The Law is the Law, but is it fair?
Right so this has been eating me up for a while and will get a little ranty, so do bear with me.
So, I recently, well by recently I mean a month ago or so, ended up getting pulled over for the first time. I was speeding, going about 47 in a 35 MPH zone at night no less. There was a police car behind me, though I couldn't exactly tell through the headlights. The blue lights flared up and I felt my heart skip a beat, knowing exactly what that meant. So I slowed down so they knew I wasn't planning on speeding away, and then pulled into the closest place I could which happened to be a Taco Bell parking space.
My father had always impressed upon me that when it comes to dealing with the police they are looking for cooperation and a smooth procedure, to the first thing I did after parking was to go through the glove compartment and get out the vehicle registration. I had been taking my father's car that night, so it was registered to him. I then got my license out and sat there waiting for a minute, going over what I needed to say and do in my head.
The officer comes up to the window, I roll it down and make eye contact and then he introduces himself and asks the usual question. Did I know why I was pulled over, did I know how fast I was going, ect. I answered him calmly that I did, he then starts asking what I was doing up this way and where I was coming from and where I was going. I answered again honestly and as fully as I could, while making sure not to blab on too much. I answered what I was asked, clearly and concisely and nothing more than that.
So then he asks for my license and vehicle registration. I hand the both to him and he seemed pleasantly surprised that I knew the whole procedure. My father drilled how to handle traffic stops or pull overs very carefully to me, figuring it was better to be prepared than not. I give him all due credit for that and it probably got me through this relatively smoothly.
So anyway, he looks over the registration and my license, asks if its my vehicle, if not who's it was ect. Again I kept my answers short and concise, as calm as possible though I was really nervous on the inside. Hey, it was my first traffic stop, who wouldn't be nervous sitting in a Taco Bell parking lot when just one police car is flashing blue lights behind you. Well, you can then imagine how nervous I became when
another car rolled on up to check things out.
Then he asks a question I didn't expect, he asks if he can search the car. My father had never covered that little bit of info in his crash course, so my first instinct was to simply allow it. I didn't want to cause any reason for suspicion, I had already been pulled over after all. So the officer goes and runs up my information and I sit there, paranoia starting to come into my mind. I wondered if maybe my dad had left any prescription medicine in the car, after all if you don't have the prescription with you they can haul you off to jail for that. I was worried as I sat. And I waited. And I waited some more.
Then the officer comes back and asks me to step out of the car, so I do it so he can search it. Then once I do, he asks if he can search
me. My kneejerk response kicked in and I just agreed to it, put my hands behind my head and let him pat me down and search. I could feel my heart pounding in my ears, I was pretty scared by this point to be perfectly frank and honest. Like 'Oh my god, this is really happening to me' kind of scared. It kept up my exterior of calm but on the inside my gut was wrenching, it felt so wrong to me for this to be happening.
The officer tells me to go sit on the bumper of his car, so I do so while he searches the car. His partner, an older guy, was there and so with nothing better to do I struck up some light small talk. Cracked a joke or two with him, shared a few chuckles. It was mostly so I could try and keep some comfort with the situation, to just try not to break down like I really wanted to do. Oh yeah, I definitely didn't want to go home and tell my father about this and show him a nice traffic ticket. But I kept calm through that little bit of interaction. I like to think it was the jokes, the laughing. It reminded me that these guys weren't some faceless arbitrators of the law, they were normal people with normal lives just like me. They were human.
So after a while the officer searching the car comes back and tells me everything looks good and hands my things back. I was a little stunned and about to ask him about the ticket, like an idiot that didn't know a good thing when it hit him, when he seemed to read my mind and tell me not to worry about. Then he reminded me of the speed limit along the road, then they got in their cars and drove off.
I drove the speed limit the whole way back, fuck those bastards behind me trying to hug my ass to get me to go ten over.
When I got home and told to story to my brother and father they took it in, a little surprised by the search and the fact I got off with no ticket. My dad thought over it for a while and then looked me up and down. IRL, I'm not much to look at, I usually don't care over much about my appearance. I gravitate towards grey colors clothes and have longish messy hair, as well as scraggly facial hair that makes me look like Joe Dirt. So my dad commented that perhaps because of how I looked, something of a 19 year old hooligan, they wondered if I might be up to something.
That made a bit of sense to me really, I mean I'd been in car when my dad got pulled over and he was never asked for a vehicle search or personal search. It irritated me a bit that I was stereotyped like that. Other than a school referral or two, I'd always been an okay kid. I followed the rules and laws for the most part, and even though I was going over the speed limit I didn't feel like that warranted a search like that.
So, I talked to my mother next and told her the story. Now my parents (divorced) are two completely different people in how they think. My father, whom I grew up with most of my life, is very logical. He thinks over issues and straddles the fence until he has enough information to make a judgment call. He's a thinker, he only acts when he feels its prudent. He's slow to change. I think he influenced much of my thinking honestly, to which I do not be grudge.
My mother though, is a little more... passionate. She's an opinionated person, she picks a side she herself can agree with and stands by that decision stubbornly. She's more a doer, she likes to get out and work and try new experiences and see what she can see.
When I told her about this she got pissed off, saying I shouldn't have let them search the car or me in the first place. That I shouldn't have let them walk all over me. I can see where she was coming from, protecting personal rights and all that. I didn't agree with her though, I still don't to be perfectly honest.
Going back to my logical thinker mindset I figured it was
because I allowed it, because I was so cooperative that I got off relatively Scott free. If I had refused, then great, I'm protecting my personal rights however I'd still get a ticket. Not only that but I'd imagine that refusing that, while within my rights in the State of Virginia at least, would have aroused some suspicions. So as far as I'm concerned what happened was the best possible outcome.
Personally though? Without logic and if it was just emotions? I'm pissed off I suppose. I'm pissed that they asked to search the car and me possibly because of my age and how I look. Isn't the law supposed to be fair and equal for all under it? Maybe this is a little optimistic to think, but can't we all try and look past appearances? Maybe give people the benefit of the doubt that just because a person is in a certain age group, because they look a certain way doesn't mean they are a hardened criminal in the making? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
Maybe it was because of how I looked, or maybe the officer searching me, a younger guy, was just going through the motions. I don't know, all I know was that it just felt a little unfair. It rubbed me as being wrong personally as I would believe as a person, outside of logic. I dunno, I'm just a 19 year old guy with very little life experiences. I do know that this particular experience has made me a little more jaded towards the system though, though those are just my thoughts and you can take them how you will.
