i drive one of the few modified (hooked up, riced out, whatever you wanna call it) cars in my town, and from the outside, my car is definitely a cop target - rims, tints, HYPERWHITE lights (not blue, i have the same ones that bimmers and other cars come with STOCK)

i find that i always get followed or looked at strangely anytime i see a cop, and it is very rarely justified. i drive the speed limit for the most part and my driving record is good, i dont really drink that much so drunk driving is never really an issue. ive been pulled over more than once and had a cop ask me things like 'how did ytou pay for this car' etc.

ive toyed with the idea of either writing a letter or going into the police station and just mentioning it to someone there. i know most of the cops and am pretty good friends with teh detective on the force so that may help. im just concerned that if i go in there and politely complain that i unfaily get followed and harassed by cops cuz of my car that they will think its suspiscious of me to make such a big deal out of it, or something.. sorry if thats hard to understand but i hope some people get what i mean. any opinions

 

I hate to say it but there is nothing you can do(besides make a complaint, which does no good unless its proved an officer is at fault).

Unless your family is VERY wealthy and has political power dont waste your time.

Your complaints will be recieved as some young kid in a "flashy car"

sorry man

 

cary a micro audio tape recorder in your car, when you get stopped for what you think is an un just reason start the tape and put it in you pocket. Then talk just like normal too the officers, let them do their thing and chill. Then play the tape back for a trusted responsible friend and ask their opinion. If you get several of these tapes and they are all abusive then sue them, and move with your profit. LOL I'm no cop, so buyer beware. LOL

 

I'm not sure if I understand, because you say you know most of the cops--are you getting hassled by them or ones you don't know? If you complain you are getting unfairly followed or harassed you are asking for big trouble imho. Getting attention, good and bad, is a side-effect of being hooked up or riced out. I've driven a stock 5-spd 98 SE with 18's and as I've said before, parked in the worst areas of Philly, NYC, Boston, Montreal, and DC. Nobody has ever hassled me or touched my car. Why? Because it's a family sedan, people could care less about it. The only attention I have ever gotten from the car was a traffic cam in DC which issued me a ticket.

 

My BMW 330i didn't come with any Hyperwhite lights on it when I picked it up from the dealer. At almost 40 grand, I would have returned it if it had bulbs like that on it. I do believe it does have a High Intensity Discharge Lighting System, which I can assure you is quite different then any Hyperwhite rice bulb you will ever see.


Try making your cars lighting system legal, bet the cops stop harassing you.

 

Nice use of irony...

 

It sucks that you're a target all the time. Profiling of all kinds is almost impossible to get rid of though and very unfair. My suggestion to you would be to get legal protection 365 days a year with Pre-paid Legal Services.

Members are given a membership card and are encouraged to give them to police officers along with ID and insurance information to let the officer know that you have an attorney and cannot be messed with.

A couple .org members have given it a try... and honestly love it. The biggest reason why? The affordability. Take a look at my modest website: http://lcf.digitalrice.com and email me if you have any questions.

Sorry for the commercial guys.

I'm going through what they call a slight rough patch.

 

If you drive around with illegal lights or tints on your car the cops have every right to pull you over. Remove the illegal equiptment and then you have a beef.

 

sorry, but does this actually work? I can see it bringing more heat than it relieves... giving a cop your lawyer's card when pulled over seems like an invitation to him to hunt around and find illegal equipment out of spite.

Please, not trying to flame, I'm seriously interested if it works. Thanks,

 

Just say my car is a 92 and it books for 2k, I make that selling crack to your kids every friday.

 

"tints, HYPERWHITE lights (not blue, i have the same ones that bimmers and other cars come with STOCK)"

Are your tints legal? Hyperwhite lights stock? LOL! Please, I beg of you, produce a pic of a car with white turn signals. They may have white/clear reflectors, but the bulbs are amber.

If your car has illegal modifications to it, i.e. tints and lighting, don't 8itch and moan about being hassled. Remember, driving is a privelege, not a right. If you don't choose to follow the rules, you will face consequences. If you can't deal with the consequences, then don't break the rules.

