[nyhc99]

How do we the people fight these drug dog abuses? Politicians generally aren't interested in touching something like this. I'd love to put some money to work on the issue. Is there a foundation dedicated to suing police departments? Is that even a viable avenue to make a change?

[tehwebguy]

Very good question with a very short answer: by asserting your rights and sticking to the script. It won’t stop you from getting railroaded but it could save you in court if you end up there:

1. When they pull you over: Why did you pull me over?

2. When they ask you questions: I’m not talking about my day

3. If they keep asking questions: Am I being detained or free to go?

4. If you are detained or arrested: I plead the fifth

5. Stop speaking [0]

The supreme court decided that a traffic stop is just that, it’s not a license to hold someone on the side of the road and wait for a drug dog beyond the time it actually takes for the traffic stop + ticket. If there is probable cause / reasonable suspicion, vague but important concepts, the officer will not need a drug dog to search your car. But if you fail to assert your rights you may unintentionally consent to wait around for a dog you have no responsibility to wait for.

This won’t stop you from having your rights violated in the moment, but failing to assert your rights (or worse, waiving them) will ensure that you don’t have them later in court if that’s where things head.

[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2021/01/22/the-onl...

[Johnny555]

Don't talk to the police:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE

Regent Law Professor James Duane gives viewers startling reasons why they should always exercise their 5th Amendment rights when questioned by government officials

[throwaway0a5e]

This is good boilerplate stupid proof advice for minimizing possible legal harm but as is typical with internet stupid proof boilerplate advice it can be greatly improved with the application of common sense and a little nuance. While STFUing and stonewall the cops will maximize your ability to beat the charge it increases your chances of rubbing the cops the wrong way, taking a ride and needing to beat a charge in the first place. With a little care you can reduce the likelihood of taking a ride without making it easier for charges to stick.

If you're driving a shitbox in a nice neighborhood and get pulled over for an obvious fishing stop or if you're pulled over for some legitimate infraction it's generally a good idea to roll with whatever their pretense is, give them some bullshit smalltalk answer about where you're going and draw a firm "I do not consent to any search" line if they push the issue.

Cops are incentivized to varying degrees based on department and time of month to write tons of tickets and/or go fishing. You don't wanna start the stop off on the wrong foot by being that "am I being detained" jerk right from the get go. You should not give up your rights but it's not generally helpful to assert that you know them until they probe to see whether you do. By asserting your rights before you have been challenged you're escalating the stop. It might work out for you, but maybe the K9 guy is an asshole and the cop wants to make him drag his ass across town for no good reason. Don't be his reason.

Cops deal with tons of stops and there's a range of what's typical. Your job is to act and answer questions in a way that gets you labeled as typical in the cops mind causing him to make the stop progress in a typical manner without any extra fanfare (like the whole drug dog routine). Once a stop is on track to go a certain way it's very hard to get off that track. So do your best to get the stop onto the track where all the cop has to do is checks your papers and giving you a warning or ticket.

[tehwebguy]

> You don't wanna start the stop off on the wrong foot by being that "am I being detained" jerk right from the get go. You should not give up your rights but it's not generally helpful to assert that you know them until they probe to see whether you do.

Right, that's why it's step 3 and not step 1

> It might work out for you, but maybe the K9 guy is an asshole and the cop wants to make him drag his ass across town for no good reason. Don't be his reason.

You are missing the point by a mile: K9 searches are voluntary. If a cop feels they have a reason to arrest you they will just arrest you. If they feel they have enough evidence to search your car they'll just search it.

[dk775]

Thanks for saying this, I’ve been following internet police advice since the “never get busted for weed again” DVDs and have been pulled over tons of times. This advice is what I follow myself based on those experiences. A lot of this “do not consent” or whipping out the phone immediately to film stuff is premature and only serves to put you in a bad situation. When you really have reasons to keep the cops off your trunk, these tactics aren’t feasible.

[barbs]

Also, film the police.

[nso95]

Seems like a great way to piss them off and have them do something unethical

[tehwebguy]

I'm not sure that the feelings & actions of unethical police can be managed by the civilians they have unilateral power over.

For example, the cop in this story acted unethically even though the person in question complied.

[staplers]

The ACLU or National Lawyers Guild have a pretty solid reputation for taking action against unlawful policing.

Links: https://www.nlg.org/defunding-the-police/ https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/reimagining-th...

[adrr]

Removed qualified immunity and allow people to sue the police officer for false arrest. It should be pretty slam dunk case that the dog was alerting 100% of the time.

[vasquez]

Consider supporting some organization working to repeal prohibition, e.g. LEAP.

None of this could be justified without the war on drugs. Plus we'd get rid of the prime motivator for a lot of the world's crime.