Cops shouldn't pull you over when they have no reason to

[johnjohn320]

We went to see the midnight showing of Indiana Jones last night. Movie gets around 2, we get in the car and head home. A cop starts following us and continues to do so for about 15 minutes (we were on a lot of dark, quiet 2 lane roads). Finally, about a mile from home, the cop hits her lights and pulls us over. She asks us all these questions about where we've been, what we've been up to, where we're going, etc. We weren't speeding, our vehicle was completely up to par, no illegal substances were present, we weren't swerving or driving irratically. After she's about to let us go, the driver politely asks why we were stopped. The cop just says "you guys were just driving around late at night, it looked suspicious." WTF? People in the car were all adults. Leave us alone. I respect police and always speak to them as such. But why waste everyone's time like this?

 

[spidey07]

Because kids driving around that late at night are usually up to no good and it's suspicious.

 

[hanoverphist]

i was pulled over at 1am when i first moved to my neighborhood. i was wearing a bandana on my head and looked pretty disheveled since i had been over at my moms house shoveling gravel most of the day, wife was sleeping in the passenger seat and 3 kids in the back, 2 in car seats. when the cop came up and asked for my lic/ reg he looked in the car with his hand on his gun. saw the kids, dropped his hand and took my info. glanced at the cards and handed them back to me and told me to have a nice night. i asked him what i was stopped for and he told me that it seemed suspicious that a person looking like me was driving a cadillac. i told him it would sound better if he at least used the busted headlight as an excuse and he realized what he had just revealed to me hehe. i didnt bust him or call the station, at least the cops were noticing things like that in my neighborhood.

 

[child of wonder]

I agree. There should be some good reason for pulling someone over. "You look suspicious" doesn't qualify. A friend of mine was pulled over once because he was wearing a blue bandanna on his head. Now, this might be somewhat reasonable in LA but this was a small town in Minnesota in 1997.

ANYONE can "look" suspicious, especially driving at night. That alone is not just cause for pulling them over and wasting 15 minutes of their time. If they have a tail light out, don't use their turn signal, etc. then go ahead.

 

[rh71]

Because a bunch of guys in a car that late at night does seem suspicious.

 

[meltdown75]

please describe what you mean by "adults". just because you're 18 doesn't mean squat. "adults" and a carload of n0obs are 2 different things.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: johnjohn320
We went to see the midnight showing of Indiana Jones last night. Movie gets around 2, we get in the car and head home. A cop starts following us and continues to do so for about 15 minutes (we were on a lot of dark, quiet 2 lane roads). Finally, about a mile from home, the cop hits her lights and pulls us over. She asks us all these questions about where we've been, what we've been up to, where we're going, etc. We weren't speeding, our vehicle was completely up to par, no illegal substances were present, we weren't swerving or driving irratically. After she's about to let us go, the driver politely asks why we were stopped. The cop just says "you guys were just driving around late at night, it looked suspicious." WTF? People in the car were all adults. Leave us alone. I respect police and always speak to them as such. But why waste everyone's time like this?

Well, you said it yourself. She saw you driving around all these dark roads late at night, going the speed limit and adhering to the rules of the road. Thing is, that kind of behavior can easily be seen as suspicious, because you could easily be looking for houses to hit, or waiting to pull off come kind of crime. It's also equally possible your merely good citizens that obey the rules of the road. But late night driving on a weekday night, on dark roads, is something a good officer should watch.
There is no harm is being pulled over and asked questions. If you are legit, all you gotta say is your going home after getting out from a movie. I don't really find harm in that. Sounds like the officer was just looking out for the neighborhoods/city.

Now, if they start to get out of line and berate you, and maybe even try and charge you with something or give you a ticket, then yea, that's wrong.