Don't get me wrong, if someone does legal mods, and is hassled, then that's a problem. But if you are entirely legal, then know your rights, and protect yourself. But it doesn't matter how well you know the law, if you have illegal equipment on your car, then either accept the punishments for doing so, or get legal, or stock complaining.

 

All depends on your attitude. I'm not going to lie and say this would work everytime. I know you're not stupid enough to believe that. But taking into consideration one's demeanor, attitude and even charm, something like this would work to their advantage. I'm definitely not saying to shove this down a police officer's throat or to demand justice by threat of legal action or anything else extreme. Heh. Just kinda nonchalantly include your PPL Membership card along with your drivers' license and registration. Be attentive, answer questions politely, all the routine stuff.

Also. I didn't intend to imply that Prepaid Legal would help anyone get away with using "illegal" parts on their cars. I meant more traffic related stuff.

 

question: when you say you have hyperwhite bulbs, are they just white or do they have slight blue tint to them? what kind of bulbs do you have? i used to have nokya artic whites and they had a slight blueish tint and i used to get either pulled over for random stuff, or just watched more carefully...well i took those out and put in some phillips blue visions which are just white, no blue, and i haven't had any trouble since. you might want to try that if you're in the same situation.

 

I'd probably save the card for when I was treated unfairly. Giving it to a cop that is already being nice to you probably won't be a good thing.

 

I know I'm going to get flamed for this. But take this from a VERY VERY trustworthy source . I'm in NYC so this goes for here. Laws change from county to county. Cops dont need a reason to pull you over. (Have you ever passed a check point? All they're doing is pulling many people over and deciding who they wanna summons and who they dont want to) Please dont make a fool of yourself and go to the police station and tell them anything. Your just going to get laughed at and make yourself a target next time your out. As long as your legit (registration etc...) your okay. Hyperwhite lights are illegal, tints are illegal, many things are technically illegal. Like I said, cops dont need a reason to pull you over, but on the same note, they dont need to give you a ticket either. If you get smart yes they will, if they need summons's, yes they will.


I have 5% tint on my car all the way around. Here in NY the legal limit is 30% or higher. I also have diamond clear bumper lights and red clears. Front and back I have PIAA blue LED bulbs. They're really blue and bright as hell. (Call it rice or whatever you want) I get pulled over all the time for both things, not to mention speeding and other things. But My point is, your ALWAYS going to get pulled over. Having those Hyperwhite lights is just Justification to do so. Yes its profiling, but theres a reason for it. (Young people committ more crimes, most crimes happen in the evening, yada yada, thats all profiling and thats how most criminals are caught).

If you dont want the cops to bother you, get yourself LEGAL tints, LEGAL lights and go ride around with no worries.

PM me and I'll get into real detail.

 

[Anti-Uninformed Ricer Talk Mode]
K guys..

Tint plural = tint

Neon plural = neon

Etc. (i.e. you cannot have 'tints' and/or 'neons' on a car...)

My gosh is there anyone left that knows this stuff? I've given up on the battle against 'RPMs'
[/Anti-Uninformed Ricer Talk Mode]

Carry on...

 

Maybe they just like your car? Maybe they have seen you in some locations where drugs are sold? Maybe you didn't tell the whole story? I wonder how many police officers responded to this besides me? You said "a" cop asked you "how you paid for your car" not all of them, how many "unjustified" stops have there been? I could care less about who has prepaid legal, if there is a reason to stop someone, and I want to stop them, then I will.

 

Like I said, I'm interested in learning more about pre-paid legal, but it seems to me like a cop *could* view it as "this guy does so many illegal things he has to have pre-paid legal?" and start looking for stuff to write up.... not that I do

lcf, I'll read your website to learn more... thanks

 

no offense but i dont understand why they would ask you how you can afford your car... a 92 maxima doesnt cost 50 g's you know? if youre 17 and driving a brand new M3, i could see a cop asking how you are able to afford it but for a 3rd gen max i cant see how they would ask something like that

 

Guess what, Cops love it when you get attorneys involved. Attorney = more court time = Over time = cop getting $$$$$$.

