imported post
savery wrote:
Since there have been quite a few stories about people being detained while carrying, I thought I'd reccomend a book. It's you and the police, and it helps clarify a lot of misconceptions (like the fact that you're not required to cary, not to mention produce ID if you're not operating a motor vehicle) and the fact that you shouldn't just ask if you're being detained, but if the cop has "reasonable articulabe suspicion" and what his RAS is. A really good book, tels you how to handle the cops and what your rights are.
http://www.amazon.com/You-Police-Boston-T-Party/dp/1888766018
I am not sure your going to "handle" the cops.. but rather have the knowledge to better understand what your own rights are.
And if you are driving a motor vehicle....
§
46.2-104. Possession of registration cards; exhibiting registration card and licenses; failure to carry license or registration card.
The operator of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer being operated on the highways in the Commonwealth, shall have in his possession: (i) the registration card issued by the Department or the registration card issued by the state or country in which the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is registered, and (ii) his driver's license, learner's permit, or temporary driver's permit.
The
owner or operator of any
motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall stop on the signal of any law-enforcement officer who is in uniform or shows his badge or other sign of authority and
shall,
on the officer's request,
exhibit his registration card,
driver's license, learner's permit, or temporary driver's permit and write his name in the presence of the officer, if so required,
for the purpose of establishing his identity.
Every person licensed by the Department as a driver or issued a learner's or temporary driver's permit who fails to carry his license or permit, and the registration card for the vehicle which he operates, shall be guilty of a traffic infraction and upon conviction punished by a fine of ten dollars. However, if any person summoned to appear before a court for failure to display his license, permit, or registration card presents to the officer issuing the summons or a magistrate of the county or city in which the summons was issued, before the return date of the summons, a license or permit issued to him prior to the time the summons was issued or a registration card, as the case may be, or appears pursuant to the summons and produces before the court a license or permit issued to him prior to the time the summons was issued or a registration card, as the case may be, he shall have complied with the provisions of this section.
(Code 1950, §§ 46-15, 46-80; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-7; 1964, c. 205; 1972, c. 362; 1978, cc. 500, 605; 1984, c. 780; 1988, c. 74; 1989, c. 727.)
