Staying Safe During a Police Encounter

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: Uh, this is Dr.

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William T.

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Choctaw, and I will be your host today
to the Healthy, Wealth Wise podcast.

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Um, we always like to go over our beliefs.

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We believe life is about being
of service to other people.

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We believe knowledge is power.

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We believe leaders can change the world.

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And so, in essence, what we want
to do for you, our audience, is

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to empower you With knowledge to
make the world a better place.

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So welcome.

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Bernie.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Hi.

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Hello there.

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How's it going?

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I want to talk to you today about what are
your rights when dealing with the police?

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And what are their rights
when dealing with you?

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Can the police set up a stakeout and
spy on my house through binoculars?

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And the answer to that is yes.

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If they're in a, if they're
in a public place, let's say

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they park down the street.

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And they just they got their binoculars
and they do this, by the way, just watch

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you every time you go in and out the house
and who's going in and out the house.

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And

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: so how is that
not harassment, but you know, because

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again, I'm a nervous the kind of person
and if I see people watching me, who may

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be law enforcement that just terrifies me.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Well, a lot of
times they try to do it incognito.

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They don't work.

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They don't.

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They're not.

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They're trying to do it.

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So you don't see them.

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That's why they have these binoculars
and a couple of hundred yards

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away or a hundred yards away,
but it's perfectly legal for them

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to be anywhere they want to be.

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As long as they're in a public place, they
can park and they can watch your house.

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They cannot, we're going to get to
home searches next and home intrusions,

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but they cannot come in your house.

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Well, but here's the irony of it is
at some point if they see something

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going on inside of your house and
the way they do this is they would

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set up a case by saying yes, every 15
minutes somebody came to the house.

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And, and they would come, they would
stay there for, uh, two or three

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minutes, and then they would leave.

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And there was this constant
traffic in and out of the house.

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And one time we saw somebody come, and
they were standing out on the front porch,

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and we saw the person hand some money.

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To the to the person, you know, the
homeowner and the homeowner hand

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up a small package to the person
and then the person leave and

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this went on and on day and day.

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So what they're trying to do is establish
probable cause that this guy is dealing

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drugs or that there's some kind of
criminal activity going on in the house.

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And so they would Present that to a
judge at some point, and the judge

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would have to make a determination
as to whether there is sufficient.

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But

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: isn't it true
in the post covid era that a lot of

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people have home businesses and they,
you know, people may come to their homes

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to purchase, I don't know, different
items that the homeowner may make.

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Uh, and it's a legitimate business.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: You've got that
Juris Doctor, you, you really know that.

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You went to law school, you
know, you know your stuff.

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No, no, no.

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Certainly, that would be
the defense, absolutely.

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And that would be, theoretically,
Conceivably likely a successful defense

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in many circumstances, uh, the way it
works and we'll move right on since

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we're, we're approaching that subject.

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We'll move on to home searches.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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And so the question being, can
they come and search your home

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or can they enter your home?

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And basically when there are certain
reasons, certain legal justifications

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as to why they can or can not.

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And the main one is if they get a warrant.

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Okay.

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And the way that works is they go
to a judge or a magistrate and they

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say, Oh, your honor, we've been
conducting a surveillance of this home.

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And this is what we've seen.

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Now the judge may, uh, this is
before they even get to trying to

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get the search warrant at this point.

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And the judge may say, no, I'm not going
to give you a search warrant on this.

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You know what?

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It could have just been, you
know, just delivering food.

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I'm not going to sign
up on a search warrant.

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Oh yes, this is, this is
evidence of probable cause.

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And it's relevant evidence of
criminal conduct, criminal activity

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that's ongoing at that location.

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So I'm going to give you a search
warrant, and then you can go search.

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Oh, those celebrities homes.

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You can search the Diddy home.

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Right.

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So, search warrants are another way.

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And here's an interesting thing.

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Now, we talked about how the students
said that, uh, that they would

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allow a search of their person.

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There are cases where police just
walk up to a house, knock on the

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door and say, Hey, how you doing?

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You know what?

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Uh, I would like, can, can
I have permission to come

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in and search your house?

