Crooked cops... is there anything that can be done?

[xburtonchic]

I want to assume this thread belongs in Second Opinions, but I'm not sure... so for now it shall remain homeless until a mod decides whether or not it actually belongs there.

I went to visit a friend yesterday who lives about 40 or so miles away from my home. Part of the reason I went out there was to also look at the school I'm going to be attending in the Fall, since I plan on moving out there. I had to drop my friend off soon but I was too tired to drive home, so I decided to take a nap in my car first. About an hour prior, I had felt a panic attack coming on and so had taken a Valium, and 20 minutes before that I had taken a Suboxone. I just went back on Suboxone last week after a relapse, so I'm still adjusting to my Sub dosage, and it makes me hella tired. ESPECIALLY when I take it with my Valium.

So I pull into a residential neighborhood near my (future) school and take a nap. I was asleep for a while, when something woke me up. I don't know how long he was standing there, but I woke up to find a cop just staring at me through my window. Um, creepy. So I roll my window down, super respectful and say, "Hello Officer, is there a problem?" Right away, he starts being a dick and asks me if I have anything illegal in my car. I told him I didn't. He asked if I minded if he searched the car. I asked him, once again, what the problem was and what reason he had to search my car since I wasn't doing anything wrong. He then said, "Why don't you just shut up, that's not what I asked you. I asked you if I can search your car." I told him sure he can search my car, but I wanted to know what I was being searched FOR. He then said, "You're asleep in your car, in a residential neighborhood. People around here don't like it and are going to call it in when they see an unfamiliar car and suspicious activity." Then he asked me to step out of my vehicle. This is where, what I believe, the illegal shit started.

First, I was not read my rights before they physically searched me. The officer who searched me actually put her hands INSIDE my bra and pretty far down my pants as well. Aside from not being read my rights, I was told I was being detained, but whenever I asked why I was told to shut up. They led me about a block away from my car, I was still in view of it, but the next thing I know I hear a horrendous scratching noise. I look over and there is a drug dog scratching the SHIT out of EVERY SURFACE OF MY CAR. I took pictures; there is not ONE area of my car that isn't absolutely covered in scratch marks from them letting the dog climb all over my car. I consented to letting the cop SEARCH my car. I never consented to them calling someone out to bring a drug dog, let it climb in and around my car, and cause physical damage to MY FUCKING PROPERTY. The other thing is that the entire time I was sitting on the curb, I was being harrassed and insulted for my physical appearance. I was TOLD - not asked - that I was a heroin addict and a junkie, that I looked "sucked up", etc. When I tried to defend myself and tell them that I'm not on opiates anymore, that's what the Suboxone is for, and that I'm just naturally skinny, I was once again told to shut up.

This is the part that REALLY pisses me the fuck off. He then asked me why I was asleep in my car. I told him because I was tired. He said, "Why didn't you just drive home and sleep there?" I said, "Because I was too tired to drive and it's dangerous to drive when you're that tired." He then snorted at me and then said, "Just stop... just stop right there before my bullshit meter goes up any higher." I asked him if he was telling me that it's not dangerous to drive when you're tired and he says, "That's EXACTLY what I'm saying. You keep trying to justify yourself when we both know what's going on here. You were here shooting up, I came up to your car and you were on the nod." I didn't even bother trying to explain again that I was ASLEEP... I was not fucking NODDING OUT. I just QUIT heroin, I think I know the difference between me being asleep and me nodding out. If I was simply nodded out, I would have opened my eyes the second the cop came up to my car. I don't even know how long he was standing there, because I was out for a good hour or so.

They also accused me of being a liar. I have a USMC sticker on my car. One of the first questions asked was, "who's the Marine?" I told them myself and they asked me a few questions about it. They asked how long I was in and I told them, a year and a half. They then asked me why I got out... I felt it was starting to get too personal but I answered anyway, I told them the truth - because I blew out both of my knees and developed sports-induced asthma. They told me I was lying and that you don't kicked out for that. I said, "Yes you do, if they deem you unfit for combat." They then asked me where I was stationed and I told them Parris Island. They said, "Oh, so you DIDN'T graduate boot camp." I told them that I did, but that Parris Island is where they sent me for duty after I was finished with MOS school. At that point I was deemed a "liar" and that there was "something fishy about my story." What the fuck is fishy about the fact that I got stationed at the same place I went to boot camp, blew out my knees during training, and was given a medical HONORABLE discharge?

