Anyone ever file a complaint after being pulled over without suspected Probable Cause?

RedRocketMike

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This has been on my mind lately after two recent stops that seemed to have no merit, anyone who wants to hear them, read on. No embellishment or details ignored. Maybe one of my cars fit a description for one they were looking for by chance, but each incident was a different car. As far as complaining, I prefer to not try and make myself a target, on the other hand, I know departments try to weed out the shitheads and valid complaints help. I also have good connections and would not be considered a random jerkoff complaining. I support police but really dislike getting f'd with unnecessarily. Both of these stops were after midnight. I do not have a 9-5 schedule. I haven't had a ticket in 13 years... But I've had numerous instances lately where it is obvious that the officer wants to pull me over, they run up and tail me for a while and then usually aggressively move on, either a hard brake u-turn or they shoot by. There is nothing suspicious about the cars I drive that should spike curiosity. I live in a very low crime area.

The first recent stop was the state police. A pair of officers in one car rolled up and hung at my left corner bumper for about a mile or more. When I put my turn signal on to enter an open gas station they ducked behind me and lit me up. They both came up, one on each side, asked for my info while they took advantage with their flashlights of my putting all 4 windows down with the front and rear domes on (large SUV). I asked what I was stopped for and the officer said because he couldn't read my license plate. ??? Are my tag lights out? No, I just couldn't read it. I replied; you can't read it right now? He said, now that I'm behind you I can, but alongside you, I couldn't. I suggested maybe it was his thick glasses and the LED headlights on his new explorer. He said the explorer wasn't new. 2016... Ok dickhead. I'm left waiting for a solid 25 minutes, probably while they try and figure out if I'm allowed to drive a car with a classic tagged car at night or whatever (antique you can't). They return with all my info and tell me to fix my tag. I said the tag is in perfect condition it's illegal for me to modify it and make it easier for you to read. He said he didn't know what I needed to do but that I better do something about it. When I spoke to DOT about this they said to ignore the officer.

2nd stop, just recently. I went past one of my local cops with his takedown lights on facing oncoming traffic (just me) and after going by he pulled out and caught up. About a 1/2 mile later he turned the lights on. He said that no information came up when he ran my tag, he acted really confused by this occurring. It is obviously a new tag because my state changed the design recently. He took a nice gaze around the inside of my car since I had all the windows down. I gave him my info and by mistake, gave him the old expired insurance card from a different car that I used as proof of insurance when transferring the title. I realized this after he walked away. He eventually came back and said that everything checked out. I told him I was surprised he didn't notice the insurance card was for a different car and expired? I tried to give him the current insurance card. He didn't want it and asked why I seemed nervous. I started laughing, "you think I'm nervous?" I'm not sure what he took as nervous, I'm not Dexter but I run cold. When I talked to one of his senior officers, who is a very good friend of mine, he told me that if the state system updates, it's always around the time he pulled me over and no info will show up. Everyone there knows this, but it technically is PC for a stop. He said the nervous comment was him being passive-aggressive.

Kind of icing on the cake. Tonight I was driving my GF home in an old Mercedes I have, a robbins eggs blue W115, really cool/immaculate looking car, but it was late at night and I passed a state trooper. He turned around and ran up my ass while I continued to cruise dead at the speed limit. I mean, up my ass. The kind of thing that would make most people speed up. My girlfriend was really disturbed by it. I guess driving a Subaru on normal people time, she's never seen such a thing in her 11-years of driving. I was hoping he would pull me over but he turned around again after running my info. Just a day in the life.

Hilariously, my CTS-V that is solid black, with tint, exhaust, and a Montana tag registered to an LLC, with a FOP star on it, no issues.
 
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shurur

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It seems pretty clear to me that some LEO likes you for some reason.
I know how you feel. They are a brotherhood with their own flag and license plate stickers.
There are plenty of cops on this forum.
You should expect this thread to be sent to the smack down forum after getting a beat down...maybe even banned.

Be careful out there.
 
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Machdup1

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If you feel your rights have been violated, you should file a compliant, however, I don’t believe your rights were violated.

In both cases they gave you the probable cause (tag unreadable, no tag information), so don’t expect your compliant to be fruitful. Just because disagree with their reason, doesn’t mean it is not valid.

BTW, did the LE cars have automated tag reader cameras??????
 

Outlaw99

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You can always get a dash cam. I got one off amazon, $59 with a coupon I paid $39. 1080p and a separate rear facing cam. the rear facing cam you can actually put anywhere. it has a 12 foot cord. you can mount if to face you, if someone were to accuse you of texting and driving. you can mount it to face out the back window. you can mount it to face your speedometer, its that small. has night vision, Gshock and motion detection. Let the cam be your best witness.

want to show that the trooper engaged in a dangerous vehicle movement without pulling you over? Show the footage to his captain. better yet, send it to the media, and let them contact you.

Get in an accident not your fault but the other driver lies and says you did something? show the cam video.

I got 15% discount from my insurance for installing a cam. its a no brainer.
 

