Just doing their job! Right?
The other night a few of my friends were at a local concert. Most were inside or roaming around the parking lot of a privately rented building to host the show. Within minutes the place was swarming with Police cars and officers. A group of a few officers approached a vehicle with a group of kids in it and proceeded to have them get out of the car and place their hands on the roof. The officers began to search the kids, their possessions, and the car all the while ignoring the cries and pleas of each individual. All of them individually exclaimed they had a right to not be searched. The police ignored these proclamations and violated their right to privacy nonetheless.
Situations like this are becoming more and more common. Police, using their monopoly of force have a nearly unregulated existence and with that can freely violate the rights of individuals at will. Cop-out laws like “reasonable suspicion” enable these legal mobsters to take advantage of nearly any situation and sway it to their advantage. Reasonable suspicion is defined as:
“The legal standard by which a police officer has the right to briefly detain a suspect for investigatory purposes and frisk the outside of their clothing for weapons, but not drugs. While many factors contribute to a police officer’s level of authority in a given situation, the reasonable suspicion standard requires facts or circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a suspect has, is, or will commit a crime.
While reasonable suspicion does not require hard evidence, it does require more than a hunch. A combination of particular facts, even if each is individually insignificant, can form the basis of reasonable suspicion. For example, police may have reasonable suspicion to detain someone who fits a description of a criminal suspect, a suspect who drops a suspicious object after seeing police, or a suspect in a high crime area who runs after seeing police.”
With loose definitions like this Police have an in at any given moment to detain you and frisk you. The law states it requires “more than a hunch” but what is the legal definition of a hunch? And at what point is a hunch acceptable? This a major problem with State supplied “security”, which is itself a contradiction. Police have little to do with security and much more to do with instability and coercion than any accused “criminal”. The point is these officers violated the 4th amendment rights of everyone in that car. Now the question remains, what can be done?
The short answer is file a complaint, the long answer is nothing. In this country and many others like it we rely on the State to regulate itself. Lets break that down. We count on the State, an entity with unlimited power to regulate itself, in the event it violates a rule that it wrote for itself. Does anyone see the problem with that? What good will filing a complaint do if the complaint is filed with the very company or “police force” that violated you? It is good for nothing! There is no vested interest on the side of the violating police firm because they only have to answer to themselves. Are we beginning to see the severe disconnect here? Asking the State provided monopolistic Police force to punish and regulate themselves is like asking the murderer to think about being less of a murderer “next time”. It just contradicts itself.
So what can really be done? Well unfortunately until there is a massive privatization of security and police not much at all. The best thing to do is educate yourself in the proper procedure when dealing with the countries largest street gang, ie. the police. A great website called Flex Your Rights has many great videos and great tutorials on the proper code of conduct when presented with a police run in. I suggest that every person who steps out of their bed take the time and read or watch the videos there. You can never know too much! The other option is contact your local civil rights organization. Groups like the ACLU may be able to help you.
Remember you don’t ever have to talk to an officer of the law. You have a right to remain silent. If you are asked to allow a search a few simple words like “I’m sorry Officer, I don’t consent to any searches” can save you a lot of trouble! Knowing how to ask if you are free to go is also an important aspect to dealing with these run ins. Arm yourself with knowledge and hope that you only deal with officers who understand and value the rights of citizens. Don’t hold your breath for that though.
“An appeal to the constitution implies that it is the job of the state to solve the problem of the state. Immediate fail.”
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The biggest problem is that most people (not saying it applies to this situation) don’t realize that cops rarely TELL people to do anything. “Have them get out of the car” is pretty vague…cops can (un)reasonably search around for what’s in “plain view” and have been trained to exploit those who are ignorant of the law and inattentive (by drugs or other means) to the law script. Rights are violated all of the time, by whom and to what extent is undoubtedly horrible. You’re right, educate yourself and don’t consent.
I'm glad we are in agreement! And yes, as we both said, education is the only way.