Originally Posted by kane

they do this because if you are guilty of something they want you to reveal it.

Things can escalate in a hurry out of nothing. Here is a case out of my life.

Last year I got pulled over for having expired tags. I had the new tags with me in the glove box, but hadn't put them on yet. This was in June. My tags expire in June. I thought I had until the end of the month, but apparently that isn't the case. On your registration there is an actual day the tags expire.

I am driving, my brother is in the passenger seat and we get pulled over. He asks if I know why I got pulled over and I say no. He tells me expired tags. I tell him I have the new tags in the glove box and explain that i thought I had until the end of the month to put them. That is when he tells me about the expiration date. My brother opens up the glove box and is looking for the new tags. It is taking a minute for him to find them in all the junk I have in there. The cop then casually says to me: "Where you guys headed?" That question struck me wrong. The first thing that popped into my head was to tell him it was no fucking business of his where I was headed. Instead I just said, "Home. Why?" He didn't answer.

My brother then finds the tags, he has us put them on and all is fine in the world.

Now had I decided to say what I was thinking he may have shrugged it off. He also may have given me a ticket. He also may have gotten in my face about being respectful to a cop and which point I could easily see how something like that could escalate to the point where I could get arrested and if I choose then resist arrest I could end up getting my ass kicked.

A lot of times cops ask you little things in hopes that you will react a certain way and expose yourself. Had I stuttered or stammered or seemed like I was making something up when I answered him he might have asked me more questions because he felt like I was up to something illegal. He might also have a feeling like I have drugs on me or in the car and is looking for a reason to search it.

The moral of the story is: when dealing with the police, stay calm, say as little as possible and keep your hands off them.