Citizen
Founder's Club Member
Why am i packing?
Well officer why are you illegally detaining me ?
Classic! Lotsa potential to start a losing argument while the cop hunts for something he gin up against ya. But, classic!
Why am i packing?
Well officer why are you illegally detaining me ?
Shortly there after, you drive away after noticing the deputy is also there. As a former cop, I can see how that might make this deputy uncomfortable. He could be concerned as to whether you might have ill intentions toward him.
I am "uncomfortable" when a person from Chicago comes to town, wearing a CUBS jersey...I am sure they have "ill intententions" of rooting against my beloved Cardnials......So this quailfies for RAS?...
It is a county park and fishing access but there are no restrictions in place pertaining to the carry/possession of firearms in that area.
I hadn't thought about the possibility of this being a violation of 4th Amendment rights. The Deputy told me he wanted to see my ID. He told my wife he stopped us because he wanted to know why I was packing. There was no other reasoning behind the stop. No illegal acts were performed and no traffic laws were violated to warrant the stop in the first place.
I want to see that same Deputy stop a truck for having a rifle in the back window and have him ask the driver why he has it in there.
It seems to me like a way for them to pervert the laws to their liking so they can come out doing what they want/feel is right.
I posted this thread on another forum as well and had a retired DE State Trooper tell me: "Yes they can stop you just to check the welfare of the people in your vehicle." He told me that it's legal to stop anyone on the road. If you watch them long enough, they'll do something to screw up.
I had to call BS on that. I don't think it's legal to do. I don't think the stop that my wife and I were subjected to today was legal and lawful. I don't feel complaining to the Sheriff, whom I know personally, would help much. I've got a call into the state Attorney General's office to see what they say about it. I'll go straight to the source. I might contact the sheriff too, but we'll see.
As a former cop myself, I can see one potential "reasonable suspicion" the officer could try to use in his defense. Your story details that you were standing outside the bathroom, gun visible, when the deputy came out. He drove away, and you did also. You pulled off on the other side of the bridge, and apparently he had done the same. So in his mind, he's concerned that this armed person "could" be following him.
Shortly there after, you drive away after noticing the deputy is also there. As a former cop, I can see how that might make this deputy uncomfortable. He could be concerned as to whether you might have ill intentions toward him.
Aside from this, your story doesn't present any legal reasons why he could have stopped you. If the deputy could convince a judge that his concern for his or the public's safety (due to his perceiving you as acting oddly in 'following' him) then he could use that as his "reasonable suspicion" to stop you. That's all they need to pull over a vehicle and arrest it's movement.
My wife is from Dubuque, so she's a life-long Cubs fan. I'm from Arkansas, so I'm a life-long Cardinals fan (through the Travelers).
We eye each other suspiciously and dance around with casual conversation on days they play each other. The rest of the time we agree to root for the other's team, so long as they're not playing each other.
We have a standing agreement to not pull guns over NL Central games, but I'm pretty sure she could take me.
So let me get this straight, the deputy is "uncomfortable".....hmmm...Guess it was like the 60's, when one was "uncomfortable" about an African American sitting at a lunch counter.
I am "uncomfortable" when a person from Chicago comes to town, wearing a CUBS jersey...I am sure they have "ill intententions" of rooting against my beloved Cardnials......So this quailfies for RAS?...
I don't like piercings, mohawks and Chevy Trucks....I am sure they all have"ill intentions" to take my daughter, force her to get piercings, get a mohawk and to buy a Chevy Truck.... so I guess they should all be pulled over, detained, and searched.
Sorry, your logic has absolutey no merit.
The Courts have said as much,
And simple " 'good faith on the part of the arresting officer is not enough.' ... If subjective good faith alone were the test, the protections of the Fourth Amendment would evaporate, and the people would be 'secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,' only in the discretion of the police." — quoting Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89 (1964) Reasonable suspicion must derive from more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch.' " Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1883, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).
As a "former cop"...I hope that you take the time to know "your" rights so that you can tell your LEO friends what mine are.
I know it has been said many times on these forums, but it just baffles me. Law Enforcement Officials are hired (and paid by the taxpayers) to enforce the laws, and this is not bashing but a question, how is this even possible, if they do not know the laws themselves?
It just blows me away...
Deputy Dawg... pulled us over.
40s-and-wfan,
What is the officer's name?