Tips For Avoiding Escalation At A Traffic Stop

Traffic stops by police are not inherently conducive to justice.  A police car can appear out of nowhere, flashing its blue lights at you, and put you on the defensive.  Somewhere in Florida, a car is lawfully merging lanes on one of Florida’s highways as long, wide, and constricting as the deadliest anaconda in the Amazon, and there is a generously medium sized bag of weed in the center console.  Why did the police stop you instead of that car, when your lane change was perfectly legal, too, and your bag of weed is the same size?  It isn’t fair, but you can’t get around a traffic stop once it starts; you can only get through it.  The best way to get through it is silently and armed with evidence.  The traffic stop is not the place for you to have the last word; your path toward exposing the truth about an unfair traffic stop that led to an unfair arrest begins when you consult a Tampa criminal defense lawyer.

Don’t Do Anything That Can Be Mistaken for Fleeing

Police can arrest you at a traffic stop if they have probable cause to do so, but there is almost always room for debate about what constitutes probable cause.  If you do everything you are supposed to do, and an officer arrests you anyway, the chances are good that your criminal defense lawyer can persuade the court to dismiss the charges against you before the case gets very far, by demonstrating that the officer arrested you without probable cause.  For example, it is your word against the officer’s that the car smelled like weed; even if there were other nose witnesses, there is no way for them to record the evidence.  Fleeing from blue lights, by contrast, is a crime by itself, so if you do it, the stakes get higher.

Play Vehicular Possum

When you see the blue lights, turn on your turn signal to show that you are about to pull over.  Then pull off the road as soon as you have room to; if there is no shoulder on the road, then go to the nearest parking lot or turn onto a side street.  After that, stay in your car.  Keep your hands on the steering wheel and, if it is dark outside, turn on the lights in your car.  Say as little as possible and give the officer your driver’s license and registration when the officer asks.

Make Sure That Your Phone Is Doing What It Does Best

The only thing smartphones are better at doing than creating distractions is snitching, so traffic stops are the time for your pocket snitch to show what it is made of.  Set the phone to record before the officer approaches your car and let its camera roll.  If the cop tells you to stop recording, you have video evidence of a cop telling you to stop recording.

Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges arising from a traffic stop.  Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.

Source:

usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/10/traffic-stops-rolling-down-window/75160308007/