# HELP! Traffic Stop Cops Took all our RX meds **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915 "2014-09-08T23:20:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tlboogie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tlboogie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tlboogie4)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/41 "2014-09-09T19:03:34Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > I have an friend who is a cop (I try not to hold it against him), and I was surprised when he told me that cops can confiscate pills that are not in an original labeled container. I’ll have to ask him how long they are held and what the procedure is to get them back. > > After giving our conversation on the matter more thought, the phrase “to a hammer, everything looks like a nail” comes to mind. To a cop, I suppose, “everybody looks like a crook” or “everything looks like evidence of a crime”. > > Keep pills in an original container, keep them out of sight, and don’t let the cops search your car without a warrant. I didn’t feel threatened that we were doing anything illegal, we had just moved the prior day into a new apt. and were on our way to pay the landlord and couldn’t remember exactly where he lived so she was driving slow and we were looking for the right street, our vehicle was loaded with boxes/bags evidence of moving. If I had felt we were illegal I had plenty of time to grab the bottles and put them out of sight. ---
**Author:** ![tlboogie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tlboogie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tlboogie4)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/42 "2014-09-09T19:05:09Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > If they were in the original containers, I don’t see how or why the cops took them. It sounds like you have called the police station and are getting different answers. I would try writing a letter to the police chief or whoever is in charge and request your property back immediately. Be polite, but firm, and ask for an immediate return phone call. If you don’t hear within a couple of days, figure out how to file an official complaint. You may need a lawyer to figure out exactly what to do, but you’d have to weigh that cost against the cost of the medicine. > > The police get away with all sorts of stuff they shouldn’t because citizens are intimidated and don’t hold them accountable. Unfortunately, it costs time and money to fight city hall. that kind of seems to sum things up. ---
**Author:** ![tlboogie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tlboogie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tlboogie4)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/43 "2014-09-09T19:10:19Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > This. [Asset forfeiture laws have been used to seize cash from innocent drivers,](http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2014/03/12/cops-use-traffic-stops-to-seize-millions-from-drivers-never-charged-with-a-crime/) who then must prove the cash wasn’t involved in drug crimes before it can be returned. > > Drugs are less likely to be confiscated, unless they’re out in the open and in something other than their original, properly labeled RX bottle. > > All of which leads back to [“Never talk to cops.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=713187) Want to keep your meds/cash? Stash them somewhere out of sight in your car, and if you are involved in a traffic stop, do not answer questions about what you have in your car, and never, ever consent to a search. (hint: if your registration and proof of insurance are in your glovebox, don’t keep the aforementioned items in there; if the cop spots them when you open the glovebox, they may be fair game.) Bad choice, if they had been in the elbow rest storage thing, never been a problem, they never asked to search the vehicle, he just saw the bottles and took them, plain site I guess they call it…but like I said to previous commenter I didn’t feel like I was in any danger of doing anything illegal pertaining to the RX bottles or I would have stashed them, the cops never searched the car or our persons, if i had put in pockets I would have been fine. stupid I guess to ever give a cop benefit of doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Tremblay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e56c9b/32.png) [@Tremblay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tremblay)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/44 "2014-09-09T19:11:00Z")
Isn’t it illegal search and seizure for them to rummage through your center console without a valid reason? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/45 "2014-09-09T19:17:39Z")
No warrant is required to search a vehicle, only probable cause (for various uninteresting and largely unconvincing policy reasons.) The officer may have had probable cause to search based on something the OP said or did, may have had the OP’s consent, or may have seen the bottles in the open armrest (plain view). Or he may have unjustifiably decided to rummage around in the vehicle, but there’s not much the OP can do about that unless it harmed him. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/46 "2014-09-09T19:22:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Or he may have unjustifiably decided to rummage around in the vehicle, but there’s not much the OP can do about that unless it harmed him. The OP was harmed. Her property was taken from her, causing her financial loss. The cops aren’t supposed to just steal people’s possessions. This all sounds fairly incredulous. ---
