Lorena, TX

Driving down to Austin, we were just outside of Waco when the radar detector started going crazy. We have a radar detector because police pull the red Miata over all the time, whether or not we’re exceeding the speed limit, I guess because it just looks like it’s going fast.

So Berck slowed down to the speed limit, and as we crested a hill, sure enough, there was a police car sitting on the access road facing oncoming traffic. “That’s a good place to hide,” Berck declared. A pick-up flew past us in the left lane. As we approached, the patrol car pulled out and then got on the interstate behind us. “Guess he got somebody,” Berck said, continuing to drive carefully. But the cop didn’t turn on his lights, just kept heading the same direction we were. “Watch him pull us over,” sighed Berck. I laughed.

But sure enough, the cop pulled up behind us and switched on his blue lights.

What could he possibly have pulled us over for?

He came up to the driver’s window and asked for license and proof of insurance then asked Berck to step out of the car. “I want to talk to you, and then you’ll be on your way.”

He talked to Berck for a while, then came over to my window and talked to me. “How you doing today? Do you have anything illegal in the car? Any illegal weapons or drugs? Have you picked up anyone who might have had anything illegal? [The Miata is a two-seater.] Where are you going? Do you live with Mr. Nachzen? What’s your address?” I told him we’d just gotten married and were on our honeymoon. “Well, congratulations! When did you get married?” I suddenly drew a blank about whether it was the 28th or the 29th. Wasn’t the 28th a Saturday, and then we’d decided to have it on Sunday? (No.) I told him December 29th. He wrote down “12-29” on a pad of paper.

Then he went back and talked to Berck. Berck told me later that the officer told him he was involved in interdiction, making the streets safe, blah blah blah blah, and could he have a look in our trunk?

Well, the 4th amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects us against searches without warrants. If there’s one thing that I learned in my Con Law class, police have no right to search your trunk without your permission. If they really want to see what’s in your car, they can bother a judge to issue a warrant. But otherwise, never let the police search your trunk. It’s not a matter of hiding anything. It’s a matter of Constitutional rights. If civil servants think they can poke through your personal property any time they want, what’s to keep them from inviting themselves into your house?

Besides, it’s an ordeal to repack everything in the Miata’s tiny trunk.

So Berck did what I would have done. He said, “Sure, you can look in my trunk … as soon as you show me a warrant.”

Then the police officer told him, “I don’t need a warrant. I’m the police. We’ll wait for the K-9 unit to arrive, and then we’ll search your trunk.” I guess he figured the dog would smell drugs, and then he’d have probable cause to search us? The cop went back to his car, then came back and said, “Today is your lucky day. The K-9 unit can’t make it.” Then he wrote Berck a warning for “Following to closely [sic]” which is ridiculous. He added, “You better not have anything illegal, because you’re going to have to talk to the DPS further down the road!”

Berck got back in the car and told me the rest of the story. The cop had told him he’d pulled him over for speeding and following too closely. He also told Berck that he had been sitting at a truck stop when we’d passed (even though he wasn’t). He’d asked Berck a bunch of questions and then came over and talked to me to make sure our stories matched.

And that was that. We continued on our way, paranoid every time we passed another police officer, relieved when we finally reached our destination and parked and went inside.

Our host Dave tells us that race relations in the area are strained lately, racial profiling and such. So he guesses that the police were busy pulling over and harrassing as many whites as possible … to make things even.

What I want to know is, why would we be smuggling drugs SOUTH?