Why do so many people advise to refuse a cop if the cop asks permission to search your car without warrant? I mean if I have nothing to hide, then why not let the cop search the car?

By Keith Carlton, retired LEO. Supported by Kevin Shomura, 28+ years in Law Enforcement. Retired as a Senior Special Agent and Rick Bruno, Retired street cop

I was a Law Enforcement Officer for over 32 years. I used to think the same way…”Since I don’t have anything to hide, why not let them search.” I also used to think this same way about me asking to search…”If you have nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you let me search?”

About 15 years into my LE career, I attended training about laws and legal rights. The person doing the training was an attorney. She was very pro-police, but also very “you better know your job and you better do it right” kind of person…I respected that.

One of the officers attending the training, during a break, asked her this very question. At first, I was really shocked by her answer…remember, I thought this way at that time.

She told us that she would NEVER allow an officer to search ANYTHING of hers unless they had a warrant.
I think most of us were in shock with this answer. Here she had been telling us this whole time what legal rights we had to search, detain, probable cause…the list goes on, and now she is telling us that she, not having anything to hide, would not allow a consent search…what gives?

She explained it to us this way…

“I don’t have anything to prove to you guys. It is your job to find the probable cause to “get the warrant” so you can do the search, and quite frankly, I don’t have the time to wait around for you to do a search, that you are not entitled to do without a warrant. My time is very valuable and for you to spend 15 minutes of MY time trying to find something that I know isn’t there…well, that is 15 minutes I can never get back. Those lost 15 minutes I could have spent talking to my parents on the phone, or scratching my butt…doesn’t matter how I would have spent those 15 minutes, the fact is that I will never get those 15 minutes back to do what I WANT TO DO!!!” (Yes, those were her words to the class…I was impressed!)

When she finished talking, I sat back in my chair and thought about what she said for the rest of the break…just a few minutes. Damn if she wasn’t right. I never carry anything in my car that is illegal. I know that a search would be pointless for an LEO to do…they would find NOTHING.

Since it would be a waste of their time, that means that it would be an even bigger waste of my time.
My time may not cost very much, but to me it is valuable. I have things I need or want to do. Some things are very important to me…maybe not to others…some things are not very important to me, but I still want to get them done.

Because of what she said in the training, I applied that to my job from that time on.

I would still ask for consent to search because that is part of the job, but if the person declined the search I left it at that. It was their right to decline the search, I respected that right. (I can hear it now…if you respected their right, you wouldn’t have asked in the first place…not true…asking is not disrespecting their right. Forcing, or bullying them into a search is disrespecting their right…and I DID NOT ever do that!!) If they gave consent, I would run them through a card that they would sign that gave them very valuable information…”you do not have to give your consent…you can withdraw your consent at any time…” If they had any questions about giving consent, we would talk about it. Yes, I did have people that changed their mind after giving their consent, and I would stop right where I was at, wrap things up and be on my merry way…no harm…no foul.

Let me tell you, I won more people over by doing that simple thing…protecting their right…than anything else I ever did for people. As far as I was concerned, I was hired to keep the peace, protect people and property, but most of all, protect their rights.

My LE career is over now, but I still find myself protecting people’s rights when I can.

Why do so many people advise to refuse a cop if the cop asks permission to search your car without warrant? I mean if I have nothing to hide, then why not let the cop search the car?

By Keith Carlton, retired LEO. Supported by Kevin Shomura, 28+ years in Law Enforcement. Retired as a Senior Special Agent and Rick Bruno, Retired street cop

I was a Law Enforcement Officer for over 32 years. I used to think the same way…”Since I don’t have anything to hide, why not let them search.” I also used to think this same way about me asking to search…”If you have nothing to hide, why wouldn’t you let me search?”

About 15 years into my LE career, I attended training about laws and legal rights. The person doing the training was an attorney. She was very pro-police, but also very “you better know your job and you better do it right” kind of person…I respected that.

One of the officers attending the training, during a break, asked her this very question. At first, I was really shocked by her answer…remember, I thought this way at that time.

She told us that she would NEVER allow an officer to search ANYTHING of hers unless they had a warrant.
I think most of us were in shock with this answer. Here she had been telling us this whole time what legal rights we had to search, detain, probable cause…the list goes on, and now she is telling us that she, not having anything to hide, would not allow a consent search…what gives?

She explained it to us this way…

“I don’t have anything to prove to you guys. It is your job to find the probable cause to “get the warrant” so you can do the search, and quite frankly, I don’t have the time to wait around for you to do a search, that you are not entitled to do without a warrant. My time is very valuable and for you to spend 15 minutes of MY time trying to find something that I know isn’t there…well, that is 15 minutes I can never get back. Those lost 15 minutes I could have spent talking to my parents on the phone, or scratching my butt…doesn’t matter how I would have spent those 15 minutes, the fact is that I will never get those 15 minutes back to do what I WANT TO DO!!!” (Yes, those were her words to the class…I was impressed!)

When she finished talking, I sat back in my chair and thought about what she said for the rest of the break…just a few minutes. Damn if she wasn’t right. I never carry anything in my car that is illegal. I know that a search would be pointless for an LEO to do…they would find NOTHING.

Since it would be a waste of their time, that means that it would be an even bigger waste of my time.
My time may not cost very much, but to me it is valuable. I have things I need or want to do. Some things are very important to me…maybe not to others…some things are not very important to me, but I still want to get them done.

Because of what she said in the training, I applied that to my job from that time on.

I would still ask for consent to search because that is part of the job, but if the person declined the search I left it at that. It was their right to decline the search, I respected that right. (I can hear it now…if you respected their right, you wouldn’t have asked in the first place…not true…asking is not disrespecting their right. Forcing, or bullying them into a search is disrespecting their right…and I DID NOT ever do that!!) If they gave consent, I would run them through a card that they would sign that gave them very valuable information…”you do not have to give your consent…you can withdraw your consent at any time…” If they had any questions about giving consent, we would talk about it. Yes, I did have people that changed their mind after giving their consent, and I would stop right where I was at, wrap things up and be on my merry way…no harm…no foul.

Let me tell you, I won more people over by doing that simple thing…protecting their right…than anything else I ever did for people. As far as I was concerned, I was hired to keep the peace, protect people and property, but most of all, protect their rights.

My LE career is over now, but I still find myself protecting people’s rights when I can.

Long story short. I loaned my VW bug to my brother so he and a few Navy friends could go out on the town one night. On Sunday guys I worked with and I were going boat fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. While the prepared the boat I went to get bait. On the way back I had to make a right and was only 1/4 mile from destination. When I applied the brakes there were none and the light was red. I grabbed the emergency brake but ran the light anyway. A cop was in the left turn lane directly across from me. I sat in the car till he got there with my door open. Everything was cool when I explained why I ran the light. Suddenly he asked what was in the pouch on the door. I didn't know and handed it to him. It was a balled up piece of tinfoil containing seeds and residue. He ordered me out of the car, handcuffed me to the rear bumper and called for backup. Shortly my boss' wife, on her way to church stopped and ask if she could help. I asked that she let my dad know. My dad, retired 30 yr. Marine, asked me one question, is it yours. No. He then talked to cops for a few minutes and left. I spent the night in jail. My parents had to put their house up as collateral to get me out. After about a month I was found guilty of possession and appealed. Second trial I was found not guilty because the State lost the evidence which was my bros. and friends.

My bottom line is I'm going to have my license, registration ready and my hands outside the window. I'm going to politely inform you I have a CC and a weapon on the floor board tucked by the seat and no you may not search my car. You never know what can end up in your vehicle. Mike