April 22,2005

I myself agree with you on this subject 100% and know from experiance. I was pulled over driveing home with my two children one night I came up to a stop sign and went over the white line about an inch. Well a police office driveing the same way I was turning quickley pulled over and as soon as I turned and passed him already had his lights on. My kids were both wearing seat belts I too was wearing a seatbelt and my car is all leagal. He asked me for my paper work and license and told me why he was pulling me over, wich was for going to far over the white line. He went back to his car after a few moments he came back and asked me to see me back by his car so I got out and walked back to his car. he said he was going to sight me for going over the line and that It came back to him "I have a drug charge on my record." I told him yes I do, from 3 years earlier and that I just finished doing my drug classes and was waiting to go back to court to hand in my certificate of compleation. He asked me if I was on probation and I told him yes but only informal probation. He then said "well then you wont mind if I search for any weapons or drugs then right?" I said yes I mind, there is no reason for you to search my car. He told me because of being on probation he could search me and my car, I then told him "No I am not searchable because I am on Informal probation". my probation officer told me this himself. So he radios to disbatch check to see if she is searchable or not. It came back Not Searchable so he then tells me "well I am going to sight you for the traffic violation and wile I am writting the ticket I am going to ask for a K-9 unit to come down and go around the outside your car, If he hits on your car that gives me probable cause to search inside of it. ( mind you my two young daughters are inside the car still.) I told him okay and he wrote me my ticket. So the K-9 unit shows up and the cop gets the dog out the cop who pulled me over walks up to him and they talk for a couple of minutes quietley so I could not hear what they were saying. The K-9 officer then takes a rubber ball type thingand get the dog all excited and riled up and goes around my car to the front and he put the ball under the front ofmy car. He started at the back of my car and went on the drivers side first, by this time they took my kids out of the car to stand in the rain wile they did there search. He walked around saying " come on boy, get it, get it boy" to the dog. My driver window was open from talking to the first cop who pulled me over. So the cop taps on the window and has the dog jump up in the window and nearley go compleatley inside my car , he then goes up to the front tire and then back to the trunk area haveing the dog sniff along the way. He goes all the way around to the passengers front side door and stops and tells the dog to sit. He tell the other officer" Oh Yea Big Time" He then asked me if there was any drug in my car or had been in my car because his dog hit on my back passender door for some type of drugs. I said no and then he asked who car I was driveing and I told him my Grandma just gave me the car a few weeks befor. To make a long story short they went ahead and did there search and Yes they did find a Pipe under my seat and they said they found Pot too, But never told me where or how much nor did they show it to me. I admit I had the pipe but I did NOT have any pot at all. They were very harsh about the whole thing and told me my kids were or could be taken away by C.P.S. and they put my kids in one car and drove away. They called my mother to pick them up at the police station, they did all types of tests on me to see if I was under the influiance of drugs wich I was not so I was put in the back of the cop car and my car was moved off the road by the officer, he said he was going to take me to the police station and write me a ticket for the two violations but I had to go on another call with him to back up his partner on another call. Since then I had to go to court and was appointed a public deffender, she read my charges and the Police report and said she has never seen such a bunch of nonsence and she is going to set it up for a settlement confrence because that cop had no right to call in a dog just cause I said no to him searching my car wich as an American of The United States of America I have that right. Well not anymore it seem. Something has to be done about all of this because it's just gonna get worse.

Becky S.