So I'm on the Yakima Police Watch List Options

[Coomer]

I just got a call from my boss(not my immediate one but the one right under the CEO), and he's angry because the cops called him at 1AM last night and woke him up "because there's this very suspicious yellow car that just parked and some kid went into the building."

I have a key and a security code to the building, and they let me come to my office whenever I want so I can work on stuff. But now he's mad, because he thinks I was doing something suspicious, but all I did was drive normally, park, unlock, and go inside.

My boss went on to say that the officer was in an unmarked car and the officer mentioned that my car was on their watch list and being watched because of suspicious behavior!

This is straight-up ridiculous. I don't know what to do...I'm a good kid and I don't have a bad driving record and they have no reason whatsoever to put me on their watch list...I bet that's why I'm pulled over every other week too.

I dunno what to do...filing a complaint will only make things worse I'm sure.

[ILuvMyCelica95]

Thats no fun.

But unless they can prove that you are doing some kinda of dangerous and/or illegal driving they have nothing on you, and nothing that will hold up in court.

[Coomer]

Yeah, but it still sucks being pulled over all the time, and always having to worry about it.

[bloodrain]

just go on with your life and dont worry about them, sooner or later they will get off ur ass

[BlackCelicaGT94]

Ha thats awesome - next ull be on Americas Most Wanted!


sorry coomer - im sur it sucks cuz now they will pull u over for anything :-(

[Yota]

If you were doing something 'suspicious' in the eyes of a cop....why would you drive a yellow car?

Your cops are ridiculous...I'm sorry you have to deal with them so frequently

[CelicaBuddy]

oUcH! >_<

that sucks, hopefully everything will turn out okay...

[Supersprynt]

How much of ur car is illegal?

File a harassment suit against them if it gets bad enough.

[Guest_DJMC_Celica_*]

I just got a call from my boss(not my immediate one but the one right under the CEO), and he's angry because the cops called him at 1AM last night and woke him up "because there's this very suspicious yellow car that just parked and some kid went into the building."

I have a key and a security code to the building, and they let me come to my office whenever I want so I can work on stuff. But now he's mad, because he thinks I was doing something suspicious, but all I did was drive normally, park, unlock, and go inside.

My boss went on to say that the officer was in an unmarked car and the officer mentioned that my car was on their watch list and being watched because of suspicious behavior!

This is straight-up ridiculous. I don't know what to do...I'm a good kid and I don't have a bad driving record and they have no reason whatsoever to put me on their watch list...I bet that's why I'm pulled over every other week too.

I dunno what to do...filing a complaint will only make things worse I'm sure.
[right][snapback]281450[/snapback][/right]

That does suck, i guess its kind of like when you do something good it never goes rewarded but even if you don't something bad, (or if you do) Sometimes you cant blamed for nothing!!!
I believe that your boss should have believed you.
I guess i PERSONALLY can say i know how your feeling, being thats how i feel on the forum with a 40% rateing.
But that seriously does suck, i live in a small town and i know for a fact cops have a list of people with nice cars who they watch out for or even try to find you doing something wrong!

[droptopGT]

dont worry coomer, if you ever get locked up i'll fly over and bail you out just kidding bro, god forbid if that were to ever happen

[SoundSlut_dotcom]

a helicopter chase story wouldabeen great.! esp. w a 6gc , but ne way that sucks.. dont do nuttin wrong and u wont get in trouble lol

[jgreening]

How about a man to man talk with the Police Chief? Be polite and ask him if there is any reason for this treatment. If its done professionally, it can't hurt. If that doesn't work, I would seriously consider suit.

[coustoe]

How about a man to man talk with the Police Chief?  Be polite and ask him if there is any reason for this treatment.  If its done professionally, it can't hurt.  If that doesn't work, I would seriously consider suit.
[right][snapback]281499[/snapback][/right]

have you gone to your local city council? or talked to one of your cities council men/women, file a complaint with the local DA.