+

 

[Bibble]

I sincerely doubt a cop would ever pull anyone over for no reason at all. It might not be a good reason, but surely there is an explanation why they would do such a thing. Suspicion is a reason to pull someone over, although in my opinion not necessarily the best one.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: johnjohn320
We went to see the midnight showing of Indiana Jones last night. Movie gets around 2, we get in the car and head home. A cop starts following us and continues to do so for about 15 minutes (we were on a lot of dark, quiet 2 lane roads). Finally, about a mile from home, the cop hits her lights and pulls us over. She asks us all these questions about where we've been, what we've been up to, where we're going, etc. We weren't speeding, our vehicle was completely up to par, no illegal substances were present, we weren't swerving or driving irratically. After she's about to let us go, the driver politely asks why we were stopped. The cop just says "you guys were just driving around late at night, it looked suspicious." WTF? People in the car were all adults. Leave us alone. I respect police and always speak to them as such. But why waste everyone's time like this?

Well, you said it yourself. She saw you driving around all these dark roads late at night, going the speed limit and adhering to the rules of the road. Thing is, that kind of behavior can easily be seen as suspicious, because you could easily be looking for houses to hit, or waiting to pull off come kind of crime. It's also equally possible your merely good citizens that obey the rules of the road. But late night driving on a weekday night, on dark roads, is something a good officer should watch.
There is no harm is being pulled over and asked questions. If you are legit, all you gotta say is your going home after getting out from a movie. I don't really find harm in that. Sounds like the officer was just looking out for the neighborhoods/city.

Now, if they start to get out of line and berate you, and maybe even try and charge you with something or give you a ticket, then yea, that's wrong.

+

Yeah I don't have any problem with cops pulling people over like that - it'll keep neighborhoods safer.

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[Aharami]

i have no problem with that. she was just doing her job. now if it had escalated and she searched the car because she "thought" you looked suspicious, then i'd agree with you

 

[ViviTheMage]

fine by me if they pul you over for suspiciousness!

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: OdiN
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BWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH :laugh: :beer:

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: OdiN
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If you reorder that ascii I think we can get a good game of forum nethack going. I move east.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Come on- she was doing her job. AT is generally anti-police, but this is insane! Don't look for sympathy here-- its better safe than sorry.

Put yourself in the police officers shoes. Imagine if you were following this car down a road late a night like this instance. You decide that they are probably ok and go set up for radar. You get a call 15 minutes later that a house in the neighborhood nearby was robbed and the owner was shot. A description of the car matches what you were following earlier. Yea, that would stink huh?

You are told in any law enforcement position, that it is YOUR JOB to make sure everything is ok. Don't assume-- MAKE SURE!

-Kevin

 

[PepePeru]

except the definition of 'suspicious' is not really exact.

so, there are these drug interdiction squads that camp out on interstates and highways. they will pull you over for being 'suspicious', in broad daylight.

so my belief is that 'suspicious' means

1. having an out-of-state tag (this is probably the #1 reason)
2. being of color
3. having a crappy car
4. stickers on the car

so, then youre pulled over and if you do not consent to a search, that is also deemed 'suspicious' and thus probable cause to be searched....
figure that one out.
and the 'if youre doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide' argument, sorta goes against that whole "god-damned piece of paper" our Country was founded on.

 

[freakyj92]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: johnjohn320
We went to see the midnight showing of Indiana Jones last night. Movie gets around 2, we get in the car and head home. A cop starts following us and continues to do so for about 15 minutes (we were on a lot of dark, quiet 2 lane roads). Finally, about a mile from home, the cop hits her lights and pulls us over. She asks us all these questions about where we've been, what we've been up to, where we're going, etc. We weren't speeding, our vehicle was completely up to par, no illegal substances were present, we weren't swerving or driving irratically. After she's about to let us go, the driver politely asks why we were stopped. The cop just says "you guys were just driving around late at night, it looked suspicious." WTF? People in the car were all adults. Leave us alone. I respect police and always speak to them as such. But why waste everyone's time like this?

Well, you said it yourself. She saw you driving around all these dark roads late at night, going the speed limit and adhering to the rules of the road.
+

Well thats a catch 22 now idn't it. You drive like you normally do and she pulls you over for speeding. You go the speed limit and you look suspicious.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Come on- she was doing her job. AT is generally anti-police, but this is insane! Don't look for sympathy here-- its better safe than sorry.

Put yourself in the police officers shoes. Imagine if you were following this car down a road late a night like this instance. You decide that they are probably ok and go set up for radar. You get a call 15 minutes later that a house in the neighborhood nearby was robbed and the owner was shot. A description of the car matches what you were following earlier. Yea, that would stink huh?