7998

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You can always get a dash cam. I got one off amazon, $59 with a coupon I paid $39. 1080p and a separate rear facing cam. the rear facing cam you can actually put anywhere. it has a 12 foot cord. you can mount if to face you, if someone were to accuse you of texting and driving. you can mount it to face out the back window. you can mount it to face your speedometer, its that small. has night vision, Gshock and motion detection. Let the cam be your best witness.

want to show that the trooper engaged in a dangerous vehicle movement without pulling you over? Show the footage to his captain. better yet, send it to the media, and let them contact you.

Get in an accident not your fault but the other driver lies and says you did something? show the cam video.

I got 15% discount from my insurance for installing a cam. its a no brainer.

Link to cam? I've been wanting to get one lately for a multitude of reasons.
 

Dirks9901

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You can always get a dash cam. I got one off amazon, $59 with a coupon I paid $39. 1080p and a separate rear facing cam. the rear facing cam you can actually put anywhere. it has a 12 foot cord. you can mount if to face you, if someone were to accuse you of texting and driving. you can mount it to face out the back window. you can mount it to face your speedometer, its that small. has night vision, Gshock and motion detection. Let the cam be your best witness.

want to show that the trooper engaged in a dangerous vehicle movement without pulling you over? Show the footage to his captain. better yet, send it to the media, and let them contact you.

Get in an accident not your fault but the other driver lies and says you did something? show the cam video.

I got 15% discount from my insurance for installing a cam. its a no brainer.

Link to this?


Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 

Grabber

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Honestly, I think you're making a bigger deal out of this.

They had probable cause. While you may not agree with it or feel that the stops were warranted, they were.

I would honestly safe yourself the time and heart ache as this tells me you have a certain expectation of getting peace of mind out of this and some closure, but, I don't think it will work out in your favor. Police receive a number of complaints, and a lot of the times, it is from people that are ignorant to what police can and cannot do.
 

cidsamuth

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As stated, forget about whether the stops were illegal. There was PC.

But . . .

PC or not, cops rarely stop someone for such stuff unless they are using it to look for something bigger and better. So, serious question, why have you peaked their interest?
 

Outlaw99

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Untitled.jpg
Link to this?


Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app

this is the exact one i got. when I went to check out, it said apply coupon? i clicked it and it took $20 off that. $39.00 shipped for this little guy.

link isnt working.
 

9397SVTs

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This has been on my mind lately after two recent stops that seemed to have no merit, anyone who wants to hear them, read on. No embellishment or details ignored. Maybe one of my cars fit a description for one they were looking for by chance, but each incident was a different car. As far as complaining, I prefer to not try and make myself a target, on the other hand, I know departments try to weed out the shitheads and valid complaints help. I also have good connections and would not be considered a random jerkoff complaining. I support police but really dislike getting f'd with unnecessarily. Both of these stops were after midnight. I do not have a 9-5 schedule. I haven't had a ticket in 13 years... But I've had numerous instances lately where it is obvious that the officer wants to pull me over, they run up and tail me for a while and then usually aggressively move on, either a hard brake u-turn or they shoot by. There is nothing suspicious about the cars I drive that should spike curiosity. I live in a very low crime area.

[/QUOTE]The first recent stop was the state police. A pair of officers in one car rolled up and hung at my left corner bumper for about a mile or more. When I put my turn signal on to enter an open gas station they ducked behind me and lit me up. They both came up, one on each side, asked for my info while they took advantage with their flashlights of my putting all 4 windows down with the front and rear domes on (large SUV). I asked what I was stopped for and the officer said because he couldn't read my license plate. ??? Are my tag lights out? No, I just couldn't read it. I replied; you can't read it right now? He said, now that I'm behind you I can, but alongside you, I couldn't. I suggested maybe it was his thick glasses and the LED headlights on his new explorer. He said the explorer wasn't new. 2016... Ok dickhead. I'm left waiting for a solid 25 minutes, probably while they try and figure out if I'm allowed to drive a car with a classic tagged car at night or whatever (antique you can't). They return with all my info and tell me to fix my tag. I said the tag is in perfect condition it's illegal for me to modify it and make it easier for you to read. He said he didn't know what I needed to do but that I better do something about it. When I spoke to DOT about this they said to ignore the officer.[/QUOTE]

Who's being the ****head?

[/QUOTE]2nd stop, just recently. I went past one of my local cops with his takedown lights on facing oncoming traffic (just me) and after going by he pulled out and caught up. About a 1/2 mile later he turned the lights on. He said that no information came up when he ran my tag, he acted really confused by this occurring. It is obviously a new tag because my state changed the design recently. He took a nice gaze around the inside of my car since I had all the windows down. I gave him my info and by mistake, gave him the old expired insurance card from a different car that I used as proof of insurance when transferring the title. I realized this after he walked away. He eventually came back and said that everything checked out. I told him I was surprised he didn't notice the insurance card was for a different car and expired? I tried to give him the current insurance card. He didn't want it and asked why I seemed nervous. I started laughing, "you think I'm nervous?" I'm not sure what he took as nervous, I'm not Dexter but I run cold. When I talked to one of his senior officers, who is a very good friend of mine, he told me that if the state system updates, it's always around the time he pulled me over and no info will show up. Everyone there knows this, but it technically is PC for a stop. He said the nervous comment was him being passive-aggressive.[/QUOTE]

Again, Who's being the ****head?


