Wife and I were traveling back from a weekend getaway in Utah in the same state we live in, so no out of state plates. We have a very nice car and look 'normal', so no weird profiling or anything that screamed drugs or whatever.

I get a notice on our GPS that there was a speed control ahead and check my speed - 5mph over posted limit. We drive another 3-4 minutes and pass the highway patrol marked cop in the center of the road. I didn't think twice about it.

15 seconds later I see him pull out and get in our lane, speed up and turns his lights on. I kind of laughed and told my wife that we're getting a ticket for going 5mph over on the highway. She just shook her head.

Pull over the usual license/registration talk. He asks if I know why I was pulled over and I said that I do not. Mumbles something about 'passing too close to another car' which got a really weird look out of my wife and I because the last car we had passed was well before we had passed the cop car. Totally didn't make sense.

I'm like...umm...ok. Cop stands there and stares at me for like 10/15 seconds as he's standing there with my license and registration in his hand. He then says out of nowhere to 'step out of the car please' and I ask him why, and he repeats it. I tell him I am not interested in stepping outside of my car for a traffic violation let alone one that doesn't make any sense.

He stares at us for another 10/15 seconds and both the wife and I are wondering what in the hell is about to happen. It was like something out of some weird fucking movie where every line had like 20 seconds of nothing between them.

He then turns and walks back to his car without another word. We are both confused as fuck and watch him in the rear view. We're trying to figure out WTF is going on and if 40 other police cars are about to show up for God knows what. It was so weird that my wife found our attorney's number in her phone and was ready to call it.

5 or so minutes later, no additional cop cars and officer shows back up and hands my paperwork back. More silence. He then randomly asks, what we have in our car and what are we hiding?

I don't answer and just wait for whatever comes next. I'm actually annoyed at this point.

He again, stands there for 15 seconds and says absolutely nothing. Then turns, gets in his car, sits in it for a minute and drives away past us.

What in the actual fuck?

The only thing we could think of is that he was on some fishing expedition using some shit he had gotten away with in the past and realized we weren't morons?

Look man, next time just squeeze your tits a little more.

INB4 boot lickers that will have a problem with OP and say his story doesn't add up.

Sounds like an illegal stop.

file a complaint. It carries even more weight since you didn't get a citation.

I read Utah, then later swore it said Mormons.

This. Almost identical situation, except I had merged back over to the right lane 'too close' in front of a tractor trailer.

No citation, lots of probing questions about where I was coming from, where I was going, what I was hauling, etc.

Bullshit fishing for asset forfeiture/seizure.

Sounds like OP encountered a real asshole cop

Talked to an attorney friend after and he said that the cop could have made me get out of the vehicle. He eventually would have had to prove that he felt physically threatened if called out on it. How does that even work? Sounds like a 'I smelled weed' line when there was in fact 0.0 drugs, yet that was the applicable excuse that worked for right then and there.

Friend said that since he didn't even push that issue, nor write a citation for anything at all, tells him this guy was fishing and was pretty awful at it.

Whole interaction was weird. I told my wife while we were waiting on him to come back to agree to nothing, consent to nothing, don't even fucking talk if he talks to you and if we are somehow separated to call the lawyer immediately.

I've been pulled over before and basically just got through the process, took the speeding ticket or whatever and didn't think about it again. But this whole situation was just weird.

Yeah that would have me trippin.

There are some wiered fuckers out there in the LEO world.

Are you sure it was a real cop?  We've had several cases of fakes pulling people over in the state.

He could have arrested you for not getting out. He sounds like a real weirdo.

He was.

White SUV, black brush guard and that stupid beehive logo on it.

Had the correct uniform on.

So unless it was a 1 to 1 impersonator, he was real.

I'm an expert at being pulled over for nothing.  When I was a night club DJ I'd get pulled over almost every weekend being out at 3am on the way home from a gig.  They'd almost always say I didn't use my blinker long enough before I made a turn or a lane change or some nonsense.

