The Joint that almost cost me my freedom.

[Tuk2]

Very long story, might be worth it might not, but at least I incorporate paragraphs and some punctuation.

I can't believe what I just went through its ridiculous. This one I have to setup for you to understand. So I'm driving behind my friend today and we're going to lunch. 99% of the time I don’t have ANYTHING illegal on my persons or in my vehicle unless im driving a sack home, or if I have a joint on me im about to smoke. That’s just how I am out of safety, staying out of trouble is all about eliminating possibilities and chance, not taking unnecessary risk… that’s the name of the game. But today, just minutes beforehand I had rolled a nice J at home, and stuck it inside my pack of cigarettes to smoke after work on my way home later that night.

So were driving, I see the new police SUV that they recently added to the local PD a little bit behind us, its nice, got a cage for dogs too.. I see this cop driving up and down this road/area at all times of the day, I see them stopping alot of people etc. So we catch a light, im next to my friend, windows down and he says "now dont do anything.." Im like "ya haha I see him.." hes to the right behind me a car or two. Light turns green, I go at a normal pace, hit my blinker, change lanes to the left behind my friend to try and keep a distance from the cop, he immediatly changes lanes behind me, and lights em up. "SHIT" why didn’t I expect this. I pull over into a neighborhood and my friend drives off. Kill the music, kill the car, roll down the windows, and got my license and registration ready. Cop walks up, says he pulled me over because you cant see the red reflection of my brake lights because I have blackout light covers on them, its a vette and you can see the brakes normal fine everyone says. He says hes gonna run my info it will take a sec. I say yes sir and wait, then see the second cop in his passengers seat. “That’s kinda serious” im thinking, watching them in my rearview few mins later they both step out of the car and walk towards me. "SHIT, NOT GOOD SIGN" im thinking.

Now I never had a ticket, never been arrested, no history of anything not even a detention back to high school. cop asks me to step out of the car. "SHIT SHIT WHY DID I BRING THE J WITH ME can I take it back?!?” im thinking... I say yes sir, and he pulls me behind my car. He immediately says "you still live next to so and so (well call him Brian)" and I immediately knew whats up. "Brian" is this minor who lives on my street who is an extremely bad kid. Steals from family and friends, lies, does tons of drugs of any kind, long record most incarcerated adults dont even have. This person is my neighbor who I have known about/seen around for many years who I just talk to in the street on rare occasions just as a neighborly thing. I do not and will not hang out with this person, go anywhere with, or do anything with Brian because hes bad news. I haven’t seen or heard from Brian in awhile, but Brians dad thinks im no good trash like his son just because I talk to him on a rare occasion outside to be nice. He threatened my life before, called me a no good drug dealer because nobody can imagine how I drive such a nice/expensive car for my age. They just assume im some punk.

Anyways, so with no record of anything the cop was still able to view some sort of note under my name on his computer…

Cop: so you still selling dope??
Me: WHAT?? Uh, no Ive never sold dope sir (truth) I don’t hang out with Brian, ya I know hes bad news.
Cop: Someone’s telling us you do..
Me: ya, must be Brians dad he hates me
Cop: some younger person told us..
(That was bullshit, I didn’t know many people and I know he called the cops on me saying im a dope dealer. So, who knows what notes are tagged onto my name in the system now)
Cop: Well, you smoke it, do you have anything?
Me: ya…no sir I don’t…

Keep in mind this entire time Im nervous as fuck, accepting that Im going to jail and my life is over Im getting kicked out, lose my car (barely can pay for it, cant afford gettin busted too) etc. Im nervous as all hell, but yet some voice said no I need to not shake, I need to appear confident, that’s what they’re watching for.)

Cop: You have anything on you… guns, knives, narcotics..
Me: No sir and no Bazookas either haha
Cop: You don’t mind if my partner has a look real quick?

Im thinking… oh fuck slap the cuffs on me now…

Me: (immediately without thinking) No sir that’s fine.

He goes in and starts opening and checking everything, other cops says step over here for me and is asking me a bunch of questions like where do I work, how I pay for my car, when I got those blackouts on the car, saying how he didn’t want me to get rear ended, all this stuff. I was very nice and honest to him, making sure to smile.

