Marijuana.com

dre1136

My friend Rich was standing in my driveway and a cop rode past the first time slow and my Rich pointed it out so the second time the cops rode up to my driveway and ssaid afternoon son mind if we search you? and rich was like yes so the cop walks up and puts his hand on my friends shoulder and says it again do you mind putting your hands on the car so my friend shrugs his hand off and the cop bodies him against the car and pats him down and apologizes when they don't find anything and say they were looking for a suspect with blonde hair and he fit the descrip. And we looked at each other and I said to him.....

Racial Profiling

What could rich of done in a sit like that and was that legal?

__________________
1/1 of the The One
(Insert witty signature here)

 

midgetpimp

I personally, think you should just leave it alone, they weren't dicks, you guys didnt get in trouble, nothing happend. Your friend gave him permission, anything you could have done, was stopped by him giving the cop permisiion.

dre1136

the cop asked rich if he monded being searched and he said YES I would mind? he shruged his hand off his should then pushed him up against the car.

midgetpimp

Either way id say to just let it go, Im sure your friend can say that he felt uncomfortable with his hand on your friends shoulder, but that would be alot more trouble then its worth. Again, just let it go

YetiManY3K

As soon as he consents the search, thiers nothing that can be done about it. It was not an illegal search.

__________________
"Life is a waste of time,
and time is a waste of life,
so let's get wasted all the time,
and have the time of our life."

 

WNB

He consented.

Also, cops searching people who fit a certain description of someone they're looking for is not racial profiling.

__________________
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

Niteshift

I'm not usually this blunt unless someone tries to push my buttons, but "racial profiling"?

Yeah, it's all true, cops all over the US purposely go out and search people in their own driveways just because they are white with blonde hair all the time. Not!

First, don't get wrapped up around "consent". They may have asked because they were being courteous. I often ask people if I can search, if they'd mind putting their hands on the car etc. when they REALLY don't have a choice in the matter. But I figure why not let them feel like they have one? Sure, I could be a dick and give orders all the time, but why not save that for someone who needs it?

And there is a very good chance they were looking for someone physically similar in appearence to your friend. Depending on why they were looking for him, they may have had all the legal justification in the world to search him without his consent.

And they could have just walked off. At least they were decent enough to say that they had the wrong guy and apologize.

Personally, I'd just call it experience and move along.

__________________
A burning desire for social justice is never a substitute for knowing what you're talking about. -Thomas Sowell

Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.

LotusFlower

What do you mean they REALLY don't have a choice in the matter? Are you saying we have no choices when it comes to LE, or in certain situations, or this situation in particular? Are we civilians not allowed to say "I don't consent to a search"? I understand what you're saying about being polite and courteous and all, but do we HAVE to do what LE asks/says? I'm a little confused. Thanks.

__________________
You must be the change you wish to see in the world--Mahatma Ghandi

highallthetime

Of course we do. After all, police are all-knowing and deserve their unlimited power.

And why do you guys think he consented? Did you even read the story? He said he DID mind if he got searched, and I think the racial profiling thing was a joke.

Niteshift

What do you mean they REALLY don't have a choice in the matter? Are you saying we have no choices when it comes to LE, or in certain situations, or this situation in particular? Are we civilians not allowed to say "I don't consent to a search"? I understand what you're saying about being polite and courteous and all, but do we HAVE to do what LE asks/says? I'm a little confused.

Sometimes you have the ability to refuse a search, sometimes you don't. Just because I ask, you should not take it as a given that if you refuse, you REALLY could refuse.

Illustration: I stop your car. While getting your license etc, I see a bag of suspected pot protruding from under your seat.

At this point, I have probable cause to search your car. I do not need a warrant. I do not need your consent. But I may still ask you if it's ok with you to search. If you say no, I'm still going to search because I didn't REALLY need your consent. I asked you to be courteous and to keep a somewhat adversarial situation from becoming more adversarial when it didn't have to be.

Now someone in that situation might say "they asked me and I said no, so the search was illegal". No, it wasn't illegal. I didn't need your permission. I simply tried to treat you with a little respect and make you NOT feel like you were totally out of control.

It's sort of like asking to be excused from the dinner table when you're an adult. You're asking permission from people, but you don't really need it. You're simply being polite.

Likewise, in this case, if they were looking for a suspect who looked similar to dre1136's friend, and they had reason to think he was armed etc., they really had no NEED to ask for consent. Just because they did ask, doesn't mean it was required.

If you are asked and you want to say no, fine by me. I don't care. But just because the search does happen, don't automatically assume that it was dependant on your consent and therefore illegal.

After all, police are all-knowing and deserve their unlimited power.

Unlimited power, huh.