Something I read while being a googler:
TLDR:
1) Don't consent to a search no matter what.
2) If they keep asking questions, ask them if you're being detained or if you're free to go.
3) They can't search your car without your consent or probable cause.
4) Don't listen to people who play along.
5) Five cops have asked to look under my hood since I started asserting my rights, those five cops still don't know what was under my hood.
EDIT: Those smog checks are VOLUNTARY and not required. In the state of California it's not legal to force people to allow you to check their emissions systems or vehicles on the fly. If you come through a smog check on the freeway, DECLINE TO PARTICIPATE. Ask if you're free to go.
Here's my advice, as a former repeat violator who now has 3 years clean regardless of getting pulled over. My former vehicles: 1968 Pontiac Firebird with Formula 400 and Flowmaster exhaust that set off car alarms with its idle, 1990 Mustang 5.0 GT with Flowmaster exhaust that set off car alarms with its idle, 1993 Honda Civic with B18C1 transplant, full bolt-on's, Rota Attack (Yeah, I know) and tinted windows and now a MK5 GTI.
1) Don't listen to anyone who says "just be cooperative, the less you act like a dick, the less the cop will act like a dick". This is a bag of shit and whoever is telling you this is either someone who doesn't live in California in hot areas (like Fremont or Irvine, CA or National City SD, etc) or someone who doesn't mind bending over and getting reamed by fees. Until a judge decides so, months away, you are not LEGALLY guilty of jack shit. Hell, you could've just ran over three people and you're not guilty until a system says you are and even then, there's appeals.
So no, don't be cooperative unless they're not trying to violate your rights.
2) "Am I free to go?" - A cop asks you questions because your answers incriminate you. If he asks you, "So what do you have on this car?", almost anything you say can be interpreted as probable cause. I don't care if it's CARB legal, verified by the state and stamped by the district attorney's penis. Don't say shit. Ask him if you're free to go. In the State of California, a police officer cannot detain you against your will unless he is charging you with a crime or serving a warrant.
Plain and simple, if you are being detained, he has to charge you or let you go. Get familiar with these two phrases:
"Am I free to go?"
"Am I under arrest?"
You don't have to say anything OTHER than that. If he asks you for driver's license, registration, give him those documents and that's it. A speeding violation is NOT probable cause to search your hood. Deny the search even if he threatens to tow your car. It's going to be him who has to show the court justification for why he towed your car when you are a licensed driver with insurance and registration who was only speeding by 10 MPH.
3) "No, you may not search my vehicle." If he implicitly asks you or even INSTRUCTS you to open your door or pop your hood, voice yourself, "I don't consent to a search of my vehicle." If he asks if you're hiding something, "Am I being detained?" and go back to the loop of "Am I free to go?" He will try to change the subject. Cops are less like investigators and more like scam artists on the phone trying to trick you into saying the right combination of words so they can screw you.
Trust me. Cops aren't out there thinking, "I'm gonna pull people over and whoever's nice will get to go." They're hoping you're nice and compliant so they can maximize the citations they get in a timely manner. If they're going to spend 30 minutes with you, get no consent to search and only get a 10-15 speeding violation without any ERO's, modified parts or etc then they're wasting their time. Compliant people are like scoring that extended warranty sale as a Best Buy salesmen.
This is ESPECIALLY true for CHP. City cops don't NEED citations to meet budget. They're funded separately by tax payer contributions and city provisions. CHP on the other hand is STATE FUNDED, meaning they DO have a "quota" for citations to meet. They're not in it for the "protect and serve", they're in it for the "serve tickets". A city cop will use tricks so he can figure out if you're committing a bigger crime, because a narcotics charge or a weapons charge is juicier for him than a moving violation and a referee appointment and gets him closer to a sergeant badge or detective test.
If a CHP pulls you over, your chances of getting a moving violation ticket or any kind of modifications ticket just went up double compared to a city cop.
4) Don't have anything stupid in plain view. Don't be a jackass about things that incriminate you. If you have a "glass vase" in your backseat, a "High Life" sticker or a marijuana logo somewhere or your car smells like vape, you're a dumbass because you just gave a cop probable cause. Your car is a hatchback for a reason. A cop can use things in your car as "probable cause" but it HAS to be seen/smelled. Because if you deny consent, he has to PROVE why it was a legal search. My friend had his entire docket thrown out of court because he voiced a denial of consent and the cop tried to use his boost gauge as probable cause.
Public defender argued that a boost gauge is not an illegal modification and that the defendant didn't consent to a search so everything under the hood was discovered against his right to privacy and against his will. Judge threw it out.
You have rights. Don't appear a threat. Do NOT consent to search or answer questions. Knowing and asserting your rights isn't the same as being belligerent or violent with cops. There's a difference between being peaceful and being passive.
Passive people can give up their rights all they want and pay the extra tax to the judicial system. Let them. **** them, I say. But YOU do not have to be that way.
http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc...h-your-vehicle
http://www.flexyourrights.org/faqs/w...ce-ask-for-id/
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/06/s...-i-free-to-go/
http://www.flexyourrights.org/faqs/w...arch-your-car/
Oh and if you have a GoPro, as soon as you're pulled over, start recording, keep the window down just enough to talk to him (or even all the way down if your car doesn't smell like weed), lock the doors and let him know as SOON as he gets to the car, "Officer, I am video recording everything. I will not shut down my recording device, my attorney advised me I do not have to." Knowing they're on tape and they can't destroy it makes them VERY weary of what they say or do. Having it recorded that you declined a search and that you had nothing illegal in your car can turn a dismissal into a violation of rights charge which costs the city money and makes the police department look VERY bad.
TLDR:
1) Don't consent to a search no matter what.
2) If they keep asking questions, ask them if you're being detained or if you're free to go.
