legally stopped by police???

[aarja]

What is the name of your state? WEST VIRGINIA
We live a small town. A 29 year old who is good buddies with the city cops threatened to kill one of my twin daughters earlier this evening. The police were called. (He had dated her at one time. ) Nothing was done to him of course. He has harassed my family for years and gotten away with it. But a couple of hours later the cops in our town followed her twin sister for at least a mile and then pulled her over. She asked if she was speeding and was told no. The officer stated that going around a curve she had driven on the yellow line. He asked if she had been drinking and she said no. She was asked to take a sobriety test and she passed it. The officer(a male) proceded to pat her down and frisk her. He then asked to search her car and she gave him permission. He said he found some traces of marijuana on the passenger side floor. She had two passengers in the car with her at the time. He then called for backup and had another police officer take their pictures. This was after dark probably around 10:30. Neither police officer would state why the pictures were being taken. In the end my daughter got a ticket for possesion of less than 15 grams of marijuana and has to appear before our town judge. My daughter does not use drugs and no one was using drugs in her car. What should we do? Is it legal for a male officer to frisk her? Should she go and be tested for drugs to prove she doesn't use drugs? I am really worried about our youngest daughter who just got her first car. Also this evening the city cops followed my 24 year old married son part of the way home but didn't stop him.
We just want to be treated fairly but its hard iin this small town. I would like to file some kind of complaint about this incident but where do I go. It won't do any good to go to our chief of police because he is a buddy too! Thanks for any advice

 

[Bravo8]

I can't really comment on th situation, as I was not present. Also, obviously ths is your side of the story and may not be the whole truth. No offense, but it is not unheard of for people to embelish a bit to make their side sound more justified...particularly on the internet. I will answer some of your questions.........

Q: Is it legal for a male officer to frisk her?

A: Yes. There is no law that says an officer can only frisk those of the same gender. Although there is case law stating the officer must have reasonable and articulable grounds to believe the "frisk-ee" possessed a weapon and posed a threat. Simply saying "for officer safety" doesn't cut it anymore. Since no contraband was discovered during thee frisk, you really have no recourse here anyway. If some drugs were found on her person, then you could attempt to suppress it based upon an unlawful frisk.

Q: Should she go and be tested for drugs to prove she doesn't use drugs?

A: I really don't see what good this is going to do. It doesn't prove anything other than there are no traces of drugs discovered in her blood. Possession is still illegal regardless. I think this would be a waste of money.

If you feel you are being treated unfairly and feel you can't speak to the Chief, speak with an attorney. Maybe he/she can point you in the right direction.

Honestly though, I've seen these types of complaints before, and they are usually 100% BS. It is usually a mixture of exaggeration and delusions of persecution. As a police officer (and yes......even in a small town) I have better things to do than to harass certain people for no reason.

Here's a novel thought.........since you couldn't possibly know everything your daughter does, maybe she did have dope in her car.

 

[aarja]

I appreciate you taking time to answer. But the fact is, you don't live in our small town and you do not know the city police force that we have. I have lived here all my entire life and I know what goes on. In all that time, approximately 50 years, I have never had one bit of trouble with the police, that is until this man started harrassing my family. We have tried filing complaints with our city police about him. But as soon as that happens his buddies on the force start and harrass us. The last time things escalated to this point, I had to go to the state police and they promptly took care of the matters the city police failed to handle. I DO know my daughter and I know this is is just another case of harrassment against our family. Not every case like this is BS. There are good law abiding citizens being harrassed by our police every day. I am going to the state police and I am going to take your advice and contact a lawyer because I know the situation is real and I know the truth. This harrassment has to stop.