Half the time they'd say they smelled weed or something. I'd say no you don't because I don't smoke weed or have any in the car. I'd tell them I don't consent to search and if they want to give me a blinker ticket go ahead.   Have had them give me breathe tests several times declaring my  late blinker use was suspicious or something .
Cops like to profile and fish. It's bullshit. I'd imagine it works getting a bust pretty often violating our rights or they wouldn't do it so often though.

He had reasonable suspicion you were just passing through, and would make a good target for fuckery because you'd not likely put up much resistance due to the distance to your home area.

Obeying the rules, well kept vehicle, out of area plates? Solid stop, from that perspective.

That's kind of freaky, who knows if it was even a real cop.
nvm, I see you addressed this already.

I had a strange run in with a cop yesterday, but it was nothing like yours.

Glad it ended well.

Back the blue harder man. Harder.

So this was another weird spot of it from what my friend said.

Did the cop say 'can you step out of the car please'

or

'step out of the car please'

One is a command and you are required to get out due to 'reasons'. The other is a question just like 'is it ok if I search your vehicle' that you can refuse.

I don't remember if he said 'can you' or basically said get out. All I know is when I told him no thanks, he just stood there like a weirdo for 20 seconds looking at me like he was waiting for the next page of Policing 101 to load.

Littering annnnnd...

Sounds like something from a Stanley Kubrick movie where some of his characters would have a slow deliberate methodical cadence to their dialogue.

Sounds like a road pirate looking for a little civil asset forfeiture plunder but didn't go through with it for whatever reason.

FWIW Pennsylvania v Mimms says you need to get out of your rig if ordered to do so...

its a tactic, silence makes people uncomfortable and will start talking to fill the silence

Did you have a leash tied to your back bumper?

dash cams.  Get them.  Preferably something that can also look to both sides

Interdiction stop. Pennsylvania v mimms requires you to exit the vehicle when ordered to on a traffic stop, no reason is required to order you to do so.

This.

Cop was a dick, but I'm always surprised at why people think they have the right to refuse an order to get out of their car.  OP is lucky he didn't get arrested.

Did you get any sort of name or ID?   I'd sure as shit be filing complaints with the head of his agency.  And DA's office and state reps, his mayor and city council, newspaper, etc if I didn't get a good enough response from the agency head.  BTDT

So is there no asking vs ordering for this?

Either way it leads to more questions then as first, what was he looking to achieve by getting me out of the car for a traffic stop that he couldn't even explain what it was actually for? Had I gotten out I would have closed the door behind me, told my wife to lock it and I would never have consented to a search of myself nor the car and would not have agreed to anything.

He obviously had zero probable cause for anything. His traffic violation claim was lame as fuck to start with. I know that he is not allowed to extend the stop to get help or a dog past the reasonable time to write a ticket for his made up traffic violation.

So what did winning for him look like at that point? Was he upset that I didn't roll out of the car screaming that I had 500kg of cocaine in the trunk?

Strange experience.  If you're on AR15.com, I'm assuming you and the wife are stereotypical looking boring middle-aged whites in a boring car; so not sure what vibe he was getting to think this was worth his time.  Or is that not quite so - do you have tattoo's and bumper stickers and such?

Also, I will say, Dash Cams are interesting.  once the cop notices there's a dash-cam, they get super professional; in my limited experience.  And IMHO, I suspect they look for dash-cams with the same or more vigor than they look for a gun in your hand.  

Also, do you have a CHL?  Did you hand it to him that card too, along with your license?

As others noted, silence is a tactic on his part.  He's waiting for you to start running your mouth (or your wife).  Fortunately, you did not.

The fact he then asked what you are hiding, was a dick move and bad play really.  If you do have his name or car number (Back to that DashCam)  here you go, a cheap 4K unit, and tadaa, you have his tag.  I would seriously consider a letter to the department expressing your concern of unprofessional conduct and uncalled for harassments, and request the letter be retained in the company files.  Nothing will come of it, but after about 5 or 10 such letters, Officer Dick-Face is now a liability who's arrests are going to be questioned in court.  Nobody here knows if such a letter is appropriate more than you - but again, if this guys a stand-up officer, your letter will have no negative impact on him, in isolation.  If he's a bad cop, he'll have a lot of such letters, and yours could be the one that was needed to reign his ass in.  I will say, of the cops I know,  such  letters actually carry weight.  More than you might think.  He WILL get a conversation over it.  If it's his 4th such this year, it will be a very uncomfortable conversation.  With lots of pauses and moments of silence from his questioners.

