Jason, you *really* need to meet Sam. He is an outstaning moderator with a wry sense of humor...even if he did sell his Mondi and settle for an Alpha....that runs...and doesn't catch fire....and is cheap to run...and cheap to fix.
My questions are valid and get right to the point of this whole debate. You won’t answer the question because it would then totally contradict your argument. I mean why do we have police in the first place – to uphold the law and protect its citizens. It is a Cops job to investigate something that looks suspicious . Someone driving around at 4 am in the morning can look suspicious I don’t need a law degree to argue my point. You with your law degree you still have not given me a valid reason why this was an illegal traffic stop. You posted some legal proceedings which may or may not be comparable to Jason’s case . Not enough info about the case was posted. How do you know that someone did not call the police ? So you decide to just make this up and post it ?? Look we can argue this all day long and neither off us will budge , I respect but disagree strongly with your opinion on this , I trust you can at least respect where I am coming from also . By the way I do not have a Law Degree but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently !!
I have met Sam once before and I think he is a great guy. Completely agree on the outstanding moderator bit....he lets a lot of stuff slide but knows when to step in when necessary. It was just a slight misunderstanding which we cleared up in a PM
Ok here is the real deal on this: I just contacted a good friend of mine who is a Police officer. A cop does need reasonable cause to pull someone over. If someone called into the Greenwich police department that is sufficient cause to investigate. Where it gets tricky is if a cop pulls someone over randomly for no apparent reason . What constitutes sufficient cause ? Driving through Greenwich at 4 Am in the morning ? Probably not in itself as there needs to be other factors involved to warrant one. Driving around at 4 am in the morning up and down streets – maybe . So because neither myself or Mr. Jag XKE attorney do not have all the facts a true determination of whether this was or was not an illegal stop can not be made. I am however confident that the police in Greenwich are very well versed into the legal aspects of traffic stops .
'No cruising' laws?!...talk about retarded. Ive never heard of that, but I guess anything can be turned into a "law" one way or another...
Hmmmm... Funny, sounds like the cop confirmed what I've been saying here: Cops must have reasonable suspicion that the person they are stopping has committed or my be about to commit a crime. In simpler terms, they have to have a good reason to stop someone and driving on a public street alone, no matter what time of day, is not enough to justify a stop. You can have all the faith you want in believing that the cops always do everything right. I'd rather put my trust in the law.
Justin, This goes to the heart of what I said earlier -- if we don't protect and jealously guard our rights, they will be taken away. Having the freedom to drive or walk on our public streets without fear of being stopped by the police for no good reason is one of them. IMHO, "no cruising" laws are a blatant violation of those fundamental principles that form the basis of our cherished freedoms.
My cop friend stated that they do need cause to pull someone over but he also said it was very unlikely that they would have done this without cause. Police are well trained and I am sure that the cop who pulled over Jason would have been able to justify if needed. Not to say that cops can not make errors in judgment. I would bet that if this ever went to court the case would be thrown out. Now if they pulled Jason over a 4 Pm in the afternoon for driving around that might seem a little odd but not at 4am. I stand firm that thinking of this as a 4rth amendment violation is wrong .
I know this has been a little beaten to death but I wanted to add a few things. We will never know exactly why the Police pulled Jason over. We did get his version, but not the Police Officers. The Police Officer could have knowledge of recent burglaries in that area that may not be publicly known. Perhaps Jason committed a few traffic violations that seem petty, but allow the Police to stop him(ex: No blinker while turning). There are many factors that could have contributed to the stop that Police officers see, that the average citizen doesnt. Christopher
A lot of cops are bored and just look for innocent people to hassle. It's fun for them and makes them feel big.