Warning, long post.
Second warning, Law Enforcement advice.
Background on myself, 24, never been arrested, few speeding tickets here and there, nothing serious, everything is kept up, car insurance, registration, I am a legal citizen. Currently located in Upstate, NY, been here for about two months helping the family out with some things, relocated from the Orlando, FL area. My cage is a 1994 BMW 325is, stock engine/driveline(this is important), with some M3 springs and Bilstein shocks. Basically, nothing outwardly saying I am a motorsport enthusiast, no offensive decals/bumper stickers, Boston Green in color, basically, a relatively unassuming vehicle. Good then. Time for the story.
Yesterday I had replaced the alternator on my vehicle, and returned back to the parts store to drop off the core to refund the charge. Upon leaving, I thought it would be a good idea to give the car a wash(Upstate NY winter, ew), and set about trying to find a self-serve car wash. Not knowing the area well, I knew there were none north, so I set about going south on one of the local roads. Less than a quarter mile upon leaving the shopping center, I take note there is a state trooper behind me, moves as he is going to pass, so he is now in the left lane(I am in the right), but sits level with my bumper, of course, running my tag, no big deal, as I mentioned, I'm straight, nothing looming over my head legal wise. Typically, most of the time, they will do this, and then just hit their 'go fast' pedal and speed off, as they have nothing to pull me over for. This officer then merges in behind me. And, as I'm sure a lot of you know, irregardless of whether his lights were on or not, I knew he was going to pull me over, just that feeling. Speed? Legal. I know all my lights work, I run through in my head any reason I could find, and I came up with nothing.
Now I understand, I'm driving somewhat slow, looking around from side to side, trying to find a place to wash my car, I must look really quite suspicious. Unfortunately, this is where it gets somewhat ugly. He drove behind me for an undetermined distance(will confirm this number today), but it was for some time, I'd say five miles or more. Still looking for a place to wash my vehicle, as I assumed he was simply waiting to find something to ticket me for, and as such, I would go about my business as a free law abiding citizen, and maybe he would just go about his business as well. After driving for that time, I resolved to get to the interstate and drive back north, towards home, and see if there was one up in that direction, at this point I was about two interstate exits down from where I had started, as the road I was on runs parallel to the interstate. Saw a sign telling me the interstate was west, turned, not more than a quarter mile later I was on the side of the road. Window down, hat and sunglasses off. Vehicle off, keys on the dashboard, license and registration in my hand. Again, running through anything I could have done that gave him just cause to pull me over. Again, nothing.
What follows is the dialogue of the stop, to the best of my knowledge, please keep in mind there is some foul language, and also keep in mind I am not substituting words for what the officer truly said, this is how it happened.
Officer: "Where are you going?"
Myself: "I am looking for one of those self-serve car wash places, where you put the quarters in and there is the pressure washer"
"You realize you passed several car washes back there?"
"Yes both those are full-service, not self."
"So where are you going now?"
"I thought I would get back on the interstate and head north, and see what is on the other side of route 9. And I just replaced the alternator and I thought it would be good to take a bit longer drive."
"You were just on 9-"
"Sorry I meant on the other side of the interstate, on the west side of the interstate"
"I don't understand.."
(useless banter about me explaining where I was going in my nervousness)
O: "Do you have a license and registration?"
M: "Yes of course sir."
(gave him both pieces of information)
"Where were you coming from?"
"....From Advance Auto Parts, I was returning an alternator core" (apparently I answered this question in a way that sounded snappy, and at this point I was, no explanation as to why he pulled me over as of yet.)
"What the f*** was that? I'm just asking you simple f***ing questions, these are normal everyday questions. Why are you so nervous?"
"Well this is what happens to me when I get pulled over. I get a bit nervous"
(and I was, I had no idea what was going on, and I was being questioned in the sense I had already done something illegal)
(at this point his partner had his hand against my passenger window, searching through any visible area in the car.)
"Would you like me to open the window for him?"
(this, I can understand as me being a bit pissy, and I was, I was done with this, I was not doing anything illegal, and I was being treated as such)
"No, are you on any sort of medication?"
"No sir."
"So no sort of drugs of any kind? No medication at all?"
"No, absolutely not."
"Have you ever been arrested?"
"No"
"Do you have any felonies at all?"
"No"
"Where are you from?"
"Florida"
"How long have you been up here?"
(at this point he is looking at my license)
"For about two months."
"Do you intend on staying?"
