I’m not disputing whether or not the gentleman from CO/WA has a legitimate claim, just responding to the Guardian’s post about the “fishy” smell of pot.

People are a little weird sometimes and often our brains will play tricks on us. A good example is when one person says they smell smoke, other people might believe they also smell smoke. Or when someone claims to see an image of Jesus on their toast, other people may also be able to see what’s suggested.

The trooper might well have believed he smelled pot, simply by allowing his preconceived belief to overrule his “sensory logic”. (Not sure if sensory logic is an actual thing, but I’m using it to convey the point I’m attempting to express…) = >

EDITOR NOTE–You sound just like an attorney!…”sensory logic?” Is that concept like the smell of cow manure is the aroma of money to farmers?

When I first read this…on my phone… I was a little confused as to why the person thought the cop would profile him because he was from Colorado. Then my brain kicked in and I remembered that CO allows recreational use of pot. This would explain why the cop thought he had easy pickin’s. I hope the individual wins a pot (no pun intended…just a happy turn of phrase) of money from the state…it seems that this is the only way to reign in Idaho’s finest.

To crystal… it seems to me that you have just given this person some ammo to show that the cop did indeed act badly. A preconceived belief sure sounds to a reasonable and prudent person like profiling. As I said before I hope he/she wins a pot of money and the cop gets some much needed “training”.

To ALL cops I would say this….Not everyone you come in contact with is a scum bag guys… you all cry that 1 or 2 bad apples does not spoil all LE… try to remember that goes the same for the public.

I saw the cop cam video and the cop bird dogged the guy into the rest stop. It was pretty clear the cop had the guy flustered as he hit a curb on the way in at the Y for trucks and car parking. He was so unnerved he jumped the curb. Cops intimidating people is simply wrong. The do it, and they know they are doing it. This cop needs some retraining to embrace the concept of “to serve and protect”, not intimidate and threaten.

To Rick just a note to remember that if he wins it comes out of the taxpayer’s pockets. Maybe not directly but you get the point.

Ducky..ya it comes out of the taxpayers money… and maybe if it starts costing the apathetic people in this state they will demand something be done to reign in the rampant abuse of power that we see in that video… God the abuses make me sick

More police-state news.

Of course he did not smell pot, he just said he did.

If the guy had really been smoking weed, as alleged, he wouldn’t’ve stopped at the rest stop; he would’ve gone another 5 miles up the road to that first convenience store to stock up on Doritos and Mountain Dew.

Are the cops ignoring the people going 85, and instead concentrating on the people going LESS than the speed limit? Based on my observation, that is another behavior they could “profile” if potheads are the primary law-enforcement target these days.

Tropper is just typical a$$hole cop who has no respect for civil liberties/rights of the ordinary people. Very surprised they didn’t plant drugs to get a bust. That happens frequently too.

The American police state is a very profitable business run by the a$$holes we repeatedly elect. It’s just another system of taxation. Here’s the proof:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Prisoner_population_rate_world_map.png

How about this then: “The (trooper) needs to make a simple apology for his actions to (this individual). He is a (veteran) officer of this department and had a pretty good service record in several assignments. For this rather minor (confrontation) to be his lasting legacy would be a travesty”.

Seems like i read that somewhere on this site. Maybe standards are applied slightly differently depending on age, gender and affiliation. Or maybe just plain old personal feelings play a major role in EVERYONE”S opinions.

This case highlights many issues.

One issue is that law enforcement, including the prosecutors, and many in the judicial community, believe that “probable cause” is a legal concept that is only limited by the imagination of the official seeking to establish such “probable cause”.

To further this concept, “probable cause” always exists in the officer’s or prosecutor’s mind, and he or she merely needs to be creative to establish such cause. For example, “I stopped you because you failed to signal your turn”, or “you were varying your speed excessively”, or “you crossed the centerline”, or “I saw marijuana smoke coming out of your car window, and I know marijuana smoke when I see it”, and so forth.

Further, we all know that cops, prosecutors, court officials, judges, and all the rest all tag team together to make this little gig work for them, and not for the law abiding citizens.

Would anyone care to challenge me on this?

Further, if one is ever able to win a case and successfully establish that his civil and constitutional rights were violated regarding a stop, an arrest, a prosecution, jailing, and so forth without probable cause, in most cases, there is relatively downside for the law enforcement officials, prosecutors, or others involved. The damages in most cases are not terribly substantial, there is a bit of wristslapping, and that is usually the end of it.

So, the system is very asymmetrical in that the cops and so forth can violate your rights, waste your valuable time, embarrass and humiliate you, cost you significant time and money, and so forth, but there is not a lot you can do to them in most cases.

So, they continue to do what they do. Unless laws are changed, it will continue.

Interested…. you do not have to tell me how bad “some” cops act… I was a reserve with a sheriff’s dept in NM while in the military.. In one sat night we pulled over 2 individuals for DUI… the first we hooked up… the second was an off duty cop… I drove his car home.. with him in the passenger seat… not a word was said… I have many other stories… no one has to tell me how they behave…

I don’t even want to go into the things that prosecutors get away with