The most recent I experienced a few months ago About 10 PM at night in Deerfield Beach, FL. I made a left turn at a traffic light and the blue lights went on in the middle of the intersection (kind of an idiotic place to try and pull me over), so I drove about another 100 yards past the intersection and pulled over to the side of the road, away from traffic.
When the officer approached me, I said I'm sorry, but I honestly don't know what I did wrong, what did I do?
We had been on a main road (Hillsboro Road), and I routinely on my way to my girlfriend's cut over one street (Eller St.) parallel to Hillsboro, into what can honestly be described as scary black town. But it saves me waiting at 3 stop lights, so I've previously been going this way for over 6 years. (And if anyone thinks I'm racist in saying that, I've frequently driven on this strip of Hillsboro past 2 or 3 police cars with their blue lights on, with suspects handcuffed and sitting on the street while police search their cars, and a Brazilian supermarket less then a mile away was robbed 6 months ago, and all its employees found tied up and laying on the floor when someone finally came in after the robbery. So while it is adjacent to good areas, for about a square mile on either side of Hillsoro, it's a bad neighborhood, with frequent visible arrests there. )
On my shortcut, riding South on Dixie Highway at the Boca Taton/Deerfield city limits, I take a right from Dixie Highway onto Eller Street and go west about a mile (driving parallel to Hillsboro), then make a left to cut back toward Hillsboro, then 100 yards up make a right back onto Hillsboro (a 6-lane main road), then quickly cut over 2 lanes to make a left onto Natura Blvd.
So...
The officer in answering what I did wrong said "you didn't establish a lane" which he explained meant I didn't stay in the right lane long enough before I cut over to the middle lane and then the left lane. He said I was "all over the road."
But the truth is, I was a white guy cutting through a bad black neighborhood, and he thought I was cutting through there after picking up drugs. (I thought this was an ironic twist, where blacks frequently bemoan being pulled over for "driving while black" just for being a black face in a white neighborhood, but the reverse happened to me, I was profiled for "driving while white": being a white face in a black neighborhood.)
I became aware after a minute or so that in addition to the officer who approached me, while I was focused on the first, there were two other officers with him who had walked up from the squad car behind me (a total of three officers). One was female (and quite attractive) and one male. All were dressed with what looked like body armor, and looked more like military than police officers, which was the first unsettling thing I noticed. All were fairly young, late 20's at most. All were white.
While the first officer went back to his car to check my driver license, the female officer was friendly toward me and initiated conversation, complimenting me on my classic car, and I told her about a car show coming up in a week. She volunteered that the first officer was training her and the 2nd male officer (who was leaning against the front fender of the police cruiser about 40 feet behind me, and I didn't see him until I heard him laugh about something she said. He was cocky and a jerk, I'll refer to him as "the Smart Ass".)
My impression was, because I cut over quickly from Hillsboro's extreme left lane to the extreme right lane to turn onto Natura Blvd (because I had only a short space of maybe 100 yards to get over, and there were no other cars, just me)the first officer thought I was drunk or high, and he pulled me over to show off and make an example of me to his two trainees. He expected someone high on alcohol or drugs that he could shake down into admitting they did something wrong, and/or maybe see signs of intoxication or search the car to warrant an arrest.
After the first officer walked back to my car and returned my driver license to me, he asked where I had come from, and I told him the exact route I had taken. He told me "That's not consistent with where I first spotted you, would you like to try again?"
I was a bit annoyed and said "What are you talking about, I just told you..." and repeated the exact route I had just told him.
As I did so, the 2nd male officer (The Smart Ass) leaning against the police cruiser behind me, started laughing and imitating me and saying "oh, gee, let me try another story to give a more convincing lie this time...!"
I felt a flash of anger and turned to the first officer standing by my car door, and very angrily said (pointing to the Smart Ass) "I don't appreciate that."
The first officer explained that he was training the other officer and would speak to him later to tell him that was unprofessional and not to do it again.
As he did so, I said "Look, I didn't do anything wrong! And I told you my route, THAT'S THE WAY I DROVE HERE. I'M A LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, AND I REALLY RESENT THIS TREATMENT..." And a few more angry words, I forget exactly. The Smart Ass really set me off, combined with the first officer treating me like a liar for no apparent reason.
In retrospect, this might be a standard police tactic, to treat a suspect like they're lying, and if a suspect is lying, then it breaks them down and intimidates them into admitting what they did wrong, giving them a chance to admit it and come clean before they get busted.
But in my case, I wasn't high or doing anything wrong, so treating me like I was lying just made me mad.
He finally ticketed me with "failing to establish a lane" or "improper lane change" or somesuch, and sent me on my way.
The following Monday, I immediately contacted a traffic lawyer, and she told me that what he cited me for was very irregular, and usually cited only to someone who has caused an accident. And she felt confident that she could have the ticket thrown out without any fine.
And it took about four months for the court date, and that's what happened, no charges, no fine, no points. But I was still pissed at the cop that he gave me a ticket at all, that caused me the aggravation of resolving, and the $120.00 I had to pay a lawyer to pursue it, for doing nothing wrong.
The cop, when he pulled me over on a trumped-up excuse, and on approaching me he clearly saw that I wasn't high or a drug user, and especially after the Smart Ass's unprofessional behavior, SHOULD have just just handed me back my license and said "Okay sir, drive safely, have a good night."
But he didn't.
During the police stop, when I had a cop treat me like a liar, and then a second Smart Ass cop further imitate and make fun of me, I got angry.
But when I got to my girlfriend's and thought about it, I got a bit fearful about how much more could have happened.
They could have alleged I got aggressive, cuffed me and put me in jail.
They could have planted drugs in the car (and I was perfectly willing to let them search my car if they asked me, because I knew they initially thought I was high or in the area to pick up drugs, and I wanted to make clear I had nothing to hide).
It was the first time in my life I truly questioned the lawfulness of an officers' actions, their integrity and trustworthiness, and for the first time feared for my safety from the police.
I seriously thought of going to the station and talking to the Police Chief. But several I discussed it with said the police chief would just back up the officers, and then I would be a target of backlash from the officers I reported.
So at $120.00, I figured I would cut my losses and not pursue it.
I have other stories, but this is the most recent one I've dealt with.
