Unfortunately, I drive a ghetto minivan which causes the police to profile me and has caused people in small towns to call the police on me if I am in a public park or in their neighborhood. I even had someone call the police on me at campground that I had pre-paid for and the police were not sympathetic at all to my right to just exist.

I am aware of stop and identify laws and know that a cop needs reasonable suspicion to demand to see your ID. However, can’t the cop just make up some lies about reasonable suspicion?

If a cop approaches me can I immediately start with: “Officer, do you have reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred, is in the process of occurring, or is about to occur?” It seems like that will immediately escalate things even if technically the law is on my side.

I just want a damn right to exist law and to not be a target for an overactive imagination by the police which treats me like a criminal until they can check me for warrants.

Honestly, I want to tell them to fuck off right away but I also don’t have money for a lawyer.

  • rebarrrrrrr@lemmy.worldOP
    0·
    7 months ago

    I have a ghetto van. It does not blend in. The campground was one incident. There are many more which have happened in parking lots where other people are also sitting in their cars. Since the invention of smart phones a lot of people sit in their cars for various reasons and look at their phones or use laptops. It’s not illegal nor suspicious to sit in your car. - Anytime you vent online people look for an angle to blame you. I just want to exist without being harassed like everyone else.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
      02·
      7 months ago

      So…

      You did go to a campsite where families were in tents and you just sat inside your sketchy minivan and don’t understand why the cops were called?

      It might be just one example, but it was your pick. You saw nothing wrong with you behavior or understood why it was suspicious…

      So there’s a good chance lots of the time you don’t see a reason, there’s a very good reason it’s happening.

      Go lurk on r/vandwelling on Reddit, there’s a shit ton of old posts going over common sense stuff that you would greatly benefit from. And I sincerely mean that as good advice, by your own admission you want help.

      But there’s not a lot of people on Lemmy, and this is pretty important.

      So go reathe posts of people who live this life and have been doing it for years.