30-some years ago, in the small (dry) town where I grew up, I was out driving around at midnight or so.  Sidewalks were rolled up and I was about the only vehicle on the road.  I was at a stop sign about to turn right, when a local yokel passed me going right to left.  I saw his brake lights come on just as he was disappearing around a curve, and I knew he was going to come back.  So I make my turn and go about my business, then here he comes, on come the lights, and I pull over.  He comes up and tells me he pulled me over because he saw me "hit a line back there."  Uh yeah, sure.  I was stopped at a stop sign when he made his decision.  I was sober, no contraband, was polite and didn't argue with him.  He let me go of course.  He was just hoping I'd be drunk though.  Douchebag.

Unfortunately lots of folks somehow pass all the psych testing and get hired as LE. He was probably trying to figure out if the two of you would fit in his chest freezer.

cant believe you’d forget OFFICER SAFETY  unconstitutional stops.
despite what the tbl crew says. the cops are NOT your friends. (re: 5 page thread of 20ur girl being arrested for fake id and vape pen).

First thing I thought of.

I don't know I wasn't there. But if I'm asking someone out I'm only asking to be courteous followed by ordering followed by forcing.

I don't know, most likely to compare stories about travel and stop locations between you and the passenger. Ok you are free to do that.

Only need RAS for a stop. But even 1 mph over or literally any other witnessed violation would be PC and pretext stops are a thing. No you don't need to get stopped immediately. You may let a vehicle travel for possibly miles watching for driving conduct after the first indicator or offense.

Yes, he was probably looking for a large amount of drugs or cash.

I have a feeling I could spend an hour explaining case law and interdiction tactics and no response would satisfy you.

Civil asset forfeiture makes me scared shitless to even think about driving with it suppressors to go to a range with buddies. And I have my own land.

Only if it’s reasonable and for officer safety.  You can’t just look at the dude after he pulled into say a driveway, and be like “you know what step out of the car”.  And expect that it’s 100% always going to be a legal command.

THIS

Pretty good and informative response, right up the the final inappropriate, rather petulant remark.

Probably looking for a threesome.

Yet he's completely correct.

I don't do traffic stops any more, except for training noobies, but when I invite you to exit the vehicle, as the driver, refusing is only going to end badly. You get to choose how this goes.

UHP are dicks. I got pulled over on I-80 for 5 over heading back to Nv from SLC. Never once did the trooper ask if there was any weapons. Had he asked, I would have told him just my duty weapon. I could not tell him I was a trooper as that was against the rules. After he wrote me he flicked the citation into my window and said "You people from Nv need to learn how to slow down."

I was death to all Utah plates from that day on.

I love one of my last interactions about 10 years ago.
Cop say you sure seem nervous, you have any reason to be nervous,?

Me, I just got pulled over by a cop.
We both laughed

That was my first thought.

Posting the information of the department and the officer is just like posting negative feedback.


Everyone should get into the habit.

Same…

The Snozberries taste like snozberries!!

Police are not required to give you any "Buffer" (like a +5 over posted speed limit).  I remember Oklahoma actually posted signs to that affect (Speed Limits Strictly Enforced).

The long awkward pauses were "uncomfortable silences" psychology designed to get you to talk more (like into a ticket or jail cell).

If asked to get out of your vehicle "was that a request for me to voluntary exit my vehicle or a lawful order requiring me to do so? If the first I'd like to decline & if the later - if you insist".

One of the things I like about WAZE is the reports of "Police Reported Ahead" along with it showing speed limits on that stretch of road.

Bigger_Hammer

Did you have an old wetsuit in the car?

Just because it’s law doesn’t mean it’s not bullshit.  

And your last sentence is pathetic.

No kidding.  OP asked questions.  He answered them.

Then whatever the heck that was at the end.