Before I start, I want to say I definitely respect law enforcement for their duties and placing their lives in danger everyday. Saying that I also shun those who abuse their authorities for their own pleasure and ego.


The night starts as I play DD for the night. Our first stop is Fado's in Buckhead (great tavern!). Its a my friends birthday so he has a few drinks and everyone with us as well. The night starts coming to an end and my sister texts me to meet her at Church Hills (great bar!). So we leave Fado's with a friend whose following me to Church Hills.


As we drive less than 2 miles away we arrive to near Church Hills. We turn into the Valet parking and I see blue lights flashing. The officer pulls in front of my friend and directly behind me. I think to myself this must be a mistake and has to be getting around me as well. So I just stop (thinking he will drive around me). No, he decides to pull me over, why? I don't know.

Finally he and his partner approach the car and ask me where I'm coming from and if I've been drinking. Obvious the answers are above. I then ask "Did I do something wrong?" He says he was radio'd in because I was swerving in the lanes. (I obviously wasn't and I asked my friend following me to confirm and he agrees [this is after the scene of being pulled over]). I advise of him again the situation (I'm a DD). He then asks me to follow his finger and asks if I wear contacts (Informed him I wear hard lenses). Then I tell him again: "I'm sober, why did you pull me over?" (because I know I wasn't swerving, its 2 miles and I staying in the same lane the whole time). He replies, "Because I was told your registration is expired". I tell him no your wrong, it expires February 2011. He just looks at me, as if he doesn't know what to say. The officer just pulls out a breathalyzer and makes me blow. Obviously I pass, then he just says have a nice day.


So what gets me is that his story doesn't stay on term and nothing makes sense. I think he was just going around trying to find a DUI before his shift was over. This drives me nuts, because this is the second time this has happened. Am I crazy? I feel I'm being questioned for no reason and pulled over without a cause.

I understand I can be pulled over with suspicion and probable causes at there discretion, but really? I feel this guy was abusing his powers.

I have friends that are police officers and I deff. respect them for their careers, but something should be done for those that just don't understand and know how to use their authority.


Can I please get a survey on their performance??


Just thought I'd share and wonder if anyone else goes through the same issues where they live

 

Nope, you're not crazy. They may have spotted you leaving one bar and heading for another, hard to say. What does seem clear is they made up a couple of lame excuses (great job on calling them on the lies btw) to pull you over and then had the nerve to have you take a breathalyser.

I too have respect for what the police do on a daily basis, and I for one wouldn't want that job. However, this is a country of laws and the laws must be observed, especially so, by the authorities.

I know it's probably of little consolation, but I'd write a letter to whatever political authority oversee's that department, as well as the department head and express my concerns.

 

Good to hear that the event ended with little more than some inconvenience and lost time.

I wouldn't take it too personally as, to me, it sounds like the cops were doing their job (much as TSA is doing their job at the airport with these full-contact pat-downs that are alleged to be happening).

Most everyone, cops included, know that there is a greater chance of catching someone with an elevated BAC coming out of a bar at the end of the evening than other places and I suspect that's why you were pulled over.

 

yeah I mean stopping people and giving them a breathalyzer isn't, in theory, any different than hiding behind something and shooting you with a laser gun as you drive by...it's a random check on your speed/sobriety. It's more annoying for certain, but I'm sure those guys don't like having to pull over random people, either.

 

That doesn't sound like abuse of power to me. It's not like he dragged you out of your car and strip searched you. It sounds like an annoyance more than anything.

 

No what is happening since states are broke they are now issuing wet and reckless like speeding tickets even if you are under the legal limit. drive safely and know your rights

 

Forget about the car, imagine similar profiling based on skin color. If this went down as you describe, claiming the stop was based on complaints of swerving and/or driving an expired vehicle, and without the complaining citizen or officer around to go on record, then you have the ingredients for inexcusable abuse of power.

 

Where is the profiling in this story?

A car with a bunch of drunks in it going from bar to bar gets stopped for a DUI check? OMG the horror.

 

you know what, now that I think about it... I'm not really against profiling if it is effective in enhancing the safety of everyone. It isn't like they pulled him out of the car and beat the ***** out of him and his buddies, then let them go.
Most likely, they saw a car full of what appeared to be drunk people come out of a bar, get into a car with four (two?) exhaust tips and aggressive bodywork... really it could be seen by a LEO as a recipe for disaster...and I'm ok with them pulling him over as long as there was no genuine harrassment.

 

from the op's english i think its safe to say he is of a different race/nationality
so that might have played a role in it as well.

im sorry are you cenile? did the cops know they were drunk? assuming everyone walking out of a bar/club/restaurant is drunk is like assuming every muslim is a terrorist...as it turns out it wasnt a car full of drunks...both drivers were sober.

 

Here's a suggestion...
Stop Drinking and Driving!
It's only a matter of time until you guess wrong and you're over the limit.

 

....or maybe he got a call about a car swerving and it matched the description of your car. He checks you out and lets you go. It could be a ruse to stop you or maybe he did get a call.

Don't tell me it's profiling because, "I drive a nice car."

 

There is nothing in the OP statement that lends any proof of this....though I am assuming that is why the word "profiling" was used.


Are you retarded?

It clearly says in his post that all of his friends had a few drinks but not himself. So if someone sees a group of intoxicated people getting into a vehicle and having fun why wouldn't the cops make sure the driver was sober too?

I used to run nightclubs, the number of times that all of the occupants, including the driver, have "had a few" is staggeringly scary. Public safety is certainly more important than the inconvenience of "having to blow". There is nothing in this thread that suggests actual profiling.

To the OP, good to see that you are mature and responsible enough to take care of your buddies properly.

 

That sucks for the few minutes of time lost for the stop. But i firmly believe what they did was okay.

Think about it, if its an area full of bars/clubs this is prime for officers to pull over the retards that are in fact intoxicated & driving = easy tickets to hand out/arrests.

Perhaps, its just me, but i see this all the time in my city with plenty of cops in the downtown core where all the bars/strip joints/clubs are to be quick to respond to any 'issues' caused by people & motorists alike. Leading to bust people for running stop signs/lights/drunks, and cabbies drive like a**holes almost running over pedestrians, so its nice knowing that there is almost always a watchful eye.

What i'm getting at, is that the officers probably were doing what i listed above/bored/random checks.

 

As stated above I was DD. So what's that have to do with your comments?


But anyway I just felt this way because I was driving a nice car. This is the second this has happened in 6 months.

Last time I was told I was speeding, but I wasn't. Then he started asking me what for a living and my payments. It was a waste of time for being searched for no reason or cause. Thankfully I didn't get a ticket for without a reason too.


I was just curious if anyone encountered the similar situations.