So basically, here's all that went down:
- I was detained without being read my rights
- I was searched in such a way I did not consent to (the drug dogs and then them feeling around inside my bra)
- My personal property was damaged
- I was continually insulted and harrassed for an hour straight, both in regards to my physical appearance and my life
- I was given not only incorrect, but also DANGEROUS information and advice (that it isn't dangerous to drive home when you're as tired as I was, and furthermore, I was still exhausted when they finally realized I DIDN'T have any drugs or paraphernilia on me, but they made me drive home anyways. I actually fell asleep at the wheel TWICE on the way home. I have gotten in an accident because of this before... falling asleep at the wheel... and I even showed them the damage from said accident. Their response? "Yeah, that's great for you, I don't care.")
- I was accused of being a drug user, after even the DRUG DOG didn't find anything. Why? BECAUSE I DO NOT USE ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES ANYMORE AND HAD NOTHING ILLEGAL IN MY FREAKING CAR!!
- I was called a liar several times in regards to things I told them about my life.
- I was still never told what I was detained for. Furthermore, when I realized my property was damaged and I asked for the cop's name, he refused to give it to me.
- Upon getting back into my car, $20 and a pack of cigarettes that had been there before, were not there anymore. It was clear the cops searching my car had taken them.
- I had picked up some trash in/around my car earlier that day and had them in trash bags in my back seat, neatly tied up. Guess what? I get back in my car and find that the trash has been thrown ALL over my backseat, including soda and other types of disgusting trash juice.
- I was denied a phone call to my lawyer, which I KNOW for a FACT is within a citizen's right upon being detained.

The entire time something felt extremely shady and crooked about the whole thing. I mean, they damaged my property, they didn't even READ me my rights, I was detained without being told why, I was touched inappropriately, searched with drug dogs without my permission and without a warrant, denied my rights, and had my property stolen. I want to know what, if anything, I can do about this. I got an estimate for the damage the dog did, and it's in the thousands and will require a full body paint job. I don't think I should have to pay for damage I did not cause. However, I called the Costa Mesa PD and they told me, "That's not our problem, you figure it out."

Can legal action be taken for ANY of this? It seems like every single thing the cops did during that encounter was either illegal, abusive, or unethical in some way. I am not lying when I say it was a traumatic experience. I mean, I was literally traumatized... on the way home I alternated between catching myself sleeping and crying... the entire hour drive home. And I don't care if that makes me sound like a little bitch. I have never been treated so inhumanely or so indecently by a person in authority in my life. I can understand if I was being disrespectful, but I wasn't! I have always been ultra respectful towards cops, and these ones were NO exception. Furthermore, I feel their entire mission was simply to harass me, because I wasn't doing anything illegal. It is not illegal to take a nap in your car before driving home. It even says on the prescription bottles "DO NOT OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY; MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS".... but they paid that no attention. They simply assumed I was on heroin because apparantly being naturally petite makes me "sucked up" and apparantly taking a nap so I don't kill myself or someone else while driving means I'm "on a nod". Wow, really? I've never heard of a nod that lasted AN ENTIRE FUCKING HOUR.

I'm so livid. Something needs to be done, I can't afford to pay the $1000+ of damage to the body of my car... as for the dog tearing up my seats, and the stains on them from the cops throwing the trash around in there... I don't even know how much that's going to cost, but I doubt I will be able to afford that either...

I live in California, if that helps.

 

[_a_A_C_c_]

i do believe the moment you consent to a search, the cops are free to search you and your vehicle however they see fit. i also believe that since you weren't charged with anything, you weren't really being detained, so the cops didn't need to read you your rights. but i a am not a legal professional...

i'll send to this SO to see if anyone can provide better information tho.

