I got stopped in Canada, and was asked that same question. I said sure, go ahead, took 5 minutes and I was on my way again.
Same happened somewhere in Texas on a road trip, same outcome.
I asked my lawyer in Canada what would happen if I did not consent to a search, and he said they would probably have taken that as a reason to stop me again a few miles down the road for some infraction and would have searched the car top to bottom with a fine comb.
If you have nothing in your car it's quite ok to have it searched, what specific reason would you have not to consent in the knowledge they can force the issue if they want to?
I don't know Canadian law, but declining a search is your constitutional right in America, even if you're cited for a moving violation. No matter what a cop says otherwise. American cops are allowed to lie, imply, threaten, and be presumptuous assholes but if you assert your civil rights you still have them. (If they ask you to step out of the car and just casually slide right into the driver's seat, and you say nothing, you just consented to a search. So lock your door when you get out and don't consent.)
This is a very important point: they _can't_ force the issue if they want to. That's why they're asking (or just being an asshole about it) instead of presenting you with a warrant and instructing you to step aside.
I've never been asked to consent to a search of my home or vehicle, but there are tons of legitimate reasons to say no:
1. Privacy. You know how some people really don't want search engines and random hoodlums reading their facebook profile and status updates? Well, maybe I really don't want random cops poking around my car or apartment. Maybe my girlfriend and I have a whole box of sex toys and bondage gear.
2. There are so many damned laws you might be breaking one and you'd never know. It's probably a really stupid law, too.
3. Maybe you just don't want to unpack every damn thing in your car and pack it away again. I've got like two sealed emergency survival kits in my car and I'd be pretty pissed off if some cop opened them looking for drugs that weren't there. And have you ever seen a home that was searched by cops? You have to spend the whole rest of the weekend cleaning up and putting everything away afterwards, man.
BTW, the same reasoning applies if they knock on your door and ask to search your residence. If they have to ask, the answer is no.
Finally, if they present a warrant or go ahead and search it anyway even if you explicitly decline consent, then stay out of their way and get a lawyer.
If you have nothing in your car it's quite ok to have it searched, what specific reason would you have not to consent in the knowledge they can force the issue if they want to?
Your last phrase is not true. They need probable cause for a search, and a speeding charge will not give them that.
Reason #1 to refuse: The possibility of being framed.
Reason #2 to refuse: There could be something in the car that you're not aware of. I remember an old movie called The Star Chamber (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086356/ ). As I recall the plot, a man's van was stolen and used to commit a kidnap/murder, then returned to its initial location. A subsequent illegal police search turned up the kid's shoe under a seat, something the owner really had no clue about. This is a one-in-a-million occurrence, but it's you life we're talking about.
A 'one-in-a-million' occurrence from a movie and the police framing a stranger from out of state?
I'm pretty paranoid on the whole, however that seems a bit extreme even to me.
I'm the guy that will go over a rental car to make sure that someone didn't leave a surprise under the carpet or in the boot and I'll board the airplane with nothing except for what I can carry and keep my luggage in view at all times.
A 'one-in-a-million' occurrence from a movie and the police framing a stranger from out of state?
Trust me, it's not one-in-a-million. As far as the U.S. has come in race relations, I would never as a young black male consent to a search without cause. It's just too easy to be railroaded and have your life ruined. Why would you take that risk?
That's my European background getting the better of me, I'm linking to 'driving while black' elsewhere in this thread to offset my innate response which is that you can rely on the police to be even-handed.
Racial profiling exists here too but to a much lesser extent.
If I were black and living in the US it would change my attitude completely, but I'm not black and live in Europe, hence my 'rose coloured glasses'.
While you're there, check out some of the related posts. "Many" police in North America (more so in the USA I hope) have started to turn dangerous to the citizens they are supposed to be protecting.
If you read reddit on an a regular basis, you'd know there are numerous stories of totally innocent citizens being assaulted, jailed, framed, and sometimes literally killed in cold blood (no, this is not hyperbole, many have been captured on video) by this new strain of police officer.
This kind of makes this particular subject interesting...considering some of the cops on the beat these days, it might not be a particularly good idea to exercise your constitutional rights with an officer, as you might not make it out alive. (I haven't ever read of an example of this though thankfully).
So, long story short, police in the USA operate above the law. This family, without a doubt, operated on the shady side of the fence, so if you want to write it off as that, feel free, it won't bother me.
But how will you feel when they start coming into your neighborhood and making "honest mistakes" like shooting sight unseen into a residence? I don't have the time right now, but I could link you to many youtube videos where people were doing pretty much nothing and the police came and just fucking hammered them, hard.
The thing about this one that struck me so personally is, I have a daughter.
This is only peripherally related, but when I took a vacation in Bali a few years back I was a little worried when I saw at customs giant signs say "Carrying drugs is punishable by death". I knew I wasn't carrying any, but on the other hand, I had handed my suitcase (which must be unlocked these days) over to TSA and then baggage handlers; who knows what could have happened.
The opposite for US customs. Whenever I come back from a weekend trip abroad (hey, international flights are cheap), I always get searched because I have suspiciously little luggage. It would be funny if it wasn't the government going through my backpack for no reason. (Sadly, nobody has ever wanted my crypto key for the laptop. That's what I plan for, but I forget that they are actually more concerned with alcohol people didn't pay duty on than my .emacs file. If only they wrote that in the law book, I might not even mind customs...)
