Police Call: Child in Trunk

[jeffro01]

I think the bigger problem in this country is frivolous lawsuits and people feeling a need to victimize or over-victimize themselves. While I agree that it would seem that guns did not need to be drawn (maybe hands on their holsters would have been sufficient), and while I am also sure that if I would have peed myself if I was the driver, I don't see how the "damages" go much beyond that. Also, we do not know what exactly was reported to the officers by the witness, nor do we know if they were on the lookout for a known criminal at the time. An apology and a department memo regarding Teslas should suffice.

None of that matters one bit. We're supposedly living in a free nation where you're able to move about as you see fit within the confines of the law. If I was on my way to an appointment with my children, or really anywhere with them as where I'm going is also no business of the governments, and I was unlawfully stopped because some idiot thought I was abducting my own kids simply because i was putting them in the reverse seats, then I can assure you I'm not going down quietly.

The overt willingness to violate people civil rights and their constitutional rights, whether it be unlawful search and seizure (civil asset forfeiture laws), or detaining someone for doing nothing wrong, or this absurd notion that I must abide by whatever commands LE gives me, just shows how far out of touch with the constitution both LE and the general public really are.

As you can see I'm very passionate about this for reasons that aren't important here so I'll simply close out by saying I won't reply to this thread again if I can help myself. My apologies if I've gone off track, my response is not meant to be an attack on anyone here.

Jeff

 

[Zythryn]

None of that matters one bit. We're supposedly living in a free nation where you're able to move about as you see fit within the confines of the law. If I was on my way to an appointment with my children, or really anywhere with them as where I'm going is also no business of the governments, and I was unlawfully stopped because some idiot thought I was abducting my own kids simply because i was putting them in the reverse seats, then I can assure you I'm not going down quietly.

The overt willingness to violate people civil rights and their constitutional rights, whether it be unlawful search and seizure (civil asset forfeiture laws), or detaining someone for doing nothing wrong, or this absurd notion that I must abide by whatever commands LE gives me, just shows how far out of touch with the constitution both LE and the general public really are.

As you can see I'm very passionate about this for reasons that aren't important here so I'll simply close out by saying I won't reply to this thread again if I can help myself. My apologies if I've gone off track, my response is not meant to be an attack on anyone here.

Jeff

Bull pucky!

If the police have been told a child has been abducted and are given the car info, you are damn right I want them to pull over the car.
Now, if they didn't get a report that children had been abducted, and just randomly pulled you over with guns drawn, then I would yell to high heaven.
In this case, they were doing their job.

 

[4SUPER9]

Jeff,
I do not think you went off track at all. Your statements are quite on-topic actually.

It seems to me, that if we were to assume that everything printed is accurate, there was an overreaction here. Pulling someone over because another person witnessed a possible, and potentially extremely serious crime is not unreasonable. Having guns drawn may, OTOH, be very unreasonable. Unlawful detainer, IMHO, would apply to a more serious infringement of your civil liberties (i.e.: pulling you out, searching the car, searching you, placing you in handcuffs, etc). That is not what happened. It seems to me they were out to protect the lives of children, realized there was no threat, and moved on. I would expect, and hope for, some humility on their part, with a contrite apology. It comes down to showing respect. If my kids were being thrown into the back of a car in a kidnapping situation, God forbid, I would hope for a similar response from "LEO".

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Bull pucky!

If the police have been told a child has been abducted and are given the car info, you are damn right I want them to pull over the car.
Now, if they didn't get a report that children had been abducted, and just randomly pulled you over with guns drawn, then I would yell to high heaven.
In this case, they were doing their job.

I disagree. Pull over the car, yes. Guns drawn -- totally out of line, especially if the vehicle followed proper procedures during the pull-over.

If I was that driver, I'd be making a formal complaint to the police department on those two officers.

 

[Andyw2100]

Dont know if you guys saw this. Pretty serious with guns drawn. That would be an upsetting day.
Bystander sees Tesla owner loading kids into trunk seats, immediately reports abduction

This was posted just five posts above your post. (Same incident, different article.)

 

[S'toon]

This was posted just five posts above your post. (Same incident, different article.)

Mods merged two different threads, hence the redundancy.

 

[Andyw2100]

Mods merged two different threads, hence the redundancy.

Ahhh, that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[Matt125]

I'm genuinely interested in this because it is really strange to me so I'm looking forward to being educated on this matter.

If the passenger seat and the back three passenger seats are all empty, would you put children in the rear-facing seats in the trunk of the car?

If so, why?

 

[Max*]

I'm genuinely interested in this because it is really strange to me so I'm looking forward to being educated on this matter.

If the passenger seat and the back three passenger seats are all empty, would you put children in the rear-facing seats in the trunk of the car?

If so, why?

1. You can't put small kids in the passenger seat in the US. There's a size/weight limit.

2. In the event of a head-on-collision, the RFS would be safer, since they're similar to a rear facing car seat with a 5 point harness (not the case for other collisions, but you asked for reasons, this is one of them)

3. The kids might like them better than their boosters/carseats/regular seats (my kids don't, but hey, maybe someone elses do)

4. The kids might think they're cool

5. The parents might like the attention they're getting, though probably not in this case

6. It's harder to hear them complaining from the trunk than it is from the back seat

7. You left your booster seats in your other car (unless you're like us and have 2 sets), but you can still use the 5-point harness in the trunk.

And most importantly of all
8. Why not?

 

[swaltner]

I suspect the reason for wanting to put kids in the back seats is likely two-fold:

- Putting the kids in the rear-facing seats avoids the needs for having booster seats in the rear seats. A little more convenient to not have to deal with installing and removing booster seats. There's a limited weight range where this would be applicable.

- The kids may enjoy doing something so non-conformist as sitting in rear-facing seats in the trunk of the car

 

[csanders90D]

Are rear-facing seats so unusual? I remember riding rear-facing in the back of a station wagon as a kid. The cops don't need to be Tesla experts to have seen seats like that before, it's just a lame excuse. The majority of crashes are in the front, and having the full back of the seat stopping you is better than just a seatbelt. Elon said they're the safest seats in the car, and I'd agree and put my kids there, if they weren't too big.

The bigger problem is police pulling out guns on a peaceful traffic stop. Stopping someone and investigating why they put kids in the trunk is fine, the cops could learn something and have some Tesla time. However, the needless escalation and threat of deadly force makes everyone (including the police) less safe.

 

[Yinn]

I suspect the reason for wanting to put kids in the back seats is likely two-fold:

- Putting the kids in the rear-facing seats avoids the needs for having booster seats in the rear seats. A little more convenient to not have to deal with installing and removing booster seats. There's a limited weight range where this would be applicable.

This. I don't normally pick up my daughter. I used to carry a car seat and either leave it installed or reinstall it every time I needed to. Instead, the rear facing seats are 5 point harnesses as a substitute for a car seat within a certain height/weight. It's convenient to be able to open up and plop instead of carrying an extra seat that I don't know if I'll need. Especially if it's a last minute - can you grab her instead?

I disagree. Pull over the car, yes. Guns drawn -- totally out of line, especially if the vehicle followed proper procedures during the pull-over.

Perhaps we don't have the whole story..

 

[Max*]

Perhaps we don't have the whole story..

Are you saying there could be entitled Tesla owners? Neeeeeeeeeever

 

[Max*]

BTW that video is hilarious.