Interesting column on police encounters

The Fredericksburg Patch has a periodic column called "Ask a Cop." In this latest column, Fredericksburg Police Chief David Nye clarifies the two different kinds of police stops.

What he leaves out is that most LEOs are quite skilled in the ability to intentionally keep you from knowing which kind of stop it is.

TFred

http://fredericksburg.patch.com/articles/ask-a-cop-police-encounters

P.S. Can anyone recall the post or source where I seem to recall someone once explained why it is better to ask, "Am I free to go?" rather than, "Am I being detained?" I'd like to read that again...

i'd like to read the "free to go" vs "being detained" thread and opinions also.
my gut reaction tells me "am i free to go?" would be better, but that's without my having any substantive info...

It wasn't a Terrible article... aside from confusing an Officer's authority to stop a person and instead saying it was a right to stop them. Why do so many confuse rights and authorities like authority was a word that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth?

mk4 said:

i'd like to read the "free to go" vs "being detained" thread and opinions also.
my gut reaction tells me "am i free to go?" would be better, but that's without my having any substantive info...

Click to expand...

It may have been a User post, but I can't say for sure. Someone really needs to start indexing the important posts!



TFred

Fallschirmjäger said:

authority was a word that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth?

Click to expand...

It should leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Hence why they avoid it. God forbid they concede reality.

mk4 said:

i'd like to read the "free to go" vs "being detained" thread and opinions also.
my gut reaction tells me "am i free to go?" would be better, but that's without my having any substantive info...

Click to expand...

Reading and thinking on this subject for the better part of five years, I am convinced the best thing to do is take away all the opportunities for the cop to deliberately create or leave confusion or uncertainty.

"No offense, officer. I know you're probably just doing your job. But, I do not consent to an encounter with you." A polite, express refusal.

Now, he must have genuine reasonable suspicion to continue the encounter. (Terry v Ohio). Now, there is no doubt. He can no longer claim I consented to talk to him. The ball is in his court, and he is forced to play it back to me.