What are your rights during a police encounter

[Deborah13]

I would also add "probable cause" as a reason they can search without a warrant and without your permission. But they will have to prove what the probable cause was in court before anything they find can be used against you.

Note my reference to 'just cause', thanks for correcting the lingo. If they don't have probable cause they will have a tough time getting a warrant to search. No judge wants to look bad by giving 'unjust' or even illegal search warrants.
Although, it seems as if some states are better at demanding that the citizens rights under the constitution be followed.

They don't always have you sign a form (maybe that's the case in some local areas, but not everywhere.) Be very aware of the friendly cop who just makes what sounds like small talk and when you have let your guard down he quickly and very nonchalantly throws in something like "Hey I know you don't have anything illegal in your trunk but how about popping it open for a second just so I can say I confirmed that?" Most people are very quick to say "Sure, go ahead" and then realize they shouldn't have done that after it's too late. Maybe there's nothing there but maybe there is. What about that load of teenagers you took to the beach for your kids birthday party that put a bunch of stuff in your trunk? What might have fallen out of there stuff and fell into a crevice that you wouldn't think to look in, but the cop is trained to know where to look. You just never know once you consent to a search.

And remember too that while he's standing outside your car, anything in view through your window is fair game too. And if he sees something that looks suspicious he can order you out of the car and go in to get it. Then while he's inside if he happens to see something else from his new vantage point that he hadn't seen before, that's fair game too. So even if you are innocent, if you have a lot of passengers ride with you, it's always a good idea to keep your car really clean. Hey, I'm about the furthest thing from a drug abuser that there is. Don't even like going to the doctor and getting prescriptions. But one day while cleaning my truck I found a crack pipe with crack residue in it hidden in my passenger seat!

Thanks for making it clear why one should not allow a search. I also agree with Edward in that it sets a precedent where the cops get the idea that they can overstep their authority. Unfortunately already people have allowed this to happen for a very long time, either out of ignorance of their rights, because they are just too lazy to stand their ground, or maybe even fear.
I know that most cops will not have you sign a form allowing the search. If I were a cop, I would do it every time. It is for the cops protection. He/she can't be accused later of an illegal act. And if I were to consent to a search I would demand to sign one. Then later I would have proof that I had allowed the search, which could be beneficial to my case in court should they find something that I did not know was there and was not mine.

 

[Obadiah]

...I also agree with Edward in that it sets a precedent where the cops get the idea that they can overstep their authority. Unfortunately already people have allowed this to happen for a very long time, either out of ignorance of their rights, because they are just too lazy to stand their ground, or maybe even fear...

I agree too that it sets a bad precedent when people so readily agree to consensual searches. But I would caution that a cop asking for your permission to search is not overstepping his authority. Legally, he's NOT. Neither is using a trick or even intimidation to get you to consent. That's the law as it stands until someone finds a way to change it. If I remember right, that's federal law too, so it stands in all 50 states.

It's much better to simply look at this as a business negotiation and leave the emotions out of it. (Trust me, if you plan ahead and know what to do, it can even be fun!) When we look at it that way and avoid an attitude of confrontation and accusation against the cop things will usually go much better. Cops are VERY good at reading attitude or they wouldn't survive long. If you are confrontational or accusatory to a cop when he hasn't done anything wrong (by law, even if in our opinion it was wrong), it won't go well for you. But this isn't hard to do when you put things in proper perspective. In all likelihood you have been stopped for some minor traffic violation, not for being suspected of plotting an assassination! As long as you are not guilty of anything else normally the worst that is going to happen is you will get a ticket. (And many times a friendly and businesslike attitude can even get you out of the ticket too!) Even if you get the ticket, assuming you are a law abiding driver in general and have a good record, it's inconvenient and costs a few dollars but it's not the end of the world as we know it. So no need for irrational fear. Keep a clear head, and if asked for consent for a search in any way a simple and polite answer such as "No, I never consent to searches." will usually work fine. If he persists, simply persist with the same answer in the same businesslike non-confrontational tone until he gets tired of asking. And enjoy the surprised look of frustration on his face while you are doing it.

...I know that most cops will not have you sign a form allowing the search. If I were a cop, I would do it every time. It is for the cops protection. He/she can't be accused later of an illegal act...