[playr158]

haha i'm driving out to washington this summer


yakima fly by??!?!?
woot

[dustin15brown]

Chase....6gc.....170hp.... That's not gonna last too long

[SoundSlut_dotcom]

170? hmm

[Digndoug]

File a lawsuit, saying like its destroying your life. and win as much money as you can, and move. Annapolis is nice, an theres always a better car or some dumbass kid for the cops to owrry about you.

[dustin15brown]

Yeah I believe that's right with Coomer's 20 Valve AE101 4A-GE silver top... Right?

[946thGenGT]

Yeah I believe that's right with Coomer's 20 Valve AE101 4A-GE silver top... Right?
[right][snapback]281574[/snapback][/right]

Nah. The engine is rated 160hp, but everyone says that is a very generous rating and it's actually lower.

[amysmojo]

Your on my watch list too Coomer! So watch yo' watch yo' watch yo back!! lol jk

I hate your cops....I drive crazy in your town & they never even notice me... & you do nothing & they call for back up.....Your town = DUMB....get out Coomer get out!!!

[lagos]

ask for the officers name and give his boss a call. ask him why the officer is harrassing you and your boos at 1am. you have they keys to the place, and you boos is cool with you using it, then that is none of the cops business.

cops cant really call up random people either. thats more of a detectivs job. if they thought you were doing something wrong, then they should have stoped and questioned you right then and there.

[97sccelica]

coomer, go meet with a lawyer and see abouyt filing a harassment suit. and take notes of every time and place that you get pulled over.

[Rjb23]

I have keys and an alarm code to my work too. I don't really like having them because I feel like if something happens I may get blamed for it. Not that I would ever do something, but oh well it will look good at my next job interview that I am trusted enough to have a key to the place.

[macavely]

coomer call the FBI and inform then that ur local police departmen is making ur life a living hell and almost got u fired for just going into work to do some late nite work .. and they are un justlly watching and fallowing u .... if u need then numbers to call hit me up .. and send them to u ..

[Batman722]

You are on the watch list ? Don't worry about it.

You have some options IMO

1 - move to another town
2 - sell the Celica and get something else
3 - talk to the police about it <- dumb IMO, you would probably come off as arrogant (some 17 year old telling cops how to do their job) and do you really think the police are gonna be like " OK, he talked to us, cross him off the list " <-
4 - don't worry about it - **if you don't do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about**

Coomy, just let it ride and don't worry about it.

[Galcobar]

If my boss is getting calls at 1 a.m. I'd worry about it.

Make sure you've got the details from your boss down exactly -- to the minute if you can. Write it up in a letter and send a POLITE enquiry to the police asking why an officer is calling your business associates in the middle of the night. Ask them to clearly specify why your car is on the watch list, what that actually means, and how that led to your boss being called because you went in to work.

As long as you put it on a business footing, they'll have a lot harder time brushing you off. You're not complaining because the police are irritating you, you're complaining because they're hampering your legitimate business activities. Don't actually say that, but keep the tone of the letter businesslike and the focus on how it is affecting your employment. That elevates you from a pain in the ass kid to a taxpayer. And taxpayers get political attention.

e.g. "It is one thing to be pulled over while driving, it is another to have your supervisor asking why the police are interested in you. My position requires a significant level of trust, one that is being endangered by 1 a.m. phone calls to company executives and statements that I am on a police watch list."

It may not take you off their watch list -- probably won't, in fact. That's okay, you've lived with police scrutiny on the road. However, a polite letter asking for an explanation -- not making accusations -- will probably get them to back off on calling your company. At the least, they might add a note to your file that says he works at ...... and not to worry if your car is parked there.

[CupCrazy38]

Well, if is was an unmarked unit, he may have been working a part time for the company. He may have called who he did b/c that's who hired him and is paying him.

However, if that's the case, he should have stoped you and asked you a few questions instead of letting you go into the building. After all, if he's being paid to watch the building and patrol around it and he notices somebody that is on a "police watch list" go into such building, he's not doing what the company is paying him to do by not stoping the subject.