[/QUOTE]Kind of icing on the cake. Tonight I was driving my GF home in an old Mercedes I have, a robbins eggs blue W115, really cool/immaculate looking car, but it was late at night and I passed a state trooper. He turned around and ran up my ass while I continued to cruise dead at the speed limit. I mean, up my ass. The kind of thing that would make most people speed up. My girlfriend was really disturbed by it. I guess driving a Subaru on normal people time, she's never seen such a thing in her 11-years of driving. I was hoping he would pull me over but he turned around again after running my info. Just a day in the life.[/QUOTE]

After midnight is when you can expect to encounter drunk drivers and people up to no good.

[/QUOTE]Hilariously, my CTS-V that is solid black, with tint, exhaust, and a Montana tag registered to an LLC, with a FOP star on it, no issues.[/QUOTE]


Driving while black?

SMF! Really? It's after midnight, so it's dark outside. One stop, the officers were approaching from behind. The second, the officer was "watching" traffic and pulled out. How would they know who or what was driving the vehicle? Factor in window tint and certainly wouldn't be able to see who or what was driving.
 
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Coiled03

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Who's being the ****head?

Again, Who's being the ****head?

After midnight is when you can expect to encounter drunk drivers and people up to no good.

Based on OPs descriptions, it seems pretty clear the LEO was being the dickhead in all instances.

Being out after midnight isn't PC for a stop.
 

jaxbusa

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When I was in my early twenties I would ride my bicycle at night with a friend for exercise. We got stopped a few times for nothing. They would run our I.D.s and ask us what we were doing then let us go. I never felt violated or like I needed to call and complain, but that’s just me. I actually appreciate that they were proactive.


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BlckBox04

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I also have a bunch of very good friends who are LEO and they all say the same thing, PC is PC. The minor things usually lead to big arrests 9 times out of 10. If you did nothing wrong, don't even sweat it. Just let them do their thing and leave. That said there must be something you're doing that keeps grabbing their attention.

And your CTS V with Montana plates is the reason why they're not stopping you, unless you committed a moving violation they can't issue a summons.
 

Recon

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In one of your stops, there is the possibility they had a vehicle description they were searching for. I got pulled over twice in one week. First was my fault, second was the fact they were looking for a maroon/gold Silverado like mine. Scared me to death as they said the guy didn’t have a license and I just got pulled over for 20 over in my Roush that I bought earlier that week. Thought it was me, but it wasn’t. Anyway your vehicle could’ve fit the description of a wanted car could’ve been for one of the stops.


Pick your poison.
 

o2gt

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All the police need is reasonable suspicion to stop you. That’s not a very high standard to make. They need PC to search and or arrest you.
 

IronSnake

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Tough call.

On one hand, it's like yea, they are being a bit excessive. On the other, all different cars at night with low visibility. The likelihood they had any clue who they were stopping is extremely (almost impossible). I think it was coincidence/poor luck. Sounds like the cars you drove were also mildly noticeable, which does you no favors in this instance.

I wouldn't issue complaint. While it was inconveniencing, they didn't truly violate your rights or be excessive. If they made you get out of the car and/or do the please don't mess with me dance, then sure, call it in. But they didn't.
 

01yellercobra

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In one of your stops, there is the possibility they had a vehicle description they were searching for. I got pulled over twice in one week. First was my fault, second was the fact they were looking for a maroon/gold Silverado like mine. Scared me to death as they said the guy didn’t have a license and I just got pulled over for 20 over in my Roush that I bought earlier that week. Thought it was me, but it wasn’t. Anyway your vehicle could’ve fit the description of a wanted car could’ve been for one of the stops.


Pick your poison.

I got pulled over by Border Patrol twice within 5 miles. The first time my friends and I showed our ID's and went on our way. Second time I asked the officer if they were looking for a black SUV. He said yes and asked why. I told him we were pulled over about 5 miles previously by one of his partners. He apologized and said the radios out there weren't that great. We were driving between CA and AZ. Then he sent us on our way.
 

My94GT

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I’ve had a cop pull a U turn late at night and tail me then pull me over for my tag lights being out. I knew they were though as it was a company vehicle which was checked regularly, I asked the guy if he could double check simply because I knew they were working and didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a repair order. He continued to ask me where I was coming from, why I was out late, and if this was regular behavior while in a company car. All questions which really weren’t his business but what ever I answered them. He double checked the tag lights and handed me my info back and said my bad have a good one.

Sure it was annoying and a waste of my time but it was just that. I personally wouldn’t dedicate any time to a complaint about it.
 

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