Police are not always the good guys. This is just stunning.I routinely encounter prosecutors insisting on confiscating items from defendants, though nothing as bad as this one. For some reason they seem to like my clients' laptops though.

The group Flex Your Rights has a new film. The premiere will be shown live on the web at: 10 Rules for Dealing with Police. I'm looking forward to it.Their previous film is on YouTube - Busted: A Citizen's Guide to Police Encounters.

The Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal on a drunk driving case that was dismissed. Virginia's highest court threw out the conviction in Harris v. Commonwealth (a pdf file). It found that the stop was unconstitutional - based only on an anonymous tip.Chief Justice Roberts (and Justice Scalia) felt the Court should have reviewed the case. Below are some excerpts of Roberts' opinion). His

Troubling story from London:So often today police are offered as the solution to this problem or the other. Could be drugs, DWI, prostitution or the latest - sexting. We need to remember that police are far from perfect. This video is a reminder.With drugs, we keep arresting more and more people, and stuffing our prisons, despite overwhelming evidence that treatment is more effective. Not to

In a previous post I mentioned that New York was set to add speed cameras to our highways. That has apparently disappeared from the budget.The budget does have a substantial increase in red light cameras. They say it's not for the revenue but rather for safety. Right. Check out this Corpus Christi article on red light cameras. The National Motorists Association has a great page on it too.It's not

Just read an interesting statistical analysis about speeding tickets by Professors Michael Makowsky and Thomas Stratmann. They both appear to be economics professors at George Mason University.They analyzed a database of Massachusetts speeding tickets. Police there can choose to issue a fine or just a warning on the ticket. They found that police are more likely to fine out-of-town drivers and

As our firm progresses I've been spending less time in court. Our associates have been doing most of the traffic court appearances, while I spend more time managing the firm. But once in a while I still get out there. I'm still the main lawyer for hearings and trials.The other day I had two hearings (yes, in one day). Thus I was presented with a stark contrast between two kinds of police officer.

So what do you do when the police stop you? I know what you shouldn't do:Example: When a police officer attempts to speak with you, do not say "I'll be right with you" and attempt to walk away. They don't like that. My client got beaten up, partly because of this simple failure to recognize that that police officer, at that moment, was the most important person in his life. He also got charged

I just saw a good blog on dealing with police when you're stopped by them. Their main site is also good stuff. I will do a blog entry soon with my thoughts on dealing with police. The key word in my advice is "polite".