I think almost everyone is looking at this wrong. Gonna be an involved reply but I hope people read it because I really think there's a need to see the real issue. If you consider that the car was a 'disguise' or a 'prop' used in impersonating a police officer, I think it gets easier to see the problem. That the car was a lousy disguise or prop is not the issue and dsoesn't matter.
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Originally Posted by KeepItShut
If he's just going about his daily routine than he has no intent. Which is what happened in this case
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Demonstrably not true, actually, by the driver's own admission, according to the report. He was
not going about his daily routine. He was trying to be seen in this car for a purpose other than going about his daily business- he had a little extra curricular goal. He describes his intent clearly. Again, the quote:
""The Ledger reported that Holt pulled the car over, only to have the driver claim he was actually helping law enforcement keep the roads safe. Foster said the driver told Holt that he believed he was assisting the police “because other drivers noticed him and slowed down, thinking it was a police vehicle.”
He knew
exactly what was happening; he had full knowledge of the impact of his actions. He had full intent to do what he did. He wasn't thinking straight, and he wasn't considering what his actions entailed, but he still did it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KeepItShut
him being pulled over cause his car had decals, paint job, etc. and not because of any specific actions.
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That
is the specific action though.
It wasn't just because of "decals" or a "paintjob". That standpoint makes it seem like any old black and white paint scheme, or some stickers, makes Johnny Law overstep his bounds and harass somebody. That's not what happened here.
You might feel he was minding his own business. But he certainly wasn't.
He was minding the business of other people- he wants them to slow down so he decided to act like a cop acts- he's in effect patrolling- instead of calling an actual cop and having the actual cops do an actual cop job. The Police do not know why this man has painted his car this way. This is probable cause if you ask me- the 5-0 are not mind readers, and if you paint your car to look like a Police car, then you should expect to have cops ask you a question once in a while. That's common sense. A Crown Vic having the black and white paintjob with all the crests and decals etc removed doesn't fit this description, either. Completely different from this maserati
Quote:
Originally Posted by KeepItShut
You can't control how people act when you're driving around (Lord knows I would like to able to though!)
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And neither can this Maserati driver, although he was trying to do exactly that, by allowing people to think he was a cop. If you tried to fool other people into thinking you were a cop, you'd be impersonating a policeman too.
We have two distinct things here:
1) Cop pulls over a car that looks like a cop car but isn't. I don't think I would ever agree that in a case like this that the cop is in the wrong for asking 'what's up with that'. That's probable cause to stop as I understand it.
2) Driver of the car indicated he knew that was letting people think he was a cop. That's evidence of an actual crime. Cops can't 'un-see' that, and they sure as hell can't leave the guy alone now, that's encouraging him to feel he's doing the right thing by letting people think he's a cop.