Anyway, note to drug smugglers: might as well smuggle a whole suitcase full of cocaine. Less suspicious.
The rental car situation is a great example. A friend of mine's wife used to work for Enterprise and told me a story where they got back a car where one of the interior panels had been taken off and some kind of drugs put in there.
A story from a friend of a wife who used to work somewhere :)
Must have been pretty sloppy smugglers to forget that much dope, someone was likely shot over that one!
Here is a real life story: I rented a convertible in Ottawa for a visit to a number of places in the US, on a trip with final destination New York, mostly business.
I'd gone over the car after picking it up, and found nothing but an empty coca cola can under the seat so the car looked good to me. The weather was hot, the top was down and all was good.
We drove South for a bit, entering the US on highway 81, which is iirc a long bridge in a beautiful area of the country.
The customs guys stopped us, (I was traveling with one of my employees, a guy called Nick), asked for our passports, mine is Dutch and Nick I believe was traveling on a British passport, so we got the tourist treatment. As we were driving away, suddenly the customs guy ran after us and yelled to stop.
So I stopped the car, and asked what's up, and he said 'raise the top please'.
It took a bit of fiddling because we had no idea how to do it yet (a Sebring, worst road handling ever by the way), finally the top started moving.
And as it kept coming up further it proceeded to dump about 10 dirty diapers and half eaten mcDonalds meals all over the yard.
Customs officer not amused.
We showed him we had just rented the car and that that stuff was definitely not ours, they called some guys to clean it up.
Yes, used to work somewhere. She got laid off but I can see why that would seem funny from a random post on the internet.
The point I was trying to make is: you really don't ever truly know what's in your car and that's reason enough for me to not consent to any searches.
Since we're telling stories: I've been pulled over for a headlight being out and the cop was asking me routine questions for a stop.
Cop: "Where are you going?"
Me: "To the grocery store."
Cop: "Did you know one of your head lights was out?"
Me: "Are you serious?" (I actually didn't know my headlight was out)
Cop: grin
Me: "Yeah, I guess you're not just pulling me over for to be funny. No I didn't know it was out."
Cop: "Are you carrying any drugs?"
Me: "None that I'm aware of."
Cop: "Can I search your car?"
Me: "I do not consent to any searches."
Then he goes back to his car for a couple of minutes, comes back, and tells me I'm free to go and to get the headlight fixed. I didn't get the feeling he really wanted to search my car, just that he was doing it to do it. Did I have anything in the car that was illegal? No. Why did I refuse? There was no point. There's no connection between a headlight and what ever might have been in the car. Cops sometimes have more respect for you when you exercise your rights. At least this one did.
> I can see why that would seem funny from a random post on the internet.
Yes, I figured pointing it out would make you smile, but I take your word for the story, just wonder how they explained the missing drugs to their boss, who must have assumed they had sold it on the side.
That's a somewhat career limiting move in the drug trade.
Nice interaction with the police officer, if all of them were like that it would be good.
I don't envy them their jobs at all, first responders get to see a lot of bad stuff in their time.
Rereading the GP, it didn't actually say drugs were found in the door. They probably saw something had been put in there and the rumors embroidered on that.
a) you might have passengers in the car who have something ilegal on them. in many states if a passenger drops drugs in your car so that it is not on their person, and no one admits to it, then it is considered the driver's property. Yes, even good friends might rat on you in this situation.
b) If the cop is looking to find anything to make an arrest to help them go with a hunch about you then they can start inspecting your tires or placement of a GPS on the window (illegal in many states) and could then drum up a charge of driving dangerous vehicle etc.
c) rental cars - you can never 100% check a rental car and it has been known for innocent people in Las Vegas to get stopped and the police find traces of cocaine powder etc in the ash try or coin holder, etc that belonged to a previous renter
In my case... I drive a sports car and so I keep nothing in the car in order for it to be as light as possible (no junk in the back, no crap on the floor). I have nothing in the car, I've never been in the possession of a controlled substance, I know my car is in top condition, etc... and I still wouldn't let the police search my car.
a) is a good one, b) is something I didn't know about, thanks for that one (currently not visiting the States, possibly never again, but a good warning all the same), c) I've been warned about and I check rental cars thoroughly.
Probably not as thoroughly as a police search but more than good enough to spot the vast majority of items left behind by previous occupants (and I should probably make a listing of that some day, it makes for interesting reading).
The most annoying stop ever was one in Germany in a relatively fancy car, when I was still young. They couldn't quite match the skinny kid in the jeans and the t-shirt with the car unless there were drugs involved and they took they time about it. I think they spent a whole hour and when I drove off they still thought I'd tricked them somehow.
I've never before had my peppermints checked for illegal substances :)
I got stopped in Canada, and was asked that same question. I said sure, go ahead, took 5 minutes and I was on my way again.
Same happened somewhere in Texas on a road trip, same outcome.
I asked my lawyer in Canada what would happen if I did not consent to a search, and he said they would probably have taken that as a reason to stop me again a few miles down the road for some infraction and would have searched the car top to bottom with a fine comb.
If you have nothing in your car it's quite ok to have it searched, what specific reason would you have not to consent in the knowledge they can force the issue if they want to?