 

Once you start giving attitude to the cops his deffense is going to kick in. He is more likely to remember the stop if you make it out of the ordinary. HE will take good notes because he wants to make sure that " smart @ss" gets a conviction. For the person who mentioned tape recording the stop, remember more and more departments are puting cameras in the Patrol cars. These cameras come on automatically when the emergency lights are activated. Police officers cannot access the tape without a special key that is kept by the higher ups.

 

That's what I was thinking. I can see you having a divorce attorney, a real estate attorney, a tax attorney, an attorney to do your will and trust for the kids, but a criminal attorney? Only people charged with crimes have criminal attorneys.

As for giving the cop a card from an attorney to intimidate him - giving him a card from the hot shot lawyer in town that is always getting people off from his tickets might intimidate him. Giving him a card from pre paid legal won't have that effect, I would imagine.

I'm not a lawyer or a cop, but I did drive by a Holiday Inn Express this morning.

 

now that's funny...

 

To the original poster, you live in a small rural town (Hopkinton, MA). From my experience, any time you go to small towns with relatively low crime rates, the cops become more and more eager to pull people over. Reason? Cause they need to write up summons and need to meet quotas, so if there's no "real" crime to fight, they'll start targeting motor vehicles. In other words, to put it bluntly, they are just "bored" and looking for work.

If you live in a big city, most cops won't hassle you unless your car is lit up like a christmas tree. Why? Cause they usually have more important issues to tend to (murders, robberies, drugs, etc etc). So if you live in such a city, you're more likely to get away with mods and/or traffic violations than if you live in a small town where everything has a spotlight on it.

So, draw your own conclusions. If I were you, I'd make my car legal if you're tired of getting dirty looks or getting pulled over. At least make it legal why you live there.

As to a cop asking you how you can afford the car, I don't see a reason that he needs this information. As far as I'm concerned, you can use this opportunity to make yourself look "good" by saying you work part-time while going to school, and you bought the car with your own money. However, you're not even obligated to answer such a question.

Also, using a tape recorder covertly will not be admissible in the court (well, in most states at least). For tape testimony to be legit, both parties have to be aware that they're being recorded.

Ok, I'm done here!

 

What he said

 

About the question as to how you can afford the car, that comes up a lot. My freind who is an African American college student was pulled over and asked the same question. She was driving a 97 Nissan 200SX. She said the officer was like "So is this a '99?" When she said it was a 97, he got an attitude asn asked, "How did you afford it? I find it funny becuase she is cute, has studious look to her(has a 3.9GPA), and looks very harmless. The cop even said he felt threatened by her and her freinds who were two other college girls with a smaller build. All this resulted in her getting a $400 ticket for running a red light that she clearly didn't run. She was later able to get the ticket dropped to a non-moving violation of $25. However, I was surprised that the cop even asked her such questions. She's as innocent as they come. Oh well to each his own. All this harassment is one of the reasons I pray everday before putting my max in gear.

 

Not trying to flame, but cops DO need a reason to pull you over (see US Constitution, 4th ammendment, "Illegal Search and Seizure"). They can get away with checkpoints by addressing certain problems (like DUI, vehicle insurance, etc..). But in most states, the check point must be advertised, and must include ALL vehicles or a PATTERN of vehicles (every 3rd or whatever). Someone correct me if the law concerning vehicle checkpoints is different in their state, and advise me on how they get around the US Constitution.

As for the post about covertly recording a conversation. From my understanding, if you are part of the conversation, then the other party has no "reasonable expectation of privacy" because they are talking to you in the first place. It is like writing down notes during the conversation. Police officers do it all the time (before my old department got cameras, I carried a micro-cassette recorder with amplified mic in my vest pocket. Completely hidden. But also totally admissible in court). What about the cop's wireless mic for his camera? He doesn't have to be in or near his car to record the audio around him. And he doesn't have to tell you it's there or turned on.

For the original post. If you don't like the attention, stop drawing attention to yourself. I never knew a cop (I worked for a large force) who just pulled people over just to do. There was ALWAYS a violation (my department didn't have time for checkpoints. Too many robberies, shootings, drug activity, rapes). But finding a violation is easy (expired inspection, seatbelt, no license plate light, tint, loud music, no signal, etc..). And calling attention to yourself makes the cop wonder why you are doing so and what you're up to.

