Recording a Traffic stop

[Bigbird19]

I overheard someone in class talking about how he records the audio during a traffic stop. He said the first thing he does when he "see's the lights" is turn on the audio recorder on his phone. His excuse was to make sure that the cop doesn't do anything corupt or if he gets/does something wrong it could be used as evidence in court.

I didn't feel like chiming in to avoid unneccesary "confrontation" but I am curious if this is legal.

[ke6guj]

In CA, its legal.

the officer is in a public place, without the expectation of privacy, and can be recorded. The officer is recording his side of the conversation on his dash cam, and if he is smart, on his own personal recorder.

[Ackrite]

I have my voice recorder in the empty cup holder right next to the shifter. Although I very rarely get pulled over any more I have it there mainly for when I go through those border patrol internal suspicionlous checkpoints. I would recommend one for anybody that may be traveling with a legally stored gun in their car as well

[Packy14]

My iphone has a voice memo function, records good even facedown. Cop will be recorded, so will my statement of denial of search of my car or person if it comes to that. Access to my trunk, denied. Search --> lawsuit.

[EOD3]

You know, I've been driving various vehicles from mini-bikes to dual-axle trucks for the last forty-plus years and I've been pulled-over exactly three times. All three times, I knew EXACTLY why I was being pulled over. No ambiguity, no "blaming the officer", no trying to worm my way out of a ticket. Final score, two tickets and one "talking to".

The best way to have a professional encounter is to NOT act like a jackass. Ninety-nine percent of officers are just doing their jobs and they'll treat you with the same respect you give them.

[Bigbird19]

Of course and I agree 100% I have been pulled over quite a few times but have only walked away with 2 tickets(speeding) that I knew I was gonna get. Other ones were just little things.

The reason I posted this is because it seems like such a good idea for a california gun owner who transports their gun in their car. We have all heard the horror stories of cops not knowing the AW laws and honestly other laws. And I have experienced a "I'm right because I am a cop" cop which sucks. I have the absolute highest respect for LE's however some people abuse their power and its always smart to be prepared.

The worst thing that could happen would be a you vs him who said what argument in court.

You know, I've been driving various vehicles from mini-bikes to dual-axle trucks for the last forty-plus years and I've been pulled-over exactly three times. All three times, I knew EXACTLY why I was being pulled over. No ambiguity, no "blaming the officer", no trying to worm my way out of a ticket. Final score, two tickets and one "talking to".

The best way to have a professional encounter is to NOT act like a jackass. Ninety-nine percent of officers are just doing their jobs and they'll treat you with the same respect you give them.

[Falconis]

Way I see it, I have mine going, what the hell.

As far as all these stories, I take them all with a grain of salt.

[TRICKSTER]

Way I see it, I have mine going, what the hell.

As far as all these stories, I take them all with a grain of salt.

But they are posted on the Calguns, they must be true.

[Falconis]

not only that, it IS on the internet

[nagorb]

But they are posted on the Calguns, they must be true.

I was let out of what could have been a BAD ticket cause I was truthful with a CHP officer, could have been much worse

[TRICKSTER]

I was let out of what could have been a BAD ticket cause I was truthful with a CHP officer, could have been much worse

No way. You were truthful with a police officer and he let you go instead of dragging you off to jail and confiscating your guns for his own personal use. I don't believe it.

Good thing you didn't listen to the "NEVER TALK TO THE POLICE" crowd here on Calguns.

[nagorb]

No way. You were truthful with a police officer and he let you go instead of dragging you off to jail and confiscating your guns for his own personal use. I don't believe it.

Good thing you didn't listen to the "NEVER TALK TO THE POLICE" crowd here on Calguns.

Not only that but he thanked me

[dirtykoala]

not a LEO- just giving some thoughts on recording.

when i was new to calguns and super exited about my new AK build and thinking all LEO were there to help people, i made a stupid stupid mistake.

I saw a cop at my local coffee shop before work and asked if i could borrow a minute of his time. he smiled and said "sure, whats up?". I explained the bullet button and asked if where/who i could send info to about the bullet button and a the AW flow chart, so that if i ever get pulled over and a cop asks if i have guns in the car, i could point him to the guns, and not be scared that he will think i have an assault weapon.

the cop asks if i have any of these california compliant guns and i tell him i have a compliant AK type gun.

so he asks for my ID which i didnt want to show him, but he was nice and talked me into it, so i show him my ID (another stupid mistake, i know.) then a few more cops roll up. i tell them i just had a question, and i would like to be on my way, sorry for taking their time. then the cop says i cant leave, and i just admitted to him that i have an unregistered assault weapon. luckily after a few more mins another cop comes up and is able to explain the bullet button, and they let me go.

ever since then i have recorded every encounter i have with LEO. It protects both parties i think. Cops record encounters for many reasons, one being that i cant make up stories about what happened, he has proof. if his proof wasnt working that day or something, i also have proof.

this came in handy onetime when a 20 min encounter was recorded by myself which led to a few rights violations among other things. i filed a complaint and got a response saying that no policies were violated, nothing bad happened, blah blah blah...

so i do a prar/foia and find that because of that incident the department had changed their policies in regards to certain encounters, and the cops would be retrained.

if i hadnt recorded the conversation i would have had nothing to back my complaint with, and the cops would probably not have gotten training on how to conduct lawful encounters with citizens, and law suits could have happened if the cops continued to behave they way they had.

win win.

[Falconis]

I was let out of what could have been a BAD ticket cause I was truthful with a CHP officer, could have been much worse

Probably cause you shocked the crap out of him. I know I'm shocked when people are honest with me on traffic stops.

Although I did give one a guy a ticket who was honest with me. Reason being, he sounded like he was going through a memorized spiel when I was talking with him. After running him out, he had 4 points on his record, 7 tickets in the system, and another 2 or 3 pending. It's too bad he made the ped back up out of the crosswalk back onto the sidewalk when the stop sign he was at clearly told him otherwise.

[ckim34]

I record all of my stops so I could care less if they record it too. Also, I dont have anything to hide so it doesnt bother me.