Know your rights, videos/infographics

"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen) 01/09/2014 at 11:52 • Filed to: None

0

15

Is it me, or do some of the responses described in these make you sound like a smartass, the kind of smartass that the cops like to hate.

Example:
Have you been drinking?
I don't have to answer that.

Who says that??? Unless they've actually been drinking and don't want to admit, I can't help but think the truth is much more likely to keep you out of trouble than that answer is.

I've answered "yes" to this question once: "Yes, I had a glass of champagne and a beer, I visited my girlfriend for her birthday, I was there for several hours" , the cop didn't think anything of it and let me off the hook with a warning for speeding. Imagine if I had said "I don't (legally speaking) have to answer that" .

Example 2:
Many of these articles/video's suggest cracking your window only enough so you can hear each other/pass license and registration through. That's going to make the cop suspect all kinds of things he may not have initially even been thinking about. I always (in the 3-4 times I've been pulled over) rolled my window down the whole way and put my hands on the steering wheel while the cop approaches (while blaring fuck the police by ratm, j/k).

To sum it up, being straight forward (to a point) with cops has always worked out better for me. There is no point avoiding incriminating yourself if they can legally prove it anyway. I've you've been drinking and they pulled you over because you were swerving/puking/driving erratically, isn't that enough grounds for them to breathalyze you? Now, if you were speeding, I would definitely say "I'd prefer you tell me how fast I was going" but in many other cases, I don't think some of the suggestions in these "know your rights" things are actually going to work in your favor.

You rolled a stop sign
"if you say so..." = trouble
"sorry about that officer" = a chance at getting away with a warning

Have you been drinking?
"I dont have to answer that"
"I had a beer with dinner", "yes, I was at a bar", "Yes, I've had a lot of officers, beer"
How much?
"I don't have to answer that", "3 beers", "2 beers", "Just breathalyze me, I'm probably in trouble..."

TLDR: I feel sometimes the know-your-rights videos/graphics/articles give bad suggestions.

PanchoVilleneuve ST > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 11:53

0

McMike > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 11:57

0

I'm with you on this.

Some people really have a thing against cops. I mean REALLY have something against cops. Even dead sober, some will challenge police at a sobriety checkpoint.

Example below: While the kid made a point, it's just not worth the time, IMO.

Audi-os, amigos > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 12:01

0

You rolled a stop sign

That would fall under the, "Catching you in the act" category.

Wherein, you are already boned.

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 12:13

0

I've been trying to come up with a good way of stating that I don't wish to contribute to any form of possible self incrimination without sounding like a smart ass, its not going well so far. I think maybe:

"Do you know how fast you were going?"

"Officer, there is no right answer to this question is there? I prefer not to answer.

Kugelblitz > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 12:24

0

"Do you know why I pulled you over?"

No doesn't mean anything. Yes can lead to other things.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" Here you can incriminate yourself. Yes means you KNOW you were over the limit and no means you were ignorant of the fact you were.

I like to say, "What would you like me to do?" instead of answering yes or no.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 01/09/2014 at 12:32

0

Maybe being clear about what you expect from him is the best way?

"Could you please tell me what you clocked me at?"

That way you avoid answering the question, but still stay on subject.

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 12:33

0

That's better, much more clear.

HammerheadFistpunch > Kugelblitz 01/09/2014 at 12:35

0

well technically , answering "no" if you know why, is lying to them, depending on what it was (taillight out vs 20 over) could get you into trouble right off the bat.

J. Walter Weatherman > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 01/09/2014 at 12:38

2

The suggestions definitely don't apply in all situations. Are you white, upper-middle class, got pulled over for going 7 over the speed limit, and aren't breaking any other laws? Yeah, go ahead and just apologize to the cop and you probably have a good chance of getting a warning. Are you poor, have brown skin, and a recreational amount of marijuana in the car? You probably want to try to politely stick up for your rights. It may not stop the cop from searching you, finding the drugs and arresting you, but it will give your defense attorney a fighting chance at getting the charges dismissed.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > McMike 01/09/2014 at 12:43

0

Wow.

He could have avoided being yelled at, having his car scratched, turned upside down and searched, all by just rolling down his window the whole fucking way. What's the point of cracking it?

-your car smells like drugs
-you have alcohol on your breath
-you don't want them to be able to see in very clearly
-it's pouring rain, snow, frogs

Other than that I can't imagine there are many reasons to not just roll your windows down all the way.

J. Walter Weatherman > HammerheadFistpunch 01/09/2014 at 12:47

0

Actually, if we are going to get technical, you never know the subjective reason a cop has for pulling you over. Even if you know you were speeding, you don't know that is why you were pulled over. "No" is always a correct answer.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > J. Walter Weatherman 01/09/2014 at 12:49

0

Yeah, I suppose if you have something to hide, you should actively work at getting your rights violated.

And by no means am I suggesting you shouldn't know/ignore the rules, but if it comes to down to it, some of these things are just the right thing to do and won't incriminate you any further than you already are. But perhaps will buy you some goodwill.

HammerheadFistpunch > J. Walter Weatherman 01/09/2014 at 12:52

1

Thats true, but you might as well just say something less binary and absolute.

"I'm not sure I do." That maybe feels like you aren't being belligerent and confrontational.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > J. Walter Weatherman 01/09/2014 at 12:53

0

I once was going through a green left turn light, but got cut off half way over the line that you wait behind, after that I proceeded through the intersection and got pulled over. I had no idea why.

The cop asked me if I knew why and I responded with "I assume it's related to my getting cut-off in the intersection, but I don't know what I did wrong".

He pulled me over for running a red light, I explained about getting cut off and that I am always careful to stop at lights, but because it was a hectic situation I didn't think to look back up at the light after being dangerously cut off, I just wanted to get out of the intersection. I was sent on my way.

So I suppose I sort of answered "no" in that situation.

Kugelblitz > HammerheadFistpunch 01/09/2014 at 14:27

0

"Not sure" got me reamed pretty good once, admittedly I was a teenager and the cop was trying to get me to admit a minor collision was my fault. It wasn't.