If the cop asked him if he was impaired by something, and he said Benadryl, then he could get arrested for being intoxicated. That may or may not be what happened though. The wording is so critical. I have the feeling we may not be getting the exact dialogue or story. >.<

 

Ding, ding, ding. Even if he is honestly telling us everything from his side of the story, it is almost certainly slightly different than the absolute truth. I have never heard two people on opposite sides of an argument, retell the even in exactly the same way. Each person will tell the story from their perspective, and exactly what happened is normally somewhere in the middle. If both parties saw it exactly the same way, then no one would be upset.

This is not saying that either the OP of the Officer are right or wrong, simply that there is probably more to the story than what we have been told so far.

Yes and no. If you have something to hide, then yes. If you have honestly not done anything wrong, you are better off in most situations to cooperate as well as you can. If they feel like you are trying to be evasive and uncooperative they will just look that much harder to find what you are hiding. That said, some of the best advice that I ever got was to not say more than you have to. If someone asks you a question, answer it, but keep you answer on point, and only say what you need to. The more you say the more chance you have of putting your foot in your mouth.

I have no problem with this as long as you don't have tinted windows. If he can't see in and see where your hands are, and what you are doing, it is going to make him very nervous, and think that you are trying to hide something.

Hopefully this isn't an issue because hopefully you are not dumb enough to be driving drunk/buzzed or whatever you call it to try and justify it.

I have had a fair amount of experience with cops, I have seen friends deal with cops, and the thing that I have found is that if you haven't done anything wrong, and you cooperate things generally go well. If you try to act like you are hiding something, and say things like "I have the right to keep my window rolled most of the way up," that they will generally look a bit harder to try and bust you with something. If you are actually trying to hide something, well good luck, and next time just follow the law, its fairly easy.

I understand that there are those cops out there who aren't doing their jobs the way that we would like, or that many would argue that they should, but if you cooperate your chances of having a positive outcome will go up. Just follow the don't say more than you need to rules, and eve if you do end up with a ticket, you still have the chance to fight it later. As for getting arrested, I'm sure that it sucks, I have never been in that situation, but from talking with friends who have, it goes much more smoothly when you cooperate.

 

I never roll my window down. I roll it down a crack, slip the paperwork through, and roll it back up. When he returns, I roll it down, grab my paperwork, and roll it back up. All the while, my iphone is doing it's thing fully recording the entire ordeal. Respect has NOTHING to do with it. If you want to be arrested, but be respectful, be my guest. I'd rather be free and an "a$$hole." I don't even drink, but again, you have absolutely NOTHING to gain by talking to the cops, and everything to lose. Do I need to put up videos of cops making crap up just for the hell of it? You and I both know the police state is in full swing, so protect yourselves, and do the above method. I assure you, you will be surprised at the outcome.

 

I agree with the tinted windows part....if you have tints, roll down your windows, as that can be used as P.cause, since he cannot see inside the car. However, the rest, I don't agree with, and neither does the law. You have NOTHING to gain with being a blabbermouth. Cooperation with police is doing what they ask of you, provided it is legal. License and registration/insurance requirement when you are pulled over...cooperate. Answering where you are coming from is NOT required and you are a jacka$$ asking for trouble if you do answer. Know your rights, and more importantly, know THEIR rights.

 

First off, don't talk to cops.
Second, never plead guilty for something you didn't do.
Third, there is no way in hell you are going to get into the Navy now with that DUI (and domestic violence charge) ...Especially with the troop draw-down that is happening right now.

 

I would agree with most of that. As I said earlier, you have nothing to gain from saying more than you need to. Where we differ is in the approach that we would take into the situation. I would go in expecting it to be a low stress incident where I am careful about my actions, but expect that I won't have any issues as long as there is no reason for there to be one. You go into the situation expecting to be violated, and become defensive, with the mindset that the cop is going to be a dick.

The funny thing is that when involved in a stop with the majority of cops who are trying to do the right thing, I will have no issue, where as you will immediately put the majority of them on guard as soon as they see that you are acting like you are guilty.

I think that the best statement that you made is to know your rights, and know theirs. There certainly will be times where they will try to catch you in a lie, or to get you to incriminate yourself in some way. They are trained to do this in situations where they think that you may have something to hide. They are trained to do this because this is how they find a good majority of illegal substances. Their overall goal is to catch the "bad guys" and this is a tactic that they use. The good thing is that if you have nothing to hide, they can't find anything.

I would rather them be borderline infringing on my rights and catch a drunk driver than walk around with their heads in the sand, and let drunk drivers slip though their fingers. But then I also would prefer to have a moment of inconvenience than have an innocent bystander get killed.

Enforcing the law and protecting people's rights is a fine line, and we all hate it when we are the ones having the law enforced against us, but I believe that in most cases we are still far enough on the rights side that we shouldn't really describe it as a "Police State". I know that many will disagree with me, and that is fine.

 

Cops are not doctors. They do not posses the right NOR the knowledge to make that decision. However, if a bottle of medicine states that one cannot drive/operate machinery, then it becomes a problem for the driver. I believe the story. The OP admitted to someone he THOUGHT was a minor thing, he felt was 99% of good people feel, the need to talk/cooperate, and in turn, got himself royally screwed.

 

Correction on your second point.....

Never plead guilty for something you DID or DIDN'T do.

 

Your method would work in a perfect world. The point is simple. They have power, you do not. You do not know when that ONE day, that ONE time will come, where you run into a cop with a chip on his shoulder. Maybe he didn't get promoted, maybe he got screwed in court, hell, maybe he didn't get laid that night, the point is, you will never know who you are dealing with.

I have a big problem with one of your statements....I don't accept ANY, even a teeny tiny drop of right infringement to "keep the streets and officers safe." There are plenty of ways, legal ways, for them to stop drunk drivers. If someone is swerving all over the road, they immediately have probable cause. If I am driving in a straight line, not doing anything out of the ordinary, then there is no reason to harass me.

There are countless ways (and videos) of cops abusing their power, committing illegal acts, and getting away with it. The ONLY reason this occurs is that people let them get away with it. Thankfully, modern technology (cellphones with cameras) have kept them on their best behavior for the most part, however, they continue to violate people's rights, and sheep generally giving in to them because they are "the law."

We can agree to disagree, but I will leave you with this...I honestly hope you never have to find out how it is when the law is "enforced against you."

 

LTD2000 is right. My commentary about cousins was merely an obscure reference to an S2ki historical post and wos posted merely as a humorous diversion to those who have been here long enough to remember it. It it should be noted that there is no evidence whatsoever that the OP has an "unusual" relationship to his girlfriend. I do, however, stand by my American vs. Canadian bacon commentary.

It IS a pretty bizzarre story, though. I never could figure out why he was itching.