Posted on Jul 26, 2015
How can a traffic stop go to an arrest? How do you protect yourself?
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A lot of people are asking what the justification for Sandra Bland's arrest was. The justification for the arrest was that she made a technical error of which I'm sure she was even unaware. "In Pennsylvania v. Mimms, the Supreme Court held that if a vehicle is lawfully detained for a traffic violation, the police officers may, without violating the search and seizure limitations of the Fourth Amendment, order to the driver to exit their car. This also includes the power to conduct a pat-down search of the driver if the officer reasonably concludes the driver is armed and dangerous." Officers routinely utilize what is known as "unquestioned command of a situation". This what they are trained to do. Orders such as put out your cigarette or turn off the radio fall in the same category. If it was his intent to create "cause" for an arrest by doing this or not is known only in the mind of the Officer. If Bland had not refused the "put out your cigarette" and then the "get out of the car" order she would have received a warning and been on her way, she would not have given him the justification he needed to make an arrest. I hope anyone who reads this will keep this in mind if pulled over or otherwise having interactions with a Police Officer. The reason for this type of precedence and law is to ensure the safety of the officer. Unfortunately the Police get to see the worst of society and deal with it on a regular basis. Follow their instructions.
Police
Law
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
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You are absolutely right. If she only would of done what she was told to do by the Officer, she would probably not have been arrested. Why is it that people just simply refuse to cooperate with LE? Why do they argue and have to become arrogant and argumentative . That's what we have Courts for. The Court is where you argue your case, not on the Street. Let the Officer do his job and believe me, life will be so much better for everyone involved. If you have a problem with being stopped and even arrested, let the Court decide. I once had a Judge say to me, "your job is to just bring the violator into my Court. I will decide if they are Guilty or Innocent "
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LTC Stephen C.
Sgt David G Duchesneau, here's the way I see it. If the man in this photo told me to turn off the radio, I'd turn off the radio!
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Sgt David G Duchesneau
Colonel, thank you for that and I know you would because you are a professional and respectable Law Abiding citizen, and of course, a Military Gentleman! God, Steve, did I say that right?lol
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LTC Stephen C.
Sgt David G Duchesneau, my gracious Southern mother taught me to accept any and all compliments with style and grace, deserved or not!
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I've found that remaining respectful, even when they are not, is a sure fire way to ensure that things do not escalate out of control.
If the first thing out of your mouth is "Sir" or "Ma'am", the situation is highly unlikely to move beyond a citation. In fact being belligerent is a good way for your bad day to get worse.
I realize that respect is a foreign concept to many, but it has kept me from being cited everytime I've been pulled over (no joke).
If the first thing out of your mouth is "Sir" or "Ma'am", the situation is highly unlikely to move beyond a citation. In fact being belligerent is a good way for your bad day to get worse.
I realize that respect is a foreign concept to many, but it has kept me from being cited everytime I've been pulled over (no joke).
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Sgt David G Duchesneau
Damn good advice and you are so right. Be humble, respectful, courteous and polite and no way can things escalate into any serious problems.
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SGT Jerrold Pesz
Sgt David G Duchesneau - Normally I agree with that but I have known a couple of officers who could turn any contact with a citizen into a fight. One in particular ended up having to fight damn neat everybody that he came in contact with. After being present when he made a couple of arrests I understood why. He was abusive to everbody. Instead of saying "Sir, will you please step out of the car" he would say "get your god damn ass out of the car". His normal way to stopping someone that he wanted to ask a question was to say something like "hey motherfucker, get your sorry ass over here. I want to talk to you." No surprise that most people seemed to not respond very well to his approach. Fortunately they are rare but there are cops that are just assholes. That said most people that end up going to jail on a misdemeanor talk their way into jail.
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If you haven't truly broken the law, just remain calm and do what the cops say. As long as the video and audio recording at the traffic stop isn't altered, then you will be ok in the long run. It's the somewhat shady individuals that seem to have issues at traffic stops and can't seem to follow directions. Please keep in mind, I'm not naive and I know that there are some shady cops out there too just looking to screw people over, in that case please just cooperate and hopefully it all works out because we know talking back and resisting arrest is not the answer.
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