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You know, there are people, if you
say yes, like again, we're back there

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again, you waived your rights because
then they don't need a warrant.

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They don't need any of the other
reasons that I'm going to talk

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about later to come into your house.

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Once you say yes, you can come
in and you can, you can search my

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house, you then you've given consent.

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So, um, but they can actually do that.

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They can knock on your door.

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And now here's the other thing they
can do, too, which is there's what's

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called a plane view doctor, right?

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And that is they come and
they knock on your door.

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And while they're on your porch,
they look through the window.

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And if they look through the window
and they see drug activity ongoing

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through the window, you know,
they see you grabbing drugs and,

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and, and running to another room.

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They hear the, the, the toilet
flushing, you know, yeah.

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Then they can break into the home.

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It's called exigent circumstances and
they can say, well, we saw through the

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window from the outside of the house.

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We saw this criminal activity
in plain view, and therefore we

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were permitted to go in without a
warrant and seize that property.

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So the plain view doctrine can apply.

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There's what's called
exigent circumstances.

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Okay.

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There's another reason why they can
come in and this is an interesting thing

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is if they get a 9 1 1 call and the
person says, you know, and they have

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the location, they go there and they go
to that location and they hear screams.

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Oh, okay.

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Even if they don't get a 9 1 1
call, if they go to that location,

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somebody inside and say, yeah,
then they can break into the house.

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To provide aid to a person
who is maybe in distress.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: So if they
come to one's house and I don't

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want them to come in, I can say no.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Yes.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: Absolutely.

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I can just say, no, thank you.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Absolutely.

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If they don't, you can
say, where's your warrant?

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay.

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So I should, I should say, do
you have a warrant or whatever?

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That, that's, that's, that's a
right I have as a, as a citizen.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Absolutely.

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Yes.

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And, but now, like I said,
they can be superseded.

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Right, by other circumstances.

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Activity going on.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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They have a, sometimes they can come
to a house because they've received a

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call of a medical emergency, and a lot
of times they'll show up at a house.

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They've received a call, the
woman's calling saying, Oh,

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I'm having a heart attack.

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I think I'm having a heart attack.

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And then when they arrive at
the house, they knock on the

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door and nobody opens the door.

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Nobody comes to the door.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: So, so police come
on those calls as compared to paramedics?

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Yeah.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Well, what
happens is they can break into the

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house to render aid to a person.

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If they believe that there's a medical
emergency, Nobody comes to the door.

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Nobody opens the door then they can say,
okay Well, we got this radio call and

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we think there's a medical emergency
and if it's a valid reasonable Belief

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that there's a medical emergency
and they can break into the house to

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read to render medical aid Got it.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: So those are
just some of the reasons uh As I

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mentioned earlier, any indication
that there's ongoing criminal

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activity can serve as a valid basis.

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Uh, here's an interesting thing.

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They show up at the house, right?

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And suspect isn't there.

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They may have seen the suspect.

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But they want to search the house.

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So what do they do?

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They show up and the girlfriend's there.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay.

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That's

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: the girlfriend.

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Can we search the house?

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Now, if the girlfriend lives there,
she can give, she can give authority

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to at least come in and search
the, the general area of the house.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: Ah, okay.

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Now, they, there,
there are cases that go back and forth on

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whether she can give permission to search
his room, his personal private areas.

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Maybe not, but at least the living room,
the family room, the open areas, Habitat

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can give permission to search those areas.

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Okay.

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Now, as you've seen, as we saw in
that Diddy case, they threw stuff.

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You know, the media stuff.

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They just throw it all over the place.

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They empty up

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.
Dr. William T. Choctaw:
Now, why did they do that?

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I mean, couldn't they just search and
neatly stack it up against the wall?

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What's up with that?

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: Yeah,
that would be nice.

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. I just put the stuff back,
fold it up and put it down.

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No, they just leave it thrown all
over the floor and everywhere.

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It was just a mess.

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Dr. William T. Choctaw: So do they do
that to sort of make a statement or

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intimidate or, or is that just individual?

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Bernie Brown, Eqs: I guess they do
it because they can get away with it.

