You mention that your husband is a recovering meth addict. Is it possible that the cops remember him from when he was using?
I’ve been stopped by the police, but only rarely, and the attitude changed instantly when it became clear I was a Harry Potter addict rather than less addictive drugs. (I was walking home after waiting in line to buy HPatHBP at 1:30 in the morning, with no ID. Fortunately, my package of CDs was sufficient to change my status from “Possibly Dangerous Lunatic, Approach with Caution” to “Harmless Eccentric, Get Rid of As Soon As Possible” in the eyes of Officer Friendly.)
But stick to your guns. You don’t have to consent to any searches. Don’t let them bullshit you into anything.
As someone who has been racially profiled and has dealt with the police in a number of ways, I have some advice.
First, it is very interesting to hear about profiling from the perspective of a White male. I have heard accounts from people of color but this might be the first time I’ve heard of a White man being exposed to this. (Of course I know it happens but I never hear people talking about it.)
I’d make a point of being respectful and compliant (within reason) when dealing with the police in the middle of the situation. Too many things can happen where you end up being the bad guy. I think you were correct to refuse the search, and it sounds like you handled it well. Reminds me of a time that I was stopped for speeding in Fort Worth at 3 a.m. with one of my frat brothers (we’re both Black men). We had just dropped off my sister and were heading back to Austin. I was speeding, but the cop was pretty jumpy and yelled a lot. My frat brother wanted to make a case of how he was treating us, but I had to tell him to shut up, take note of his badge number (quietly) and comply. Nothing out of the ordinary, just asking us what we were doing, driver’s licenses, etc. When it was over I had to explain to him that escalating the situation, especially on the side of a highway at 3 a.m., was just asking for trouble.
You can always complain about an inappropriate line of questioning and so forth the next day. If you’re being asked to do something that you feel is completely inappropriate, politely refuse and request that the officer call a supervisor if he/she needs to proceed.
I also think it is a good idea to make yourself known to the police. Visit the precinct. See if there is an advisory board that you can work with. Get to know the chief. I served on an advisory board at my college, and it was a great experience. I got to know a lot of the officers, and while a few were jerks, most in my experience were friendly and appreciated getting to know students. One of my professors is a world-famous academic, a Black man, and he says he always visits the police department when he moves to a new neighborhood before he gets pulled over. Then he can mention to the officer that he knows Chief so-and-so, which is a not-so-subtle signal that the officer had better do his or her job and nothing more.
When I worked on a college campus I went on a few ride-a-longs with one of the officers. It was great to see what the police looked for when pulling drivers over, and I had a new appreciation for their job. I also became pretty good friends with that officer. Having friends in law enforcement is always a good thing…
That made me stop and think, but I don’t think so. For one, he never got busted while he was using; second, he has been clean 2 1/2 years, and third, he did all of his drugs in Reno, and we’re in Carson City. The closest he’s come to police involvement was about 2 years ago. He’d been given a ticket for running a red light about a year previously to that, and called the Reno police to see if he had anything pending in their system, and they said no. Unfortunately, he got pulled over right on the cusp of Reno and Sparks, and he should have called the Sparks department. He served his time for the bench warrant that was issued and all was well.
Hippy Hollow - Thanks for the advice. I didn’t even stop to think that this could be considered racial profiling, but then I remembered all of the press releases that the police office has released to our newspaper, and they never mention black people and meth; apparently it’s a white-only drug. :rolleyes:
I have a couple of issues with this whole thing. One, it’s horribly inconvenient to be stopped and harassed several times a month. Two, what if they do this to someone who doesn’t know their rights? As you all know, people nowadays aren’t necessarily versed in what their rights even are. The police, of all people, ought to be protecting those rights, not defiling them.
Part of me wants to ask my boss if I can write a column on it, but that just seems like asking for trouble.
I’d suggest talking to a lawyer in town. Describe the situation to him/her and ask what your legal options are. The lawyer can tell you what your husband can legally do when stopped and tell you what steps you can take to stop this harassment. I wouldn’t rely on advice from folks here when trying to take on the police. Get a lawyer’s advice and then go from there.
