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Comment by jnbiche | Hacker News Reader

No, but I've been pulled over for absolutely no reason at all. I was let go without any issue, but something about me made the officer suspicious, although he couldn't find any reason to keep me. He asked me questions about what I was doing (I was driving home from work) and I answered them honestly and politely as possible, even after he wasn't able to provide an answer to my polite question, "what seems to be the problem, officer?".

I know the consensus here is to refuse to answer any questions, but I think if I had tried that approach in this situation, I would have spent the night in jail (and maybe longer, depending on the availability of a judge).

I was pretty pissed off at the time, but I only let myself show it after he let me go.

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I got pulled over for driving a Volvo while being non-white. The officer said it was because I didn't come to a full stop at the stop sign. Yes, that was probably just barely technically true at this deserted 4-way stop intersection with great visibility.

He asked me what I did for a living. I should have refused to answer that as irrelevant and none-of-his-business, and I could easily have afforded the unjust consequences (unlike many people who are racially profiled), yet I still felt powerless and coerced to answer. I regret that. I was polite, cooperative, and with my wife. The officer was rude and menacing. The racial profiling and assumptions about how I could be driving a nice car were clear as day.

> He asked me what I did for a living.

Wow, that's infuriating. Tough call what to do in that situation.

answer "I'm a lawyer"

(nah, prolly better not)

I would stick with "I work for the IRS".

Or, make it very clear with your license plate and stickers that you know your rights better than most. You will NEVER get pulled over! Going with the "I'm a lawyer"? Make sure you don't say "I'm a defense lawyer", ha!

I've been pulled over a couple of times (in different states) and I have been asked what I do for a living both times. I'm not black. It honestly felt like a normal part of their questioning procedure.

I have always been polite and honest. Got away with verbal warnings both times (was above the speed limit).

Do you really think he asked you what you did for a living out of racial profiling?

I have been asked that by a police officer and I find the best way to answer is "that's a good question!"

I've been pulled over multiple times and have never been asked that question. All of our sample sizes are entirely too small.

That being said, instead of thinking about the question first and then asking if it points to racial profiling, start the other way: Do you think racial profiling exists? If yes, is it plausible that an officer would ask a non-white person this question after profiling?

Non-black people get profiled too.

What other purpose does that question have other than to further profile you? How does it bear in any way on a driving infraction?

I grew up in a small southern town. I was the weird kid, had funny hair and didn't wear cowboy clothes. I was pulled over at least seven or eight times for no reason. Once I was told I was being pulled over because some kids were playing mailbox baseball in the neighborhood I just left. Another time I was told the area I had just left was known for drugs and the cop wanted to find out if I had bought any... the area I had just left was an abandoned empty field in the middle of nowhere and I had simply drove through it as a shortcut. I've been told my tail light was out only to find it miraculously working went I went to check. I've been told I fit the profile of another guy who was throwing bricks at a house. If a cop doesn't like the way you look and wants to release some aggression, they will make up any excuse to pull you over. I did know my rights so all the examples I mentioned didn't lead anywhere, I worry what those times would have been like if I hadn't been white.

It happened to me once too, but after answering a couple questions, which I probably should not even have done, I asked them if I had to stay there and talk to them and was let go. You should not talk to police: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc .

At a traffic stop, they are asking you questions for three reasons.

1. To find out who you are.

2. To decide if they should give you a ticket or let you go.

3. To try to get you to give them permission to search you and your car, or to get you to say something that gives them probable cause to search you and your car without your permission.

Whether it makes sense to answer a question or not depends on the reason behind that question.

If you refuse to answer the #1 questions, that is your right. They can then arrest you, and hold you until they can figure out who you are.

They cannot arrest you for not answering the #2 or #3 questions, and you should definitely not answer the #3 questions. Even if you never use illegal drugs or engage in any other illegal activity, a passenger may have accidentally dropped something in your car.

If you don't answer the #2 questions, you are almost certainly going to get the ticket for whatever they pulled you over for. If you want to get off with a warning, you have to give the officer some reason to not give you a ticket, and that's hard to do without saying something (especially if you were actually violating a traffic law).

I would think that the only reason you can be arrested for refusing to answer #1 is because driving requires a license. Being stopped on the street or while not operating the vehicle does not require you identify yourself to the police. They would then need some independent probable cause to believe you are wanted in connection to a crime.

That's probably not true anymore; see Hiibel.

Ironically, you can only refuse to provide your name if you have a "reasonable belief" that doing so could incriminate you!

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Justice Kennedy wrote, "While we recognize petitioner's strong belief that he should not have to disclose his identity, the Fifth Amendment does not override the Nevada Legislature's judgment to the contrary absent a reasonable belief that the disclosure would tend to incriminate him."

Yes, Hiibel sucks. I thought the "no 'Papers please' in America" argument had some real force. You win some & you lose some.

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