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I don't think it's an individual thing.

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I think that when they conduct the
search, they know they don't have any,

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Any responsibility to, uh, put stuff back.

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So leave it the way it is.

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It's terrible, but it is,
uh, that is the way it is.

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They can also arrest a person.

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I'm sorry, search a
home pursuant to arrest.

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If they have an arrest warrant and
they go to a location to arrest

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the person, the person is there.

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They can search within
his immediate arms reach.

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Of where he is arrested and do what's
called a safety, uh, security sweep

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before they are read or after they arrest.

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They could just quickly go and look in
other rooms to make sure that there are

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no other, there's no danger to them.

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Okay, that makes sense.

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While they're looking in those other
rooms, if they see something they can

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then, then they can seize it and legally.

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Got it.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Oh, man.

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There's a lot of rooms out there.

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There are exceptions to
every rule, pretty much.

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So that's pretty much it
with regard to home searches.

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Obviously, there are people who
are on probation and parole and

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they're subject to a search.

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They have search conditions.

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So, uh, it was written in their probation
statements that police can come to

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your house and search your house,
you know, it might be really okay.

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If they're on probation or parole,
they may have certain conditions that

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allow the police to come and make those
searches in which event, they can do

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that so long as it's not harassing.

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And that's another story for another time.

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Uh, car stops.

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Now we move on to the biggie, car stops.

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00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:02,100
Excuse me.

238
00:12:02,439 --> 00:12:06,850
Can police stop your vehicle
for traffic violations?

239
00:12:07,319 --> 00:12:09,910
And the obvious answer to that is yes.

240
00:12:10,279 --> 00:12:13,580
You know, they can stop you for
all kinds of traffic violations.

241
00:12:14,135 --> 00:12:19,214
They can stop you for speeding, they
can stop you for, uh, problems with your

242
00:12:19,214 --> 00:12:25,455
car, your, your rear view bulb light,
brake light doesn't work, whatever.

243
00:12:25,954 --> 00:12:29,185
Uh, they can obviously stop you for a DUI.

244
00:12:29,774 --> 00:12:33,575
And when they stop you, obviously, as we
discussed earlier, they can ask you for

245
00:12:33,575 --> 00:12:38,475
your license and registration, but they
can also ask you for proof of insurance.

246
00:12:39,215 --> 00:12:44,445
And obviously they generally do the site
and release, they'll write you a site.

247
00:12:45,505 --> 00:12:51,305
For whatever the violation may be,
but if you do not have a license,

248
00:12:51,885 --> 00:12:55,775
uh, then they might not allow
you to drive the vehicle away.

249
00:12:56,894 --> 00:13:01,395
They may keep the vehicle there, and then
they might later impound the vehicle.

250
00:13:01,615 --> 00:13:03,484
We'll get to that a little bit later.

251
00:13:03,484 --> 00:13:07,234
And if they impound it, then
it's subject to an inventory

252
00:13:07,234 --> 00:13:09,014
search when they impound it.

253
00:13:09,405 --> 00:13:13,724
So all the little nuances to
get around to look into that.

254
00:13:13,724 --> 00:13:14,064
Okay.

255
00:13:14,065 --> 00:13:16,815
And once again, we get back
to the same doctrine that we

256
00:13:16,815 --> 00:13:17,834
were talking about earlier.

257
00:13:18,125 --> 00:13:19,955
That lane view doctrine.

258
00:13:20,454 --> 00:13:23,414
If they come up to your car and
they're stopping you for some type

259
00:13:23,414 --> 00:13:28,574
of traffic violation, an illegal
lane change, you ran a stop sign.

260
00:13:28,875 --> 00:13:31,564
And when they walk up to your car, they
stop you, and they look through the

261
00:13:31,564 --> 00:13:37,705
window, and they see a big vial of, Of
cocaine or whatever in in your backseat.

262
00:13:38,285 --> 00:13:43,465
Now they can search the vehicle because
in plain view while they were outside

263
00:13:43,465 --> 00:13:45,665
of the vehicle, they saw contraband.

264
00:13:46,030 --> 00:13:47,990
Illegal substances inside the vehicle.

