Did you read this link? I think it is absurd that we have gotten to this point in this state/country. Not the enforcement of the DUI laws, a law which, by the way, 10% of the population of Phoenix is charged with each year, not excluding the babies or the elderly.
We live in a country where the law enforcement officials need to have probable cause to pull one over, instead, they go around, pulling every car over, then making up a reason.
I’ve been at several bars, where if you walk out into the parking lot, there are cops on motorcycles across the street, waiting for you to walk out, so they can pull you over. Never mind civil rights and liberties. One year, while at a pub, I happened to have my video camera, so I pulled it out, and videoed the cops, pulling cars over, as soon as they hit the public streets. No reason, no cause. No danger to lives, they pulled people over. No swerving, no speeding. No failure to yield, and yes all of their lights were on and operational. Nothing unsafe.
I was under the impression that the laws of the land were written to keep us safe, and morally correct. Wouldn’t that mean that in order for them to pull you over, you have to be a threat?
Pulling out of a bar parking lot, is not illegal. In fact, as an attorney once told me, driving to a bar is not illegal. Driving from a bar is not illegal, if it was, they would not have parking lots.
I think that every time they pull us over without cause, we should jump and yell, force them to document it. Make them accountable. Then do whatever it takes to make everyone know about the false pull over.
I say all of this on the day before the biggest drinking night in the land. New Years Eve. They will be out in force, pulling everything that moves over, so people that don’t want to be harassed make the decision to stay home, to avoid their crap. I wont be attending house parties, with or without drinking there, because I don’t want to be pulled over.
I know the other side of the argument likes to say, if you aren’t drunk, then why do you mind being pulled over? That’s about like saying, “If I don’t steal from you, why can’t I check your pockets for notes from ladies, or money to see your value”. We DO, afterall, still have rights. One is to not have to give in to searches from the cops without due process, which includes probable cause.
If you live in AZ, let’s vote out the idiots this next election. Let’s get rid of the overreaching, overbearing, camera frontmen for MADD and other such organizations, let’s dump Sheriff Joe and Andrew Thomas. Use reasonable thought, not extremism guys.