"How'd you pay for the car?" could be an innocent question as part of small talk while he's waiting on your license info or whatever to come back. You are not obligated to answer it, but your attitude will have a direct influence on how hard he'll look for other violations. The answer of part time job while going to school would be a good one, unless of course you are well known to the officer for some reason and he knows it's a lie.

A lawyer's card, regardless of who, NEVER intimidated me. It just made me investigate things that much harder. I figured most law abiding citizens don't usually have a use for carrying a lawyer's card, unless they normally participate in illicit activities and expect to use it at some point.

Attitude is everything. The cop is usually not required to write the ticket (may vary by jurisdictions). I averaged 40 stops/month and wrote maybe 10 tickets (as a patrol officer, not traffic enforcement). A good, sincere attitude can get you far unless you did something blatantly stupid or dangerous. Atleast with me and the other officers in my beat. Believe it or not, cops can be level-headed people. Most can understand how small infractions occur, and have probably done some themselves.

Dave

 

Before I give my advice, keep in mind that while I am in law enforcement it's been a long time since I have been with a local police department and been on patrol.

Ok, a couple of quick things not to do. Don't walk into the station and complain. Unless you're charismatic as hell you'll come off looking bad. Don't do the prepaid legal card thing. You won't intimidate anyone with that but you will possibly **** someone off.

Next you should know that while a police officer can approach anyone to speak to them, they DO NEED JUSTIFICATION to pull you over. What that means is they look for that justification purposely in order to pull you over. In your case illegal tint or turn signals. Why do police do this? While it is possible they may have some pressure to write a summons, the more probable reason is that it's good police work. When you pull someone over for illegal equipment you get a closer look at them. You can see if they have been drinking and take a look at what's visible in there car(plain sight). You can check to see if they have a valid driver's license, registration, and insurance. You can run them for outstanding warrants. Often enough an car stop for a small reason can lead to an arrest for DUI or drugs, and so on.

As someone said illegal tint and the like are not high priorities in NYC but in a small town they probably stick out like a sore thumb. The way I see these are you're choices:
Remove the illegal equipment

Keep the illegal stuff and try and charm your way out of potential tickets

If you're really tight with this detective and you really are a decent guy, ask this guy for his business card or a PBA card and for permission to show it if you get pulled over for a small thing like tint.

I'm exhausted so I hope this response made sense.

 

I agree. It is plausible for a police officer to think "this guy must be a bad guy because he has an attorney."

Like I said before, it's all how you present yourself. If you're a shady character to begin with, or maybe you just look shady but you're actually a model citizen, perhaps this would not be a good idea? It's up to everyone to decide that for themselves. *shrug*

Myself, I dress well, I don't look like a gangbanger, my car is pretty much stock looking (except for a bodykit), even my clears have amber LEDs in the front and red LEDs in the rear. I have no problems whatsoever with giving a police officer my card. If I did something wrong, well I completely understand that there will be a reckoning, whether I have an attorney or not. I just think it's a great way to subtly let the officer know that I have an attorney and that if he doesn't go BY THE BOOK that he might hear from my attorney.

Perhaps if I lived in a small town... the police officer will tell the other police officers that I have a prepaid legal service. Perhaps that might bring more negative attention to me and my car? Perhaps the police officer also told his buddies that the guy who drives that fixed up Maxima is a pretty nice guy? The possibilities are endless. But in all seriousness, how harmful could giving the officer your PPL card be? If your rights are violated... you'll have your day in court. Mmm, gives me shivers.

To the threadstarter: I live in an extremely small town myself, in fact, I don't even think it's officially a town... it's a township! I know for a fact that police officers around here KNOW the local ricers. My advice is the same as many others. If you have very conspicuous illegal things about your car there really isn't much you can do to not be pulled over. You can try to develop a relationship with the cops and you might find out they're pretty cool guys.

BTW, no flame intended, but in all seriousness... the following comment is just wrong and ignorant.It should be a crime that people have to think like this! The most illegal thing I do is speed. That's why I have the service. I can't count how many times I've seen "I just got a ticket" posts on the .org in just the short time that I've been here. I just can't help but wonder if these "law abiding citizens" could find use for a service with a purpose such as PPL... besides legal representation in court for smoking crack (of couse).