265
00:13:48,190 --> 00:13:51,000
So that gives them probable
cause and reasonable suspicion

266
00:13:51,310 --> 00:13:52,460
to search the vehicle.

267
00:13:53,310 --> 00:13:55,870
Dr. William T. Choctaw: If your
car windows are excessively tenant,

268
00:13:55,910 --> 00:13:57,569
can they stop and search you?

269
00:13:57,850 --> 00:14:00,620
Bernie Brown, Eqs: Ah, now there
becomes an interesting issue.

270
00:14:00,780 --> 00:14:07,269
A lot of officers used tempting as
a basis for detaining a suspect and

271
00:14:09,230 --> 00:14:10,820
There are a lot of laws on that.

272
00:14:11,150 --> 00:14:16,030
And the laws basically, basically, in its
most simplistic form say if the officer

273
00:14:16,030 --> 00:14:20,255
cannot see the You can't see inside of
your vehicle because the tent of your

274
00:14:20,265 --> 00:14:24,465
vehicle is so dark that they can't see
inside, then they could theoretically

275
00:14:24,465 --> 00:14:27,615
stop you and cite you for that.

276
00:14:27,994 --> 00:14:28,494
Okay.

277
00:14:28,704 --> 00:14:32,545
And in which event they would have
to ask you to roll down your window,

278
00:14:32,864 --> 00:14:36,734
in which event, they could see
inside and if they saw any contraband

279
00:14:36,734 --> 00:14:38,884
obviously they could seize it.

280
00:14:39,244 --> 00:14:43,594
Otherwise, they could write you a citation
for that, and by that time they can ask

281
00:14:43,594 --> 00:14:45,889
you For your license and registration.

282
00:14:46,050 --> 00:14:48,389
Now, the interesting thing
in here gets a juicy one.

283
00:14:49,099 --> 00:14:54,519
If you don't have a license and
registration, they can go inside

284
00:14:54,519 --> 00:14:59,650
your glove compartment and search
for your license or registration.

285
00:15:00,170 --> 00:15:00,689
Okay.

286
00:15:01,810 --> 00:15:02,160
Yeah.

287
00:15:02,210 --> 00:15:06,569
They can open your glove compartment
or they can look under the seat and try

288
00:15:06,569 --> 00:15:09,050
to find your license and registration.

289
00:15:09,479 --> 00:15:11,400
And the same thing applies.

290
00:15:11,719 --> 00:15:13,800
Uh, with regard to your wallet.

291
00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,199
If you're in a public place, I
forgot to mention that earlier,

292
00:15:17,110 --> 00:15:18,650
you don't have identification.

293
00:15:18,939 --> 00:15:23,180
There are some cases that say they can
retrieve your wallet out of your pocket

294
00:15:23,229 --> 00:15:25,620
to try to search for your identification.

295
00:15:25,839 --> 00:15:30,839
And if they find anything while they're
doing that, then that can be admissible

296
00:15:31,049 --> 00:15:35,339
in a court of law is against you.

297
00:15:35,860 --> 00:15:41,880
So as all of these different little rules,
they can go in the glove compartment to

298
00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,840
search for, as we said, for your license
and registration, search your wallet.

299
00:15:47,275 --> 00:15:47,815
Uh,

300
00:15:48,905 --> 00:15:49,985
Dr. William T. Choctaw: let
me ask a quick question.

301
00:15:49,985 --> 00:15:54,795
I remember that there is a actually
Byron, who's a good friend of mine.

302
00:15:54,805 --> 00:15:58,215
He's a law enforcement officer
in my Sunday school class,

303
00:15:58,585 --> 00:15:59,915
and he was made a comment.

304
00:15:59,944 --> 00:16:03,614
He said, if you're ever if you're
driving your car, let's say you're

305
00:16:03,615 --> 00:16:07,655
coming from a party or a dinner
and the people in the backseat.

306
00:16:08,075 --> 00:16:12,475
Um, he said that when, when, if the
police stop you, you should immediately

307
00:16:12,475 --> 00:16:19,015
roll down every single window and put
your hands up or on the wheels or, uh,

308
00:16:19,385 --> 00:16:21,095
so the, so the police can see them.

