I get a good chuckle out of these “do your rights mean nothing to you” people. Listen… it’s a right because I can do with it as I please. Having some blowhard tell me to never consent to a search is really no different than having some other blowhard tell me I should always consent if I have nothing to hide. The bottom line is that this is a choice. You have the right to refuse a search if you want to. My point is simply that there are a lot of situations in which a law abiding citizen might WANT to waive that right. Having the right and knowing how to exercise it are important, but so is knowing when it’s going to cause you more time or trouble than it’s worth. Just because I let the cops look in my trunk doesn’t mean I don’t value my rights, it means that I’ve contemplated the situation and made a conscious decision to show the officer that what he’s looking for is not present. Also, this: “If they really want to search, tell them you’ll be happy to cooperate with a proper warrant.
Despite what others may have learned in constitutional law or on ACLU bust cards, you have no rights whatsoever when being pulled over by the cops. Sure you could fight it out in court and probably win, but you don’t want to do that? Be assertive, be polite, and let them do whatever they want to do. Don’t drive with drugs, drug like paraphernalia and keep your car reasonably clean. I say this as someone who lived in a transitional neighborhood and found the best way to keep the cops off your back is to give them no excuses. It is pragmatic. The libertarian inside of me wants to say fight the power, but that’s unrealistic, unless you have a devotion to doing so. Really, if you’re driving through a questionable neighborhood they don’t want to bust you. They really want to bust the drug addled prostitute being driven by her pimp. Keep this in mind, they aren’t going to jail random people when they’d rather get what they’re looking for.
Do not consent to a search if there is any remote possibility of them finding something Do not consent to a search period. This is not about whether they will find something. It is about your rights. You don’t have to be pugnacious about it. If they really want to search, tell them you’ll be happy to cooperate with a proper warrant. I really urge everyone to watch the Flex Your Rights video, even though it’s nearly an hour. Really worth it. If you are cheerful, polite and maintain your composure you can avoid trouble. While you may not know your rights, you can bet the cops do, as they take courses in it. Therefore insisting on your rights is not telling them anything they don’t know. I get pulled over all the frickin’ time. I assume it’s the anti-Bush bumper stickers and the bright pink hair coupled with the fact that I work in the rich burbs but don’t drive a rich burbs car.
Well, I thought that went without saying as my response was to your blanket statement that they do not need one. The basic rule is that a warrant is needed, but yes there are exceptions to that rule. If they have probable cause, such as they see contraband in plain view, they can search. If they impound the vehicle, such as because the driver is under arrest or it is improperly registered, then they can perform an inventory search, which if you are at all suspicious will be quite thorough. There may be other narrow exceptions. I am not a criminal constitutional law expert, and neither are most people stopped, or even cops. It is sufficient to know your general rights and never give permission to search if you have anything to hide, let the experts hammer it out later. It’s only when you think that you don’t have anything to hide that you have to make a decision, then bam they find that roach that your kid’s good for nothing friend left in the ashtray in the back seat and it’s off to ja
Related Questions
- If a police officer arrests a suspect and does not read him or her the Miranda rights, is it true that the person must be released?
- Why might trickery, innuendo or even falsehoods asserted by police during questioning not be Fifth Amendment violations?
- What are my rights when being pulled over by the police for no reason?
