Back in the saddle!

I can't believe it has been nearly a year since I have posted. I have been busy with some military schools of late, and that is what prompts me to rejuvenate this forum. I recently completed the Joint Fires Observer course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, which means little if you are not in the military. Basically, it is a course that taught me how to better understand and utilize close air support, like the AC-130 in the picture. Anyway, I drove to the school and took one of my soldiers with me. As we drove through Oklahoma, we approached a toll booth on the turnpike. A state trooper was in his cruiser on the near side of the toll plaza, and traffic was very light. I told my passenger, "that cop is dying to pull us over, just watch." I paid the toll, and before I had even merged back onto the turnpike, the trooper was behind me with his lights on. I pulled over and he came up to the vehicle, peering inside as he walked up. He told me he stopped me because I had failed to signal. This was surprising for two reasons: (1) the road was recently resurfaced, and there were no lane markings on it, and (2) I had not merged back into the travel lanes yet. He asked me out of the car and had me come back to his cruiser. He told me he was only going to give me a warning for the lane violation. Once in his cruiser, he began to question me about where we were going, where we were coming from, etc.

Now, we get to the crux of the issue. There was no lane violation. He wanted to put his nose into my business because he saw a car with out of state plates with a black guy and a white guy in it, and it didn't look right to him. We weren't breaking any law. The stop was nothing more than a pretext for him to get me in his cruiser and question me. If he didn't like my answers, he would ask my passenger the same questions separate from me and compare our answers, setting the conditions necessary to search my vehicle. I have seen this happen to many of the clients I have represented over the years, but it does change the perspective when it happens to you. Remember, you are not obligated to answer questions posed by the police. I told him we were on our way to military training, and he seemed satisfied with that explanation and sent us on our way.