I just talked to our crime reporter. When my dad was actively using meth, he always got the pure, properly-made stuff, which doesn’t smell unless it’s smoked.
Apparently, impure meth smells like cat piss (I didn’t know this, but then again, I’ve never been around it).
I had an entire laundry basket full of clothes the cat had pissed on in the car - we were on our way to my parents’ house to do laundry.
That makes a little more sense now, but still, don’t you think police officers should have known to ask if I have a cat?
Oh, and Renob - mostly I’m just asking what everyone here would do in my situation. I will make my own decision, based on careful research, but I want to know what people would do so I can present my options. I’m afraid that talking to a lawyer is out of the question at the moment, but I’ve been talking to the advocates to find out what is and isn’t a clear violation on the part of the officers.
BTW, that link that Queen Bruin gave is an excellent one. I have cards with that info printed on them that I give to my Government students when we get to the civil rights unit each year.
Yeah, the cat piss on the laundry might have given them reason to be wary, but that doesn’t excuse any of the other harrassment. Don’t let them push you around.
Harassment is an easy word to throw around. It doesn’t look like there is some sort of conspiracy against you. From reading your OP it seems that these are separate incidents, not the same cops coming after you again and again. Knowing how these things work if there is an increase in police activity in your area it is probably coming from within the community. Community leaders are complaining to the mayor about the meth problem and shit rolls downhill. I have to take your post at face value and believe the stituation was exactly as you state and your husband isn’t doing anything he shouldn’t when you are not around. I reserve the right to believe that there is another side to the story. I’ll comment on a few things.
Totally incorrect. There can be an investigative detention. It does not reach the level of an arrest but you are not free to leave. There has to be a reason for the detention but not enough for an arrest, for instance fitting a general description of a suspect in the area. “Today Carson City Police stated that one block from the scene of the massacre they stopped a male fitting the general description of the murder suspect. It is unknown at this time if he was the murderer because he told police he didn’t feel like talking to them.” It doesn’t work that way. There is a time limit as to how long the detention can be for but it’s more of a “I’ll know when it’s too long when I see it” by the courts. They are loathe to put an exact amount of time on when a detention becomes an arrest. The officers better be able to explain why the detention continues.
You said he was harassed three times. You have no problem with this one so lets make it two. The officer could not search his pockets without probable cause. He fit the general description of a robbery suspect. There is nothing wrong with asking someone to empty his pockets. The search warrant threat might have been empty, it might not have been. I think your husband did the correct thing to get the encounter to end as quickly as possible.
Not true.
They may have thought they smelled something. On occasions I have called over a few more noses because I thought I smelled something. Sometimes they agreed and sometimes not. That along with this jittery guy in a meth area it raised a suspicion. Enough of one to dig a little deeper. If they were sure of what they smelled your car would have been searched. That is probable cause and motor vehicles are excepted from the rule on search warrants. Probable cause is all that is needed for a warrantless search. You had every right to refuse a consent search and it went the way it should, your car wasn’t searched. Your husband did not have to empty his pockets. Unless there was probable cause, anything that was found would be thrown out. Unless of course he consented to it.
Just because he didn’t tell you the reason doesn’t mean there wasn’t one. I would have eventually told him why but he didn’t have to. This one sounds fishy but its filtered information at best.
If this really is a pattern and not just a run of bad luck I would go to your local councilperson. In my experience more pressure is put on the chief by local politicians than by any lawyer or citizen coming by and complaining. That same councilperson may be putting pressure on the department to increase it’s presence in your neighborhood. At least you’ll get an answer.
It seems to me that you did everything right at the time. The time to file a complaint is later, not while you are being stopped. Hippy Hollow had some good advice. If you continue to be stopped politely ask for a name or a badge number when everything is done, ideally of the highest ranking person there. If there is some sort of civilian review board or ombudsman you can go there as well.
Not white only but it did start in the white community(white biker gangs manufactured it and spread it across the country) and there are a much larger percentage of white users. At least for now. It is spreading rapidly. Remember there is nothing illegal about criminal profiling. Using race as one aspect of a criminal profile is not illegal. When race is used as the main or only component, then it is racial profiling and illegal.
