Do You Have To Talk To Police?

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VirgilCaine

New member
A buddy of mine and I were BS'ing last night, and we got onto the topic of cops and traffic stops. The question that came out of it was this: Do you have to talk to police? Or can you just open your window 1/2 an inch and give hime your paperwork/CCW status then close the window , sit and wait?

Just curious.
 
I usually dont talk to them..just do a lot of listening and answer his questions in a polite manner. Never have had a policeman be rude or a smartass...even if he was I would still be polite and not roll in the mud with him. I was guilty of the traffic violation..just had terminal colon blockage sometimes. The few times I have been stopped in the past 5 years. They let me go with a warning. Even been stopped with a pistol in the car when going to the range..just informed the officer I had a pistol in the car... just followed his instructions and we even had a nice chat about pistols.

When I get my CCW I would just hand the officer my liscense and papers and the CCW.....if he needed anything else I would be polite and follow instructions.

you only escalate a situation by being rude......
 
Why?

If you're not doing anything illegal, why not dispel any shadow of doubt and cooperate with the officer?

I don't think you are obligated to make small talk, but I think you should respond any questions he/she asks of you, even if it's to say, "I prefer not to answer."

I don't think it would be beneficial to you to be blatantly uncooperative.
 
Imho . . .

I am NOT suggesting that this is a good idea, but you do not have to provide the state anything but identification information unless you receive a summons to appear in court or before a grand jury. Even then, you have Fifth Amendment protections that may be applicable. Remember the ubiquitously quoted “right to remain silent”.
 
Like others have said, you may not HAVE to talk, but why wouldn't you?

Case in point: I was pulled over on Memorial Day weekend, going 64 in a 55 zone. I was very polite and said yes lots of, "yes Ma'ams." I cracked a joke about a hitchhiker who ran away when he saw her pull up. Hey, what can I say? I charmed the holy hell out of her. :D

She came back and gave me a warning. If I had been a bungus and just handed her my papers without speaking, I can promise you I'd be $100 lighter right now.
 
JohnBT

Knowing that everything you say will be used against you? Oh, thats right, you're LEO huh? You'd just have to flash your badge, so your answer is a little invalid. What about us citizens?

No offense, just took it as a citizen question.
 
Talk to police

If you want a truely exciting day, jump out of the car, start running and scream, "you'll never take me alive".

Of course you should answer their questions. And treat them with the same respect you wish to receive.
 
From 918sgt
If you want a truely exciting day, jump out of the car, start running and scream, "you'll never take me alive".

Sort of like the last time I was stopped for speeding, except I was stopped (rightly) for doing 70 in a 55, when I pulled over I jumped out waved my wallet and toilet paper at him, laid the wallet on my truck and ran for the tree line. It was sort of embarrassing when he got close enough to me to see what I was doing (stomach viruses really suck).
He let me off with a warning, mainly because he was laughing to hard to write I think.
But I was really really polite when I came back to my truck also.
Will
 
What Tjhands said. Stonewalling will do nothing but raise red flags for the officer. Why attract attention to yourself if you don't want it?
 
Stonewalling will do nothing but raise red flags for the officer. Why attract attention to yourself if you don't want it?
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But if you have the right not to answer, or talk, but the way thats not stonewalling, its exercising a right, why would it raise red flags? Not answering a question is not an implication of guilt.
 
But if you have the right not to answer, or talk, but the way thats not stonewalling, its exercising a right, why would it raise red flags? Not answering a question is not an implication of guilt.
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Because the police look at you like you are criminal. If you talk about something called "rights" that just proves to them you must be a criminal.
 
It's nice to be nice and polite but when the folks you're dealing with are going by the letter of the book and looking/hoping/trick questioning you into making a statement that they can use it against you and ticket/arrest you for whatever...whats wrong with the citizen going by the book and excercising his right to remain silent. If thats a red flag then a cop approaching you in any way is a red flag also. See the paradox?

