Personal true story. RV stop in ILL.

[Autolycus]

El Torrente: Please respond to my question?

 

[Sergeant Sabre]

I am sorry but the more you cooperate with the police, the more likely you are to end up in jail.

Well that's just silly and paranoid. I've let plenty of people go that could have been arrested, simply because they were honest and forthcoming with me.

To give an example, I had a kid at a party who bought a bunch of beer for minors. I asked him "Where's your dope?", and he retrieved it from his pocket and handed it to me. With further questioning, he without delay provided the ID that he used to buy the beer. The ID was real, but belonged to somebody else. So, we have:

1. Marijuana possession
2. Minor in possession of alcohol (kid was under 21)
3. Fraudulent use of an ID

All are 93-day misdemeanors. I would have had no problem locking him up and charging him, putting 279 days of his freedom in jeopardy.

I figured since he didn't give me a hard time, I wouldn't give him one. I flushed the dope, and confiscated the ID. He walked away with a ticket for Minor in Possession of Alcohol.

He could have made problems for us, and we would have been much less inclined to give him a break.

The truth is that if you are doing something illegal (like the original poster was, according to the laws of the State he was in), the more honest and cooperative you are, the less likely you are to get hammered. All paranoia aside, that's the truth.

 

[scubie02]

isn't it interesting that both cops and vampires have to be invited in...coincidence?

;P

 

[Sergeant Sabre]

I'd like to add the following:

For all of the "Cops just want to arrest everybody they can" people, you should realize that it's actually a big comittment to arrest somebody. It's much easier and safer to give them a break by writing an appearance ticket or just let them go completely, and often is a more attractive option for both us and the suspect.

First off, we have to put ourselves in danger to do so, since if we try to arrest them, they might fight.

Once we get them in custody, we have to take the time to drive them to the jail and book them in. Just the drive can be enough to drive you out of your mind if the arrestee wants to yap and scream the whole way .

Depending on your jail, booking can be a big undertaking. In one of the counties I work in, I have to search the arrestee in painstaking detail in a secure foyer while a jail deputy watches before they will even think about letting me in the jail. If I am seeking my own charges on the arrestee, I have to wait until the jail gets to my guy, then stand around while they go through the ten minute booking process before they get to the mug shot and fingerprints. Finally, I'll get my copy of the fingerprints to go with my warrant request.

The fun is just beginning, however. Now I have to fill out the warrant request, witness list, compile statements, print the guy's criminal history, and write my report. If I have impounded a vehicle, I have to go through the proper steps to enter it into our state-wide system as impounded. Then I have to print it all out, get it in order, and submit it to the chief. Hopefully it all looks good, or else I am re-doing it.

Hopefully the above does not occur on a Friday or Saturday, because then I am obligated to get up early the next day (regardless of whether or not I am scheduled) and drive down to the department to get into uniform and pick up a car. Then I go to the County jail with my paperwork to pick up my prisoner and take him to the City jail, where weekend arraignments are done.

Then I'm off to the prosecutor's office to wait until they get to me to review my report, fingerprints, criminal history, and warrant request. Hopefully they like what they see and authorize the warrant.

Off to the judge (or magistrate, if it's a misdemeanor) to swear to the warrant and have it signed. Hopefully, the judge likes what we have or else it's back to the drawing board.

Back to the courthouse to present the warrant at the arraignment, then transport the guy back to the County lock-up.

Then I wait for my subpoena to the guy's court hearings and / or trial, and hope that they aren't scheduled for a day / time for which I already have plans. If so, I've just ruined my plans by arresting rather that citing & releasing or warning.

All in all, I'm looking at a good six to eight hour commitment with an arrest on Friday or Saturday, not including any time spent responding to subpoenas. I take great care to make sure my arrests aren't BS arrests, because I have a lot invested in them. Therefore, I don't arrest for a myriad of things that I constantly run into that I could potentially arrest for. Such as:

1. Driving without your license on your person
2. Failing to change your address on your license within 6 mos.
3. Driving while license suspended
4. Violating your restricted license provisions
5. Speeding (does not apply in Michigan, but speeding is an arrestable misdemeanor in many States)

and more...

An arrest is such an investment (and inconvenience, at times) that we can't afford to go out looking for every arrest we can. To assert otherwise is to ignore reality.

