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One year, my wife, daughter (half Mex-Anglo) and aunt (Mexican-Americans aunt and wife) and myself (Anglo) were driving through Kansas on our way to Minnesota. We were driving an older Dodge with Texas plates. We pulled out of a toll both and were pulled over immediately. The state trooper gave me some nonsense about illegal lane change. He also wanted to search my car. I let him search my car because I figured he would drop the BS charge, not to mention we had nothing to hide. So there we were, my wife, Aunt and my 4 year old daughter were standing away from the car with traffic whizzing by us at 70 miles an hour on Interstate 35 while the cop searched our car. Although the trooper was cordial (we weren't given a ticket) this was most definitely a blatant case of racial profiling. Myself and my family make it a point to never patronize anything from Kansas. In fact, GO HUSKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah we all believe your story, we all believe you were pulled over for no reason in the world except that the cop saw a Mexican... im sure you were the only mexican on the road... blah blah blah... every white cop is a racist pig... if anyone gets pulled over its not their fault... Obey law of the land my friend.
Or a police officer who has received a concerned call from a resident who believes there is something abnormal going on.
You mean a group of people walking around in daylight and taking pictures of the scenary is now “abnormal” and “suspicious”? That’s unfortunate if that is the mindset of our society.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomander
Casing happens at all times of the day. In fact, day casing is a better time as most people would respond as you mentioned, thinking it "normal" to see someone out walking along in the daylight.
Again, it all depends on the totality of the circumstances. It sounds like from the OP that the officer was observing them prior to contact. It didn’t seem that the officer found anything suspicious about their activity, why else would they make the comment about taking pictures not being illegal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nomander
It is quite a common misconception that "crime" only happens at night. That person in broad daylight can be just as dangerous and up to no good as the person in the night.
So now are we going to say picture taking, absent any other particular facts regarding the situation in the daytime, is now considered suspicious activity because crime can happen during the day? That’s a sad commentary if that is so. So no longer should we judge based on the facts of a case, let’s just generalize the whole situation and compare it to other generalizations to support it.
You mean a group of people walking around in daylight and taking pictures of the scenary is now “abnormal” and “suspicious”? That’s unfortunate if that is the mindset of our society.
Again, it all depends on the totality of the circumstances. It sounds like from the OP that the officer was observing them prior to contact. It didn’t seem that the officer found anything suspicious about their activity, why else would they make the comment about taking pictures not being illegal.
So now are we going to say picture taking, absent any other particular facts regarding the situation in the daytime, is now considered suspicious activity because crime can happen during the day? That’s a sad commentary if that is so. So no longer should we judge based on the facts of a case, let’s just generalize the whole situation and compare it to other generalizations to support it.
The officer must have "a specific and articuable reason" for stopping someone, and according to the OP, he did:
"He then said he was following up on a complaint from the neighborhood "over there where all the old houses are" - and he gestured in the opposite direction where we hadn't been - that apparently a female was seen taking pictures of people's houses and they thought it was weird, so the police were called"
Under New Mexico statute (N. M. Stat. Ann. §30-22-3), it is a petty misdemeanor to conceal one's identity. Therefore, all the OP was required to do to be in compliance with the law is provide the officer with her name, nothing more. She did not have to answer any of the officer's questions.
The officer must have "a specific and articuable reason" for stopping someone, and according to the OP, he did:
An officer can stop someone for consenual contact without any reason whatsoever. However they need at a minimum “reasonable suspicion” that criminal activity has occurred or is about to occur to detain someone. From the officer’s own words, the activity wasn’t illegal. Since the OP didn’t ask if they were being detained or not, we’ll never know how the officer viewed it to know what was necessary for the OP do to.
In the future it always helps to ask “am I being detained” before you do or say anything else. Get a yes or no. You’ll know what you have to do when you get your answer.
Also, just because someone calls the police to advise them on something they thought was “weird” doesn’t mean the activity was suspicious. An officer’s job is to look at the situation objectively and rationally. Being irrational or jumping to conclusions is for the average non-law enforcement folk.
