Police spying at DMV?

A friend in FL was at the DMV to get his license reinstated, but didn't have all the paperwork necessary. Apparently there are cops that sit out back and listen to conversations in the building. He sat down, turned the key and got a DWS. Doesn't sound legal, perhaps entrapment?

Perhaps guilty?

kaizr said:

A friend in FL was at the DMV to get his license reinstated, but didn't have all the paperwork necessary. Apparently there are cops that sit out back and listen to conversations in the building. He sat down, turned the key and got a DWS. Doesn't sound legal, perhaps entrapment?

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**A: hey, this is America, a free country. But more importantly, but what the hell was he doing driving to the police station without a license? What a Bozo!
How much more of an idiot can he be?

kaizr said:

A friend in FL was at the DMV to get his license reinstated, but didn't have all the paperwork necessary. Apparently there are cops that sit out back and listen to conversations in the building. He sat down, turned the key and got a DWS. Doesn't sound legal, perhaps entrapment?

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There are two really good places to snag unlicensed or suspended drivers: Traffic court and the DMV. Waiting there is NOT entrapment. Entrapment requires that the officer's actions encourage the person to commit a crime they would not otherwise have committed ... unless the officer said, "Go ahead and drive away - I won't stop you," he's toast.

From a management point of view, I would not want my officers hanging out at the DMV listening in on conversations as that would be an incredible waste of time. But, if they happen to be there for other reasons - great! I have done that at traffic court ... suspended drivers almost always seem to drive themselves to court!

Where I used to work, the traffic officers would sometimes get there a tad early and look for the guy they cited for a suspended or no license violation to drive in ... then they would go into court and let the judge know they just received yet another citation for the offense. It usually resulted in a max. fine and further suspension.

Your friend is toast. He is guilty and needs to accept that.

Carl

Hmmmmmmm why does the song "If I only had a brain" come to mind?

I understand everything you've said.

Its just the way that things are today, with privacy rights and such.
The legality listening to someone's conversation without their consent.

You always see signs now when you go to a store or even make a phone call, they all seem to be there for legal purposes.

I just figured it was illegal to monitor him without his knowledge/consent.

Also, something like driving on a suspended license, you don't know they are doing it unless you have pulled them over for something else.

You're right tho, its not the smartest thing to do, drive up to the DMV on a suspended. But come on, 80 percent of suspended drivers drive anyway.

kaizr said:

Its just the way that things are today, with privacy rights and such. The legality listening to someone's conversation without their consent.

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If they are in a public place, there is no privacy consideration. Besides, there is also NO privacy issue when speaking to a government official. And, in fact, it COULD have been the DMV employee(s) that called.

kaizr said:

I just figured it was illegal to monitor him without his knowledge/consent..

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You figured wrong.

kaizr said:

Also, something like driving on a suspended license, you don't know they are doing it unless you have pulled them over for something else..

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Unless you have knowledge they are suspended - then its a crime being committed in our presence. We do that all the time. The only problem comes if the officer's knowledge was old (i.e. a month ago it was suspended ... a lot can happen in that time.)

kaizr said:

You're right tho, its not the smartest thing to do, drive up to the DMV on a suspended. But come on, 80 percent of suspended drivers drive anyway.

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And some 80% of shoplifters and thieves steal again ... I guess we shouldn't bother with them either? The other problem is, virtually none of those suspended drivers has insuance ... how well does that sit with you? Two of them have hit my wife. It sits like a load of firehouse chili with me.

Carl

I agree with you on that, I wasn't trying to make a statement or anything, its just a fact.

Also, most people with a suspended license have very poor records/DUI's, DWI's and all sorts of things while others are first time offenders with an out of state ticket lost in the mail.

None of them are in the right, but some aren't the devil behind the wheel.

Blaming the police is looking for fault in the wrong place.

If you don't have a license to drive, you shouldn't drive.

Enough said?