Cops Use "Dial-a-Drunk" to Justify Illegal Search
where highway tyranny’s concerned, “probable cause” is just an anonymous “tip” away:
A Wyoming State Trooper called in a false tip to an anonymous driving under the influence (DUI) hotline so that he would have an excuse to pull over and search a vehicle known to be carrying a large amount of cash. The April 7 bogus report has sparked controversy and led to the highway patrol firing Trooper Ben Peech, 36, last week. Federal officials told the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper that the fraud will have no impact on their efforts to keep $3.3 million in seized cash during the traffic stop.
lawrence taylor comments on anonymous stasi hotlines:
I mentioned that by using this convenient line, you can with complete anonymity report your favorite enemy or ex-spouse for DUI, resulting in a traffic stop, interrogation, field sobriety tests and possible arrest. It didn’t occur to me at the time that it could be a very convenient tool for the police as well…..
not sure why, but it still hasn’t occurred to most americans that professional criminals are not to be trusted simply because they belong to the flag-waving variant of crime gang.
was a time in this country that highwaymen were shot on sight.
November 14th, 2007 at 16:53
William Norman Grigg just did a post about this incident and some of its aftermath: http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2007/11/anatomy-of-highway-patrol-heist.html
It’s a good read, check it out.
November 14th, 2007 at 22:42
i generally do not recognize 3-named pricks who run in argument to bullshit like “unfamiliar with correct capitalization, punctuation, and other remedial communications skills” (quote from an email reply when i busted dipshit boy on a false and misleading “quote” in an LRC article). typical LRC unaccountable moron.