One misconception a lot of people have is that if the cop searches and finds evidence but didn't have legal authority to search that he's broken a law and can be charged and convicted of a crime. This normally isn't the case. By law this isn't technically an "illegal" search, it's an "unwarranted" search. The difference here is that if it's not "illegal" it's not a crime. (And remember, "unwarranted" doesn't mean he didn't get a written "warrant" from a judge, it simply means he didn't have legal authority to "warrant" conducting the search. There are many situations that grant the police legal authority to search without a written warrant from a judge.) Even in the case of an actual unwarranted search, normally the worst thing that can happen to the cop is that if a case goes to trial and the court finds out the search was unwarranted the judge might disallow the evidence. That's about it. So preaching to the cop about the law and how much he's violating it really doesn't mean much to him. Also keep in mind that cops are very good at articulating in court what their "probable cause" was. They learn and rehears all this ahead of time and will rarely stop you at all if they can't think of something they can use for probable cause. It doesn't matter if you agree with their probable cause or not, only that the judge agrees with it. And they are very aware of what judges will or won't agree with. So the simple and polite "No" is almost always the best way to go in this situation. As was said before, if they already have probable cause, they are going to search anyway so it doesn't matter. If they don't have it, you will win with your simple and polite "No".

 

[Obadiah]

Its called dictatorship. Not democracy.

No, that's not true. All forms of government, including democracy, have laws and a way to enforce those laws. I'm sure you already realize this. Lack of police action is not called democracy, it's called chaos. Even God doesn't look kindly on chaos.

 

[Deborah13]

I agree too that it sets a bad precedent when people so readily agree to consensual searches. But I would caution that a cop asking for your permission to search is not overstepping his authority. Legally, he's NOT. Neither is using a trick or even intimidation to get you to consent. That's the law as it stands until someone finds a way to change it. If I remember right, that's federal law too, so it stands in all 50 states.

I must have worded that poorly!! I didn't mean that he was overstepping his authority by Asking to search or even trickery or intimidation. What I meant was that if we allow searches than we encourage the belief that they have the right to do them without cause. We encourage our children to believe it, we encourage cops to behave badly.
When a cop lies to someone about what they can legally do or do not disclose the truth (LIE) this breeds distrust among the citizens.
Here's an example of a stop that was not justified and was done simply to see if someone was doing something illegal.
My oldest daughter was 16 when this happened. The town cop stopped her and her girlfriend at about 10 pm. He claimed that her turn signal was not working. While talking to her he was shining his flashlight around in her truck. She asked if she could look for herself. She got out and had her girlfriend turn each one on. She looked at him and calmly pointed out that they were working and asked to leave. He did not expect a teenager to be calm, collected, and know what she should do. I think she shocked him because he didn't even ask to see her license. She knew that he had stopped her to see if she had alcohol in her vehicle and that he had lied about the turn signal. Does that encourage a teenager to trust the cops?
Here's an example of what I consider to be awesome cops.
Lexy, a few months ago, was on a trip with her nine yr. old son. She was stopped for speeding on the interstate and on top of that her license had expired the year before. There were two officers. She hadn't seen the speed limit sign that designated a change in speed and she didn't know her license was expired. She never had it out of her wallet in over a year. She did get a ticket as she should have.
They couldn't let her drive her vehicle. They helped her get a tow truck, waited for the truck to get there, let her park it in a parking lot overnight (so she wouldn't have to pay a storage charge), and took her and her son to the cop shop until someone from home could pick her up several hours later. But the thing I respect them for the most is their respect for my grandson and his feelings. They had to pat her down before putting her in their cruiser. One cop took her to where her son could not see her being patted down and the other cop visited with her son so he wouldn't try to watch. The cop told her he was sorry for the pat down and didn't want to upset her son. That is good, respectful behavior.
They gave Jake a tour of the station (including the cells), gave them something to eat and drink, and Jake got a star badge with the town's name on it. This was his first experience with the law and it was a good one. I'd like to see more of this.

 

[Northman]

They had to pat her down before putting her in their cruiser.

Is that a somewhat new policy or does it vary state to state? I was a stones-throw from where Sparrow lives about 15 years ago and a state patrol dude gave me a ride to a bank to exchange some money. 20-something year old male in leather and a muscle car, no pat down.

 

[Obadiah]

I must have worded that poorly!! I didn't mean that he was overstepping his authority by Asking to search or even trickery or intimidation. What I meant was that if we allow searches than we encourage the belief that they have the right to do them without cause. We encourage our children to believe it, we encourage cops to behave badly...

Absolutely right. Yeah, I was reading what you said differently.

