Maryland State Police encounter ends without incident.
November 6th, 2000
I had an encounter with a Maryland state
trooper. I'd never experienced anything quite like it, either with
or without a driver license. It occured early morning, November 6th,
2000, around 1 AM.
--
I dropped a friend of mine off at her home. As I made my
way back out the driveway, I noticed a car was nearly stopped
on the road to the left, pointed toward me.
As I pulled on to the road and drove pass it, I saw it was
a Maryland state police car. After I passed, it did a 3 point
turn and followed me somewhat closely to a connecting road
some 2 miles away.
I turned left. So did he. It's not unusual for me to have
police cars behind me (I notice them more than most people),
but I was not feeling right about this one, so I decided to
turn off that main road a mile further away onto a gravel road
I was somewhat familiar with and let him pass by or see what
happens. I signaled and turned.
So did he.
I stopped at the first house as though I had business there.
He stopped too. After a moment, he backed up into the
driveway across from me and sat there, with his headlights
glaring toward me.
I got out, took a few steps toward him (careful not to get
too close) & stopped to see what he would do. He sat there.
I pulled my hands out of my pockets & outstretched them to
indicate a question. He got out. I don't recall the
first exchanges, but He then asked me if I lived at the
home.
"Am I required to answer that question, sir?"
He indicated I was not.
I asked "Is there a problem?"
He answered "I don't know. Is there?"
"Not as far as I know"
I went back to my jeep. He got back in his cruiser. He
still appeared to not be headed anywhere, so I got my tape
recorder ready, but did not reenter the jeep. Finally he moved
out and continued off down the gravel road. I got back in,
waited a moment, then started up and head back toward the main
road to continue my way.
As I turned right onto the main road, I saw a car up ahead turn
left onto the same road & come towards me. As I passed, I saw
it was a Maryland state police car. He continued pass me & I
saw brake lights in the mirror, but not till he was 50 or 100
yards back. I figured he was probably headed back to where I
stopped, to see if I was still parked, apparently oblivious in
the dark that I was already on my way.
I saw him one more time, a couple miles further down the road,
but by then he either lost me or had already given up.
--
As far as I know, there is no warrant out for my arrest. I know
of no reason one should be.
But it's apparent from this incident that the police know
something about my car. I know I'm a local legend to the people
at the Maryland MVA main office. They know me by name. My car
is registered in Pennsylvania in my name. It's likely the
officer today got my name from the license plate, but that alone
would (perhaps) not have given him enough certainty that Cornelius
John McIver was the one driving it.
The trick in these situations is to not give the officer any
probable cause by which he can conduct a traffic stop. This
means more than simply obeying the traffic rules. In decisions
that practically substantiate thought crimes, courts have ruled
traffic stops to be justifiable merely because the officer
observed behavior that indicated the driver was most likely
attempting to avoid contact with police. In my case, the
officer could not infer enough from my actions to reasonably
determine that was the case.
In these situations, rather than wait for the police flashers
to come on for going 0.2 MPH over the speed limit, not coming
to an absolute complete stop at a stop sign, (or in the case
of a dishonest officer, an opportunity to claim you
broke the rules) one might do well to simply pull off the road.
If the officer stops, do what one might typically do at the side
of the road, like open a road map, make a phone call, get out
and stretch your legs, maybe pop the hood and check the washer
fluid levels or something - anything.
Naturally, you would appreciate the officer overseeing you to
make sure you're okay, so you wave him on. If he doesn't go
anywhere, *you* would have reasonable curiousity to make an
inquiry of the officer. At that point you, in effect, are the
one conducting a stop of the officer, instead of the other way
around, and you could have some fun with that.
Of course he's got a gun, so it's smart keep your hands in the
open, and make what inquiries you will. You're also on candid
camera, so keep that in mind. Is he having car problems? Is
he conducting an investigation? Maybe he's harassing or
following you. Maybe the officer knows the quickest way to get
to a local town. If the officer happens to be of the appropriate
sex, try to get a date. There are all kinds of things one
could ask, but don't answer any questions at all. They are
trained to trick you in conversation so be careful.
Police by-in-large are trained to deal with people that are
scared and run & hide. They are used to everyone being
intimidated by the uniform, the gun & everything. They are
used to running the show, having everyone on the defensive.
But if you have what it takes to carefully challenge them and
put them on the defensive, many of them won't know what to do
and they'll buckle right under you.
Anyway, Regarding the "suspended" license situation/status,
I have yet to find any lawful justification for the suspension.
I've called my "friends" at the MVA to try to locate the
justification, but they've been almost no help at all. My own
research has shown nothing within the Maryland regs, and only
a general purpose thing within the Maryland Transportation
code that seems to have room for subjectivity. Based on this
most recent incident, I should probably make time to meet with
the MVA to try to get that straightened out. That would be
interesting.
Honestly, it's both fun and unnerving being on the front lines
like this. But I wouldn't trade it. Most people only get
excitement like this when watching a Hollywood movie, but
I got the real thing. And what I'm doing is absolutely the
right thing.
Neil McIver
Return to Life without Numbers
Return to My Right to "Drive"