 

[AmorRoark]

1. How long was he there? They might argue that this was a Terry Stop which means officers may conduct temporary detentions (less than actual arrest) if there is reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot, as derived from specific & articulable facts & based on the totality of the circumstances.
2. They would also probably say that this was only a temporary detention and not an actual arrest so they don't have to read you your Miranda Rights if it's not an actual arrest and they don't have to let you call your lawyer (technically). I don't know if reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot exists here (I personally don't think so) but regardless the consent might screw you.
3. Consent if valid when you voluntarily & knowingly consent. He has to remain within the scope of the consent so he can check anywhere in the car that isn't locked (trunk or a locked case or a locked glove box because you have a reasonable belief of privacy in those areas). Unfortunately, as long as the search is deemed 'reasonable' the cops aren't liable for any damage they caused during the search under the 4th Amendment. Courts seem to find just about everything under the sun 'reasonable'.
4.They're going to say 'prove it' for the stolen items.
5. The only way I see you being able to make a decent claim at all is if somehow you went to trial or made a claim within their grievance agency and got a copy of their dashboard camera tape (if they even had one). I really don't know how much recourse you have.

I know it's too late now but for everyone else: never give consent for a search, they can still legally ask you to step out of the car so get out, stay calm, then if they start threatening you about K-9 dogs or whatever start asking if you're free to go. If they say no then ask, am I being detained or arrested? If they say yes then they're under news standard about what they can legally do to you.

 

[Beachcat]

I'm sorry, but the only thing they did that was "wrong" was not give you their names when you asked for it. They do not have to read you your rights until they arrest you. They may have been jack asses, but honestly, sleeping in your car like that is suspicious and quite frankly, even if the drugs you took were prescribed you could have still been charged with being under the influence. You may be guaranteed a phone call, but they have complete discretion as to when they give it to you. For all they know, you could be calling someone to come an kill them, that is why they wait until they have you in a controlled and monitored setting.

You could certainly call back and ask for internal affairs and make a complaint, but I doubt it would even make it past the person who took it. They may have been asses, but that is,about it.

 

[Cevain]

I'm thinking about this one. At this point it's too hard to tell. Can you please give a picture of yourself, the scratches on the car and the trash in the bag of the car (this last thing is maybe hard since it should be gone).

At this point I'm just not sure yet. Words don't say everything.

 

[xburtonchic]

I'm over it now, a friend of mine who works at an auto shop was kind enough to fix my paint job for me at a VERY reasonable price.

But just to clear a few things up...

I don't mind at all that I was searched. However, I was under the impression that I was consenting to a regular search. If I remember correctly, a canine search is a completely different matter and requires a warrant regardless UNLESS the cops have a K9 unit WITH them at the time you are stopped. Otherwise, it's considered "delaying x" (I don't remember the full term), and violates the 4th amendment. I wouldn't have even had a problem with the canine search. What I DO have a problem with is that I wasn't informed of the search and that the dog RUINED MY CAR... so that I had to pay money OUT OF POCKET to fix something THEY did, when I didn't even have any sort of drugs on me, I wasn't pulled over for anything drug related, and a regular search such as the one I consented to would have sufficed. Yes, the cops were being asses, and yes, they were really reaching for a drug bust... but something about them going out of their way to call in a K9 unit and waiting for them to arrive AFTER they had already searched the car themselves seems really fishy to me. :/

As far as the pictures... I did take pictures of the scratches on my car. I didn't think to take pictures of the trash in my car, since I don't see how I could prove it wasn't like that after they did it. It's such a huge mess though that I haven't even cleaned it up yet. I got a good look at it today though, and damn, it's worse than I thought. They were incredibly careless about it. I can't believe they tore three trashbags apart and were rude enough to just throw the trash all over the backseat of my car. Seriously, it looks like a tornado exploded back there. It's embarrassing. I need to get on that. But I suppose I'll take some pictures first... just in case. Like I said I'm over it now, but maybe I might change my mind sometime in the near future. I suppose it might be too late to do anything about it now though...

 

[panic in paradise]

oh how i miss LQ&A


... best answer: get an attorney