Tips for citizens

While channel surfing one evening I came across a reality-based T.V. show similar to “COPS.” In this particular episode, a highway patrolman pinches a black motorist for no particular reason.

The motorist did not commit a traffic violation of any kind. He was probably pulled over because he was black, and blacks tend to have a higher statistical rate for criminal activity. They generally fit the police “profile.”

So when the black motorist asks the white policeman why he was stopped, the officer essentially replies: “Well, I have been assigned to patrol this area for possible drug trafficking and other illegal activities. Do you have any guns, knives, drugs, tanks, grenades or human body parts stored in your vehicle?”

At this point, the motorist is supposed to laugh. It was a joke–come on, “tanks, grenades or human body parts”–intended to expose possible deception. But the black motorist does not laugh. In fact, he does not even crack a smile or request for further clarification: e.g., “What the hell do you mean by ‘tanks, grenades, or human body parts?” Instead, the motorist just shrugs and says, “No, sir”–which is a suggestion to the police officer that the motorist is either lying or hiding something.

To make matters worse, the motorist makes yet another mistake–this time a really stupid one. He actually allows the patrolman to inspect his car.

The policeman says, “Do I have your permission to inspect your vehicle?”

The motorist seems to hesitate for a moment but ultimately consents to the search: “Yes, sir.”

“Naturally,” the officer finds a bag of marijuana under the front passenger seat. He then proceeds to arrest the black motorist, but the civilian manages to wrestle the officer’s gun away and escape. The officer fires at the escaping vehicle with his back-up piece and then gives chase, eventually apprehending the perpetrator.

The lesson here? Guilty or innocent, the civilian motorist was stupid. All of this could have been easily avoided with even a cursory understanding of the law.

In the first place, when the police officer asks to search the motorist’s vehicle, the citizen should have instantly, emphatically, stated, “No, you certainly do not have my permission to search my vehicle.”

At that point, the officer would have had no choice but to leave the motorist alone and go get himself some coffee and donuts.

However, if the officer persisted any further, the motorist should have said: “Look, you asked for my permission to search my vehicle. I have denied you that permission. In the absence of my permission, the only way you can search my vehicle is if you have probable cause. Do you have probable cause, officer?

“Very well, then, thank you kindly, I think I will be on my way now.”

Had the motorist said that, he would have surely been on his way, off to smoke his stuff in the privacy of his own home, not hurting anybody but himself.

If the officer searched anyway, any evidence against the motorist would have been thrown out of court in the absence of either consent or probable cause. (Being black and not having a sense of humor are hardly grounds for probable cause.)

Remember that the next time a law enforcement officer molests you. You have a constitutional right to be protected from illegal search and seizure. Exercise that right whenever the need arises. Otherwise, the government might eventually think it is just another privilege. (Look what’s happening to the Second Ammendemnt.)