Same goes for a unit on duty. I'd say it just sucks. Hey, some guy in a yellow integra probably did something and the only description they remember is a yellow car with four headlights. I can't tell you how many times people ask me if my car is an integra...ugh.

Anyway, good luck...

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

I say going to the city concil and talking to them there would be your best bet. Talking to your boss and making sure he understands the situation will also help you out. From what I've seen of your posts, you don't seem like a trouble maker. You have to deal with it though, because it's not going to go away. You also have to look at it from the cops side (I guess). Look at these imports, and 4 cylinder domestics that people fix up. Who generally drives them? Trouble makers and idiots. It's call profiling, and it's wrong. Same happens to me. I try to be an ambassitor for car guys, but it's hard to change people opions when just about every time I see an fixed up import, he is shooting in and out of traffic and cutting people off. Let people know that you aren't one of them, get involved in something that will change things.

[BlackCelicaGT94]

To be honest if i was a cop id be suspicious to if i saw someone walking into a building at 1am regardless if its you or someone older. What needs to be done at 1am that you cant wait till 5am to go do?? Im not siding with the cop but obviously it could come off a bit suspicious. Also they do call the contact person when there is suspicious activity at a place of business. That has happned at my past job.

I dont think u being on their "watch list" is right. I think its a bit over exaggerated. Not on ur part but on the police forces part. I think they are gonna keep their eye on u just as if im driving around and they spot my car they are gonna watch me a bit more closely than grandma in the corsica next to me.

[amysmojo]

I think it was wrong of them to call his boss though @ 1am. Like someone said earlier....if your a cop & suspicious of someone....go question them! And take it from there.

What if it was his BOSS that was there @ 1am? lol The cop would feel pretty dumb if he called him. Its all silent outside & the cop hears the "suspisous" persons cell phone go off. "Hi, theres some punk a$$ in your parking lot......what?? Oh..thats you?...Ya I see you waving...Ok sorry Sir! carry on"

[BlackCelicaGT94]

they cant go question u when they havent seen anything illegal yet. So they called his boss to see if he was a suspicious person and if so then thy would have watched and waited to see if he did anything illegal so then they could catch him


makes sense to me!

[amysmojo]

Not me...

[Illyont]

I know what you are talking about Coomer. I'm getting the same thing, or atleast almost.

Actually just 2 days ago I'm driving home from my girlfriend in the middle of the night and some cop starts following me around town. Then after a while they pull me over and explains that this was just because they didn't know who I am.. They had to check it out.. I mean, come on.. How dumb is that? I'm going to my police station one of these days and complaining. This is just plain harrasment.

If I had been doing something wrong, fine. But they can't pull me over just because they think it would be a good idea. And the other cop is like "hey, don't worry.. it's just a rutine check. we haven't seen your car before"

We are "only" 17 000 people in this town, but wtf. they cannot know every car so why bother stopping them all one after another to "check them up"?

I say start taking notes when they pull you over and if it continues, file a complaint.

[Coomer]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm going to write a professional letter to the police department regarding the situation.

I just bought a personal recorder too so that in the future I can flip it on quickly once I am getting pulled over, then I can listen to the conversation later and take notes(since it's probably illegal for me to record the conversation, even though the cops can.) The only problem would be if they searched the car and found it, because my car's been searched a couple times(they've threatened me with a ticket if I didn't let them.)

And my car is legal for the most part. The only illegal thing is probably the exhaust noise at WOT, because it's loud, but I never hit full throttle in the city or anything, and the only thing a cop has ever said about it was "Any exhaust system that's not stock is illegal," which I know for a fact is wrong.

I've been told that my current headlights, windshield banner, and tint are illegal too. But they're not. My headlights are Sylvania lights(I keep the packaging in the car, but one officer still didn't believe it), my windshield banner does not extend more than 6" below the top of the windshield(I checked the law, and that's what it is), and I had my tint tested by another officer at the station who had a tint tester, and he said it was within the legal limit.

