Has a police officer ever searched your vehicle?

[Sleeping in EQ]

Do tell.

[Pelado]

Nope, but some rent-a-cops did once.

[Bo Diddley]

I would love to give specific consent, limiting them to searching areas of my car and then revoke/amend where they can search after they've started.

But I haven't even been pulled over in 15 years.

[frank ryan]

I would love to give specific consent, limiting them to searching areas of my car and then revoke/amend where they can search after they've started.

But I haven't even been pulled over in 15 years.

Can you do that? I’ve always been told just to not give them permission.

[BlueK]

Reminds me of a story that happened to a friend of mine. He happened to be visiting someone who lived in a more sketchy part of town. It was getting late, like around 10pm or so and he was starting to head home. A cop pulled him over with the reasoning that when he stopped at a stop sign, he was a little bit over the line. The cop asked him if he had drugs with him and he said no. I very highly doubt he did or would. Then he asked him if he could search the car and he said no. So the cop got a little annoyed and went into the spiel about why he'd not give permission if he didn't have something to hide. My friend just responded that he knew his rights and didn't have to consent. So the cop said something like he could do it the easy way by just letting him search, or the hard way where he would go back to his vehicle to ask a judge to give him a warrant, but it could take a little while. And my friend just said, "ok, let's do it that way." So the cop then just said he was free to go.

Related to that, Texas has grand juries for all felony offenses, and a couple of years ago I was called to be on one for my county. Once a week for six months we'd meet so the cops and prosecutors could present evidence and we'd decide whether there was enough to indict and allow each case to move forward. Probably 80% or so of the cases we'd hear would have something to do with drugs. Usually it would be the cops pulling someone over, often in a neighborhood or area known to have a lot of drugs, and the people would get arrested because they'd give consent to search and there would be drugs. Sometimes the cop would smell marijuana or see evidence of it or some other drug, in which case consent wouldn't matter because the officer seeing evidence of it would constitute probable cause. But absent of it being readily visible, most of the time the people would just voluntarily confess or just weren't smart enough to make the cop get the warrant.

Then again, of course on a grand jury we wouldn't hear about any situation where someone who wasn't guilty of anything just allowed a search where nothing was found. I don't know how often that happens.

[Commando]

I got pulled over by a state trooper on I-15 (just south of Pocatello headed to school) who asked how fast I was going. I had the cruise control right at the speed limit. Then he walked around my vehicle, came back to my window, had me get out, and he pointed out a coolant leak. Then he returned to his car, came back and gave me a schpiel about how they were charged with protecting the interstate motorway and could he search my vehicle. I said I'd prefer he not. He asked why (giving me one last chance to give him probable cause) and I said I needed to get going. Dumb f*k. I wonder how many people fall for this gestapo shit.

[frank ryan]

Reminds me of a story that happened to a friend of mine. He happened to be visiting someone who lived in a more sketchy part of town. It was getting late, like around 10pm or so and he was starting to head home. A cop pulled him over with the reasoning that when he stopped at a stop sign, he was a little bit over the line. The cop asked him if he had drugs with him and he said no. I very highly doubt he did or would. Then he asked him if he could search the car and he said no. So the cop got a little annoyed and went into the spiel about why he'd not give permission if he didn't have something to hide. My friend just responded that he knew his rights and didn't have to consent. So the cop said something like he could do it the easy way by just letting him search, or the hard way where he would go back to his vehicle to ask a judge to give him a warrant, but it could take a little while. And my friend just said, "ok, let's do it that way." So the cop then just said he was free to go.

Related to that, Texas has grand juries for all felony offenses, and a couple of years ago I was called to be on one for my county. Once a week for six months we'd meet so the cops and prosecutors could present evidence and we'd decide whether there was enough to indict and allow each case to move forward. Probably 80% or so of the cases we'd hear would have something to do with drugs. Usually it would be the cops pulling someone over, often in a neighborhood or area known to have a lot of drugs, and the people would get arrested because they'd give consent to search and there would be drugs. Sometimes the cop would smell marijuana or see evidence of it or some other drug, in which case consent wouldn't matter because the officer seeing evidence of it would constitute probable cause. But absent of it being readily visible most of the time the people would just voluntarily confess or just weren't smart enough to make the cop get the warrant.

Then again, of course on a grand jury we wouldn't hear about any situation where someone who wasn't guilty of anything just allowed a search where nothing was found. I don't know how often that happens.

Was the grand jury for your county. There is one police force in your area that is (or at least was) profoundly corrupt, and known for planting stuff on suspects.

[frank ryan]

I got pulled over by a state trooper on I-15 (just south of Pocatello headed to school) who asked how fast I was going. I had the cruise control right at the speed limit. Then he walked around my vehicle, came back to my window, had me get out, and he pointed out a coolant leak. Then he returned to his car, came back and gave me a schpiel about how they were charged with protecting the interstate motorway and could he search my vehicle. I said I'd prefer he not. He asked why (giving me one last chance to give him probable cause) and I said I needed to get going. Dumb f*k. I wonder how many people fall for this gestapo shit.

Here's the thing, lets say one of your kids or one of their friends has a pill, a controlled substance and it accidentally falls out of their pocket. Cops find that in your car, you're in trubs.

[Commando]

Here's the thing, lets say one of your kids or one of their friends who a pill, a controlled substance and it accidentally falls out of their pocket. Cops find that in your car, you're in trubs.

Yep. Dictionary definition of a fishing expedition...

[Bo Diddley]

Can you do that? I’ve always been told just to not give them permission.

Yes. You can give partial consent, and any consent can be revoked at any time.

Also, the cops aren't going to get a warrant from a judge without probable cause, and with probable cause they can search. Shop there's no middle ground that I'm aware of.

[frank ryan]

Yes. You can give partial consent, and any consent can be revoked at any time.

Also, the cops aren't going to get a warrant from a judge without probable cause, and with probable cause they can search. Shop there's no middle ground that I'm aware of.

I did not know that. That sounds like a pain, also if they see something while searching where you okayed and they see something in a non-approved area, I think you'd still be in trouble.

[Bo Diddley]

I did not know that. That sounds like a pain, also if they see something while searching where you okayed and they see something in a non-approved area, I think you'd still be in trouble.

Correct. Unless it was something out of sight. Let's say I said no looking in the back seat, but they found a pill under a blanket there. Not a legal search.

[Commando]

Yeah. Last time I was pulled over at night, I reached into my cluttered glove box to fish out my registration. I've never seen a cop so excited to shine his light in the glove box trying to spot something illicit falling out. I almost turned around to tell him to calm down.

[Lost Student]

I got pulled over by a state trooper on I-15 (just south of Pocatello headed to school) who asked how fast I was going. I had the cruise control right at the speed limit. Then he walked around my vehicle, came back to my window, had me get out, and he pointed out a coolant leak. Then he returned to his car, came back and gave me a schpiel about how they were charged with protecting the interstate motorway and could he search my vehicle. I said I'd prefer he not. He asked why (giving me one last chance to give him probable cause) and I said I needed to get going. Dumb f*k. I wonder how many people fall for this gestapo shit.

Smart. Portage and Poky were the two big speed traps between Provo and IF. Even now when I'm driving through Poky I'm careful to not speed where the speed limit suddenly goes down.

[Commando]

Smart. Portage and Poky were the two big speed traps between Provo and IF. Even now when I'm driving through Poky I'm careful to not speed where the speed limit suddenly goes down.

Yeah that area where you drive 'through town' is the worst.