What are some misstakes to watch for when Police stop you? I'm just curious what they can legally do and what would be considered police mis-conduct.
216368
Get a copy of the US Constitution and read it, also keep it on you at all times.  When stopped only crack your window enough to give the officer your DL & Reg. if he ask you more questions than you feel appropriate ask if you are Under Arrest if he says no ask if you are Free to Go.  Those two questions are the only ones you need to ask.  If he ask to search tell him no under no circumstances should you ever consent to a search of your personal property.  Force them to get a search warrent.  Also when you get your citation go to court plead not guilty and if you are convicted ask for an immediate appeal and request a jury trial.  Hope this helps.\n\nIn Liberty,\nEric H. Smith\nwww.erichsmith.com
278935
just get busted for speeding. if they don't haul ya butt off to the pokey you don't have warrants. or call dps austin warrant div and ask them.
182645
No, the police can't legally stop you "just because"...there must be at least be something known as reasonable suspicion.\n\nHowever, I have almost no idea what your question is because of the way you wrote it.  Any chance you can turn it into something that makes a little more sense?
349027
I like to use..........\n\n" The bad news is your under arrest, the good news is I just saved a lot of money by switching to GIECO!!!"\n\nbut the Answer your looking for is Miranda Rights. Police do not have to read them to you however, they only have to read them if they are going to ask you questions that may incriminate you.
673402
You've written an awful lot of stuff here just to ask if the cops can pull someone over for "no reason."\n\nDoubtful.  \n\nIf the state you're writing about has a law that allows police to stop vehicles to check for current insurance (and for no other reason), then I would have to say the police can do that.  \n\nIf there's no such law in your state that allows that, it's going to be every bit as impossible to give you a good answer as Van Winkle says (and his was generally a very good answer).  You don't have anywhere near all the facts, so there's no way you can present them to anyone to get a decent answer.  \n\nAs for all the other stuff you wrote, did you have a question about it?  I see plenty of answers, but you never asked any questions.\n\nDon't get overly excited when you read people's answers here talking about search and seizure issues because based on what you wrote here, I doubt there are any.  \n\nPost more if you want to know more.\n\nEDIT 6.11.06:\n\nWow!\n\nOkay, let's see what we can do here.\n\nNeed to know what state you're in.  Sorry I didn't mention that before, I should have.  States have different laws, and the very best answer will come to you from someone who knows that State's law on these issues.  However, these are mostly constitutional questions, so I can probably give you some decent answers (because the Constitution applies in all states).\n\n1.  Generally, yes.  If it's stolen, it's contraband, and nobody has the right to possess contraband.  It would be like trying to argue that the police couldn't take your heroin without a warrant or consent...they can, because it's contraband.  NOTE: this is only as to the seizure of the item, not the search.  \n\n2.  Almost impossible to answer.  Really, none of these questions are all that "answerable," without knowing exactly what the facts were.  There are times when the police can enter uninvited and without a warrant, and there are times they cannot.  I wish I could go into this more with you, but you're talking about hours and hours of search and seizure law here, to be able to cover all the possibilities.\n\n3.  Your family can always file a complaint with the officer's employer.  I have no idea what the outcome of that could be, of course.\n\n4.  I don't know how you know "for sure" some of the property wasn't stolen, so it's difficult to address this.  Assuming you really do know the status of the property you're referring to, you should contact the law enforcement agency that seized the property and give them a statement as to the status of the property.  Do not waste your time by telling them things like, "it's my brother's, and my brother would never steal anything" or, "the neighbor gave it to my brother last year and my neighbor wouldn't have stolen it" because you just don't know those things to be 100% factual.  Perfectly innocent people can sometimes trade or give away stolen property without knowing it, but it doesn't mean the property isn't every bit as stolen.\n\nYou've repeatedly said that you stay out of the drama (wise decision, by the way), so I'm guessing that you really don't have all the facts.  If you weren't there at the time all this happened, you really aren't in a good position to know all the intimate details for certain, and it's the details that can really make a difference.  \n\nI don't know for sure that it's working, but if you'd like you're welcome to click on my avatar-thingy up there and contact me for some more discussion on this issue.  It's probably about to be beaten to death here, and I admire the reasonable tone of your questions.