309
00:16:21,184 --> 00:16:23,235
That, that you should
just do it automatically.

310
00:16:23,245 --> 00:16:25,855
Don't, don't wait to be asked or whatever.

311
00:16:26,124 --> 00:16:29,085
Do you think that's reasonable or do
you think that's sort of overreacting?

312
00:16:29,295 --> 00:16:30,745
Bernie Brown, Eqs: But
that's the common sense.

313
00:16:31,375 --> 00:16:32,715
That's back to the common sense.

314
00:16:33,045 --> 00:16:33,335
Okay.

315
00:16:33,335 --> 00:16:33,774
Okay.

316
00:16:33,775 --> 00:16:34,575
You don't have to do that.

317
00:16:35,225 --> 00:16:38,805
But the police officers approaching
you don't want them to be mistaken.

318
00:16:38,805 --> 00:16:40,025
Oh, I thought I saw a gun.

319
00:16:40,025 --> 00:16:42,095
Oh, I thought I saw him
reach for something.

320
00:16:42,485 --> 00:16:43,285
Oh, man.

321
00:16:43,655 --> 00:16:46,645
It's better to get clearance
before you reach for anything.

322
00:16:46,665 --> 00:16:49,725
Like take, for instance, if you're going
to reach for the glove compartment.

323
00:16:50,015 --> 00:16:50,325
Right.

324
00:16:50,355 --> 00:16:55,635
Before you do that, if the officer's
outside your view, you say, Officer, my

325
00:16:55,635 --> 00:16:58,495
registration is in the glove compartment.

326
00:16:58,745 --> 00:17:01,834
May I reach into the glove
compartment to recover it?

327
00:17:02,214 --> 00:17:02,724
Okay.

328
00:17:02,964 --> 00:17:05,845
Don't just go reaching in there
because if you go reaching in there

329
00:17:05,845 --> 00:17:07,944
yourself, they might say, Oh, I
thought it was going to happen.

330
00:17:08,324 --> 00:17:09,365
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Right, right.

331
00:17:10,484 --> 00:17:13,515
So, so that would fall within
common sense that you just do,

332
00:17:14,054 --> 00:17:15,764
Bernie Brown, Eqs: but
theoretically, you're not required

333
00:17:15,974 --> 00:17:17,034
to roll down all your windows.

334
00:17:17,704 --> 00:17:18,184
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay.

335
00:17:18,614 --> 00:17:21,645
Bernie Brown, Eqs: And, and you,
you know, a lot of times the police

336
00:17:21,665 --> 00:17:22,825
will come up to you and they've.

337
00:17:23,234 --> 00:17:29,185
Uh, they keep in mind now all the police
officers almost at least here in the L.

338
00:17:29,185 --> 00:17:29,275
A.

339
00:17:29,284 --> 00:17:32,234
County area and virtually
many other jurisdictions.

340
00:17:32,495 --> 00:17:34,904
Almost all of them now
have what called body cams,

341
00:17:35,394 --> 00:17:35,834
Dr. William T. Choctaw: right?

342
00:17:36,024 --> 00:17:38,545
Bernie Brown, Eqs: And they have
it's either on their chest or it's

343
00:17:38,545 --> 00:17:40,555
on their head helmet or whatever.

344
00:17:40,835 --> 00:17:43,885
And it's a little camera and it
starts recording everything that's

345
00:17:43,895 --> 00:17:48,935
going on during the traffic encounter
during the encounter with the police.

346
00:17:49,514 --> 00:17:52,235
And sometimes they don't turn it on there.

347
00:17:52,254 --> 00:17:57,605
Many, uh, jurisdictions are required
to turn it on automatically whenever

348
00:17:57,605 --> 00:18:00,235
they stop somebody or detain somebody

349
00:18:00,365 --> 00:18:01,405
Dr. William T. Choctaw: in California.

350
00:18:01,405 --> 00:18:02,745
They're required to turn it on

351
00:18:03,115 --> 00:18:05,054
Bernie Brown, Eqs: in California locally.