You are told in any law enforcement position, that it is YOUR JOB to make sure everything is ok. Don't assume-- MAKE SURE!

-Kevin

:music:
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
:music:

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: G Wizard
except the definition of 'suspicious' is not really exact.

so, there are these drug interdiction squads that camp out on interstates and highways. they will pull you over for being 'suspicious', in broad daylight.

so my belief is that 'suspicious' means

1. having an out-of-state tag (this is probably the #1 reason)
2. being of color
3. having a crappy car
4. stickers on the car

so, then youre pulled over and if you do not consent to a search, that is also deemed 'suspicious' and thus probable cause to be searched....
figure that one out.
and the 'if youre doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide' argument, sorta goes against that whole "god-damned piece of paper" our Country was founded on.

err not consenting to a search is not probable cause to be searched. Everyone should refuse to search's no matter what.

I agree with the op. they shouldnt be pulling you over without a reason. driving legally at night etc is not a reason.

 

[mugs]

At least your cop admitted she had no real reason to pull you over. I got pulled over for driving too close to the yellow line once. On a narrow street with cars parked on the side. 😕

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: OdiN
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BWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH :laugh: :beer:

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¦ This reminds me of BASIC programming ¦
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Except it doesn't work on the forums.

 

[PepePeru]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: G Wizard
except the definition of 'suspicious' is not really exact.

so, there are these drug interdiction squads that camp out on interstates and highways. they will pull you over for being 'suspicious', in broad daylight.

so my belief is that 'suspicious' means

1. having an out-of-state tag (this is probably the #1 reason)
2. being of color
3. having a crappy car
4. stickers on the car

so, then youre pulled over and if you do not consent to a search, that is also deemed 'suspicious' and thus probable cause to be searched....
figure that one out.
and the 'if youre doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide' argument, sorta goes against that whole "god-damned piece of paper" our Country was founded on.

err not consenting to a search is not probable cause to be searched. Everyone should refuse to search's no matter what.

I agree with the op. they shouldnt be pulling you over without a reason. driving legally at night etc is not a reason.

well since the supreme court recently ruled that the police can illegally arrest you for a misdemeanor, search you, if they find contraband, THEN charge you for that, and drop the charges on the first offense (again, a misdemeanor). In the State of Virginia, where this case originated, you apparently cannot be arrested for a minor traffic offense, youre ticketed and let go, yet, this gentleman was arrested for traffic offense, like speeding, his hotel room searched, they found crack cocaine and then charged him for drug possession.

so, yes, it is illegal for a cop to use not consenting to a search for probable cause to search you, but good luck fighting that....

 

[FallenHero]

It's nice to see ATOT telling me how to do my job. You are 100% correct, the house burglars I caught last month, as well as the 3 kids that have caused 4000 worth of damage around town should not have been pulled over by me. I should have just let them go on their merry way, suspicious of their activities but well...gosh darnit, ATOT is full of wisdom beyond reproach, and I must adhere to their wishes of not wanting the police to pull people over for "no reason." Nevermind reasonable suspicion, who needs me to do my job when ATOT is perfectly capable of doing it for me.

 

[pcslookout]

The problem today is people is always in to much of a hurry. What is the problem of taking 5 minutes to the most 15 minutes to stop for a police officer so they can check to make sure everything is ok ? Wouldn't you rather them catch a thief and have your items returned to you then not if you were ever robbed?

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: OdiN

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Something hits you.

 

[Wheezer]

be thankful she did....it shows that she is doing her job...in reality she pulled you over because she thought you might be DWI.

I had a cop pull me over at 3 a.m. because he said that my tire was riding on the white line....complete bullshit since he was driving opposite me doing 55+...no way he could tell that.

He pulled me over to check me for alcohol, I had just got off work and he let me go with with a warning....at first I was pissed that he wasted my time....but then I realized that it was probably a good thing...see, I drove home at that time every night....just in time for the bars to let out....if he is checking me then that means he is doing his job and hopefully he is keeping some jackass from driving drunk and killing me.