**Author:** ![tlboogie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tlboogie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tlboogie4)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/47 "2014-09-09T19:29:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The (center) console is the part of the dashboard that continues down and back between the seats and over the transmission tunnel, and usually contains the handbrake, gear shift lever, armrest, etc. They were in the deep large storage box in front of shifter. like I said on another post we were in process of moving an hour away from previous place and I had two jobs going on that week, providing music at a fair and my day job, the fair was an hour and half from our new place too. So we had a mess of things in the car, I didn’t think or fear any trouble or I would have stashed the bottles when I saw the popo lights go on. Everything was in official containers RX. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/48 "2014-09-09T19:34:15Z")
> [@tlboogie4](#): > > They were all in my and her containers, and clearly the police weren’t worried about intoxication as they didn’t give sobriety tests or any ticket at all, they just pulled us over and saw the pills bottles and took them. I gave them all the paperwork showing they were legally ours and they had our names on them. Now they won’t give them back. I understand, you got screwed. Happens all the time. And I understand how upset you are, it’s the principle and all that. Your chances of getting those pills back, or anything changing it all are pretty slim. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/49 "2014-09-09T19:35:57Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > The OP was harmed. Her property was taken from her, causing her financial loss. The cops aren’t supposed to just steal people’s possessions. This all sounds fairly incredulous. Incredible, not incredulous. Incredulity describes your reaction rather than the underlying story. “Harmed” in the sense that the OP was convicted of a crime or something because the officer found contraband. In the context of what appears to be a theft, the Fourth Amendment violation is pretty much irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![tlboogie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tlboogie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tlboogie4)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/50 "2014-09-09T19:39:58Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Where are you? > > Country (people on this board are all over the world), state, etc. Laws are different in many jurisdictions. Central WI ---
**Author:** ![tlboogie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tlboogie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tlboogie4)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/51 "2014-09-09T19:41:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I understand, you got screwed. Happens all the time. And I understand how upset you are, it’s the principle and all that. Your chances of getting those pills back, or anything changing it all are pretty slim. unless I was rich and had a 5 star lawyer on retainer, but then again the cops wouldn’t mess with someone who gave off that appearance would they? ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/52 "2014-09-09T19:49:53Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Incredible, not incredulous. Incredulity describes your reaction rather than the underlying story. > > “Harmed” in the sense that the OP was convicted of a crime or something because the officer found contraband. In the context of what appears to be a theft, the Fourth Amendment violation is pretty much irrelevant. Dishonest police and now the grammar police. If everything happened as described, I think the OP should definitely contact the police chief. If not satisfied, perhaps she should call up the local TV station and newspaper and discuss how her legal property was stolen by a cop right in front of her. Sounds like she had a witness in her car with her. She should do so only if everything is 100 percent legit in her story and situation, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/53 "2014-09-09T20:03:09Z")
I think the OP is a ‘he’ as they talk about having a girlfriend. I could be wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/54 "2014-09-09T20:09:04Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > How would anybody identify the drug, dosage, and owner otherwise? We’re not just talking cops here, you can’t expect a friend, family member, or an ER doctor to sift through your pillbox while you’re on a slab. If someone’s on a slab, there’s no rush. You can wait for the bloodwork to come back, and then read about it in the coroner’s report. ---
**Author:** ![LiliesOfTheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@LiliesOfTheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiliesOfTheField)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/55 "2014-09-09T20:15:23Z")
Contacting the police chief is the first thing I would do. Then I would follow closely by contacting my congressional representative. S/he won’t have any immediate power to order them to comply, but it is her/his job to assist you with unusual things. S/he wants your vote. The representative might also follow through by putting pressure on the chief to open an official investigation to look for corruption in the department. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/56 "2014-09-09T20:18:23Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I think the OP is a ‘he’ as they talk about having a girlfriend. I could be wrong though. You’ve never heard of lesbians? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/57 "2014-09-09T23:25:07Z")
> [@tlboogie4](#): > > Central WI Scott Walker needs then heh:D Sorry for the mess though. If it were me I’d camp out at the police station until I got an answer… ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/58 "2014-09-09T23:46:27Z")
Yeah, I’d be seriously kicking up a stink. A cop is not qualified to know what medication is for what, simply taking prescription meds and not providing a receipt is bullshit. If you have an illness that requires you to take that medication, (which is generally why you get Rx meds) and don’t have the funds to replace them immediately, that cop is potentially putting your life in direct jeopardy due to his actions. The fact that they can and did do it, is bullshit and I’d be kicking and screaming loudly . ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/59 "2014-09-10T00:19:21Z")
I told you what you need to do in post 3. It’s really not that difficult to figure out. It’s pretty much what you would do anytime you feel like you are getting the big screw. 1)Talk to their boss (or their boss’s boss. Or boss’s boss’s boss) or 2) Get a lawyer or 3) Both ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915/60 "2014-09-10T12:00:02Z")
> [@tlboogie4](#): > > all my prescriptions and my girlfriends were in the consol of my SUV. That’s either one HUGE console or some VERY tiny girlfriends… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-traffic-stop-cops-took-all-our-rx-meds/697915.md?page=4)