got asked for my papers today

[cigarmanva]

I was driving from charlottesville to uninionville today for my friends graduation party around gordonsville...this state has a lot of villes in it....i see a cop car on the side of the road, lights on. Turns out it's a check point....not sure for what mind you. never asked if I was drinking, where I've been, where I was going (not that it's any of their business anyway), just asked for my id. I asked if it was ok if I reached for my id in my left front pocket and he got a bit nervous, and his hand went toward his gun area, not his grip necessarily but it was clearly that area of the body, and at some point he saw I was wearing my od green Gadsden shirt, finally he asked if I was carrying a gun.

needless to say i was pissed for the rest of the day.

[Palladin]

Why pissed?, and how would you have imagined it going down differently?

[SgtBill]

Why pissed?, and how would you have imagined it going down differently?

Plus one from me.
Bill

[VBshooter]

The yearly Wear your Damn Seat Belt Campaign kicked off yesterday,,,,that may have been the reason for the stop, Seems I recall our General Assembly felt it should be OK to simply bother people over wearing them rather than wait for a related offense like speeding.

[wylde007]

Why pissed?

Because roadblocks, despite what the courts have said - we all know they're fickle - are not Constitutionally legitimate.

They claim that they are because they're stopping "everyone". Well, that just means they're violating everyone's rights. It has nothing to do with singling anyone out.

[Unkn0wN]

I asked if it was ok if I reached for my id in my left front pocket and he got a bit nervous, and his hand went toward his gun area, not his grip necessarily but it was clearly that area of the body, and at some point he saw I was wearing my od green Gadsden shirt, finally he asked if I was carrying a gun.

He got nervous because you asked to reach for your ID? I don't know, but I have been through many checkpoints and when asked for my ID,registration, etc, I just reach for my wallet, go into the glovebox, etc. Never once has any of the officers gotten nervous. There had to be other factors if this particular officer "got" nervous. Either you're not telling the whole story, or it is slightly exaggerated...

[Mindflayer]

The only time I have ever had a cop get nervous was when we went through a sobriety check and my wife was dressed to kill. Young officer was clearly smitten.

[BluemontGlock]

"I asked if it was ok if I reached for my id in my left front pocket and he got a bit nervous"... Cigarman-

it was the asking part that made him nervous..."Just do, grasshopper"...
no but really, if yopu aact starnge at all, it sets the warning rader off in thier head...

[cigarmanva]

I asked if it was ok if I reached for my id in my left front pocket and he got a bit nervous, and his hand went toward his gun area, not his grip necessarily but it was clearly that area of the body, and at some point he saw I was wearing my od green Gadsden shirt, finally he asked if I was carrying a gun.

He got nervous because you asked to reach for your ID? I don't know, but I have been through many checkpoints and when asked for my ID,registration, etc, I just reach for my wallet, go into the glovebox, etc. Never once has any of the officers gotten nervous. There had to be other factors if this particular officer "got" nervous. Either you're not telling the whole story, or it is slightly exaggerated...

i carry my id in my left front pocket, not a normal place to carry it I know...which is why i carry it there. I asked because i thought the random movement may have been considered suspicious and didn't want the officer to be nervous. Fat load of good that did me. I had my wife in the car with me and I asked her to read over the post to make sure I wasn't omitting or adding anything that didn't happen. The leo didn't ask my my insurance or registration...didn't even say anything about my car not having a front plate, just for my id. Before anyone says anything yes it's legal pa, where my car is registered, only issues one plate which goes on the rear of the car.

Why was I pissed? Simple while the courts caved under pressure to leos in the 70s and 80s broadening their power and allowing check points such as this. They are unconstitutional. Driving down a road in the U.S. isn't illegal and driving a car isn't RAS of a crime, so absent RAS I was just detained for just being around. How is this reasonable? Why are my rights invalidated because I chose to take, ironically enough, a road labeled "the constitutional route" from charlottesville to unionville? This is america, and in america it is not reasonable to stop a person and absent RAS demand to see id.

[gunderwood]

Why pissed?, and how would you have imagined it going down differently?

I would imagine it as...not getting pulled over/stopped to check your papers with out probably cause. Those commies in the USSR used to do the same thing. For some stupid reason we decided we must be free like them and adapted it too.

[Mindflayer]

I was stopped at 0400 once driving home from work by a Herndon police officer. He first approached me and spoke to me in Spanish. I told him I only spoke English (I am half-Asian, not Latino). He belligerently demanded to know why I was out at that hour and I explained I had just left work. He demanded to see my work ID - I happened to have it on a lanyard around my neck, so it was no big deal to oblige. However, it had no company name (for security reasons) and he demanded to know where I worked. I calmly explained that I could not tell him that. After a few more minutes of belligerence, I told him I was very tired, I was going to go home, and made it clear I was going on my way.

I was stopped for no other reason than driving a new car (he asked how I could afford one ?!?) at 0400. I was in jeans and a polo with a huge Sun Microsystems logo so any one with half a brain in the NoVA area would know I was in IT, and we work long hours. He never asked to see my registration, which was odd considering he did give the reason that it was suspicious I was out at that hour in a new car.

Did it annoy me? Yes. Did I stay calm? Yup. Moral of the story - stay calm, stay focused. I don't let my experience with an LEO that's also an ass color my interaction with all of them.

[wylde007]

Moral of the story

The moral is that police are in law ENFORCEMENT which makes them a special class of people who are more valuable to government than the citizens they pretend to serve.

Not all of them... but more and more this is becoming SOP rather than exception.

And it grossly violates the civil trust.

