Illegal Traffic Stop, Vehicle Search - May 22, 2023
- 7 months ago
On May 22nd, 2023, a Caldwell Parish Sheriff's Office deputy stopped and searched a gray Chrysler 300 sedan. It wasn't until after the stop was concluded, nearly an hour later, that the deputy admitted the car had a temporary tag.
This deputy and others in this department have a long history of unlawfully stopping motorists under the guise of "no license plate" despite the vehicles having clearly visible and valid temporary tags in the back window. In the last year, though, they have been aware of people knowing they're doing this, and have been taking measures to keep scanner listeners from knowing a given stop is possibly illegal.
Many times they simply won't call out anything about "no plate" or that the car has a temp tag, or if they do, they'll wait until the stop is concluded to say anything about it. Same with trucks pulling trailers or simply having trailer ball hitches on the bumper, many times they won't say anything about a trailer ball or any other obstruction. In fact, on June 9th, this same deputy stopped and arrested a motorist because the trailer obstructed his view of the truck's plate (like trailers do), but didn't say anything about the trailer or obstruction until he had made the arrest and called for a tow truck. That one can be heard at https://dai.ly/x8o7rld
If it wasn't bad enough that the deputy violated that person's civil rights by unlawfully stopping them and unlawfully searching their car, he also called (by phone, most likely) another deputy away from assisting the coroner (radio number 88) with a deceased body.
This deputy and others in this department have a long history of unlawfully stopping motorists under the guise of "no license plate" despite the vehicles having clearly visible and valid temporary tags in the back window. In the last year, though, they have been aware of people knowing they're doing this, and have been taking measures to keep scanner listeners from knowing a given stop is possibly illegal.
Many times they simply won't call out anything about "no plate" or that the car has a temp tag, or if they do, they'll wait until the stop is concluded to say anything about it. Same with trucks pulling trailers or simply having trailer ball hitches on the bumper, many times they won't say anything about a trailer ball or any other obstruction. In fact, on June 9th, this same deputy stopped and arrested a motorist because the trailer obstructed his view of the truck's plate (like trailers do), but didn't say anything about the trailer or obstruction until he had made the arrest and called for a tow truck. That one can be heard at https://dai.ly/x8o7rld
If it wasn't bad enough that the deputy violated that person's civil rights by unlawfully stopping them and unlawfully searching their car, he also called (by phone, most likely) another deputy away from assisting the coroner (radio number 88) with a deceased body.