I just caught this on the WSEE news. October 16th at the Blasco library in the Admiral room the PSP are going to put on a seminar on how they expect you to act during a traffic stop. Anyone planning to attend?
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I just caught this on the WSEE news. October 16th at the Blasco library in the Admiral room the PSP are going to put on a seminar on how they expect you to act during a traffic stop. Anyone planning to attend?
I have the short answer, within your rights but not a dick. I won't be attending.
No way I would consider attending.
I have been stopped a few times since the late '50s, I am an adult, and I also know my rights. If the Officer is professional and his demands are with in the law I will follow them and be civil. Will sign the ticket and inform the LEO that will see him in court.
I was thinking of attending to find out just what they think you should be doing during a stop and using the event to help educate those that are not fully aware of the laws regarding said stops.
There are a lot of folks that think you must answer ALL of the questions posed to you by a police officer( where are you going ,what are you doing out at this time of night, etc) and that police officers are correct when the inform you that you must do certain things(inform while carrying a firearm).
The way that I am looking at this is, the police have gone to the trouble of setting up this event and inviting the public and that it would be an opportune time to see just what they are telling the general public and to correct them when they misinform the folks in attendance. Kind of like " Keep you friends close and you enemy's closer". Not that I think that the PSP are the enemy but at times some police can act like they are always right and the public should defer to them.
Anybody thats also planning on attending should know that you shouldn't listen to legal advice from someone who's job is to catch/detain/cite or arrest you for breaking any law you break weather you knew about it or not. If a defense attorney was putting this on I might be inclined to go, but listen to a cop tell me what I should do on a traffic stop IMO is probably a bad idea.
THIS!
However, per great military writers, "Know your enemy". Prepare for their capability, not their intentions.
I do NOT regard cops as my enemy, BUT they frequently initiate an adversarial situation. So in that respect, they choose to make me an "enemy".
So going to hear what they say is great idea, so you can be prepared for that next encounter.
Following their advice....Would depend on what that advice is.
Seems worth the time to go. Especially if there was a Q&A time it would be worth going so that if they give out false information they could be called on it. Unless they'd be willing to stand in front of everyone and lie at a public event it would be good to have someone there who could say "isn't it true that.....?" Officers often rely on the ignorance of the 'defendant' to form their cases. They're happy to let you give your rights away, or even lie or 'trick' you into giving your rights away, to get you to incriminate yourself, and courts have repeatedly held that it's legal for them to do it so long as the 'defendant' wasn't coerced or forced into 'giving' away their rights. Of course the courts sometimes have some interesting ideas of what it takes to force or coerce someone, but that's another thread.
Someone might also make sure the ACLU(I know, I hate them too, but they're good for some things) knows about this event. Again, if there's a Q&A an ACLU lawyer up there calling out wrong information would carry a lot of weight with the crowd, and it would be much harder for the PSP to tell the ACLU they don't know what they're talking about than a citizen.
While i agree with most of what you said, I would never tell the officer i will see him in court. I see it this way:
If I make it seem like i am just going to pay the fine and be on my way, i think there is a greater chance of the officer not remembering all of the details of the stop. I am going to fight the ticket either way, but i don't see a need to share that information with the officer. When you say "ill see you in court," you can bet anything that that officer will be taking copious amounts of notes, none of which is going to help your case.