[totes6]

The yearly Wear your Damn Seat Belt Campaign kicked off yesterday,,,,that may have been the reason for the stop, Seems I recall our General Assembly felt it should be OK to simply bother people over wearing them rather than wait for a related offense like speeding.

Well first off let me say this, I think seat belts are a good thing especially if your car has air bags. I wear my seat belt. Now do I think there should be a law requiring it? I am still sitting on the fence on that one. Personally I think the Government should stay out of my private business. Besides it is the Left wingers who believe in Darwinism right? Only the strongest/smartest survive?

Now saying all this. Please read VA code 46.2-1094 subsection F:
F. No citation for a violation of this section shall be issued unless the officer issuing such citation has cause to stop or arrest the driver of such motor vehicle for the violation of some other provision of this Code or local ordinance relating to the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a motor vehicle or any criminal statute.

In other words the cop already has to have some other violation in order to have pulled you over and ONLY THEN can he/she cite you for not wearing a seat belt. So these lovely check points that police love to have means didly squat when they try to cite you for not wearing a seat belt means they are ignoring that piece of the law. Worst they can do legaly is bluster at you and tell you to wear your seat belt.


Now I also came across this piece of legislation that could very well make any of these checkpoints illegal.

§ 46.2-103. Stopping vehicles for inspection or to secure information.

Except as prohibited by § 19.2-59, on his request or signal, any law-enforcement officer who is in uniform or displays his badge or other sign of authority may:

1. Stop any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer to inspect its equipment, operation, manufacturer's serial or engine number; or

2. Stop any property-carrying motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer to inspect its contents or load or to obtain other necessary information.

This is the legislation that allows law enforcement to pull you over. Now if you jump over to § 19.2-59:

§ 19.2-59. Search without warrant prohibited; when search without warrant lawful.

No officer of the law or any other person shall search any place, thing or person, except by virtue of and under a warrant issued by a proper officer. Any officer or other person searching any place, thing or person otherwise than by virtue of and under a search warrant, shall be guilty of malfeasance in office. Any officer or person violating the provisions of this section shall be liable to any person aggrieved thereby in both compensatory and punitive damages. Any officer found guilty of a second offense under this section shall, upon conviction thereof, immediately forfeit his office, and such finding shall be deemed to create a vacancy in such office to be filled according to law.


To add to this thread last week I was on the 495 on ramp from Annandale in the middle of the rush hour traffic (about 0845 hours) and where the two on ramps merge together and join 495 there was a Fairfax County Sheriff deputy from the motorcycle division waving people over as far as I could tell randomly 2 and 3 cars at a time. Now you already have a dangerous situation with essentially 3 lanes of traffic merging together in high volume and now you have this deputy adding to the confusion as we now have to watch to see if you are being waved over and watch out for the "new 4th lane" of traffic pulling back in. Now add to that all of the construction that is going on in that area and you can very quickly get a huge mess.
I am not trying to bash cops here, but these checkpoints that you have 10 to 20 deputies sitting on their hands for 12 hours usually only net 1 or 2 DUIs in Loudoun County. It just seems to me to be a waste of resources and a traffic headache that only annoys the public.

[communicator7]

Why get angry over this? You're supposed to tell them right off that you have a CCW even though they already know it when they run your license plate. I would love to go through a checkpoint and proudly show an officer my CCW. I don't have any problems with it. Officers put their lives on the line every day and don't know how their day will go until if/ when they get home safely.

[communicator7]

I was stopped at 0400 once driving home from work by a Herndon police officer. He first approached me and spoke to me in Spanish. I told him I only spoke English (I am half-Asian, not Latino). He belligerently demanded to know why I was out at that hour and I explained I had just left work. He demanded to see my work ID - I happened to have it on a lanyard around my neck, so it was no big deal to oblige. However, it had no company name (for security reasons) and he demanded to know where I worked. I calmly explained that I could not tell him that. After a few more minutes of belligerence, I told him I was very tired, I was going to go home, and made it clear I was going on my way.

I was stopped for no other reason than driving a new car (he asked how I could afford one ?!?) at 0400. I was in jeans and a polo with a huge Sun Microsystems logo so any one with half a brain in the NoVA area would know I was in IT, and we work long hours. He never asked to see my registration, which was odd considering he did give the reason that it was suspicious I was out at that hour in a new car.

Did it annoy me? Yes. Did I stay calm? Yup. Moral of the story - stay calm, stay focused. I don't let my experience with an LEO that's also an ass color my interaction with all of them.

[communicator7]

[quote="Mindflayer"]I was stopped at 0400 once driving home from work by a Herndon police officer. He first approached me and spoke to me in Spanish. I told him I only spoke English (I am half-Asian, not Latino).
This part is so funny! The leo assumed you were Latino! That's hilarious and awesome!

[wylde007]

Why get angry over this? You're supposed to tell them right off that you have a CCW even though they already know it when they run your license plate.

No. No you most-certainly are not.

Virginia has no "shall inform" statute.

[tursiops]

I find it pretty cool that the OP gets to decide if something is unconstitutional or not. Usually that right is reserved for the SCOTUS.

[wylde007]

The Constitution recognizes the rights given by God to free men.

Any time those rights are infringed by other men, for whatever purpose, the authority of those men becomes absolute and in contradiction to the rule of law.

The OP is simply stating what 150 years of federal criminal negligence and abuse has established and propagated as the status Quo in this putrid union.

[CCFan]

I find it pretty cool that the OP gets to decide if something is unconstitutional or not. Usually that right is reserved for the SCOTUS.

So the SCOTUS citing foreign case law is OK but the common citizen (Government of the people, by the people, for the people ring a bell?) doesn't know any better??