 

Taking notes during a conversation and recording it without the other person's consent or awareness are two COMPLETELY different things. But even if you want to use the taking notes example, if you want those notes admissible in court, you would have to have explicit permission from the other person for taking notes of his conversation.

Cops use hidden mics because citizens know that police use them, so there's no need for them to inform you--you're supposed to know that already. It's a vital part of their job, and the law grants them permission to use videotapes and microphones during patrols.

For the regular Joe off the street who tapes the conversation with the cop while pulled over, he will not be able to use it in court unless he can somehow prove that the cop was aware that he was being taped. One way I can see that is you can inform the police officer when he comes up to your window that you're running the tape, and therefore he'll be aware that he's being taped. THEN, if need be, you can use that tape in court because you'll have his admission of knowledge on the cassette.

Perhaps different states have different laws, but I think the majority of them follow the aforementioned procedure.

 

What are you then, FBI/DEA?

 

US Marshal

 

People don't realize that they can actually talk themselves into a ticket. An officer can pull you over with the intention of just giving you a warning and your attitude can make you drive off with a ticket. The person who snaps at a cop and says "WHAT DID YOU PULL ME OVER FOR?", is getting a ticket. The person who politely says," I'm sorry officer, did I do something wrong?" , is more likely to get a break.

 

Liked your movie.

 

1. I don't know what state you live in, but in my state(NY) and in most states you can record a conversation as long as one of the parties involved in the conversation is aware that it is being recorded.

2. you say "people are supposed to know that cops use mics" and are recording them. Most cops DON'T use mics. Mics are NOT a vital part of their job, it's just a tool. police work has been done for hundreds of years without the use of a mics and videos.

3. The regular Joe can audio/video tape a cop without the cop knowing and it can be used against the cop in court. You think the guy that taped Rodney King getting the S#!t kicked out of him had permission from the cops that were beating Rodney's @ss?

 

Like I said, some states probably have different laws regarding this, but I live in MA, and I'm pretty sure that BOTH parties have to be aware that it's being recorded in order for it to be used as evidence.

Well, I didn't say MOST cops use mics, I just said that people should not be surprised if one DOES use it, since some of them do rely on it. I would classify them as "vital" parts of their job because police officers are targets of various law suits and conduct reviews. It would be in their best interest to videotape and/or mic any traffic stops so that in case the person who got pulled over tries to fight the violation, or even worse, make false claims about the officer, the cop would have undeniable evidence that everything went according to protocol. You may not think this is "vital", but if I was a cop, I'd use it all the time.

Again, I'm not familiar with CA law, and not sure of the legality of how that happened. But I do know that the videotape was leaked to the media, and there was a lot of public pressure to do something about the cops. When you have a public frenzy like that, the law usually gets tossed out the window.

 

Just the opposite happens. When A case gets high media attention, Police, lawyers, prosecutors and judges tend to follow the law to the letter because so many eyes are on the case. Just don't get into trouble , because you don't seem to sure about the law a all, no matter what state you reside in.

 

Video and audio recording are different. Video recording a crime in progress is not gonna be a violation of wire-tap laws.

Recording audio CAN BE a violation of your state wire-tap laws. Think of Linda Tripp in the whole Clinton/Lweinksy scandal. After all was said and done she was prosecuted for wire tap violations.


If you local laws allow the audio recording of a conversation with the police if only *you* are a party to it, then I'd do it and do it discreetly. Otherwise, don't tell a cop on a routing stop that he or she is being recorded because they'll most likely go 100% by the book, no breaks. More officers give out breaks than are crooked.

If the laws governing your jurisdiction require the officer's consent, then have the recorder ready to go, and if the conversation looks like it's gonna be a *****y one then pull out the tape and inform the officer that you are *going to start* recording at that moment.

(There is precedence for a citizen covertly recoding a traffic stop then using the recording against the officer. The officer was cleared of wrongdoing and the citizen was charged with wire tap violation. Looking for a cite.)