File a written complaint to the police. Keep a copy for yourself. Keep a record of any and every conversation you have with them about the complaint: who you spoke to, when, etc.
If things continue, I would recommend contacting the ACLU for advice. Maybe there’s a real case here, maybe not. Either way, getting an expert opinion will only help. (here’s a list of state chapters.)
Loach - The thing that clued me in is that the last two times (you’re right, I can’t really bitch about the first one as they were essentially doing it to every white male in the area) is that the MOMENT it was mentioned that I’m a writer for the local newspaper everything was dropped and the police took off, fast. Could be coincidence. This last time he called me while the police was detaining him and said “Officer, I’d like you to explain to my wife why I’m not at home yet. She is at work, though, so ignore the police scanner in the background. She sits next to the crime reporter.” The officer let him go, post-haste. That says to me that they’re doing something wrong and they know it.
Anyway, I’m going to have his doctor send him the diagnosis of ADHD so that we have proof next time, because the police each time didn’t believe him when he told them he was hyperactive.
You are right, they could be fishing, realize they have nothing and are intimidated by the idea of the press getting ahold of the story. Or they could have been done. I tend to dig my heels in even more when someone starts throwing around real or supposed connections. “So you know Captain Smith? So do I. He’s an asshole.” I can dig in my heels and continue what I am doing because I am never wrong, never do anything improper and I am always on the side of the angels.
I guess the real question is, should I make a complaint, or what? We can’t seem to stop this! There’s nothing we can do to make him seem any less suspicious - if he shaves, he gets sores, and that’s MORE suspicious, his hair is already short and usually covered by a baseball cap. He wears average clothing and doesn’t do anything really out of the ordinary. I want to make this problem go away, because it’s becoming disruptive to our personal lives and possibly his job. His employers will not be sympathetic if he’s 30 minutes late because of a police detainment, and seeing as Nevada is a right to work state it doesn’t matter what the cause, they can fire him anyhow. He was used to getting stopped about once a month before this, but it’s increasing and it’s driving both of us batty. Do you have any suggestions?
It’s hard to prove that two is a pattern. It may be that the police are being pressured to crack down in that neighborhood. As I suggested before, the quickest way to see a difference in my area is to complain to your local councilman or whatever you have there. They tend to listen when eligible voters speak, especially if you are not complaining about them. They love bitching to the mayor and the police chief. I’m not sure how big your area is and the bigger the city, the less effective it may be. In bigger cities there may be an ombudsman or civilian advocacy board that would hear your problem. They might be able to help you without raising it to the level of a formal complaint. If neither of these help then a letter directly to the Chief of Police might help, if he is not a prick. Or maybe you might know someone who publishes letters to the editor in the local paper?
(I’m laughing) I can’t tell if you were being sly or not, but I’m the Letter gal.
…I’m going to ask our crime reporter to ask if there’s been an issue with my particular neighborhood, or if there’s a known criminal who fits my husband’s description. It happens everywhere in Carson City; this has actually happened several times before, and we just dealt with it, but like I said, it’s becoming frequent. We just want to know if we can please get the police to take the “CRIMINAL” tattoo off his forehead, haha.
And if we can’t find a good reason, I guess I’ll talk to the Sheriff.
Ok, the first incident we throw out because they were searching every white male in response to a specific complaint.
I say you throw out the second incident because the cat piss/meth smell and jittery passenger is just the sort of thing that is going to rouse suspicion. Unfortunate, but understandable.
This brings your 3 event pattern of harassment to 1 event which was never adequately explained.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t complain, especially if this has happened frequently in the past, but I wouldn’t call much attention to the first two, since this is actually the way we WANT the police to act. Somebody’s car smells like a meth lab, I’m not too keen on the cops just telling them to get that taillight fixed, I want them to spend a bit of time to be sure these people aren’t cooking up drugs. If you match the description of a criminal involved in a specific and recent complaint, I want them stopping you for a chit chat.
I didn’t even stop to think that this could be considered racial profiling, but then I remembered all of the press releases that the police office has released to our newspaper, and they never mention black people and meth; apparently it’s a white-only drug. :rolleyes:
(I’m laughing) I can’t tell if you were being sly or not, but I’m the Letter gal.