352
00:18:05,054 --> 00:18:06,595
I think they did recently.

353
00:18:06,695 --> 00:18:09,465
I'm not absolutely certain, but
I think they did recently pass a

354
00:18:09,475 --> 00:18:11,655
section that says they are required.

355
00:18:12,110 --> 00:18:15,010
Automatically activated, uh, years ago.

356
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,750
Well, a few years ago when they were
first rolling them out, they were set

357
00:18:19,970 --> 00:18:24,100
so that they would automatically come on
when they're when their siren came on.

358
00:18:24,100 --> 00:18:24,760
Got it.

359
00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:25,850
Got to stop.

360
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:30,950
And when they had an encounter, they would
With the police officer, um, when, with a

361
00:18:30,950 --> 00:18:35,180
civilian, but they had a button, they all
had a button where they could turn it off.

362
00:18:35,180 --> 00:18:39,919
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay.

363
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:41,659
Bernie Brown, Eqs: And they
used to do that sometimes.

364
00:18:42,900 --> 00:18:45,750
The other thing that used to happen
sometimes is a little bit off the

365
00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:54,950
subject is that they would write a police
report and then we would see The video

366
00:18:54,950 --> 00:18:57,210
of it and it would be inconsistent.

367
00:18:57,750 --> 00:19:01,090
This used to happen So I'd say one
thing in the police report and you look

368
00:19:01,090 --> 00:19:07,129
at the video and you say wait a minute
That's not what happened here There's

369
00:19:07,130 --> 00:19:13,219
no there's no he's not swagging or he's
not staggering he's not sweared slurred

370
00:19:13,219 --> 00:19:19,030
speech His eyes didn't look blitz
bloodshot or watery So sometimes but so

371
00:19:19,030 --> 00:19:22,379
the video cameras are helpful and they
are helpful to the officers, too Okay.

372
00:19:23,620 --> 00:19:23,889
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay.

373
00:19:23,889 --> 00:19:24,010
They show,

374
00:19:24,699 --> 00:19:28,990
Bernie Brown, Eqs: they can show the
suspect being unruly, going for a weapon.

375
00:19:29,290 --> 00:19:33,120
Video cameras are, can be
a a, a great useful too.

376
00:19:33,730 --> 00:19:37,139
Now, the interesting thing is when
the police come up to you, can

377
00:19:37,145 --> 00:19:39,180
they order you outta the vehicle?

378
00:19:39,890 --> 00:19:40,400
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay?

379
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:41,960
Bernie Brown, Eqs: And the answer is yes.

380
00:19:42,065 --> 00:19:42,355
Okay.

381
00:19:42,495 --> 00:19:48,470
You are, if it is for officer safety,
if they tell you driver and passenger

382
00:19:48,710 --> 00:19:50,540
exit the vehicle, you have to exit.

383
00:19:50,810 --> 00:19:53,179
If they tell you, remain in the vehicle.

384
00:19:53,650 --> 00:19:57,420
If they say do not exit the vehicle,
you have to comply with that command.

385
00:19:58,130 --> 00:20:02,459
Now, obviously as we said
earlier they may They may require

386
00:20:02,459 --> 00:20:03,550
you to produce your license.

387
00:20:03,850 --> 00:20:09,420
I've said that several times Do they have
to tell you why you are being stopped?

388
00:20:11,930 --> 00:20:16,550
The answer in many jurisdictions is
yes, certainly most all jurisdictions

389
00:20:16,550 --> 00:20:20,650
have a requirement that if the police
arrest you They have to tell you why

390
00:20:20,659 --> 00:20:23,235
they are placing you under arrest Okay.

391
00:20:23,525 --> 00:20:26,295
And so you can say, officer,
why are you arresting me?

392
00:20:27,254 --> 00:20:29,745
And you can also say,
why are you stopping me?

393
00:20:30,885 --> 00:20:36,385
They, in most jurisdictions, they are
required to answer that question and

394
00:20:36,385 --> 00:20:39,534
to tell you why you are being detained.

