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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be annoyed at the police?

19 replies

foreverastudent · 05/07/2010 15:59

Earlier today I was driving (below the speed limit) in a quiet suburban street and was pulled over by the police.

They said they were doing 'random document checks'.

There weren't any problems with my car and I produced my licence when asked but I still had to go and sit in the back of their car for 10 mins while thay ran a computer check on me.

During this time they asked me numerous questions eg
Where are you going?
Where have you come from?
What are you doing today?
What do you do?
What subjects?
When is your next essay due?
Where were you born?
How long have you had your car?
Have you ever been stopped before?
Is my car in my name?

as well as checking my DOB and address.

The one time I was pulled over before I got to stay in my own car and never got asked any other questions.

I've been left quite rattled. Are we living in some kind of police state? Why are the police wasting their time pulling over law-abiding citizens when there are plenty of criminals out there?

OP posts:

anyabanya · 05/07/2010 16:01

YANBU. I had a simialr experience, and DH refused to answe the questions on the grounds it was none of their business, and they got very nasty indeed and said they could 'take things further'. Uhuh? On what grounds? It was a random pulling over also.

malovitt · 05/07/2010 16:01

I would have refused to answer any of those questions.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 05/07/2010 16:02

I don't live in the Uk where I presume this happened, but, are you in posession of non white skin, a beard or something that could mark you out as 'not being one of us?'. DH has a friend who is a policeman, right in the Gene Hunt mould.
Maybe the fact that you were driving below the speed limit lead the police to think you were casing houses to rob?

ShinyAndNew · 05/07/2010 16:03

What odd questions to ask Could they perhaps have thought your driving licence could have been fake?

Original poster

foreverastudent · 05/07/2010 16:05

I'm very pale.

It was a nice street.

OP posts:

Original poster

foreverastudent · 05/07/2010 16:09

I know that legally I could have refused to answer but then they could have arrested me.

With enhanced disclosure checks required for most of the jobs I've had in the past and will have in the future I can't risk an arrest showing up.

OP posts:

ThatVikRinA22 · 05/07/2010 16:09

sometimes the force i work in does this - just does a task day for vehicle checks - you would be surprised how many things it does throw up and how many illegal drivers get stopped. it does seem unfair for the majority of law abiding road users, but it is totally random, but if you throw the net wide enough you find alot of people driving who shouldnt be, either not insured, or not with a full licence, or in an unroadworthy car, or lorry drivers who have not adhered to the rules on safe hours, that kind of thing. it gets quite a few uninsured drivers off the road every time we do one round here.

scurryfunge · 05/07/2010 16:12

foreverstudent...they can't arrest you for not answering questions!....only if they suspect you have committed an offence.

anyabanya · 05/07/2010 16:12

I'd love to hear from a MNer who is a police person or works with the police on this one. Truth is, I have a theory that they pull people over to check gov't targets (i.e. not their fault, fault of government) and to alleviate boredom. I am not the original OP, but when DH and I were pulled over the questions were very intrusive (included a comment about how we are married but clearly have a bit of an age difference) and we are both white English.

On my commute in London I see non-whites picked on and pulled aside on random checks all the time, and it must get bloody tedious, frustrating and downright insulting for them. Also again IMO, it errodes community trust in the police. Especially, as people can say that they have experience being stopped for a random check,but may have needed the police for something in the past and not been able to receive assistance. (Our experience came after we had had our property vandalised and the police told us it was not worth their while to come out because the only things that had been damaged was a a garden shed.)

anyabanya · 05/07/2010 16:14

Oh, thanks Vicar.... xpost.

colditz · 05/07/2010 16:16

he was probably just making conversation in between the random checks.

how can "What subjects?" be perceived as intrusive? Would you have been offended if a bus ticket collector asked you these questions whilst checking your ticket?

The police come in for a good share of prejudice themselves. People see the hat and assume that there isn't a person under neath it, just a neofascist tosser.

colditz · 05/07/2010 16:17

I used to get pulled a LOT. As a short person on a small motorbike, they would assume I was a teenaged boy. They really are only doing their job.

WelliesAndPyjamas · 05/07/2010 16:22

better to know that the police are out there being proactive though, isn't it?

lal123 · 05/07/2010 16:28

I would have thought that those questions were to confirm you identity? I gre up in N Ireland in the 70s/80s when police checks were very common. We were always asked the same questions - name, where you're going and where you're coming from. One day my Mum, my gran (in her late 60s at time) and I (must have been about 10 or so) were stopped on the way to do some grocery shopping. When asked where we were going my Mum (with a straight face) said "The disco". Policeman nodded and waved us on our way......

On another occasion friends and I were stopped on the way to a club by army. When the window was rolled down the army bloke would have caught a whiff of some illegal substances. He just said that if we popped to the chip shop to get him and his colleague some chips he'd say no more..

fyimate · 05/07/2010 16:34

Wow, my DP got pulled over by a female and a male officer in Winter. 2 minutes in to the checks the male officer went to his car do confirm checks whilst the female started chatting up DP! She even started calling her partner a wuss because he was shivering in all the uniform and gear they were wearing!

In the end they let DP go but the male officer didnt look too pleased.

diamondsandtiaras · 05/07/2010 16:58

funnily enough my DH had something similar recently on his way to work. They asked him all kinds of question after telling him they were doing some kind of survey.......I thought it was incredibly strange. they even wanted him to prove where he worked

DaisySteiner · 05/07/2010 17:00

I would have no problem with random checks on licences and documentation. It's the other questions that are intrusive and very alarming from a civil rights pov.

grapeandlemon · 05/07/2010 17:03

It wouldn't bother me personally

DH got stopped once on his Motorbike once for what seemed like a random check, they asked him lots of questions including;

"What have you got in your bag?"

"A pie"

"What kind of pie"

"Steak and Kidney"

CaptainUnderpants · 05/07/2010 17:16

Ever thought that thet may have been making conversatioon with you whilstvwaiting for checks to come back - perhaps to try and mae you at ease - police are allowed to a make conversation you know.

And they wouldn't arrest you for not answering those questions - only if they suspected that you had commiteed an offence.

Police can't do anything right can they ?

they dontknow that your are law abding citizen do they ?You would be surprised the nnumber of people they catch doing random sstops - no insurance , wanted on warrnt etc eetc .

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