[Galcobar]

Ever asked for the code under which they are justified in searching your car? Don't object, just make sure you are told under what legal authority they are taking this action. If the police are non-responsive, well, that's just fodder for future complaints.

Better yet, carry quotes of the legislation dealing with your questionable modifications. The issue of headlight colour and output, window tint, etc. are all laid out. Have that printed out, with act, section, paragraph cited, so you can respond when an cop is being an ass. As a suggestion, don't pull it out unless he's threatening you with a ticket and refuses to give you a clear explanation of where you are violating the law.

Most states only regulate private conversations and recording devices. You are having a conversation on the street -- by definition a public place. Just as anything you do in a public place is subject to public scrutiny, so too is anything you say. It'd require some impressive legal wrangling to say citizens don't have the right to record their encounters in public with police -- that would mean media wouldn't be allowed to secretly videotape anybody doing anything in public.

And maybe keep a log of when you were pulled over the explanation you were given for being detained. If you can lay out a pattern of barely justified stops, you build a strong case. The media particularly like timelines, if it gets bad enough you need publicity.

[Batman722]

stop trying to argue or out-smart the cops, it will only make things worse. You are classified as a ricer and trouble maker whether it is justified or not.

sell the Celica or move.

one last note, if you really want to help your situation, when you see a cop on the side of the road, pull over and talk to him. Tell him you feel like you are targeted and you don't know why. Explain to him your car is legal and you cause no trouble.

BTW, recording someone (audio) without their consent is illegal.

[creis]

Every time a cop pulls you over, right when they get up to your window ask for there badge number (write it down) and full name (write it down) they have to give it to you. (if they ask why, tell them: you are undergoing harrasment by the local palice and your atturny says you have to keep a record every time a cop pulls you over for no reason) then keep an ever growing list of them (if any of the officers are nice to you then leave them out) but for the rest, take it to the local police department and tell the person at the frunt desk that thies officers have been unlawfuly harrasing you, and you need a complant form to submit to your atturny in order to file a suit aginst them, and the state for allowing it to continue.

by the way, if your gana stop and talk to an officer, I would not sugjest talking to a local one. maybe a state trooper, or someone outside your area.

recording voice:
put a peace of paper up in the side windows that says your car is monitored and your voice may be taped. (then its fully leagal to tape any and all conversations that are within hearable distance from your car.

This post has been edited by creis: May 4, 2005 - 2:05 AM

[Hanyo]

coomer you need to watch "Getaway in Stockholm".

it would make you feel much better.
But definitely contact a hire authority, and sue like crazy!

eventually, they will back off.

[Drocay]

haha do get Getaway in Stockholm 2 as well

[Illyont]

I went to my local police station today and explained what happened to me the other night, and the spokesman actually came with an apology(spelling?). I'm all happy now since they agreed that they did wrong in stopping me like they did.

[dustin15brown]

u realize ^ will change nothing... they're gonna watch u closer

[DmVinny]

Just tell them you dont need to be on their watch list, tell em your already on the FBI's list.
=P

[Galcobar]

Batman, I dunno about you, but I figure that holding the police to account, like any other part of the government, is a citizen's duty. If they're doing their jobs right, and acting legally, then they'll be fine. It's all about how you do it. If you ask them why they're searching your car, that's one thing. If you tell them they're not allowed to, that's another.

Hell, I live in probably North America's most actively governed jurisdiction, and the police still have a duty to follow the law. They have significant and usually necessary legal authority. The problem comes when that authority is overstepped or abused. Often, it's well meaning. For instance, stopping and checking every young male in a sports compact. Street racing is a legitimate concern. Detaining me just because I'm young, male and drive a sport compact is not a legitimate response, any more than stopping every black/Hispanic/Asian man driving a nice car is a legitimate response to drug trafficking.

As for the legality of taping public conversations, I would, as I've said before, check your local laws. I'd be suprised if taping a police officer on the street talking to a member of the public is illegal, but you never know.