3) They can't search your car without your consent or probable cause.
4) Don't listen to people who play along.
5) Five cops have asked to look under my hood since I started asserting my rights, those five cops still don't know what was under my hood.
EDIT: Those smog checks are VOLUNTARY and not required. In the state of California it's not legal to force people to allow you to check their emissions systems or vehicles on the fly. If you come through a smog check on the freeway, DECLINE TO PARTICIPATE. Ask if you're free to go.
Here's my advice, as a former repeat violator who now has 3 years clean regardless of getting pulled over. My former vehicles: 1968 Pontiac Firebird with Formula 400 and Flowmaster exhaust that set off car alarms with its idle, 1990 Mustang 5.0 GT with Flowmaster exhaust that set off car alarms with its idle, 1993 Honda Civic with B18C1 transplant, full bolt-on's, Rota Attack (Yeah, I know) and tinted windows and now a MK5 GTI.
1) Don't listen to anyone who says "just be cooperative, the less you act like a dick, the less the cop will act like a dick". This is a bag of shit and whoever is telling you this is either someone who doesn't live in California in hot areas (like Fremont or Irvine, CA or National City SD, etc) or someone who doesn't mind bending over and getting reamed by fees. Until a judge decides so, months away, you are not LEGALLY guilty of jack shit. Hell, you could've just ran over three people and you're not guilty until a system says you are and even then, there's appeals.
So no, don't be cooperative unless they're not trying to violate your rights.
2) "Am I free to go?" - A cop asks you questions because your answers incriminate you. If he asks you, "So what do you have on this car?", almost anything you say can be interpreted as probable cause. I don't care if it's CARB legal, verified by the state and stamped by the district attorney's penis. Don't say shit. Ask him if you're free to go. In the State of California, a police officer cannot detain you against your will unless he is charging you with a crime or serving a warrant.
Plain and simple, if you are being detained, he has to charge you or let you go. Get familiar with these two phrases:
"Am I free to go?"
"Am I under arrest?"
You don't have to say anything OTHER than that. If he asks you for driver's license, registration, give him those documents and that's it. A speeding violation is NOT probable cause to search your hood. Deny the search even if he threatens to tow your car. It's going to be him who has to show the court justification for why he towed your car when you are a licensed driver with insurance and registration who was only speeding by 10 MPH.
3) "No, you may not search my vehicle." If he implicitly asks you or even INSTRUCTS you to open your door or pop your hood, voice yourself, "I don't consent to a search of my vehicle." If he asks if you're hiding something, "Am I being detained?" and go back to the loop of "Am I free to go?" He will try to change the subject. Cops are less like investigators and more like scam artists on the phone trying to trick you into saying the right combination of words so they can screw you.
Trust me. Cops aren't out there thinking, "I'm gonna pull people over and whoever's nice will get to go." They're hoping you're nice and compliant so they can maximize the citations they get in a timely manner. If they're going to spend 30 minutes with you, get no consent to search and only get a 10-15 speeding violation without any ERO's, modified parts or etc then they're wasting their time. Compliant people are like scoring that extended warranty sale as a Best Buy salesmen.
This is ESPECIALLY true for CHP. City cops don't NEED citations to meet budget. They're funded separately by tax payer contributions and city provisions. CHP on the other hand is STATE FUNDED, meaning they DO have a "quota" for citations to meet. They're not in it for the "protect and serve", they're in it for the "serve tickets". A city cop will use tricks so he can figure out if you're committing a bigger crime, because a narcotics charge or a weapons charge is juicier for him than a moving violation and a referee appointment and gets him closer to a sergeant badge or detective test.
If a CHP pulls you over, your chances of getting a moving violation ticket or any kind of modifications ticket just went up double compared to a city cop.
4) Don't have anything stupid in plain view. Don't be a jackass about things that incriminate you. If you have a "glass vase" in your backseat, a "High Life" sticker or a marijuana logo somewhere or your car smells like vape, you're a dumbass because you just gave a cop probable cause. Your car is a hatchback for a reason. A cop can use things in your car as "probable cause" but it HAS to be seen/smelled. Because if you deny consent, he has to PROVE why it was a legal search. My friend had his entire docket thrown out of court because he voiced a denial of consent and the cop tried to use his boost gauge as probable cause.
Public defender argued that a boost gauge is not an illegal modification and that the defendant didn't consent to a search so everything under the hood was discovered against his right to privacy and against his will. Judge threw it out.
You have rights. Don't appear a threat. Do NOT consent to search or answer questions. Knowing and asserting your rights isn't the same as being belligerent or violent with cops. There's a difference between being peaceful and being passive.
Passive people can give up their rights all they want and pay the extra tax to the judicial system. Let them. **** them, I say. But YOU do not have to be that way.
http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc...h-your-vehicle
http://www.flexyourrights.org/faqs/w...ce-ask-for-id/
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/06/s...-i-free-to-go/
http://www.flexyourrights.org/faqs/w...arch-your-car/
Oh and if you have a GoPro, as soon as you're pulled over, start recording, keep the window down just enough to talk to him (or even all the way down if your car doesn't smell like weed), lock the doors and let him know as SOON as he gets to the car, "Officer, I am video recording everything. I will not shut down my recording device, my attorney advised me I do not have to." Knowing they're on tape and they can't destroy it makes them VERY weary of what they say or do. Having it recorded that you declined a search and that you had nothing illegal in your car can turn a dismissal into a violation of rights charge which costs the city money and makes the police department look VERY bad.
ck the Po-lice!
Now I'm at the point where even though I said that I wouldn't ever buy another 1, I just might do it anyways. Wifey said that once the debt is gone I can get whatever I want and start over...but sometimes I just wonder what could have been...or still could be! 
Comment