Can DOT Highway patrols search your truck

True. And sometimes people do run into bad leo's, or simply an leo having a bad day. But I'm talking about the people that every single interaction with leo's are bad. Some people need to look in the mirror for their troubles is all.

 

Sure, some people are their own worst enemies. But nothing good comes from being pulled over. You're already looked at as being beneath the cop... one of the enemy. Sure there are exceptions.

What good comes from letting a cop search your vehicle? Nada. Not one darn thing. And I don't count people feeling good about themselves doing their civic duty as a good thing.

 

I have had many encounters with CHP, DOT, DPS or what ever you call them in your area, only a few have been out of line with there duties. Don't argue with them side of the road isn't the place, no idle chitchat either, answer there questions if appropriate, or don't that's your choice, try not to make your stop stick out in there mind, makes the ticket easier to beat later. I had two that were really out of line, one in Bakersfield wrote a ticket once a week for speeding on 58 between 99 and the bottom of the hill, went to court on the first one showed the judge the video from my dashcam which clearly showed me at 55 to 58 mph coming off Tehachapi, he dismissed all of them right there and told me he would take care of it, still see here working the hill but no longer pulling me over or trucks in general. The other was on hwy 14 between Acton and Palmdale, again showed the footage to the judge and it was dismissed, and the judge heared the whole conversation about me refusing the CHP entry into my cab, and he said they could inspect the load but needed probable cause such as seeing a can of beer open in the cab (his example not mine) to gain entry without a warrant. And that they had 20 minutes to issue a citation on a traffic stop or kick me free, mine lasted 34 minutes and he kicked it free, laughing calling it time served.

 

It's more so common sense...
Don't antagonize them cause they're already ignorant most of them of the rights of people and most of them think of it as just a job like washing dishes and have no higher intelligence job these subjects..
It's really pleasurable when you do come across professional and knowledge able cops!!!
They are US just the same...
I come across every state and I treat everyone the same it's my enlightenment unless they get disrespectful and ignorant then I tell them, but I'm different I am raised ☝ so I appreciate experiences and will goodness to shine light upon darkness... By doing so we raise them up through the crucible of universal mind, the creator within....✌✌

 

With cops you gotta keep in mind the law treats them like gold, prosecutors side with them, don't generally prosecute them, their unions protect them, courts have granted them qualified immunity for decades, etc.

You're "just" a civilian, yea you have your rights, but lawmakers, courts, and regulators have found ways to cut that down. You DO have rights and tools to fight back if they're infringed, but like some have said... side of the hiway isn't the best place to argue it. You gotta be smart, and pick your battles.

Don't be a dick to the cop, don't bend over for them, I don't call them "sir" for example I call them officer sure they're an officer just like they call me driver I'll call them by their occupation that's fair. I would address the queen of england as "Ms. Queen" for example, but that's just my radicalism speaking possibly.

Ultimately it's a problem not of cops per se, but too many rules and regulations, and too many cops with nothing better to do, and bad incentives on all sides because enforcement = revenue in many cases.

I never told a cop he couldn't hop in the passenger seat of the truck cab to do an inspection, commercial vehicles are different, it's not like a car, the fact they can search for #### IS a serious privacy problem, but our govt could give a #### less about your privacy, and safety activist mothers whose kid died 30 years ago in an accident will make sure they keep giving a #### less!

 

Cops have 100 times the legal training of almost any non-lawyer civilian. They learn the proper court-tested phrases to say during an investigation and they know what commonly used phrases will not work in court.

Drivers spend a lot of time alone and tell the same stories over and over. Just having a feel-good statement in your or my mind doesn't necessarily decide legal matters. Legal cases are judged by legal arguments and legal procedures.

 

Years back I changed my opinion after reading an article in one of the trucking magazines about truck searches. The cops and the attorneys agree without permission of the owner a warrant is necessary for a legal search of the vehicle.

 

I got pulled over in wash st for radar detector and they made me put it in side box