An officer can stop someone for consenual contact without any reason whatsoever. However they need at a minimum “reasonable suspicion” that criminal activity has occurred or is about to occur to detain someone. From the officer’s own words, the activity wasn’t illegal. Since the OP didn’t ask if they were being detained or not, we’ll never know how the officer viewed it to know what was necessary for the OP do to.
In the future it always helps to ask “am I being detained” before you do or say anything else. Get a yes or no. You’ll know what you have to do when you get your answer.
Also, just because someone calls the police to advise them on something they thought was “weird” doesn’t mean the activity was suspicious. An officer’s job is to look at the situation objectively and rationally. Being irrational or jumping to conclusions is for the average non-law enforcement folk.
I agree, and said the same thing in a previous post (http://www.city-data.com/forum/2664299-post138.html). The call to the police, assuming it did happen, is sufficient justification for the officer to make a "Terry Stop" in order to investigate whether or not the activity was suspicious.
Yeah we all believe your story, we all believe you were pulled over for no reason in the world except that the cop saw a Mexican... im sure you were the only mexican on the road... blah blah blah... every white cop is a racist pig... if anyone gets pulled over its not their fault... Obey law of the land my friend.
So what are you implying? It is illegal for me to drive through Kansas with my Mexican wife and her family? After reading some posts in the Kansas forum after I posted my original, this would not surprise me at all. And Traik, really, what glass bubble do you live in? You think these things don't happen? Well I hope you can sit on the side of the interstate some day with traffic whizzing by your 4 your old at 75 miles per hour. He had no reason to pull me over. Plain and simple.
So what are you implying? It is illegal for me to drive through Kansas with my Mexican wife and her family? After reading some posts in the Kansas forum after I posted my original, this would not surprise me at all. And Traik, really, what glass bubble do you live in? You think these things don't happen? Well I hope you can sit on the side of the interstate some day with traffic whizzing by your 4 your old at 75 miles per hour. He had no reason to pull me over. Plain and simple.
Nothing in your post supports the officer being racist, other then the fact that your family is Mexican. Millions of people (white, black, brown, pink) are pulled over who think they have done nothing wrong. Million more are pulled who truly have done nothing wrong, but the officer is mistaken. Still other are pulled over simply because th cop is an A-hole in general and couldn't care less about if he's an A-hole to Hispanic or a white man.
But of course you jump to the conlusion he was racist.
Nope you can't be mistaken. Nope the officer couldn't have made a human error. Nope the officer couldn't have simply been an A-Hole. It's all those Racist Police.
And what's this about cars speeding by. Is an officer not supposed to pull people over beacause cars speed by on the express way?
So what are you implying? It is illegal for me to drive through Kansas with my Mexican wife and her family? After reading some posts in the Kansas forum after I posted my original, this would not surprise me at all. And Traik, really, what glass bubble do you live in? You think these things don't happen? Well I hope you can sit on the side of the interstate some day with traffic whizzing by your 4 your old at 75 miles per hour. He had no reason to pull me over. Plain and simple.
Racial Profiling happens ALL the time.
The TYPE of VEHICLE (socioeconomic profiling) ALSO occurs.....more so in some areas than others, of course.
(A junky, old car doesn't look too RIGHT in many an "upscale" neighborhood or community).
People get "harassed" all the time and in many cases.....it has NOTHING to do with race at all, but possibly........other factors like being in KNOWN drug/prostitution areas, etc.
It's a FACT of life in America and has been for years......due in large part to the "War on Drugs" but other factors as well.
And........there are plenty of "bad apples" as LEO's who really do tarnish the rest who may not be.
So......public distrust and fear are now, all too pervasive.......whether you are guilty of something or NOTHING at all......your life CAN be turned upside down in a heartbeat!
Too many stories of incompetence and over-reliance on "informants" for info. that has led to the WRONG house being raided in a drug bust and innocent civilians ending up dead as a result.
But......under a simple stop and ID verification........KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, cooperate, be polite and/or say NOTHING without your attorney present.....if you feel the need to.
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