Ask A Trooper Anything

ok, here is my question for the troopers

is the desire to starve the children of truck drivers a requirement for being hired as a trooper or is that something they teach you in the trooper academy?

and yes I tend to think most leo's are scumbags, they have no regard for the law, and tend to think everyone is guilty of something. most of them allow their individual bias to affect their jobs, and the vast majority of them are little more than people who know so much that just is not true, granted, there are a few decent cops out there, but they are vastly outnumbered by the ones who should never be allowed to carry a gun
this is true of most states with the exception of illinios, where there are no good cops at all, in fact, that state has no redeeming value at all and should be kicked out of the union, or at least paved over and used as a parking lot for the surrounding states

 

Goose,
Your response shows a deep disregard for any kind of law enforcement. But it also shows you to be as smart as a Oklahoma tadpole. I would be offended, but find it hard to believe that you have the brain power to understand why.

 

Hmm,let me guess---you get lots of tickets,right????

 

If a cop asks me, "do you mind if I take a look inside your truck?" and I say, "Yes, I mind. I'd rather you didn't". What do you do? What's the law?

No, I'm not hauling "dope" or contraband, not even breaking the law, I just don't want someone up poking around through my "home" and looking between the slices of my lunch meat (yes, this happened to me in Texas). Isn't it my right to decline your request to search?

 

Well with that attitude I can only imagine how much fun it is to deal with you, Mr. Personality. To answer your question. The answer is No. You see I was the child of a trucker. If you kids are starving, my guess is you are a top notch "Super Trucker" that does what he wants and could care less about a little thing called laws. With that attitude I know what my counterparts do with you. If you act like a total jack ___, you get treated like a jack ___. Hey I hear Walmart is looking for greeters, that way you won't have to deal with me anymore, unless you drive your car the same way you obviously drive a truck.

 

Muddy,

I can't speak for Texas law, but under the Constitution you have a right to refuse. I don't get into searching vehicles like I once did. I hear horror stories from drivers about Texas. Some insight for you that I might be able to add is this. Contraband of all sorts is moved by the automobile, whether it's a car or truck. Officer's/Troopers/deputies are always observant for signs or indicators of criminal activity. Not suggesting you are a criminal. But let me give insight to what I'm feeling and thinking when I stop anyone on the side of the highway and this might enable you to understand why things are done. Rule # 1 is I'm going to do my best to return home after every shift. Believe it or not some folks in this world would love to blow my head off. I've been involved in a traffic stop shooting and I tell you, they are not fun. Being shot at, with a crazy SOB that wants you dead will really put things into perspective. I take steps and precautions that I learned in the academy, from my field training trooper, and the tens of thousands of traffic stops I have affected in over 13 years. I try and stay low key, and not confrontational with the violator unless they escalate the contact. I personally ask questions of each violator and you see the reactions that people make and things they say while getting their license and registration. My observations are what lead me towards an interdiction stop or a regular traffic stop. If I see indicators that I know are consistent with criminal behavior I do one of two things. Either I call for a K-9 unit for a scan or go for consent. Know with consent, yes you can refuse. In my State, I have had people refuse and still wait for a K-9 to scan the vehicle for a free air sniff. I have also sent them on the way after refusing. I have had people give me consent and I've found large amounts of drugs in the vehicle. Just yesterday, I stopped a driver and immediately smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle. In this case, driver is detained and a probable cause search is conducted. Guy had personal amount of weed on him, a pipe that he was hitting going down the road and toaking on. Each officer is different, each State is different but the 4th amendment is the same. Case law from the Supreme Court applies to all States.

 

Unfortunately the law does not recognize a semi tractor as your home. The only way an officer can legally search your truck without your permission is with a warrant. Exception to this is "probable cause", something that if he went to a magistrate to get a warrant he knows one would be granted. That could be anything from him seeing illegal contraband (ie. radar detector) or you have committed an arrestable offense, at which point the truck would be impounded and subject to search anyway.

As drivers who work for companies we are at a disadvantage. We do not know what a driver before us may have had in the truck. Where he may have hid it. If an officer asks you to search your truck and he has no good probable cause and you tell him to get a warrant, you just became a mission to find something on you. So what I tell them is I do not give permission for a full search, but they can do a "plain view" search in which they can stand on the step, lokk inside and see if anything is in plain view. This usually seems to be ok. It has happened to me twice. One time they found the radar detector (illegal contraband) and then tore the truck apart.

So goes life.

 

So dieselbear.... am I right with my summation?

 

Biscuit,

Well close. Your right about the semi is not considered your home. It is moveable and there is 3 ways to get into a vehicle. 1) Probable cause search. i.e. I see contraband (weed, smoking device) in plain view, I smell the odor of burnt marijuana, the odor of raw marijuana etc. A K-9 scan that has a positive alert is also probable cause. 2) Consent to search. Can be verbal or in writing. When I obtain consent to search, I askand receive a verbal response and then have a Consent to search form that I read and have the individual sign as well. Protects me and the individual has know verbally given consent and also written consent. 3) a search warrant. I've obtained these as well. I had one that I had to get on a out of service truck to ensure we didn't lose the case. My thinking as well as the District Attorney in the jurisdiction I was working that day felt that the vehicle was placed out of service for defects and was not free to leave, we would secure the vehicle, driver wasn't allowed in, and get a judge to sign a search warrant. With consent, you can tell the officer that you revoke consent at anytime. I then have to stop searching. Now this is in my State, you would have to know what the laws of every State are. So without knowing for sure do not quote me on this. However if I have located contraband, say for example a CDS paraphernalia. you can revoke all you want and it has switched to a probable cause search.

4) a search incident to arrest, again this is in MY STATE. If I lock someone up for lets say suspended license. I can search the vehicle in all areas the driver has access to. For a truck, anything a driver could reach, so basically the whole cab. Now in a car, I couldn't search a locked trunk that the driver could not access while I had him stopped unless he jumped out and opened trunk and put something there prior to being arrested.

Hope this helps. 4th Amendment laws always create a lot of turmoil. Plus you have to stay up on all of the case law from all over the country.