My friend has had problems with the local sheriff's dept. He has been stopped 7 times in the last 6-8 months, most of the time for equipment issues, he drives an old beater that's hard to keep together, specifically the head/park lights. Recently he has gotten all his problems fixed, all the lights are good and his truck is perfectly legal. The stops are not the problem- most of the time, but 6 out of 7 times he has been stopped, they have asked to do a search with a dog. He doesn't use and never has anything so he always consents. Of course the dogs never find anything. Last night he was stopped after being followed several miles under the probable cause that his brake light was bad although there's not really anything wrong with it. They used a K-9 again and again found nothing. Is a faulty tail light enough probable cause to warrant a drug search, really? What should he do, or how could he file a complaint?
2007-10-23 07:43:25 · 14 answers · asked by NavVet82 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
your friend i am afraid to say is to nice.
1) document every stop after the police leave.
date, time stopped, search done, time let go, officer(s) name(s) and dogs name.
2) this will establish a pattern. with this being stopped one ever two days or three we have probable cause to believe someone is snitching out your boyfriend.
3) after a month, take the evidence above to the police chief and ask why am i being sorted out? once amonth even is not selective enforcement.someone has put a bug into the polices ear about something and the only way to get to the bottom is to document the events.
4) the chief will find out why they are stopping you so many times. contact an attorney because you may have a retaliation? i doubt it but some police believe they can do anything anytime to anyone. not true.
be nice, cautious, law abiding and gather all the evidence for a month. you are the one baiting the trap now. if by chance your truck comes up dirty after wards, you can say you checked it out for months and nothing now this? the jury will never believe that after xx number of clean stops and then a report to the chief that you would ever come up dirty it had to be planted. have fun setting them up. i hate officers who think they are above the law.
2007-10-23 08:21:14 · answer #1 · answered by ahsoasho2u2 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
First, I would stop giving consent for a search. Enough is enough. Second, I'd go in and talk to the Sheriff. Find out if there is a problem with either me or his deputies. Lastly, I'd get a lawyer and have him threaten them with legal action.
2007-10-23 07:48:37 · answer #2 · answered by Jason 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Tell your friend to be polite, respectful and to coperate. Then once they are finished ask to speak to their supervisor.
If necessary, drive directly to the police station and ask to speak with the watch supervisor.
If it happens again after this - again ensure that his behaviour is above reproach and drive directly to the station and ask to speak to the supervisor's boss.
BTW - having a drug dog walk around your car is not legally considered to be a search.
2007-10-23 10:08:48 · answer #3 · answered by MikeGolf 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
go to the head chief of the department. my husband was always getting stopped .they would even park outside our driveway to wait for him. just to stop him and waiste his time to check out the vehicule when they did it the day before .so he went to the local police depatment and talked nicely to the head chief and they stopped bugging him.he told them that he has been late for work and all because of it, hope it helps...good luck i know the police can be a pain in the a** when they have nothing else better to do.
2007-10-23 07:53:14 · answer #4 · answered by mimi 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
He can deny a search and then they have to get a warrant in order to do one. It may take long the first time because they may have the K-9 walk around the vehicle (if it goes berserk its probable cause) but once he starts denying them searches they will start to back off. He can also start to get a bit rude with them which is usually a sign that they are messing with a law abiding citizen.
2007-10-23 07:46:00 · answer #5 · answered by Liberty against the NWO 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
He should stop consenting to searches and ask if he is free to go. He should be calm and respectful when he says this, i.e. "No, Officer, I don't consent. Am I free to go, sir/ma'am?"
If asked why he doesn't consent, he should simply say "I don't want to waive any of my Constitutional rights. Am I free to go, sir/ma'am?"
He should also ensure that his vehicle meets requirements for roadworthiness, operate it in a lawful manner, carry his license and registration and proof of insurance, and generally be a straight-up citizen.
2007-10-23 07:45:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I guess I am the kind of person that would be very offended by such injustice, I would write down all of the details of each incident and at the end of a 12 month period take the well documented info. to a litigation Attorney and sue for harassment.
2007-10-23 07:47:03 · answer #7 · answered by lere 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
This is harassment. If possible he should video tape every time he is pulled over.
Never consent to a search. Video tape it when they search anyway and sue for harassment.
Citizens need to stand-up to these bullys who think they have the right to "run" society.
Yes cops do good things, they catch murders, they stop assaults, and they find stolen goods, but harassing innocent citizens under the premise of guilty until I prove you are innocent has to stop.
Take pictures and video tape the cops and post them on the web. This is perfectly legal if you take video and pictures in public.
2007-10-23 07:48:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 6⤋
You should find a attorney and have the attorney send a letter to stop this
2007-10-23 07:50:12 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
"What should he do?" - He should either fix his truck or sell it to a junk yard. It is unlikely he would get much traction with a harassment complaint since he received a ticket in each case and an actual violation occurred.
If you speed past the same cop every day for 30 days and get stopped 30 times, you have no cases for harassment. You also have no license :)
2007-10-23 07:46:28 · answer #10 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 3⤊ 6⤋