Yard Sale
Regular Member
It's that time of year again, when local law enforcement suckles at the overtime teats supplied by NDOT. Reno just had a suspicionless stop Saturday night.
I'm going to relate my most recent experience with one such stop. How is this NV OC related? Well from now on I'll be OC'ing in my vehicle during the peak times these crimes occur. It is also a reminder to record everything because you may be dealing with career criminals masquerading as incompetent law enforcement. Now on with my story...
Driving home from a fantastic day of dirt riding, I got a bad feeling about the short return trip. It was Superbowl Sunday and I was on the highway the local law enforcement use to set up their DUI checkpoints on days like Memorial day. It has been some time since my previous (unpleasant) encounter with them. (In a nutshell, they are illegal and I think any person conducting such a stop and detainment should suffer severe consequences.)
There was no checkpoint on the main highway. However, on the road to my house I soon saw a DUI Checkpoint Ahead sign. Aw @#$!, here it comes, I thought. They had a big trailer, lots of police officers, a sheriff's deputy, lots of lights, and a side area with a canopy, more cops, and more lights. I cracked my window down a few inches.
The first police officer went into his spiel which ended with him asking me to lower my window. I remained silent. He told me to lower my window. I lowered it a fraction of an inch.
- Sir, please lower your window so I can hear you.
- I can hear you just fine.
- How much have you been drinking tonight?
- (silence)
- Lower your window so I can hear you.
- No.
- No?!
- How much have you been drinking tonight?
- No questions.
- No questions?! Alright, pull over there.
So I pulled over into the double secret probation area. He demanded my papers. I handed my license through the window crack.
- I have to get the registration and insurance proof from the glove compartment.
- OK, fine.
Uh huh, he can hear just fine now. Because he wanted to smell my breath not hear the words I wasn't speaking.
- Keep your hands on the steering wheel.
Fine with me. I had a gun and he'd $#!& bricks if he saw it. Just kidding, I had two guns. Other officers and the deputy shined flashlights into my truck interior looking for an excuse to screw me over. They also looked at my my motorcycle and gear in the back. I listened to the cop talk to the supervisor as he presented him my papers. The word uncooperative was repeated and there was mention of my window.
I was ordered out of my vehicle. I thought of my gun. Naaah. I locked the doors and shut my door quickly. On the way to the sidewalk I put my hands in my pockets because it was cold. They didn't like that so I put my hands in my armpits. I had five cops arranged around me in a semi-circle. None were within reach. All were within reach of ASP or Taser. They had Glocks.
The supervisor was an older guy with a greying cop mustache. He started asking questions. I think the first one was, what's the problem. I remained silent. He brought out a penlight and said something about following it with my eyes. I never looked at it. This angered supervisor cop. He mentioned some other tests then said I'd probably not do them. Well, someone's finally catching on! No wonder he's big man on campus. Then, he says, mostly to himself:
- OK, I can smell alcohol on your breath.
F---- ay. Either he's supercop and could smell the last drink I had, a margarita at Xmas (how many weeks does it take to metabolize tequila anyway) or he's a corrupt son of a b---- who invented probable cause to adminster a blood-alcohol test. Alex, I'll take corrupt swine for one thousand! I couldn't help but smirk when he said that.
Supervisor cop went into his bad cop routine about the breathalyzer. He went on and on about how it was required by the NRS and how he would enjoy taking me to jail to adminster the test.
- If you refuse I will take you to jail and I will take that to jail and that to jail (pointing to truck and bike)
I think he expected me to say, sir, yes, sir. I remained silent. Remaining silent is not refusing.
- Blow into this.
Wow, what a night of firsts. Out of the vehicle and now a breathalyzer (later edit: preliminary alcohol screening device). After I expelled my dirt-biking-depleted asthmatic lungs into the device, he looked at the reading. I couldn't see it but I knew it was zero or as close to zero as the minimum bidder equipment can register for someone who's been drinking water from a Camelbak all day.
Supervisor cop just deflated when he looked at it. It was like I told him his puppy had died. Then he perked up, back into the bad cop routine again.
- What's your problem? We're just trying to do our jobs and we don't need you making it hard for us.
- Perhaps you should seek a new line of work.
- If you have a problem with what we're doing why don't you write a letter to the editor of the Reno-Gazette Journal?
- Really? Are they the ones who set up this checkpoint?
Supervisor cop then turned his attention to my paperwork. If he couldn't get me for DUI then by god he was going to get me for not having my papers in order!
- Do you still live at (address) ?
- All of the information I gave you is current and correct.
- <agitated> Is this your current address?
- The address shown on my license, registration, and insurance ... is ... my ... current ... address.
After a while...
- OK, get back in your car and don't ever let me see you here again. I should arrest you for obstruction.
- In order for me to leave I'm going to have to put my hand in my pocket to get my car key. You said to keep my hands out of my pockets.