 

[sacp81170a]

An arrest is such an investment (and inconvenience, at times) that we can't afford to go out looking for every arrest we can. To assert otherwise is to ignore reality.

+100

The only time when it's slam dunk easy is when there's already an arrest warrant. A warrant is basically a court order to all law enforcement officers in the state to take the person into custody, so you can't ignore it. Otherwise you're in contempt. So, you take the subject into custody, search them, if you're impounding a vehicle, you do an inventory, wait for the tow truck, transport them to the county jail, fill out your PC, wait for the jailers to process them, notify the issuing agency(who has the option to release them), then fill out your report, fill out and sign the warrant, make sure it gets deleted from the system, and then get back on patrol. This generally takes a couple of hours. If someone is arrested on one of your warrants, even if it's halfway across the state, it's up to your agency to send someone to pick them up.

Nah, if someone gets arrested, you can bet they worked for it.

 

[eltorrente]

Then ask a straight question like "Do you have any items that can be used to harm me? For a example a shard of glass, a long stick, a pointed stick, a piece of paer crammed into a ball that could be wedged down my throat, a set of keys, a sweater that could be used to strangle me, a drivers license that could have sharp edges and be used to cut my throat, or anything at all for that matter?"

I am sorry but the more you cooperate with the police, the more likely you are to end up in jail. Ask yourself why the Founding Fathers explicitly say that we have the right to not cooperate with police?

If I see a cop with a broken taillight, can I pull him over and arrest him? What if they are speeding? Do I get to frisk them for my safety?

I figure what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

You're correct that it's your right to refuse to cooperate.

If you want to take everything so far and look into everything, then what if he asks you if you have any drugs in the car? Do you defiantly say as an immediate response, "None that you need to worry about."? Go ahead, feel free to get snotty with him because you have Aspirin and Mountain Dew. I'm sure he'll send you on your way. Perhaps you'll feel proud of making him suspicous for no reason and having him search your vehicle for nothing, while you stand in the cold waiting for him.

Me, I'll just cooperate and say what I should say at that moment: "Nope". If I have a gun safely locked away in my trunk, I'd tell him immediately if he asked about weapons, and I'd probably say also, "oh yeah and I have a Buckknife in the glove compartment, if that matters." I figure he'd confirm what I told him and run my license or something and send me on my way.

I understand the refusal to cooperate though, believe me. I also understand that you aren't necessarily taking things to the extreme all the time, but my point still stands. That point being that if he asks me a question and I don't have anything to hide I'll just answer the question. It's when you start getting evasive and uncooperative that sends red flags up and lead directly to bigger "incidents"- despite those incidents turning into nothing. Those "incidents", of course, become more fuel to the fire that seems to burn deeply in many people about being oppressed and this and that.

I think we have things pretty good and I don't have any issues with cops- despite having spent a couple nights in the holding cell and countless times being pulled over and such. In my younger days I did countless stupid things, and cops I encountered often helped me out. Like once driving me home after pulling me over completely drunk when I was underage. He made sure my car was locked up, gave me a lecture on the way home, and dropped me off at home. No ticket, nothing. Many other instances like that where a cop caught us doing things we could have gotten into big trouble doing and they let us go with a lecture or somthing. Most of the times I've been pulled over I get off with a warning, or a lesser speed on a speeding ticket or whatever. All this because I just cooperate and admit my guilt and no excuses or BS. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[Caimlas]

Kind of shoots the heck out of the THR myth that if you are innocently caught with a firearm by an Illinois officer you're on your way to jail doesn't it?

No. He was clear under the law - the firearm may have been loaded, but it was in his abode - the RV - which is apparently covered by the statutes.

As has been said, however, it comes down to this: be friendly and cooperative with police, until they start asking questions that are none of their business (ie, fishing expedition). Then ask if he is going to charge or arrest you with anything, and if not, ask if you're free to go.

 

[isp2605]

No. He was clear under the law - the firearm may have been loaded, but it was in his abode - the RV - which is apparently covered by the statutes.

The IL courts have ruled and the USSC has affirmed that while running down the road an RV is not a residence but is a vehicle and therefore to be treated like a car or pickup.

 

[LAK]

IIRC, generally an RV parked up for the night is a "residence" - on the highway it is a motor vehicle.