credits: eatsdirt

Frustrated people take their frustration out on you

This morning, on the way to the slowly-unwinding J train in Brooklyn, Jonny ran into a random bag search station. They went for him and an old lady.

Jonny said he was sweating bullets, but police didn’t find any contraband, and let him go on his way.

The whole encounter got us thinking about what our rights actually are at one of those random search stations. NYC Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has said that you are free to “turn around and leave” any subway system where police are conducting random searches. What happens after that, however, is hardly guaranteed.

According to FlexYourRights.org it is illegal for police to question, search, or detain you on the subway if you refuse their request:

“The police directive states that individuals who refuse to be searched can leave the subway system, and that such a refusal shall not constitute probable cause for an arrest or reasonable suspicion for a forcible stop.”

Fine. But anyone who has ever had one iota of dealing with police knows that once you refuse anything, even if you do so reasonably, you are most likely in for an unpleasant experience.

The vast majority of police searches take place because people voluntarily waive their Fourth Amendment right prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure. When police ask permission to search your property it is because they do not have probable cause to do so without your consent. Anything they find without your consent can be ruled inadmissible as evidence in court because it was procured illegally.

While it is important to know your rights, it is probably more important to know when to flex them. Personally, I could care less if Police go through my things if I have nothing to hide, as long as that’s the fastest way to get away from them.

Here’s a quiz you can take to find out how savvy you are when it comes to You, The Police, and Your Rights.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, that rule you learned in high school–that undercover cops have to reveal themselves to you if you ask–is totally not true.