Arrested in Montana

NEGATIVE FATBOY42 and to the other 2 or 3 people out there that believe this was not an arrest (although it was a temporary and a release), Your all wrong. It is defined by all courts of law and including the U.S. Supreme Court as an arrest. Millions of people across the U.S.A. are temporarily arrested for a few minutes and released on warnings and tickets.

From Wikipedia:

A traffic stop, commonly called being pulled over, is a temporary detention of a driver of a vehicle by police to investigate a possiblecrime or minor violation of law. In constitutional law in the United States, a traffic stop is considered to be a subset of the Terry stop; the standard set by the United States Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio regarding temporary detentions requires only reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred or is about to occur.

A stop is usually accomplished through a process known as "pulling over" the suspect's vehicle. Police vehicles (except those used by undercover personnel) traditionally have sirens, loudspeakers, and lightbars that rotate and/or flash. These devices are used by the officer to get the attention of the suspect and to signal that they are expected to move over to the shoulder and stop.

These devices are also typically equipped on other emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances, and in all cases, such signals and the laws requiring that other vehicles pull to the shoulder allow the emergency vehicles to pass other traffic safely and efficiently when responding to emergency situations. In the case of a traffic stop, the officer pulls the patrol vehicle behind the subject vehicle as it stops instead of proceeding past as he or she would during other emergency responses.

Depending upon the severity of the offense which the officer believes to have occurred, the officer may arrest the suspect, either by taking him or her to jail, or check for any outstanding warrants before issuing a citation also called a Notice to Appear or summons in some jurisdictions, which is essentially a traffic ticket. In some cases, officers may choose to simply issue a verbal or written warning.

Traffic stops are inherently dangerous for police officers, many of whom patrol and conduct stops alone. Officers typically take steps to protect themselves from passing traffic such as using their own car as a shield and/or approaching the suspect vehicle on the passenger side.

Many states have enacted laws requiring freeway traffic approaching the police vehicle to merge over to the left, leaving an entire lane as a buffer zone for the officer. According toFBI statistics [ticket needed], more officers are killed or injured annually during the course of a traffic stop than at any other time excluding vehicle accidents and effecting arrests.

A "felony" or "high-risk" traffic stop occurs when police stop a vehicle which they have strong reason to believe contains a driver or passenger suspected of having committed a serious crime, especially of a nature that would lead the police to believe the suspect(s) may be armed (such as an armed robbery, assault with a weapon, or an outstanding felony warrant for the registered owner). In a high risk stop, officers attempt to provide for everyone's safety by issuing instructions to maintain absolute control over every step of the proceedings.

They will have additional officers on scene for back-up, often waiting for additional officers to join up before initiating the stop. They will typically have their weapons drawn, and stay back from the suspect vehicle, using their patrol cars for cover. If there is no choice but to make the stop on a busy street, then they will often stop traffic. They will address the driver and any passengers over the PA speaker of the patrol car, typically instructing the driver to turn the engine off, remove the keys from the ignition, and sometimes toss them out the window. They will instruct the occupants, one at a time, to exit the vehicle with empty hands showing, place their hands on top of or behind their heads, walk backwards some distance, and then lay flat on the ground, where they will remain until all occupants have done likewise, at which point officers will move up, apply handcuffs, do a body search and then secure the suspects in the patrol cars. The vehicle is then typically searched for weapons and other evidence in accordance with the arresting Department's Standard Operating Procedures "S.O.P.'s".

The Supreme Court has held that an officer who stops a vehicle as part of a routine traffic stop has the authority to order the driver to exit the vehicle,as well as to order any passengers to exit the vehicle.

 

Detained does not equal arrest. And neither equal charged and found guilt. Why is this concept so hard to understand?

 

Don't know how it works in other states, but in Texas you're "detained" while pulled over or talking to an officer. Being "arrested" involves being handcuff and/or transported to the police station on the suspicion of committing a crime. Charged and found guilty are kind of self explanatory.

In the OPs case, his record will show an arrest with no charges or conviction. But that arrest will still affect him and his career, and I don't think you can even have that removed from your record, since it's just a general statement and not a proven crime. But it WILL be on his record. And it'll make things difficult on him, because it will show he was arrested on suspicion of "Theft: $1500 - $20000", known in laymans terms as grand theft auto. To some companies, it won't matter if he was convicted, being accused is enough to put his application on the do not hire pile.

 

Well put girl. I had a few words on his post as well..Dont let any spyders upset ya there..Just do what comes natural to the little critters..step on em, whack em with a magazine, suck em up in avacuum or do like I used to,, pluck the legs off....lol..

 

Mr. gpsman,
You need to read DB's posts before you comment. He said "there is a National Database that listed that trailer as stolen". That's what he meant by "you need to read it again.

That had to come from the OWNER of the trailer (translation: CRST). Not a disgruntled ex-employee.

Another poster pointed out that there are managers in the office who are supposed to keep track of the trailers. Apparently they dropped the ball and instead of turning over every rock, they reported it stolen. That's just being lazy on their part, and they didn't consider the repercussions for their drivers.

 

But that isn't apparent. How did you determine the error was not a typo or miscommunication between two or more parties? Perhaps MHP misread the registration number, or it was incorrectly entered in the National Database by a data entry clerk...? It is natural for the brain to take many shortcuts to come to a conclusion.

 

You and spyder need to start your own club. The 'rollover and take it club' or the 'my reputation don't matter club'.

Our company has thousands of trailers all over the country (without tractors attached). If they didn't keep track of them and called the police like CRST did, it wouldn't take long before this industry was brought to its knees.

The BOL gives you, the driver, the authority to haul that trailer #. It amazes me that the MHP didn't even ask to look at it before putting the cuffs on these men.

Because of DB's experience, now we are a little more nervous that we aren't as protected as we thought.

 

Excellent point, Captain.
Canada will be the litmus test on any false arrest. I don't know what database Canada uses, but if one thinks that their arrest record has been expunged, just try to get into Canada. Many oblivious people get turned away at the US-Canada border, 'cuz they believed the police department when they said, "sorry about that...we made a mistake...this won't go on your record...then Canada says, "GOTCHA!!".

Find that lawyer, DB. A good lawyer that knows the trucking industry. Maybe he'll even take your case pro-bono.

 

And this my friends is what is wrong in this country, the ME ME ME mentality, so sad to see it.... people making up big words hoping to make big paychecks off others.

 

So, if it had happened to you, would be okay with it?