diesel556
Lone Star Veteran
imported post
I was pulled over for slowing down to look at a building while on the way back home with my wife and family in the car (including a 2 year old) at around midnight in southern Iowa. After checking my papers the officer ordered me out of the vehicle.
A second officer from another car walked near us, and observed from the sidewalk.
The 1st officer was very young (18-20) and extremely nervous. He was avoiding eye contact, his hands were shaking, he was touching my papers, his taser, his belt, etc. with his left hand, and his voice was shaking. He asked me question after question (fishing), and I responded I don't know, or with generic answers (i.e. "Where are you staying?", "A motel," "What motel," "I don't know what the name is").
The 1st officer repeated what seemed to me his mantra over and over throughout this, "You're acting very strangely compared to the stops that I usually make." I'm not sure what his intent was when he made this statement over and over, but I just ignored it every time.
Long story short. They searched my car without my consent. I stated very clearly, twice, that they DID NOT have consent to search my vehicle, but that I would comply with their orders, and officer 2 replied that he was going override me. They advised me that I had committed 2 infractions, one of them criminal were it true; yet the night ended with me driving off without so much as a ticket let alone an arrest. Bottom line is they did not know the law.
At the end of it officer 1 asked me why I wasn't answering his questions, I responded to him that I've been told that it is not a good idea to answer questions. He asked, "Who told you it's not a good idea," and then "You don't think it's a good idea to answer questions asked of you by a police officer," and rolled his eyes at officer 2.
He also asked why I didn't want him to search my vehicle, and I responded very very firmly, "Because I strongly believe in the 4th amendment."
I guess there really is nothing halfway about the Iowa way they treat you.
If you would like details PM me, and I might send you the extended version
I was pulled over for slowing down to look at a building while on the way back home with my wife and family in the car (including a 2 year old) at around midnight in southern Iowa. After checking my papers the officer ordered me out of the vehicle.
A second officer from another car walked near us, and observed from the sidewalk.
The 1st officer was very young (18-20) and extremely nervous. He was avoiding eye contact, his hands were shaking, he was touching my papers, his taser, his belt, etc. with his left hand, and his voice was shaking. He asked me question after question (fishing), and I responded I don't know, or with generic answers (i.e. "Where are you staying?", "A motel," "What motel," "I don't know what the name is").
The 1st officer repeated what seemed to me his mantra over and over throughout this, "You're acting very strangely compared to the stops that I usually make." I'm not sure what his intent was when he made this statement over and over, but I just ignored it every time.
Long story short. They searched my car without my consent. I stated very clearly, twice, that they DID NOT have consent to search my vehicle, but that I would comply with their orders, and officer 2 replied that he was going override me. They advised me that I had committed 2 infractions, one of them criminal were it true; yet the night ended with me driving off without so much as a ticket let alone an arrest. Bottom line is they did not know the law.
At the end of it officer 1 asked me why I wasn't answering his questions, I responded to him that I've been told that it is not a good idea to answer questions. He asked, "Who told you it's not a good idea," and then "You don't think it's a good idea to answer questions asked of you by a police officer," and rolled his eyes at officer 2.
He also asked why I didn't want him to search my vehicle, and I responded very very firmly, "Because I strongly believe in the 4th amendment."
I guess there really is nothing halfway about the Iowa way they treat you.
If you would like details PM me, and I might send you the extended version