Can You Refuse To Be Searched? PA & WV

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EQUALIZER

Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
254
Upon entering a bldg (ie. Post office, Crt house, museum, ammusement park), you walk through a metal detector. You forgot about the 3+" Dalton auto and the Colt semiauto ITWB riding opposite to the spare magazine. (I know this would be stupid, but you already steped through the door and set off the metal detector.)
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:0 Everyone is looking at you and the nice man with the badge says, "Stop sir! Please empty your pockets!"
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You have no CCW permit.

If you saw the metal detector first, you could always turn around and walk back to your car to put them away. Right? But your mind was wondering today and you didn't even slow down to look first, or it was a hidden detector.

WHAT DO YOU DO?!!!?

BTW, This thought crossed my mind when I went to the magistrates secretary to pay a fine for an expired sticker.

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"But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." --Jesus Christ (Luke 22:36) See John 3:15- 18


 
Check out a Supreme Court decision from a little over 30 years ago. It was Terry vs. Ohio and it allows a police officer to frisk for weapons if the officer has a suspision that you may be armed. The police can not just stop anyone and search them for weapons, there has to be other factors such as time, location, or some other facts which the officer may have to extablish in court in a supression hearing. I would say that setting off a metal detector in a "secure" building would give a police officer more than enough cause to frisk you for weapons.

I would advise against running also. The court (Supreme) also said if you run from the cops it usually means they can chase you and find out why you are running.

I hope you're a smooth talker if this happens to you in real life.

p.s. I'm not a lawyer, I don't even play one on t.v. to it's best to talk with an attorney from your area who parctices this type of law and heed their advice.

mike
 
Stick your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye?
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.

Hmmmm, thats a tough one. I guess the only smart thing to do(and I say the word smart loosely, as Mr. X just walked through a metal detector with a mean looking knife and illegally carrying a gun, I don't think the extra ammo would help him much either) would be to act totally surprised and reach into your pocket and say "Oh, whoops! Silly me, forgot to take my pocket knife out, it was my dads you know. Well, I guess I'll go run this back out to my car. Sorry for the trouble officer." Or something along those lines. If the officer insists that he search you say "Don't worry, I'll be right back" while walking off. Hopefully he will pass you off as more trouble then your worth.

That would be my best guess on what to do to keep out of a world of hurt.

Sincerely,
Adam

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Self improvement is a hobby of mine :).

 
Most federal buildings and properties I've encountered have signs that say just by being there, you're giving the Police or MP's , SP's or guards permission to search you if the want to.

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"Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"

 
Take a few hostages and deman...

Oh, wrong forum.
wink.gif


Hmm...

I would do what Adam said and hope for the best.
smile.gif


Later,
John

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Skeleton walks into a bar and and says "give me a beer and a mop."
 
In the recent Supreme Court decision which upheld the right of officers to frisk a person who ran away from them, it was noted by one of the justices that if the police do not have probable cause for suspicion, the citizen is free to continue going about his business and walk away from the officers, not even acknowledging their presence!

Walt
 
I've said it before but it bears saying again -- as any lawyer will tell you, never, never, NEVER consent to be searched. It is perfectly legal for a policeman to ask you if you will consent to a search and if you do then anything he finds or claims to have found is admissable evidence.... Do not resist being searched by force, not by a policeman; simply withholding verbal consent is sufficient.

If someone other than a policeman, some uniformed security guard or whatever, tries to search you without your consent he can take his chances as far as I'm concerned ... YMMV. But don't resist a policeman, just withhold consent.

It is perfectly legal for a policeman or anyone else to ask you to show identification or ask you if you will consent to be searched -- that doesn't mean he can do anything if you say no.

In the situation Equalizer asked about ... if that's a real cop behind the badge he could certainly insist on searching you without your consent, but whether it would hold up in court as a legal search and any evidence of anything he found would be ruled admissable ... I am not a lawyer; I can't say. But regardless, you would gain nothing whatever by consenting to a search; all you would be doing is making it impossible for your lawyer to argue that the search was illegal, because any search you consent to is always legal.



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-Cougar Allen :{)
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This post is not merely the author's opinions; it is the trrrrrruth. This post is intended to cause dissension and unrest and upset people, and ultimately drive them mad. Please do not misinterpret my intentions in posting this.
 
Or you could always scream "I AM A BOMB!!!!! Stand back or I blow this place!!!!"...

That will either give you time to run away or a few more years in jail.

Sincerely,
Adam

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Self improvement is a hobby of mine :).

 
Pa. has a pretty easy CCW to obtain. Why carry without one ? If you had to use a weapon without a CCW how would you explain it? Seems like you would be in trouble either way so you better have an explanation ready. Yeh yeh , I know,Beetter to be tried by 12 than carried by 6 just doesn't seem like an answer the authorities would accept.
 
You ALL gave me a lot of meaty answers to think about. The nice man w/the badge is not necessarily police. He could be a security guard at a museum or ammusement park too. I wanted to leave the situation open to several possibilities. Fortuneately, I haven't gone through one armed yet, but there are several times that I saw it comming and had to act like I forgot something, turn around and go back to the car.

FWIW I don't normally like law suits against anyone, but there is a conservative constitutional attorney in SW PA who is soliciting on the radio station for people to contact him for a class action law suit. It is for those who have been unlawfully frisked or searched. Maybe he is trying to set a pressident, (or just make $), who knows?... Nevertheless, I agree that it is a good idea to never consent to a search.

Metal detectors are so common any more that it would be easy for someone to let their mind wonder and accidentally walk right into one. I know that it sounds stupid, but sometimes I have to kick myself for acting that way. The first time that they set up one of those tag scanner things in the local K-Mart, I had to wonder if someone was carrying when they set the thing off. Later I tested it with large peices of legal metal in my pockets and asked someone. I guess it just works on magnetic tags. One thing that I will not do is go shopping in a Pittsburgh jewlery shop, for my sweet heart, packing anything. Some of them are set up with detectors as you walk between two heavy glass doors. I think they lock automatically when they're set off. There was an armed guard at the one I got her ring at.

robert
 
I am a LEO and I know that if you set off the metal detectors in our county court house the metal detectors are manned by security officers but if they sense that someone is suspicious they have a large assortment of Sheriffs Deputys and Police Officers working and wandering the halls of the court house going to cases they can call on to help them out. I had a acquaintance who worked as a Private Security Officer and was going to court for a case where one of his shoplifters was up for a trial. He inadvertently wore his f21 asp in under his coat and when he set off the detector the security guard said they were going to confiscate the baton and not give it back. He offered to take it to his car and argued against the baton being seized. The end result was that he lost the baton and got a citation for Disorderly Conduct. I agree that in this situation you should probably smile nicely and say darn I forgot to drop this off in my car and try to walk it out the door. Remember that by setting off the metal detector a lot of officers will probably perceive that as probable cause for a non consent search. Yea you may beat the case but that won't always get your seized knifes or weapons back and it definitely won't get back the hours you will spend being booked in and sitting with some of the local slugs. Being nice and saying sir many times helps a lot. Kinda like the Jedi Mind trick, "Wow sorry sir, I'll be right back." If the line is long and they are busy they might just shrug it off. I also suggest you don't stand there waiting for an answer from the guard or officer. You can always claim ignorance.

Hope this helps,

Jim


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The warrior will endure great personal hardship in order to stand on a hill, howl at the moon, and proclaim his domain over all he surveys. Fredrick Lovert- Author
 
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