395
00:20:40,195 --> 00:20:43,955
Uh, certainly while you are stopped
in your vehicle, once again, they

396
00:20:43,955 --> 00:20:45,445
can start asking you questions.

397
00:20:45,655 --> 00:20:48,705
And then once again, they can start
asking you, as we mentioned earlier,

398
00:20:48,905 --> 00:20:50,695
they can ask you trick questions.

399
00:20:51,810 --> 00:20:55,140
To try to get you to
admit to things, okay.

400
00:20:55,140 --> 00:20:58,920
Or to, uh, yeah, to admit that you
have weapons or commit or admit

401
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:00,360
that you did something wrong.

402
00:21:01,610 --> 00:21:07,200
Uh, do they have to have a re Do the
police have to have a reason to stop you?

403
00:21:08,150 --> 00:21:09,380
Uh, yes.

404
00:21:09,620 --> 00:21:11,210
They can't just stop you from nothing.

405
00:21:11,950 --> 00:21:16,270
They can't, just, the law requires
that police can't just stop and

406
00:21:16,270 --> 00:21:17,620
detain you in your vehicles.

407
00:21:17,985 --> 00:21:18,875
for no reason.

408
00:21:18,875 --> 00:21:24,615
They have to have some articulable
articulable reason, uh, to

409
00:21:24,615 --> 00:21:29,175
believe that and it's under a
reasonable officer standard.

410
00:21:30,114 --> 00:21:34,224
You committed some form of a
misdemeanor infraction or a felony

411
00:21:34,224 --> 00:21:36,315
offense before they can stop you.

412
00:21:36,615 --> 00:21:40,005
And as we indicated earlier,
once they do stop you, they

413
00:21:40,005 --> 00:21:42,095
can conduct a pat down search.

414
00:21:42,455 --> 00:21:44,295
of your person and your body.

415
00:21:44,565 --> 00:21:45,065
Okay.

416
00:21:45,675 --> 00:21:46,235
Question.

417
00:21:46,615 --> 00:21:49,925
What are the possible
reasons officers can stop me?

418
00:21:50,345 --> 00:21:52,774
What they can use to
stop me in my vehicle?

419
00:21:53,045 --> 00:21:55,075
Well, just as examples.

420
00:21:56,030 --> 00:21:58,140
They stop people for erratic driving.

421
00:21:58,140 --> 00:21:59,470
You know, they say you were swerving.

422
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:04,739
I was with a, uh, on a ride along
with a seat, a CHP officer once

423
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:06,310
we're sitting in the back seat.

424
00:22:06,589 --> 00:22:07,609
And these guys are really good.

425
00:22:07,610 --> 00:22:08,729
I have to give it to him.

426
00:22:08,730 --> 00:22:13,139
Because what he said was, Oh, man,
he was weaving it within the road.

427
00:22:13,329 --> 00:22:16,099
And he was kind of swaying
outside of the lane.

428
00:22:16,369 --> 00:22:17,929
And I'm looking, it's nighttime.

429
00:22:17,929 --> 00:22:20,539
I'm like, I didn't see that.

430
00:22:20,540 --> 00:22:22,000
So I'm going to pull him over.

431
00:22:22,629 --> 00:22:24,480
So he pulled the guy over.

432
00:22:24,905 --> 00:22:28,615
And sure enough, the guy, when he gets
out the car, he's drunk as a skunk.

433
00:22:28,615 --> 00:22:34,325
I'm like, really, really good observation.

434
00:22:35,565 --> 00:22:37,905
They can pull you over if you're texting.

435
00:22:38,065 --> 00:22:41,205
If some kind of way, if they could
smell marijuana, they can do that.

436
00:22:41,205 --> 00:22:44,605
They can pull you over, obviously,
for any traffic violations.

437
00:22:45,015 --> 00:22:49,985
They can pull you over if they have
a police report of criminal activity.

438
00:22:51,175 --> 00:22:54,335
They can pull you over if you
have an outstanding warrant.

439
00:22:55,044 --> 00:22:59,445
Uh, as we indicated earlier, they can pull
you over for what's called furtaconda.

440
00:23:01,044 --> 00:23:01,514
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Okay.