I'm not bashing cops or anything but jeezow my family needs what little money I make. :confused:
 
Amazing. You know, when I ask questions during a traffic stop, I'm looking for answers like "junior's sick at home", "my house is on fire", "my wife's pregnant and her water broke", or even "I have the runs!" (good one Willsjeep :D ). You got a good excuse and there's no bodies lying on the highway? You got a warning. None of the above and obviously a bit of an attitude? Tell me why shouldn't I write the ticket?

I remember a traffic stop a few years back. Late at night and the lady had no rear lights at all. I flipped on the lights and she immediately jerked the car to the right, right into a telephone pole. Then she proceeded to jump out of the car and cuss me out, saying it was my fault :rolleyes: . I tried to explain about her lights, that I didn't want to see her get rear ended (no wisecracks, please :rolleyes: ), and suggested that she take well lighted streets to her destination. Didn't matter; I was the bad guy. Would've been a defect warning. Ended up being a citation for failure to control.
 
Oh, I've gotten warnings before and met some really nice cops. Real nice, but more often than not it winds up I get a ticket and it costs my family money.

It's strictly a financial thing. While I remember the nice stops, I also remember the pay us stops. Like the cop who stopped me & my partner one morning going to a job. We was talking about the job and I was keeping the pace but probably going a little faster then the speed limit, and he nailed me. He didn't have time to do his radar thingy I guess cause he kept asking me how fast I was going and the speedometer was broke so I told him I;m not sure but I was keeping pace with the traffic. He kept on and kept on asking me how fast do I think I was going. I didn't realize it at the time, but later realized that he was going to write me for what I said. I know what to say next time.

Writing tickets is what cops do. They ask to search because they have no probable cause, but want to search to look for a reason to write you or arrest you. How many times have you heard a cop say sorry, its the law? Its what they do! Everything is illegal if you read the right subsection and its up to the officers discretion. Sometimes good, generally costly to a poor working man. When they have wrote me I hear...it's not up to my discretion, its the law...but it is and since revenue collection is the name of the game, no sir, with all due respect, you may not search my vehicle. See? It's nothing personal or disrespectful to the officer. It's just financial protection for my family. Why should I be 'red flagged' for that?

Could you / have you ever not been offended by a non threatening-reasonably compliant-polite citizen who respectably declined to talk (too much) or search?
 
Oh, I've gotten warnings before and met some really nice cops. Real nice, but more often than not it winds up I get a ticket and it costs my family money.
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You should try my method for not having to pay fines: don't have any reasons to be pulled over for (i.e., don't break the law). :)

It's worked 100% for me.
 
As far as I'm concerned, the people who apologize and admit having done whatever I stopped them for are the people who drive away with a warning and a smile :) . If a person argues, or refuses to acknowledge me will get a citation, every time. It the people who choose to get an attitude are the ones who get several citations, or worse yet get yanked out of a vehicle in a manner that they are not accustomed to.
As for whoever it was that said LEO's just write tickets for the money :barf: - that is a load of crap. At the agency I work in we are given the discretion to write as many or as few citations as we want, and we write relatively few as a result. Usually we use traffic enforcement just to make contacts, offering the possibility to find more serious offenses.
Just my thoughts.
 
The technical answer is no, you are not required to speak. However pragmatically speaking, you could well end up taking a ride in the back seat if you flat out refuse to say anything.

If you are pulled over for a minor traffic violation, 99 times out of 100 you are really just being coereced into paying a bonus tax to the community in which you were pulled over. Like landing on boardwalk in monopoly. Just take it as it is, you have to pay the tribute no way to win. Then you go on. Be polite, say only what is necessary and just go on.

Real policemen aren't out there hiding on the side of the road in a patrol car waiting for you to drive 10 mph over the speed limit. Those are meter maids on wheels and what they typically do isnt real law enforcement, it is tribute collection. A form of government extortion that goes back further than prostitution does, or in other words, the true oldest profession in the world.

Shooter John said that his agency gives him discretion to write as many or as few tickets as he sees fit, but that is probably the minority of cases. However Shooter John will also yank you out of your car in a manner you are not accustomed to if you don't treat him really nice like he is doing you some kind of a favor and you are just not appreciative enough, which means you pay two prices - you can bet once he yanks you out that you will get as many tickets as he can dream up, plus you get to learn all about powerlessness and humility.....
 
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