Is it legal for a bike offcr to tell my 14yrs old to roll down the window & give him s.thing from my vehicle?

Question

I was in the WalMart shopping for groceries. Can that be done? Is that legal to harass and upset my son? Shouldn't the supposed officer of the law (I don't know, I didn't ask for ID because I was so upset)wait for an adult? My son had just gone to the car because he was tired. He got to my car aboaut 10min before me. He was just sitting there.

Location: Katy, Tx Private Property/Wal-Mart parking lot.

He didn't ask. He said: Gimme That! My handicap placard. My son was scared and just gave it to him, the bike whatever he was. I say this because I did not ask for ID, I'm not sure what capacity he was. All I know is he was riding a bike.

He took it and put it in his bike pouch and drove his bike off into the parking lot. My son got out and was coming to tell me as I was exiting WalMart. I got to my car and waved to the bike guy and he drove to me. I asked him why he had my card. He told me some people use dead parents cards and some people alter them. I assured him my mother wasn't dead and I didn't alter mine.

Mr. Trooper, no offense, but it sounds as though you are taking the defensive approach and unfairly accusing my son of lying. I am not saying the bike police guy didn't have the authority to enforce the proper procedures of the handicapped pkg. I'm saying and was asking if he should have told my son to give him the placard. Shouldn't he have waited for an adult - the owner of the vehicle - since it was apparent my son was a child? The first thing the bike officer did was ask my son for ID. My son told him he was only 14 and had a student ID at home. He asked who's car it was, my son told him, "My Mom's". He asked where his mom was and was told inside getting groceries. That is when the bike officer told him: Give me that!

I can see why you guys of the "law" would get offended and it's always: all for one and you all are going to stick up for one another. I understand this. But, I was simply exercising my right to free speach and asking if anyone could tell me if this is the norm. I felt it could've been handled differently. I would like to think the police (any form from new cadet to seasoned officers) would have handled this and other situations like this differently.

Okay, those were my words: rude and harass. Sorry, but, I was upset because I could plainly see my son was upset over this. And, I neglected to say there was another 14yr old in the car with him. They both told the same story about: "Gimme that!" My son is a good boy. Never been in any trouble and the same for the other boy, his friend. In fact, they are shy and quiet. They just did what they were told to do.

Well, there is more to the story. But, I'll be d****d if I go into it. It appears that the first time I feel like voicing my concern and asking for opinions...I should've known I'd be shot down and come away feeling like I wished I'd never gotten on here. So far, I feel like I was just written off as being - and my son being "over imaginative" and we must be "stupid" and this isn't what really happened and I had no right/rights to question anything/anybody when it comes to law enforcement. I guess I'll just go silent on this. Thanks for the attempt at just telling me and letting me know it was "much ado about nothing".

Well, got some more comments overnight. Thanks people. I will say this, the placard was issued to me for my car for my mother's transport. The officer had no idea who was with me, as we were in WalMart. All he knew was he saw 2 young boys in a car and the placard and took it. So, now I'm told by the law enforcement responses the officer had a right to do it whatever way he wanted and the officer didn't have to have any reason to do what he did-he's covered to do whatever he wants to do. I'm one of the ones that always took up for law enforcement peoples whenever I would hear someone putting them down. Granted, there are all sorts of rules to protect the police - just wish there were more ways to protect the people from having to go to the trouble and expense, yes, expense (of lawyers, bails, citations, court costs, etc.), as I don't think the police have to pay anyone to prove their innocence...they have all these RULES to protect them.

Answer 1

If I've learned anything over the last quarter century as an officer...I've learned there are three sides to a story....yours...theirs...and the middle ground without all the embellishment from the others!

Not saying how old your son is...I don't think the age matters...but being confronted by an officer is not always a pleasant situation when you're scared no matter what age.

The officer has every legal right to ID ANYBODY in a vehicle and demanding to see the handicap placard is NOT a search.

It's very possible the officers voice was stern but I would wonder if he was actually being "rude."

You will always get a myriad of different opinions here...but unless you were present during the initial contact...don't be so quick to judge what occurred outside your presence and remember your child just MIGHT add a little to make things sound worse than what they really were.

Does an officer have to wait for an adult to make an initial investigation...no!

Answer 2

Here are some basic police facts for you:
- They think they can tell anybody to do anything for any reason at any time. Legally, of course, they can't. But, they do it anyway, and if you don't like it they'll arrest you for "disorderly conduct" and perhaps give you a beating for good measure, because of course, you were "resisting arrest".
- No matter what a cop does wrong, all other cops jump to their defense. That ethic is much more important to them than actual law enforcement. The responses from police here pretty much prove that for you.
- This system works in their favor, because judges and juries nearly always believe the cops, either because they are naive, or because they are in denial that are law enforcement officers could be so corrupt.
Most citizens have a hard time accepting these facts, and actually trust the police. How ignorant.