441
00:23:02,335 --> 00:23:04,554
Bernie Brown, Eqs: And that gets
into what you were talking, sweating,

442
00:23:04,554 --> 00:23:07,385
but it's got to be more than
just sweating and being nervous.

443
00:23:07,585 --> 00:23:07,875
Okay.

444
00:23:07,945 --> 00:23:12,584
Got to be some physical action that alerts
them to think that you've committed a

445
00:23:12,584 --> 00:23:14,844
crime, something beyond just sweating.

446
00:23:15,304 --> 00:23:19,254
Uh, we, you mentioned tinted
windows, if they're a certain degree

447
00:23:19,254 --> 00:23:21,134
of tint, they can pull you over.

448
00:23:21,345 --> 00:23:24,855
If it's too dark, if the windows
are too dark, then obviously, so

449
00:23:24,855 --> 00:23:28,235
Dr. William T. Choctaw: there really is no
standard, no industry standard on tinning.

450
00:23:28,805 --> 00:23:32,334
Bernie Brown, Eqs: Um, there are
actually in the state of California,

451
00:23:32,455 --> 00:23:35,705
they're actually very detailed standard.

452
00:23:36,225 --> 00:23:36,575
Really?

453
00:23:36,814 --> 00:23:36,924
Okay.

454
00:23:38,015 --> 00:23:40,245
We'd be here for a while and
we went through all of them.

455
00:23:40,525 --> 00:23:43,635
But the basic, the basic premise is.

456
00:23:45,165 --> 00:23:49,784
And it's not the obviously not the factory
tent that came with the vehicle, right?

457
00:23:49,794 --> 00:23:53,654
The tent is so dark that officers
cannot see inside the vehicle.

458
00:23:54,284 --> 00:23:57,674
Dr. William T. Choctaw: So this is
additional tent added to the factory tent?

459
00:23:58,124 --> 00:23:58,814
Bernie Brown, Eqs: Yes.

460
00:23:59,094 --> 00:24:00,414
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Oh, okay.

461
00:24:00,554 --> 00:24:01,004
Okay.

462
00:24:01,245 --> 00:24:05,379
Bernie Brown, Eqs: And that gives them
a basis to stop and theoretically, Site

463
00:24:05,389 --> 00:24:10,440
you now what happens is we used to see
cases where they would stop a person

464
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:16,169
for tenant windows But the tent was
not dark enough to justify the stop

465
00:24:17,030 --> 00:24:17,550
Dr. William T. Choctaw: Got it.

466
00:24:17,700 --> 00:24:20,940
Bernie Brown, Eqs: So, that results
in the whole thing being thrown out.

467
00:24:21,300 --> 00:24:25,260
Because if the tint is not dark enough,
then first, if they're going to cite

468
00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:29,659
you for having illegally tinted windows,
that doesn't apply, and if they fine

469
00:24:29,659 --> 00:24:35,449
anything for, during the course of,
of, of detaining you, like drugs or

470
00:24:35,450 --> 00:24:40,610
anything, then that gets thrown out
because the stop itself was not valid.

471
00:24:41,015 --> 00:24:42,425
Dr. William T. Choctaw:
Fruit of the poisonous tree.

472
00:24:42,495 --> 00:24:42,765
Great.

473
00:24:44,615 --> 00:24:46,805
It surfaces every now and then.

474
00:24:48,585 --> 00:24:50,046
Bernie Brown, Eqs: It's coming back.

475
00:24:50,046 --> 00:24:53,229
It's coming back.

476
00:24:53,229 --> 00:24:56,411
Oh, that's great.

477
00:24:56,411 --> 00:24:57,472
sir.

478
00:24:57,472 --> 00:24:58,533
Dr. William T. Choctaw: sir.

479
00:24:58,533 --> 00:24:59,594
sir.

480
00:25:00,054 --> 00:25:04,875
And what we always like to say to
ourselves and to our audience, be the

481
00:25:04,875 --> 00:25:07,085
change that you want to see in the world.

482
00:25:07,635 --> 00:25:08,565
Have a great day.

483
00:25:09,165 --> 00:25:09,684
Thank you.