...Here's an example of a stop that was not justified and was done simply to see if someone was doing something illegal.
My oldest daughter was 16 when this happened. The town cop stopped her and her girlfriend at about 10 pm. He claimed that her turn signal was not working. While talking to her he was shining his flashlight around in her truck. She asked if she could look for herself. She got out and had her girlfriend turn each one on. She looked at him and calmly pointed out that they were working and asked to leave. He did not expect a teenager to be calm, collected, and know what she should do. I think she shocked him because he didn't even ask to see her license. She knew that he had stopped her to see if she had alcohol in her vehicle and that he had lied about the turn signal. Does that encourage a teenager to trust the cops?
Here's an example of what I consider to be awesome cops...

Great example of how everyone should handle this kind of situation. And yeah, she shouldn't have been stopped. I have no doubt the cop lied about the signal because it's just too rare that it would suddenly start working again like that and had the actual situation been that she made a turn without signalling (a different violation) then that's what he should have told her, not that it wasn't working. He just wanted to bust someone for something and figured they were a good mark. (I had a similar thing happen a few years ago on Christmas eve by a cop out looking for drunk drivers, and I had great fun with it!) But along that line, one thing to be aware of... a lot of people are driving around with minor equipment violations such as cracked windshields, cracked light lenses, bulbs burned out in insignificant lights like marker lights, expired lic tags, things like that. In a lot of areas, especially bigger cities they are getting away with this and think that the cops just don't care about these minor things and won't write tickets for them, so they don't fix them. The truth is that it's common for cops to let these things go when they see them. Why? As long as they don't make a person fix those kind of things, now they or any other cop has probable cause to stop that vehicle later if they want to! So beware! Having even an add on light that isn't working right is giving a cop probable cause to stop you! Once he stops you he will look for other things that he wouldn't have been able to look for otherwise.

...Lexy, a few months ago, was on a trip with her nine yr. old son. She was stopped for speeding on the interstate and on top of that her license had expired the year before. There were two officers. She hadn't seen the speed limit sign that designated a change in speed and she didn't know her license was expired. She never had it out of her wallet in over a year. She did get a ticket as she should have.
They couldn't let her drive her vehicle. They helped her get a tow truck, waited for the truck to get there, let her park it in a parking lot overnight (so she wouldn't have to pay a storage charge), and took her and her son to the cop shop until someone from home could pick her up several hours later. But the thing I respect them for the most is their respect for my grandson and his feelings. They had to pat her down before putting her in their cruiser. One cop took her to where her son could not see her being patted down and the other cop visited with her son so he wouldn't try to watch. The cop told her he was sorry for the pat down and didn't want to upset her son. That is good, respectful behavior.
They gave Jake a tour of the station (including the cells), gave them something to eat and drink, and Jake got a star badge with the town's name on it. This was his first experience with the law and it was a good one. I'd like to see more of this.

Now THAT is an example of how police work SHOULD be done in that kind of situation! :yes

 

[reba]

We were on 80 heading to a SF Giants ballgame... get pulled over... a red GTX 440 was a easy target ... The tags had expired ... The cop is asking for registration .. Sure not a problem

I open the glove box and there it is laying right there ... totally stuck to the floor of the box with spilled baby formula leaking out the bottle ... Guess i peeled enough off .. he kinda chuckled .... we HAD to get the tags i dont remember if there was a ticket...

 

[Deborah13]

Is that a somewhat new policy or does it vary state to state? I was a stones-throw from where Sparrow lives about 15 years ago and a state patrol dude gave me a ride to a bank to exchange some money. 20-something year old male in leather and a muscle car, no pat down.

I don't think that it is a law but is their police procedure and is not violating her rights in anyway. They were not forcing her to allow it. She could have ridden in the tow truck but they were nice enough to do the things they did.

 

[Obadiah]

Is that a somewhat new policy or does it vary state to state? I was a stones-throw from where Sparrow lives about 15 years ago and a state patrol dude gave me a ride to a bank to exchange some money. 20-something year old male in leather and a muscle car, no pat down.

That's a matter of department policy and training, not law. Even if it's policy, if the cop is pretty sure you aren't a threat he might go ahead and break policy rather than put you through an embarrassing pat down. It's a matter of officer safety. Sometimes they won't even allow you in their car unless you are handcuffed! A lot will depend on the kind of people in the area as well as how you present yourself.

 

[Northman]

Probably wont ever return, but good to know anyway. Thanks.