So got stopped in Mass too

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A bit of a differentcircumstance and outcome. Background, I was at CCW live fire class at an unnamedfirearms academy. Night class, I had my young black lab puppy in the car in thepassenger seat. My handgun was in a locked bag with ammo in the back seat.Drove through a neighboring town on the way to the Mass Pike. About 10:30 atnight, not speeding.

The blue lights go on, I’mnervous as hell do I disclose or keep quiet about my weapon. I put both handson wheel and lower front and back windows (tinted so you cannot see in). So itgoes like this, me: was I speeding or did I got through a stop light? Officer:no we had a report about a suspicious car meeting your’s description. Where areyou coming from? Me next town over, where specifically were you, me (hard togive up this info), unnamed firearms academy. What were you doing there? Takinga class. Do you have a weapon in the car and where is it? Yes, in a bag in theback. Driver’s license and LTC, please (he actually said please). He goes backto his car. I look over at my lab and to my surprise; there is another officer atthe passenger window I did not notice. My lab is licking him on the face. Wetalk about labs while the other officer runs checks. Officer 1 come back andsays you are all set.

They never asked to see mybag or anything in the car. We get into a discussion about the class, thetraining and guns and labs. He carries a .40 wants to carry a .45. I point outthe accuracy issue and point out that 9mm ammo has improved so much that my instructor(who I disclose is a SWAT commander and ex-combat Marine) also carries a .40but would switch to a 9mm for accuracy. He asks who my instructor was I pretendto forget it but use an Irish nickname, and the Officer says, oh the big tallgoofy ex-Marine? He is right on, big twinkle in his eye and the other officers.I ask again why was I really stopped, they laugh and reply your car lookssuspicious (laughing). My car is a late model SUV, a family car, no bumperstickers. They take off and that was that. As I drove and reflected on thisincident, I’m still stumped. Was I punked? Or two bored officers in rural town or did it go down like they said.
 
no way that was a state cop.
what town was it?

honestly i have no beef with most LEOs....my issues are with the dipships above them who wear suits and elect to prosecute the free thinkers as opposed to dangerous criminals.
 
I'd guess it was your vehicle with the tinted windows driving through their town at night. I probably would have stopped you too if i was in their position.
 
Pretty sure most of us know where you took the class and even who the instructor was. Not sure why all the secrecy...
 
.....they laugh and reply your car looks suspicious.

IANAL but is that not then an illegal stop? No moving violation and no probable cause? That would tick me off, even with the joking around and not killing your dog parts.

So pull over vehicles at random, then decide if you want to write the driver some kind of ticket. Two cops, one driver, so anything goes.
 
Pretty sure most of us know where you took the class and even who the instructor was. Not sure why all the secrecy...

I don't think the secrecy is meant for us. I believe he's implying he didn't want to discuss the firearms class to the officer to avoid the potential headache, which is why his initial response to the LEO was "the next town over." However, it was brought up regardless.
 
IANAL but is that not then an illegal stop? No moving violation and no probable cause? That would tick me off, even with the joking around and not killing your dog parts.

So pull over vehicles at random, then decide if you want to write the driver some kind of ticket. Two cops, one driver, so anything goes.

Many towns throughout central MA have this policy. Don't recognize vehicle? After 9pm? Pull it over.
 
I don't car how suspicious a car is. If there is no BOLO out for a similar looking car or it didn't appear to violate any motor vehicle law they cannot stop you, that was an ILLEGAL stop if they just pulled you over because they thought you were suspicious, this is NOT NAZI GERMANY.

Now had they followed you and waited for you to make a traffic infraction then they could pull you over. This is what is known as a "PRETEXT" stop and has been upheld in court. (Pretext stop is Stopping a vehicle you think is suspicious but only after having lawful authority to do it example: Cop see's a car and he or she just has a gut instinct is up to no good. So they follow it for a few minutes looking for the driver to screw up and violate a traffic law, the driver fails to yield at an intersection, the police pull him over.) Did the cop really care about stopping the car for the traffic violation no, but it allows him or her to LEGALLY stop and question the driver and get a look inside the vehicle.
 
