How should I behave with the officet if I think I “didn’t do nuthin'” to justify him stopping me?

Polite, QUIET, calm, respectful.   Cooperate, don’t resist or be belligerent.  The last thing you want to do is be uncooperative, rude, tough or belligerent with officers. That encourages them to describe in their report to prosecutors everything you do and say, if they arrest you.  Arrest is more likely with your ‘bad’ attitude.

Answer the questions asked as honestly as you can, but, generally without admitting to any crime or violation.  “I don’t remember that” is a lot better than “none of you business’.   A lot of  traffic officers tell us that people talk themselves INTO, and not OUT OF, charges with their attitude toward police.  The key is to honestly answer where you can, not deny what he  already saw you doing.  He stopped you for it, right?  To just deny it is to show him disrespect.  I’ve seen a related tactic worked into this.  For instance, saying with humor and a smile “you really don’t expect me to admit to that do you?”  That shows you know the ‘game’ and are playing by the rules, sorta.

However, a different tactic that I have seen work rather well on normal traffic ticket stops is to tell the whole truth, admitting the violation.  When asked ‘do you know why I stopped you?’, answer with a little gentle humor ‘yes, probably for that rolling stop at the corner back there’, or whatever you were doing.  So few people tell the truth when stopped that it will take him off guard and maybe impress him enough to give you a break.  I can vouch for it working numerous times.

 

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