Answer 3

Let me get to the actual question here. In California, Vehicle Code section 22511.56, subdivision (c), allows a police officer or parking enforcement person to confiscate a handicapped placard if it is being used by somebody other than the person to whom it was issued. I assume there is a similar law in Texas. So, since your information is that the placard was issued to your mother, then if the vehicle was parked in a handicapped spot, and your mother was not being transported in the vehicle, the officer was within his rights to confiscate the card (and he did not have to give it back, either). There is nothing which requires him to wait for an adult to confiscate the placard.

If, however, the vehicle was NOT in a handicapped spot, then the officer had no basis for seizing the placard (since it can be seized only if it is being used for parking purposes), and I would make a complaint to his employing agency.

ADD: The equivalent Texas statute is Transportation Code section 681.012, which allows seizure of the placard with probable cause to believe that it is being misused, in violation of section 681.011.

ADD2: The one fact you are still failing to tell us is whether you were parked in a spot reserved for the disabled. If you were, and your disabled mother was not with you, then you were misusing the placard. The officer had probable cause to believe you were misusing the placard, and was thus justified in seizing it. And, again, if you were NOT in a disabled parking spot, I believe that what the officer did was improper.

Answer 4

Oh my heavens! One thing I am very glad to see is how you are not willing to take the abusive treatment some of these self-proclaiming law-enforcement officers in this forum are handing out to you.

First, it is usually not illegal for anybody to tell your son to do anything.

Nor is it usually any kind of an illegality on the other person's part for your son to to do what somebody tells him to do.

Only if that somebody were in some way trying to impersonate an officer, or if the person were telling your son to do something illegal instead of him doing it, would it be illegal.

From what you depict to have happened, I see nothing illegal, and one of the things I live for is to catch government officialls doing things wrong and then make a very public display of getting them to correct their errors.

ON THE OTHER HAND, it would not have been illegal for you son to have told the person to shove something up some orafice or another, either, unless he was in the process of operating that vehicle.

Sitting behind the steering wheel with a key in the ignition listening to the radio is not 'operating' a vehicle, but, if the engine were running so he could have the heat on, it could easily be considered to be probable cause to assume he was operating the vehicls, and a law-enforcment officer would be well within his authority to investigate the possibile crime of handicap parking violation, just like you say your son said it went down, under the assumption that the operator of said vehicle carried a valid driver's license, which, even if he were an underage driver, he would have had parental permission to have obtained, the forms which the parent would have to have signed containging all sorts of language to the point that by giving your underage child permission to possess a driver's license, you are also thereby permitting law-enforcement officers to detain and interrogate and even release the possesser thereof for any motor-vehicle-related offense, without even TRYING to notify the parent.

If he approached your son in such a situation and told your son to give him his driver's license, and your son told him he didn't HAVE a driver's license, then he wouldn't be able to ticket your son for simply sitting in a car with the engine running and a handicap parking permit, but, he could still investigate the possible crime by telling your son to 'give me that' meaning the handicapped parking permit, and then taking it to a nearby phone to check for it's validity by making sure the serial number of the permit matched up to a member of the family of the owner of the car.

What I would have done is to have instructed your son NEVER to unroll his window for a stranger, even if the stranger DOES appear to be a police officer, until AFTER he get's his driver's license, and then, only ever roll it down far enough to slip out his license, registration, and proof of insurance, and no farther, without the benefit of having been placed under arrest, where EVERYTHING that then ensues becomes the alleged police officer's burden to prove the necessity of so doing.

Answer 5

What did the officer want?

Harass and upset? What did the officer say? You have to be more clear.

Because based on what you say...Yes, it is legal for an officer to talk to someone.

Answer 6

what did he ask for?

no, it is illegal to search a car without permission, and it is illegal to ask for the ID of someone not driving.

but the truth is that cops can do whatever they want, and if you don't do what they tell you to do, they can arrest you. the charges won't stick, but they can always arrest you for being non-cooperative.

if you were parked in a handicapped stop, the cop can ask to see the placard, but he should ask you, not a child. plus you can see the thing through the window so why ask to hold it. see with your eyes, not your hand. and he should ask, not order.

i hate it when cops are rude like that. but sometimes they are just power hungry jerks.

Answer 7

RIGHT ON DION(J) Yeah!, every word is correct. Dion j knows what I, and many other American's,(unfortunatly not enough),know about our, broken,dysfunctional,F****d up "legal" system. One clue, is that America builds more prisons than schools.That alone shows "intent" to not to do anything about our biggest problem, "justice run amuck".

Answer 8

what did the officer ask for?

Answer 9

location plz?

Answer 10

no!!!! that guy ******* stupid