I don't car how suspicious a car is. If there is no BOLO out for a similar looking car or it didn't appear to violate any motor vehicle law they cannot stop you, that was an ILLEGAL stop if they just pulled you over because they thought you were suspicious, this is NOT NAZI GERMANY.

Now had they followed you and waited for you to make a traffic infraction then they could pull you over. This is what is known as a "PRETEXT" stop and has been upheld in court. (Pretext stop is Stopping a vehicle you think is suspicious but only after having lawful authority to do it example: Cop see's a car and he or she just has a gut instinct is up to no good. So they follow it for a few minutes looking for the driver to screw up and violate a traffic law, the driver fails to yield at an intersection, the police pull him over.) Did the cop really care about stopping the car for the traffic violation no, but it allows him or her to LEGALLY stop and question the driver and get a look inside the vehicle.

Nobody cares about the law. They do what they want, with impunity.
 
I don't car how suspicious a car is. If there is no BOLO out for a similar looking car or it didn't appear to violate any motor vehicle law they cannot stop you, that was an ILLEGAL stop if they just pulled you over because they thought you were suspicious, this is NOT NAZI GERMANY.

Now had they followed you and waited for you to make a traffic infraction then they could pull you over. This is what is known as a "PRETEXT" stop and has been upheld in court. (Pretext stop is Stopping a vehicle you think is suspicious but only after having lawful authority to do it example: Cop see's a car and he or she just has a gut instinct is up to no good. So they follow it for a few minutes looking for the driver to screw up and violate a traffic law, the driver fails to yield at an intersection, the police pull him over.) Did the cop really care about stopping the car for the traffic violation no, but it allows him or her to LEGALLY stop and question the driver and get a look inside the vehicle.

It is called fishing in police jargon and it occurs at all times during the day, usually by rookies looking to make themselves look good in front of their superiors. During a three month stretch a ways back, I got pulled over three times by an over eager cop. I was driving the same late model truck each time coming home late from work. During the first and second stop, the cop came up with some lame excuse as to why he pulled me over, "swerving" I think it was. On the third and last B.S. traffic stop, I stuck my head out of the window before he got to my truck and said, "It's me again, can I go"? He said yes and I left. If it proceeded any further I was going to turn around and head back to the police dept. to file a complaint with the shift Sgt. Looking back now, I should have filed, but I wasn't aware of my rights as much as I am now.
 
They know every car in town? Or you're saying they run a plate and see it's from out of town?

When you patrol a town of like 10,000 people, and you sit watching traffic in the same spot, at the same times for years and years, they certainly can pick out cars out of place.
 
It is called fishing in police jargon and it occurs at all times during the day, usually by rookies looking to make themselves look good in front of their superiors. During a three month stretch a ways back, I got pulled over three times by an over eager cop. I was driving the same late model truck each time coming home late from work. During the first and second stop, the cop came up with some lame excuse as to why he pulled me over, "swerving" I think it was. On the third and last B.S. traffic stop, I stuck my head out of the window before he got to my truck and said, "It's me again, can I go"? He said yes and I left. If it proceeded any further I was going to turn around and head back to the police dept. to file a complaint with the shift Sgt. Looking back now, I should have filed, but I wasn't aware of my rights as much as I am now.

Not anything against you but this is the biggest issue with most people
but I wasn't aware of my rights as much
 
Pretty sure most of us know where you took the class and even who the instructor was. Not sure why all the secrecy...

I'm never sure who is on this site, the last thing I want to do is mention where I took the class or my instructors name here, BTW maybe my instructor is not Irish and is a Scott; but for those of you that can guess all the more fun. I sold that "suspicious car" after I was rear ended and then I hit a deer with it, bad mojo. It was a grey Venza real scary. The side windows were tinted not the drivers window.
 
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