1. When You See the
Police Car
If a police car is
following you with its siren blaring or emergency lights
flashing, pull over to the right safely and quickly.
Pull over in a way
that will be most likely to calm down an angry or annoyed
traffic officer. Use your turn signal to indicate any lane
changes from left to right, and slow down fairly quickly, but
not so quickly that the officer will have to brake to avoid
hitting you. Pull over as far to the right as possible, so
that when the officer comes up to your widow, he won't have to
worry about being clipped by vehicles in the right lane.
Pulling over right
away is not an admission of guilt. It just means that you were
very alert to everything that was happening around you. Also,
by stopping as soon as you can, you'll have a better chance of
figuring out exactly where the officer says you committed a
violation. You may want to return to that area later to make
sure the officer was telling the truth about how he judged
your speed, saw your turn, or witnesses any other violation.
2. Avoid Giving the
Officer an Excuse to Search
A police officer is
normally not allowed to search your vehicle. However, there
are several exceptions to this. An officer who observes you
trying to either hide something under the seat or throw
something out the window may legally search your car. Once the
cop is on your rear bumper with his spotlight silhouetting
your every move, he's watching for any sort of furtive
movement. A sudden lowering of one or both shoulders will tip
him off that you're attempting to hide something under the
seat. This gives him legal cause to search a car, and he'll
know exactly where to look. Police have had more experience
watching people try to hide things than you've had trying to
hide them.
Also, once you are
stopped, a police officer may seize any illegal objects in
your car that are in "plain view," such as open beer
or wine bottles, joints or roach clips. Once they see the
object, they can open the car door to reach in and get it.
After that, they may come across other objects that are in
plain view and shouldn't be in your car, and they can seize
these too.
Your car may also be
searched if any occupant in it -- passenger or driver -- is
physically arrested. Also, if you're arrested and your car is
towed, the police may make an "inventory search"
afterward, even if they have no reason to suspect there is
anything illegal inside.
3. Right After
You've Stopped
After you've pulled
over to a safe spot, you might want to show the officer a few
other token courtesies. At this point, you have little to lose
and perhaps something to gain.
First off, roll down
your window all the way. You may also want to place your hands
on the steering wheel, and, if it's dark, turn on your
interior light. This will tend to allay any fears the officer
may have. (After all, police officers are killed every day in
such "ordinary" traffic-stop situations, and the
officer's approach to the vehicle is the potentially most
dangerous.) It may offend your dignity a little, but remember
that you're just doing a few simple things to put the officer
in an optimal frame of mind.
Finally, don't start
rummaging through your back pocket for your wallet and
license, or in your glove compartment for your registration,
until the officer asks you for them. For all he knows, you
could be reaching for a gun.
4. Should You Get
Out of Your Car?
An officer who stops
you for an alleged traffic violation has the right to insist
that you and your passengers get out of your car. You should
do so if asked. Getting out of your car may make it easier for
you to check road conditions, the weather, the place the
violation supposedly occurred and, in radar-detected speeding
violations, perhaps even the read-out on the officer's radar
speed detector.
On the other hand,
you may wish to appear innocuous. After all, if the officer
thinks that you are preparing yourself to contest the ticket,
he will be sure to write copious notes on the back of his copy
of the ticket, to refresh his memory if he has to testify
later at a trial. It may be better to drive back a few minutes
after the officer leaves to survey the area, if you are
planning to contest the ticket.
Many police officers
prefer that you stay in your car, and will tell you to stay
there if you start to get out. If this happens, obviously you
should cooperate. If you get out of the car against the
officer's orders, don't be surprised to see a gun pointing at
you. Cops are trained to expect the worst. When you get out of
your car, they may assume you're about to pull a weapon or
attempt to flee. So, don't panic, and make it apparent to the
officer that you intend no harm.
If an officer has any
reason to believe that you might be dangerous, he has a right
to conduct a quick "pat-down" search of your outer
clothing while he is standing next to you, to make sure you
don't have a concealed knife or gun. If the officer feels any
weapon-sized object during the pat-down search, he can reach
in and get it. Also, the officer's good faith belief that you
may be dangerous justifies a search of the passenger
compartment of your car for weapons.
4. Talking to the
Officer
Many people stopped
by an officer make the mistake of saying the wrong thing to
him, and failing to say the right things. And a case can be
won or lost depending on what you say -- or don't say -- to
the officer.
One of the first
things traffic cops learn in the police academy is to decide,
before leaving their vehicle, whether they're going to give a
ticket or just a warning. They may act as though they still
haven't made up their minds and are going to let you off only
if you'll cooperate. Don't fall for this. The hesitating
officer is often just trying to appear open-minded in order to
extract admissions out of you, to use them against you in
court if necessary. The strategy is to try to get you to admit
either that you committed a violation, or that you were so
careless, inattentive or negligent that you don't know whether
you did or not. One way this is commonly done is for the
officer to act friendly. If you learn nothing else here, learn
that an officer with a ticket book in his hand is not your
friend.
Don't speak first.
Especially don't start off with a defensive or hostile
"What's the problem?" or similar words. Let the
officer start talking. He will probably ask to see your
license and vehicle registration. Many people make the mistake
of insisting the officer tell them why he stopped them, before
they'll comply. Don't make that mistake. Reply
"okay" or "sure," then hand over the
documents.
The officer then
might ask you the sort of question whose lack of a definite
answer would imply guilt, like "Do you know why I stopped
you?" (Suppress the impulse to reply, "Gee, no,
officer, I thought you would know why you stopped me!")
Or, he might ask, "Do you know how fast you were
going?" Your answers, if any, should be non-committal and
brief, like a simple "No" to the first question or a
very confident, "Yes, I do," to the second. If he
then tells you how fast he thinks you were going or what he
thinks you did, don't argue. Give a noncommittal answer, like
"I see," or no answer at all. Silence is not an
admission of guilt and cannot be used against you in court.
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