"Probably not, just helping the family out for a little while."
(peering around the car)
"Where do they put the inspection stickers?"
"They do not do inspections in Florida, visual or emissions. I know that this state has visual and emissions, my father was an inspector in western New York for quite some time."
"OK, sit tight"
(takes my paperwork and goes back to this car, ten or so minutes pass, he returns with his partner, carrying two sheets of paper, he hands me back my paperwork)
"I'm giving you a ticket for your muffler."
(my jaw hit the floor)
"Sir, it's a factory exhaust system."
"There must be a hole in it somewhere."
"No sir, there is not"
"You mean to tell me that this vehicle has the original exhaust system from 1994 on it? I highly doubt that."
"Well, sir, it is a Florida car, I know that with the salt and everything up here things rust much quicker."
"If you want to contest it, the court date is as follows"
(at this point, I gave up. This man was giving me a ticket for something, no matter what I did, or said. There was not getting out of it.)
O: "Or alternatively you can have it inspected at any police station and send this in with the ticket"
M: "Fine."
(little murky about the parting words, but I know that very shortly after that I was in my car, driving west, towards the closest police station I knew about)
I drove directly to the local PD, talked to an officer there. Explained that I had just gotten a ticket(this was not more than twenty minutes after the incident), and they said I could have it inspected to clear it. In Florida, you usually have to make an appointment with the PD to do such things, so I thought I would do it now and set up the appointment for the soonest as I could. The officer at the station looks at me quizzically, asks me what type of car it is, I tell him, asks me where it is, it's outside I tell him.
"Lets go take a look at it."
(we walk out to the car, he looks at it, looks at the exhaust in all it's BMW made goodness, not chrome, not even shiny.)
"Start it up."
(I do so)
"Hm, give it some gas"
"How much?"
"I dunno, about 3000rpm"
( I do so, I note it's louder than I thought it would be, but the officer doesn't seem surprised, he motions to turn the car off, I do so)
"Were you gettin` on it or anything?"
"No I was actually driving quite slow, oh maybe you can help me, I was looking for one of those self serve car washes"
"Yea we don't have these down here, you have to go to exit 12"
(he explains the directions)
"OK, come back inside, we can make this go away"
(signs the appropriate paperwork, tells me just to mail it in, and well, that is that. I shake his hand, thank him for his time, and out the door I go, feeling mighty friggin victorious)
So here we are, day after. And it's no big deal, I can make this ticket disappear. My problem is, when I send this ticket in, with the other paperwork, I have to check 'guilty' on the face of the ticket. Of this, I am not. I have a big problem with this. I did nothing wrong, he ticketed me for no reason but to hassle me, and grilled me as if I fit the description of someone who was suspected of a higher crime. The officer at the station was much friendlier, and really couldn't understand why I had been given a ticket. And obviously, it being not thirty minutes before, I could not have changed anything on it so make it more quiet. Not guilty.
I intend on writing some sort of letter, I feel the way I was treated at the stop was really just unacceptable. I was being pushed and pushed, I felt as if I was in an open air interrogation room, where nothing I said was true, and every answer I gave was wrong. This sincerely bothers me, down to my core. I live in this country, I pay my taxes, yes, I am young, but that should make no difference, if I was outwardly doing something illegal, sure, question me, but do not question me just for the sake of showing your partner you are the big d*** on the block. I know this may pale in comparison to other issues people have had with the police. And I know it may seem like one of those "F*** the police!" kind of things, but I assure you it's not. I have been pulled over far too many times in Florida, and whether or not they were going to give me a ticket, they were professional, did their job, and even thought I just did something illegal, they treated me with respect, as I did to them. I've had three experiences with the NYS police, on three separate occasions, and they have acted this way, and to make matters worse, this was the only one who issued me a citation. All the others...well, did it for what?
In closing, I do not need people saying, "You know, being an officer is a thankless job and they do great things for the country." Yes, you're damn right they do, and I'm elated when I hear of the Police catching real criminals. But there are the few(or the majority? I'm not sure), that give the entire organization a bad name. Yes, if I was doing 55 in 45, pull me over. If I routed all six of my manifold pipes out of my hood, please, pull me over. Why? Because at least then I would have known I did something wrong.
So I need some opinions, I know this is an extremely long post, but I need some advice, you people on here seem to have far more wisdom than I do. Do I make this go away and just fold to the system? Or should I honestly try and fight it, just for the rational of being right?
Steve
