At 10:34 PM 8/15/2005, Tom Reese wrote:
William Robb wrote:
I believe any time a police officer asks you to "step out of the car", or
"please come with me", you are being detained.
If you are being detained without reason, you are then suffering from an
unjustifiable arrest.
...
Be as co-operative as possible, then sue their asses.
I disagree with that. If the cop is violating someones rights without
probable cause then the victim should point out that the cop is commiting
a criminal act.
you're absolutely right about complying with the cops directions but think
it's wrong not to say something.
Tom Reese
I would comply with the police, if they asked me to do something. However,
I would ask the police very politely about whether I had misunderstood my
rights as a citizen to take photographs in a public place. I would also
politely mention that I thought the lady who was harassing me in public
without just cause was actually the one violating the law. If the officer
actually thinks about it, he might decide to let you go. If you're lucky,
he might even get rid of the irritating woman for you. I don't think asking
questions would be considered resisting arrest, as long as you are
complying with their requests while doing so. I also think that if you ever
did bring this up in court, it would possibly give you an advantage,
because you had specifically reminded the officer of these issues, and he
proceeded to detain you without just cause, in spite of that fact.
I can understand the original poster's position of not wanting to make more
trouble that it was worth, but I would have still asked the officer a few
questions along the way. I just don't see where it would hurt anything to
ask a few polite questions.
take care,
Glen
