Run in with the cops today...

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thefitzvh

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Please be advised... I'm not starting a cop-bashing thread, and if it gets that way, the mods will close it... so let's not go there please.

Was at school today (CSU San Marcos) and walking to my car. From a distance I see 2 campus police standing next to my car. One has a slim jim, looking as if he's about ready to jack into it.

Me: Can I help you with something, officers?

Officer 1: This your car?

Me. Uh... yeah. What's with the slim jim?

Officer 1: You mind if we search your car?

Me: Well, it didn't look like you were about to ask a minute ago, why are you asking me now?

Officer 2: Don't be smart. Can we take a look.

Me: If you have to ask, then it means you don't have a reason. So no, you cannot. What's this about anyways?

Officer 1: You have ammo in your car

:banghead:

I left two boxes of CCI blazer and a WWB in the back seat... range trip leftovers from yesterday.

I told them the mistake, and they said "What do you need all that ammo for"

I debated saying that 200 rounds was nowhere NEAR what I wish I had, but decided against it. I settled for: "I like to shoot"

At this point, I was a little weirded, and since they didn't have anything on me, I said "OK Guys... well, you all have a nice day."

Officer 1: Stay out of trouble, you hear?

Me: Uh... whatever.



Comments?
 
Slim jim in hand, and they were asking to search, not demanding based on probable cause? Sounds like you need to have a chat with the campus chief about an attemped break-in.
 
Definitely deserving of a letter to the school's head honchos CCd to the campus cops and maybe any local papers that aren't totally left wing.

Give the details as you saw them, then:

Ask under what policy, regulation or rule were the campus cops acting as they prepared to break into your car.

Ask what other legal items might act as an invitation for the campus police to break & enter in the future.

Ask if anyone can break into cars parked on campus with visible ammunition or if that's a perk reserved for the campus administration.

If they were not acting on valid regulations, ask how to file a complaint against them.
 
They probley were trying to steal you ammo so they could go shoot ..I would go in and complain to the chief
 
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Make an appointment and go see the chief. If they were in fact about to break into your car, they have no business with badges.

Jeff
 
How big a stink do you want to make? Having a talk with the cheif is good... IF you just want to handle this low-key. very, very low key.

Making an appointment to talk with the school's head honco AND the cheif will apply some pressure, but it's still fairly low key. Serious, but not a really hard push.

File a formal, written complaint with the school if you want to push hard. Formal complaints have to be recorded somewhere, and are usually public record or reportable items.

To really whack them about the head and neck, use bad PR.

Personally, I'd go no lower than a formal complaint. But then again, I'm a cranky 'ol bastage.
 
At my school, you would have been arrested and charged with serious offenses unless the boxes were empty, believe it or not.:banghead:

As some other college students here can attest, you don't really have rights as a student. They own you if you are standing on campus property.
 
ttbadboy - good thing I never left ammo on my seat when I was at Clemson. REAL good thing they never found my SKS in my closet in McCabe!
 
thefitzvh: I'm afraid I would not have handled rent-a-cops attempting to break into my car as calmly as you did. Good going.
Click to expand...

At the two universities I attended they were real cops so I would still treat them with respect. ....probably not the top graduates from the police academy though. :)

Frankly they sound like idiots to me. Apparently there is no prohibition against having ammo or they would have at least confiscated it. I wouldn’t expect any results but you should definitely report them to the administration.
 
At my school, you would have been arrested and charged with serious offenses unless the boxes were empty, believe it or not.
Click to expand...
Beyond the self-imposed punishment for allowing yourself to be out of ammo, what kind of "serious offenses" are you talking about?
 
LT, lol... yeah, REALLY good thing they didn't find an SKS in your closet at McCabe. When I was a freshman, I lived in Johnstone E (since demolished) that was right across from McCabe. I didn't have any guns there, because we had mandatory "room inspections" (searches) performed by the RA from time to time. We were cool enough with our RA that he would overlook contraband Bud Light, but I've no doubt he would have reported a firearm, and my college career would have come to an end immediately, and maybe worse. I am under the impression that its a felony to posess a firearm (maybe or maybe not ammo as well, I'm not going to say I'm 100% sure about that) on any school grounds in SC. Needless to say I moved off campus sophmore year and never looked back.

I do have one brazen PRTM buddy that rides around campus with an M96 Recon and a SA-M7 behind the seat of his truck most of the time. I sure hope his car never gets searched...
 
thefitzvh I definitley think I wouldn't have been as friendly or joking as you were. IMO, it would have been hillarious if you had called 911 and said two guys were breaking into your car. That would have almost definitely gotten into the school newspaper. I never really thought about it, but I rode around with half a case of shotgun shells in my trunk for a good chunk of last spring semester (forgot they were in there after going trap shooting one day) and I've had an issue of Guns & Ammo in plain view on my back seat for at least a week. I'll have to be more careful from now on. And I would definitely file a formal complaint.
 
Look before you leap. Some states and schools have laws against firearms on school grounds. The cops saw ammo and thought guns. Check local laws or rules before you make a big stink. It could rub off on you.
 
I'd say you need to go directly to whoever's in charge of your campus police, and if you don't get at least a written apology from the officers immediately, you need to escalate.

Just because you're a student doesn't mean you don't have civil rights.
 
Per se having ammo in the car is not illegal but a police officer acting without authority is. Unless the car was parked on campus and the campus has a "no gun, no ammo" rule, he had no right to try to slim jim the car to search it. Sounds like an IA beef if you want.

BTW, I slimmed jim a city car once that had the keys left in the ignition. I then left a note advising the driver to bring City ID and show it to a clerk in an adjacent city building. In this case, there is implied consent by the City since the City doesn't want its cars stolen and would rather have one of its officers secure it.

BTW, ammo should be kept out of sight. You want someone to break into the car to look for a gun? Even if it's not there, most auto-burglars use rocks so for $100 for a new window, is it worth it?
 
Campus police right or wrong makes no issue of argument.

The Fitzvh never mentioned what state this occurred in but for those advising the issue be taken up with the Chief, etc. might be adding a lot of fuel that isn't wanted.

There are a lot of states out there that say that if you take firearms or ammo on a state funded campus (whether it be college, high school, grade school, whatever) you're likely to graduate to crowbar hotel status before you graduate anything else.

First of all I dang sure wouldn't have allowed ammo in my vehicle with a "welcome' or 'notice me big time' sign on it. There's no reason the ammo couldn't have been placed under the seat, in the trunk (if it's not a truck), etc. You put something like ammo in plain sight you're inviting problems.

Some good ol' common sense needs to be employed at times.
 
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