Cop going thru my car: come unlock the center console
Me: its not locked sir…

I get inside and show him how it opens, other cop tells me to step back out, and at that moment I was almost ready to panic, considered taking the joint out and tossing it, idk.. im thinking “they’re gonna go thru my pockets next of course, wait, can I refuse that separately? I gave them consent im fucked” the whole time im making eye contact with the office and laughing and going into detailed info about the truth to his questions. Cop finds a metal water bottle and asked whats in it, it was just water. Then he found a rotten banana under my seat I said “oh hahaha, that’s still in there?” treating it like a joke, real casual. Felt like I was there an eternity. Cop says “ok so you got no marijuana or pipe I need to know about?”…” No Sir”….”ok, im going to write you a warning” im thinking omfg, thank you…then I asked if I had to get the ticket cleared at the station trying to look innocent he said no. I said thank you sir, and went to shake his hand he did not even flinch lol. Walked to my car, got in feeling baller, and drove off feeling like I got away with murder…over a single joint. Felt afraid for having it, so I burned the fuck out that victory joint shortly after while cruising. Looking back I think I just got reeeaaalllllyyyy lucky. It was a ridiculous situation that never should have occurred and I am proud of how I handled it. Any other time I might have not been in the mindset or mood, and being nervous would have gave me away. Might sound cheesy, but that Barry Cooper DVD really does have good basic info everybody needs to be familiar with. Had I not given consent to search my vehicle there might have been a very different outcome to this story. Had I know I held nothing illegal I cant say for sure if I would have told the officer I just never give consent, just to flex my rights. Its all about assessing the situation and deciding which approach to take. Stay safe and smoking.

[Badpill]

you sound really paranoid buddy....

why did you give them consent to search your car even if you had nothing to hide?

you just have up one of your rights at that moment

remember buddy cops arent there to be your friends they dont care who you are and their job is to lock people up and they will do anything within their power to try to convict you

you had a right to refuse that search and you should of just to show that you know your rights

EDIT: i would never suck up to a fuckin cop, i would never friendly talk with them too... only if they are off duty or if they don't come interrogate me

EDITEDIT: i just hate being submissive to the cops b/c they got the power, fuck that protecting the public? from smokin weed? riighhhttt. (dont get me wrong not all cops are assholes) but cops that bust your balls for small shit are just power hungry fuckers who get satisfaction from bossing kids around.

[Tuk2]

Originally Posted by Badpill

you sound really paranoid buddy....

why did you give them consent to search your car even if you had nothing to hide?

you just have up one of your rights at that moment

remember buddy cops arent there to be your friends they dont care who you are and their job is to lock people up and they will do anything within their power to try to convict you

you had a right to refuse that search and you should of just to show that you know your rights

EDIT: i would never suck up to a fuckin cop, i would never friendly talk with them too... only if they are off duty or if they don't come interrogate me

Because I DID have something to hide. I know too well cops are shady and out to get you. The fact that this even occured is proof. I am a mostly law obiding citizen except smoking, not a criminal, I respect other people and I was still persecuted and stereotyped to the max. What I did to save my skin was called acting. Had I refused he would have thought I had something to hide. Then the dog threats, then probable cause, then the legal search and the bust. If your stuff is hidden well in the car sometimes consenting is the right choice a less thorough search.

[Badpill]

Originally Posted by Tuk2

Because I DID have something to hide. I know too well cops are shady and out to get you. The fact that this even occured is proof. I am a mostly law obiding citizen except smoking, not a criminal, I respect other people and I was still persecuted and stereotyped to the max. What I did to save my skin was called acting. Had I refused he would have thought I had something to hide. Then the dog threats, then probable cause, then the legal search and the bust. If your stuff is hidden well in the car sometimes consenting is the right choice.

its all scare tactics man, if they really thought you were a drug dealer and wanted to bust you they would of had a warrant to search your shit. if they asked you if they can search your car it most probably means they dont have a warrant.

if they ask if you have nothing to hide then you wouldnt mind if i searched your car right? i would just say i have nothing to hide so there is no need to search my car, i dont consent to any searches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

[Bryb420]

Originally Posted by Tuk2

Because I DID have something to hide. I know too well cops are shady and out to get you. The fact that this even occured is proof. I am a mostly law obiding citizen except smoking, not a criminal, I respect other people and I was still persecuted and stereotyped to the max. What I did to save my skin was called acting. Had I refused he would have thought I had something to hide. Then the dog threats, then probable cause, then the legal search and the bust. If your stuff is hidden well in the car sometimes consenting is the right choice a less thorough search.

and alot of the times cops will search you even if you tell them no, then they will get you for assault on a cop( like if you cover your pockets or just block their hands) or resisting arrest, my homies locked up cause a cop came up to him on HIS porch cause he was smokin a ciggarette

[noonecares]

Originally Posted by Badpill

its all scare tactics man, if they really thought you were a drug dealer and wanted to bust you they would of had a warrant to search your shit. if they asked you if they can search your car it most probably means they dont have a warrant.

if they ask if you have nothing to hide then you wouldnt mind if i searched your car right? i would just say i have nothing to hide so there is no need to search my car, i dont consent to any searches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqMjMPlXzdA

he had a JOINT on him... are you not getting that or something??

trust me, we all know not to consent and all of that. this was just a very well thought out situation, and he made the correct decision. they could have brought the dogs in if they really wanted to and he didn't consent.