115363
Yes, but it depends on what you are talking about. If you don't get satisfaction then approach your local member of parliament either for the state or federal government and explain the problem. You can make official complaints but I would go to a seperate police station to the one you were having trouble with. Remember thought that the police are neutral and may not see things your way, they have to enforce the law not your perception of it.
590333
Sorry, but I do not think you have a case, but check with an attorney.  Police still have to practice traffic safety laws.
411032
You have options.  They are not very good; but you do have them.  Pay the ticket is one option.  Have your day in court is the other.  If you take this to court, know that an officers word is always taken against your word unless you have proof otherwise.  It stinks, but you have the burden of proof when it comes to his word against yours.\nWhenever an officer fails to appear in court, nearly all the time the case is dismissed.  It's a lack of evidence thing.  The officer's word is evidence.  I am not sure how in-car cameras/video influences things.  That might be evidence without an officer's word.  Check with a lawyer.  One note, court fees might be such that you will still pay.  Lawyer's fees are too high for such a case unless it is a keeping your name clean thing.  Money-wise, take the ticket and don't gamble on the officer not showing up.  Court fees are high if you loose.
568272
Usually the police are the ones doing the search. You could always tell them to wait and call the police department to validate that the officers are real cops and that the search warrant is real. Always ask for names of the people that you speak to on the phone. Remember to write down the names of the cops that did the search, little details of what they looked like, if anyone else was present, what they searched or did and, most important, get a copy of the search warrant. Best wishes and take care.
39610
Honestly, where do you some of you people get the ideas you get?\n\nTo the asker:  assuming everything you said here is 100% factual, and assuming you didn't leave anything out, and assuming you have *all* the facts in the first place, then no, it doesn't sound like there was any probable cause to pull you over.  \n\nHowever, here's what I suspect, because I have done this very thing:\n\nI'm the cop you and your friend drove past when he/she yelled whatever they yelled.  Evidently, your friend wanted to come to the attention of the police, so I'm generally happy to oblige.  You don't say (and probably don't know) if it was the same cop who pulled you over, but it doesn't matter...we've got radios, ya' know?  \n\nSo anyway, back to your friend who wants to be a policeman's project:\n\nWhether I take off after you or I radio to one of my partners, one of us catches up to you.  You don't signal where you should, you have a taillight out, your registration is expired, etc., etc., and that provides me probable cause to stop you.  It's quite possible, especially if you developed an attitude problem, that I will tell you the only reason you're being stopped is because of your friend, the loudmouth.\n\nThe liberal among us will not like this, I know.  However, probable cause in this state is probable cause, and the motivation behind my use of probable cause is irrelevant to your guilt or innocence.  \n\nSo if you're right, the cop was wrong and you certainly do want to talk to an attorney.\n\nIf I'm right, you got pulled over because your idiot friend brought your car to the attention of the police, and it sounds like you paid a price for that.  Choose your friends better next time you're drinking and driving.\n\nAnd no, yelling out of your car is not disorderly conduct in California.  It's a rude and stupid exercise of your right to free speech.\n\nShouting something at the police is not an indication that you're not a reasonable person, and being an unreasonable person does not provide the police with reasonable cause to pull you over.  Holy cow, if this were true I could pull people over a hundred times a day.  \n\nBeing disrespectful to the police does not qualify as disorderly conduct.  It qualifies as stupid, but stupid does not equate to probable cause to effect a detention or make an arrest.  Don't I wish.\n\nYeah, we're always making things up just to pull you over.  I routinely risk being convicted of perjury and jailed for civil rights violations just to see if you've got big hooters, are drunk, or have a little weed in your car.  Please.\n\nYou're welcome to have just about any bumper sticker you want on your car and not have to worry about getting a ticket.  First of all, like I said, we do live in the land of free speech so you can have anything you want on your bumper.  If it says "I'm plotting to kill the President," you might end up with a visit from the Secret Service, but you can't get a ticket for displaying even an obscene bumper sticker.  \n\nHanging out the window is a good indication that you're not wearing your seat belt, but I'm not sure I'm familiar with a crime called "reckless endangerment."  \n\nI'm glad showing poor judgement doesn't really qualify as cause for the police to investigate.  If it did, I would literally spend my entire day talking to people with extraordinarily poor judgement who weren't committing a crime.  I do enough of that now.\n\nAnyway, I hope the cops had a really wonderful reason for pulling you over, once your friend decided you needed to stopped.  I hope their reason is enough to get you into court and convicted, if you really were driving in violation of the drunk driving laws in this state.  Your decision to do so put a huge number of people at risk...all of whom, except yourself, would have been innocent victims of your profoundly poor
670750
You are correct in your statement about when you're pulled over by any law enforcement officer.  However, if they suspect that you have something illegal in your vehicle or on your person, they DO have the obligation to ask you about it (it's called probable cause).  While you probably don't WANT to get into trouble, it's wiser to come clean than to lie.  Lying can only make matters worse.