And I was gone, my property intact but my freedom diminished.
I'm going to relate my most recent experience with one such stop. How is this NV OC related? Well from now on I'll be OC'ing in my vehicle during the peak times these crimes occur. It is also a reminder to record everything because you may be dealing with career criminals masquerading as incompetent law enforcement. Now on with my story...
Driving home from a fantastic day of dirt riding, I got a bad feeling about the short return trip. It was Superbowl Sunday and I was on the highway the local law enforcement use to set up their DUI checkpoints on days like Memorial day. It has been some time since my previous (unpleasant) encounter with them. (In a nutshell, they are illegal and I think any person conducting such a stop and detainment should suffer severe consequences.)
There was no checkpoint on the main highway. However, on the road to my house I soon saw a DUI Checkpoint Ahead sign. Aw @#$!, here it comes, I thought. They had a big trailer, lots of police officers, a sheriff's deputy, lots of lights, and a side area with a canopy, more cops, and more lights. I cracked my window down a few inches.
The first police officer went into his spiel which ended with him asking me to lower my window. I remained silent. He told me to lower my window. I lowered it a fraction of an inch.
- Sir, please lower your window so I can hear you.
- I can hear you just fine.
- How much have you been drinking tonight?
- (silence)
- Lower your window so I can hear you.
- No.
- No?!
- How much have you been drinking tonight?
- No questions.
- No questions?! Alright, pull over there.
So I pulled over into the double secret probation area. He demanded my papers. I handed my license through the window crack.
- I have to get the registration and insurance proof from the glove compartment.
- OK, fine.
Uh huh, he can hear just fine now. Because he wanted to smell my breath not hear the words I wasn't speaking.
- Keep your hands on the steering wheel.
Fine with me. I had a gun and he'd $#!& bricks if he saw it. Just kidding, I had two guns. Other officers and the deputy shined flashlights into my truck interior looking for an excuse to screw me over. They also looked at my my motorcycle and gear in the back. I listened to the cop talk to the supervisor as he presented him my papers. The word uncooperative was repeated and there was mention of my window.
I was ordered out of my vehicle. I thought of my gun. Naaah. I locked the doors and shut my door quickly. On the way to the sidewalk I put my hands in my pockets because it was cold. They didn't like that so I put my hands in my armpits. I had five cops arranged around me in a semi-circle. None were within reach. All were within reach of ASP or Taser. They had Glocks.
The supervisor was an older guy with a greying cop mustache. He started asking questions. I think the first one was, what's the problem. I remained silent. He brought out a penlight and said something about following it with my eyes. I never looked at it. This angered supervisor cop. He mentioned some other tests then said I'd probably not do them. Well, someone's finally catching on! No wonder he's big man on campus. Then, he says, mostly to himself:
- OK, I can smell alcohol on your breath.
F---- ay. Either he's supercop and could smell the last drink I had, a margarita at Xmas (how many weeks does it take to metabolize tequila anyway) or he's a corrupt son of a b---- who invented probable cause to adminster a blood-alcohol test. Alex, I'll take corrupt swine for one thousand! I couldn't help but smirk when he said that.
Supervisor cop went into his bad cop routine about the breathalyzer. He went on and on about how it was required by the NRS and how he would enjoy taking me to jail to adminster the test.
- If you refuse I will take you to jail and I will take that to jail and that to jail (pointing to truck and bike)
I think he expected me to say, sir, yes, sir. I remained silent. Remaining silent is not refusing.
- Blow into this.
Wow, what a night of firsts. Out of the vehicle and now a breathalyzer (later edit: preliminary alcohol screening device). After I expelled my dirt-biking-depleted asthmatic lungs into the device, he looked at the reading. I couldn't see it but I knew it was zero or as close to zero as the minimum bidder equipment can register for someone who's been drinking water from a Camelbak all day.
Supervisor cop just deflated when he looked at it. It was like I told him his puppy had died. Then he perked up, back into the bad cop routine again.
- What's your problem? We're just trying to do our jobs and we don't need you making it hard for us.
- Perhaps you should seek a new line of work.
- If you have a problem with what we're doing why don't you write a letter to the editor of the Reno-Gazette Journal?
- Really? Are they the ones who set up this checkpoint?
Supervisor cop then turned his attention to my paperwork. If he couldn't get me for DUI then by god he was going to get me for not having my papers in order!
- Do you still live at (address) ?
- All of the information I gave you is current and correct.
- <agitated> Is this your current address?
- The address shown on my license, registration, and insurance ... is ... my ... current ... address.
After a while...
- OK, get back in your car and don't ever let me see you here again. I should arrest you for obstruction.
- In order for me to leave I'm going to have to put my hand in my pocket to get my car key. You said to keep my hands out of my pockets.
And I was gone, my property intact but my freedom diminished.