[noonecares]

Originally Posted by Bryb420

and alot of the times cops will search you even if you tell them no, then they will get you for assault on a cop( like if you cover your pockets or just block their hands) or resisting arrest, my homies locked up cause a cop came up to him on HIS porch cause he was smokin a ciggarette

thats why you don't block your pockets and get it taken to court and thrown out. as long as there was no reasonable cause it'll get thrown out.

[Badpill]

Originally Posted by noonecares

he had a JOINT on him... are you not getting that or something??

trust me, we all know not to consent and all of that. this was just a very well thought out situation, and he made the correct decision. they could have brought the dogs in if they really wanted to and he didn't consent.

Absent of probable cause, the officer is not allowed to detain you for the sole reason of waiting until the dog arrives, the dog must arrive during the actual stop.

They are not allowed to restrict your freedom of movement if they are not detaining you or arresting you.

So when they ask "do you really want me to call in the k9 unit?" then you ask them "sir am i free to go if your not arresting me or detaining me?" and they have no choice but to let you go.

they cant hold you to wait for the dogs to arrive

but if the k9 unit is already with them they are allowed to use the dog

[tooking]

smart, if you said no to the search, the cops will suspect you and they will even hold you longer and call for backup even though they dont need to. they just want to scare you and make you admit w/e. good call, thats why never have pipes or paraphardelia in your car.

[Nevin]

Yeah man, you did the right thing.

Don't listen to people who say otherwise. So many worse things could happen if you didn't consent to a search of your vehicle.

[Starlore]

Sorry man, I misread where you already stated probable cause.
Yeah, badpill is right.

If there is no probable cause they can not detain you for the sole reason of refusing a search.

Only if there is probably cause the supreme court says they can detain you for a 'reasonable' amount of time, which is looked at on an individual basis. Or the time it takes to write your ticket.

Sorry about that!

I would have probably done the same thing though. As far as playing it cool with the search.

I do hate police that try to act like your friend while they're questioning you, though.

[Tuk2]

Originally Posted by Nevin

Yeah man, you did the right thing.

Don't listen to people who say otherwise. So many worse things could happen if you didn't consent to a search of your vehicle.

Ya, thanks man. I think not only my quick thinking, but luck had a HUGE role in the fact that I'm typing this and not in a cell right now. When you search a persons vehicle, arent their pockets going to be the very next place you check? Thats where stuff gets stored. Worst part is finding out theres a note to my name that Im a dope dealer wtf now I will get searched everytime.

[Tuk2]

I feel like I need to bump this for more opinions. I keep replaying the events over and over in my mind like a bad recording since it happened. I got lucky once and I don't really know how I should handle the situation should it happen again. Worst part of ALL, finding out that now I'm pretty much being FUCKING WATCHED because 1 psycho called the cops and LIED OUT HIS FAT FACE that im a dealer or some shit. (and yes, that guy is a psycho nutjob he threatened to kill me in a gruesome manner.) Im THE LAST person the police need to be concerned with. I have common sense and do not break laws I was raised better than that. But now everytime I get stopped Im getting searched!!!!

[qwerty1234]

Originally Posted by Tuk2

Cop: You don’t mind if my partner has a look real quick?

Im thinking… oh fuck slap the cuffs on me now…

Me: (immediately without thinking) No sir that’s fine.

Originally Posted by Nevin

Don't listen to people who say otherwise. So many worse things could happen if you didn't consent to a search of your vehicle.

Originally Posted by Tuk2

Ya, thanks man. I think not only my quick thinking, but luck had a HUGE role in the fact that I'm typing this and not in a cell right now.

Lol.

Cop encounters can be nerveracking, but I think in your situation you were pretty safe; no probable cause to search etc.

[iSlay12YearOlds]

why the heck would you consent to a search?!, you weren't even doing anything wrong in the first place, heck it looks like the cop took advantage of you and enjoyed it.