480115
The police can do whatever the law upholds in your jurisdiction. If contacted by another agency to protect him from himself and the law is clearly stated the answer is yes.
418860
IF I get beat while in Police custody and DID nothing to deserve it, I don't care what my lawyer said, I would sue.  The problem is that we are a sue happy country and people sue when they are only angry for getting what they deserved!  BUT IF your case is legitimate, then you should sue (and I was a cop).  The only way to stop bad cops is to file a civil rights violation with the FBI and a civil suit.  When Departments start loosing a lot of money for what a few bad cops do, they will change their ways and get rid of the bad apples.  Their is NO EXCUSE for beating a person in handcuffs and behind bars - their are other ways to control an individual without getting your testosterine off.
452965
Many people sue the police every year for false imprisonment and sometimes they win their case - usually the arrest is lawful but they've been detained for too long or a review wasn't done when it should have been.\nFrom your question I guess you're looking for a specific case, but without more details I can't help you.
459368
Why the hell would you pretend you didnt see him? all that is gonna do is cause further problems. The excuse never works... the officer knows you saw them, and can get you for evading arrest. Do you want to add further problems onto what was already done? They might be pulling you over for something simple like having a taillight or tag light out, and you avoiding them will add a ticket or jail time to a simple warning. You need to remember something.... we all have jobs to do, and police officers are no different. They are simply doing their job, and aren't set out to ruin your life. Yes, they do have the power to screw everything up, and there are always some crooked cops out there who will take advantage of the power, but almost all of the officers are simply following the law. They see you break the law, so they enforce it. Its really that simple. If you are speeding then they might just give you a friendly warning to slow down- remember that traveling at excessive speeds puts not only your life at risk, but the lives of those around you. The laws were created to keep us all safe and living peacefully amongst ourselves. If there were no police officers, this world would be in complete chaos. Just remember the next time that you are getting pulled over that the officer has a family, and understands where you are coming from. They deserve as much respect as the next person- more, in fact, in my opinion because they carry the weight of everyone on their shoulders. They protect and serve... thats their motto and they follow it. now i'll step off of my soap box...
602989
It depends on what you were doing when you got pulled over.  If you were doing something really stupid then handed the cop a card, he will probably take it from you.  For ordinary traffic stops, they usually don't mind use of the card and will give you a break.  The card is supposed to be given to people who a law enforcement officer believes are good drivers.  The card acts to give a little forgiveness to an otherwise good driver when he or she makes a minor mistake.  Of course, that's not how they are handed out.  \n\nThe FOP is only one organization that provides cards.  Sometimes, if you are stopped in a jurisdiction in which the cops don't belong to the FOP they will take the card and give you a ticket for any offense.
442966
The only question here is the legality of the stop.  The officer will have to be able to articulate why he stopped you and convince a judge that it was legal.  Factors such as the time of day he saw you sitting in the parking structure, any recent pertinent criminal activity in the area (car burglaries, drug dealing, etc.), exactly what movements he saw in the car, etc. will all be considered in determining whether or not the initial stop was legal.  \n\nIf the stop is deemed legal, the rest is a gimme.  Searching the car with consent, as you stated in your question, is all good.  All people in the vehicle can be charged with possessing contraband found in the car.  If someone "man's up" and claims possession, it is likely that the charges against the other parties would be dismissed.\n\nThe video from the police dash cam, if there is one, would be admissible.  Remember that it only records straight ahead and the officer could testify that what he saw was occurring out of the view of the camera.\n\nGood luck!