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LEO's & others Question for ya.
drobs
Member Posts: 22,620 ✭✭✭✭
What would/should you/I do in this situation?
This is a cut and paste of my post to the Cook County thread.
My friend was pulled over in Desplaines Il last weekend for having a headlight out. The officer that pulled him over asked if she could search his car, he said no. She ordered him out of his car & forcefully removed the keys to his car from his hands then preformed an illegal search. In his trunk she found his renasaince sword & hatchet, she went on to make a point to try to tell him that's illegal, which he politefully to her that it wasn't.
They finally let him go on his way after violating his rights.
So what are you supposed to do in a case like that?
What recourse does he have? What should he have done at the time?
By the way I should add, that my friend is an intimidating looking guy. Long hair, full beard, neck & arms like an oak tree. Doesn't have money to threaten lawyers and after watching them perform an illegal search didn't want to even aggrivate the situation further.
Regards,
This is a cut and paste of my post to the Cook County thread.
My friend was pulled over in Desplaines Il last weekend for having a headlight out. The officer that pulled him over asked if she could search his car, he said no. She ordered him out of his car & forcefully removed the keys to his car from his hands then preformed an illegal search. In his trunk she found his renasaince sword & hatchet, she went on to make a point to try to tell him that's illegal, which he politefully to her that it wasn't.
They finally let him go on his way after violating his rights.
So what are you supposed to do in a case like that?
What recourse does he have? What should he have done at the time?
By the way I should add, that my friend is an intimidating looking guy. Long hair, full beard, neck & arms like an oak tree. Doesn't have money to threaten lawyers and after watching them perform an illegal search didn't want to even aggrivate the situation further.
Regards,
Comments
I feel bad for you and your friend. This is what some of our LEO's are being taught in school. They have no respect for our rights [V]
For a headlight out and he looked like a tough guy? [V]
She had no probable cause to search, he can probably kick her butt in court by himself if he is armed with a printout of the laws and the judge is not liberal. This won't cost him any extra money.
Hope all works out well.
Never heard of them being illegal to own? What if he was an Actor and it was a mear stage prop, Then does that not become a tool of the trade (sword & Hatchet)?
"I know Everything!"
"My Wife is a Hair Stylist"
Regards,
When guns were invented everything changed. For the first time in the history of the world a frail woman had a chance to sucessfully defend herself and home. My dream is that one of the anti-gun nuts will need a gun for defense and be unable to have one because of their own actions.
timbroman@aol.com
Now it's out of hand. In IN we got a little project called "Operation Pullover". Contrary to what our lawmakers told us about not being stopped for a compliance check, guess what? Now, an officer stands on the corner of a busy intersection, looks into your car to see if the belt's on, and then points you to the side of the road if it is not.
Some officer overstepped their bounds there drobs. Have your friend tell the mayor or whomever this officer's boss is. Mayors go to chiefs, chiefs to assistants, to captains, captains to lieutenants, to sageants, to patrolman. One way or the other this officer needs to have their jets cooled. That's one reason I feel like hanging around for 30 years intstead of going out to pasture in the nest year and a half. Departments need some laid back for the poor guy on the street officers who are seasoned with a little apathy and grace. Good luck to your friend.
"Save the Whalers, they need jobs too."
Twodogs
All you "LEO's" out there go ahead and flame me.........I'm like asbestos.
Pretty strong statement.
But I won't "flame you"....mace you maybe.
Twodogs
We're a long way away from the neighborhood beat cop of yesteryear. New LEO's now, are for the most part, unfamiliar with their patrol's, trained to enforce the laws of the state no matter what or how stupid they are, not gun friendly or gun savvy, and JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS......hey it's for our own protection.......it's for the kids.......it's THE LAW [xx(][xx(][xx(]
Like others have said, you should advise your friend to either contact the officer's superiors or review board if there is one for that department. By my training, searches cannot be done unless the person either grants permission, or if it is search incident to arrest.
mohawk600, I won't flame you too much, but I sincerely hope with opinions like that, if you ever need an LEO for anything, don't bother calling. We wouldn't want you to be a hypocrite.
CDM
On the other hand, if he started debating her, no matter how politely, he might have raised red flags. It's hard to tell from one side of a story, especially when the part is missing between when he was pulled over and when he's getting out of the car with the engine off and she snatches the keys.
T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
That is not to say the "long-haired" friend is lying, just that there are always different versions of the truth, mostly derived from the completely different perspectives of all involved parties.
Personally, I believe my men until I can believe then no longer. Might seem like an odd viewpoint, but I always have to ask myself first and foremost, why is this person in my office telling me this thing right now? More times than not, it is not patriotism or moral/ethical values which drives their reporting, it is downright personal gain, self-promotion or that oh soo sweet dish... REVENGE!
File the complaint with the Des Plaines PD, and state your case. I am willing to bet this develops into more of a fair-sided story than we are currently being given. While there are "rogue" cops out there, by and large they can get this out of control without someone having reported them once or twice.
Send us an update on your friends decision and the outcome.
NSDQ!
"Nobody dislikes war more than warriors, but we value the causes of peace so highly that we will not duck a war in an effort to get a lasting peace." -General Daniel "Chappie" James
CDM
I've heard of people that were pulled over in similiar situations as this demanding that the officer have a superior come out. Is that valid.
I should add that offeror is on to something, my friend has only been driving for 2 years, though he is 29, never got a license till recently. This was his 1st time ever being pulled over while driving. He was having trouble finding the vehicle registration, took him probably 5 minutes to find it in the glove box pinned inside the owner's manual (father's car).
Doesn't everyone act nervous when they are pulled over though?
Regards,
The LEO can then call for assistance or call for information - and the thing is sorted out right there.
But I'd probably advise him to, just as Twodogs said, go to the chief of police at the policestation or internal affairs - go above the LEO's head at the policeforce.
This will most likely set off an investigation and/or a reprimand for the LEO involved - afterall, the policeforce should want to keep up their apperance in a positive way - not show themselves as thugs doing it their own way.
So, file a complaint at someones office above the LEO who can straighten things out.
Don't do anything that I've allready done - That'd be just plain STOOOOOOPID.
A superior officer can be called out. Usually if the contact officer has any doubt they call for a superior. The driver can ask for that officer's superior but nothing says they will be there.
That dept. should have complaint forms available at their headquarters for this kind of circumstance. Our dept. does and it gets the attention of an over zealous officer when they get an invite into the chief's office to explain their actions. Our dept. figures if a person's willing to go beyond lip service and put a complaint in writing, there's something to be looked into.
"Save the Whalers, they need jobs too."
Regards,