Question For The Miltary And/or Law Savvy

I was watching a docmentary the other day,and while I know cops in the US are legally allowed lie to you in some ways,during one of the initial confrontation/questionings one of them was trying to fish to see if the person was in the miltary,and eventually said "You know if you're military you have to tell me right?"

Is this true? I found it strange,and googled it but had no luck.If it is true,whats the whole point of it and why?

I'm in the military (US Navy 6 years now) and have never heard of this before. Sounds like the cop was just trying to cover his own rear since it is frowned upon to harrass veterans and what not overly much. An example is when I was moving to my first command. I accidently ran into a sobriety road block/check. I was a bit worried because i didnt have my vehicles insurance on me. But when i was pulling out my drivers liscence (i know my spelling sucks) they saw my military ID. After looking at it they simply waved me through. Another example is when i got lost on the same damn moving road trip, some cop pulled me over for looking suspicious when i pulled over, checked my GPS, and pulled on out. After noticing my military bags and seeing my ID, his mood changed entirely and was genuinely helpful in directing me to the nearest interstate. It should be noted that i think that was a very bad part of town as he approached my truck with a freaking shotgun, bullet proof vest, and his handgun....

I've been in and worked with the military for the last 7 years. Never heard of anything of the sort, and I don't see why such a law or rule would exist.

The only time being military has gotten me off was when I got pulled over for making an illegal left turn. Had my uniform hanging in the back so he let me go with a warning.

Without opening a can of worms for a giant debate,it should be frowned on for harrassing citizens too :P

I was gonna say "well the guy was young,23 or 26 and had been stopped for some *** "road rage" charge after the cop nearly killed him on his motorcycle during bad driving" but then i realized you dont have to be 60 to be a veteran i suppose.

No. You have the right to plead the 5th amendment so you don't incriminate yourself. I was in the military and never heard of such a thing while on active duty. On the other hand, service members are held to a higher standard of moral ethics and they drill into your brain that lying, cheating, or stealing of any kind is bad and you will get *** by the military judicial system if guilt is proven.

Sad thing is, you get double dipped in the military if you are in trouble. Say if you get a DUI, you must deal with the civilian court system, and once that is taken care of you will be brought to Captains mast/NJP or even court martial.

But back to the point, no. I'm also active duty and this has never been told to me and holds no water.

Very very true. And there is no such thing as double jepardy (SP?) in the military. As snoochy said, you get screwed over in the civillian sector, and after they get done with you the navy gets to take a chunk out your butt too. I have actually heard of Sailors who have been put in jail, marked as UA (unauthorized absence) and once they hit that 30 day mark, they get Dis-honorably discharged while they are in jail.

I remembered a Private First Class who got in trouble with a DUI while out in town. Sure enough he gets caught by civilian authorities while drinking and driving. His company commander managed to get him out of deep ***from the civilian court system. As punishment for *** up, he had to dress in his service alpha uniform and stand at an intersection on base, holding a cardboard sign reading "Don't drink and drive!", while yelling "Don't drink and drive!" to military personnel driving by all afternoon.

Sounds like he shoulda been put through the civilian court. Drinking and driving puts more than the offender's life at risk instead of made a laughing stock for a while. Preferential treatment ftl,dont agree with that

Yea, this was the Marine Corps so they borderline haze you for *** up. For some reason, Marine NCOs love doing stuff like that to troublemakers. I'm pretty sure he didn't make that mistake twice. That's one thing I don't miss about the service. If you *** up, you're goose is cooked, with no lube :)

I keep my old ID under my driver's license. Only time its worked for me is when i got pulled over for my music being too loud. Not the 4x for speeding.

No. There is no such law. You can actually lie to a police officer because you are not under oath. There is no law mandating you tell the truth to an officer, once you are in court and under oath its a different story.

He was probably asking because law enforcement usually do cut favors to city officials, hospital staff and veterans.

I have my contractor military ID, then my Marine military ID, and THEN my driver's license.

If there is some 'law' or whatever, I'd imagine it's like the like the law of when you're on probation/parole and you get caught up in something..

On probation/parole you're allowed (on the books) no violation, what so ever. You are legally obligated to cooperate with law enforcement, which in the end means you're legally obligated to snitch yourself out..

So you get caught up, but don't report it... Well you're in ***. At the very least it will be reported to your judge and he will decide your fate.

I'd imagine if there IS anything like that, it would be similar.. The difference being, you violate your TOS of the army, you just kicked out (well since we're talking not killing anyone or getting caught up in some felony/federal case.

No, not cooperating, whether they be justified or otherwise, isn't some catch-all.. But at the same time, legally, your career is on the line.

I 100% sure of some preferential treatment - but I consider it more of a professional courtesy. I've been treated much better many times because of it.

As far as the original question goes, I've never given much thought to it, but I do know that if you get in trouble, they will find out. :)

It's gonna depend on the city. I'd imagine military towns like San Diego are more lenient on military/veterans. However, in like LA my CHP friends show no mercy except to physicians edit: and celebrities and city officials. Cities have to make money :) lol

I've never heard of such a law, but I damn sure had a cop my Veterans card with my license when ever I get pulled over. Also casually mention I'm a two time Iraq vet. It has never failed. So I don't see why one would hide it.

not to derail the thread but how do some of these people like dova still have a military ID? thought they were turned in after you separate from the military.


Or you both just lost them and got issued new ones and found your old ones again?

You're kidding right? Military towns are NOT lenient at all >_<;

I lived in Norfolk for a few years while stationed on CVN-65. The cops there HATE military >_>

it's the small town cops and the ones that are way out the way that love and do favors for military.

I've been in just over 13 years now; 5 different assignments and 8 deployments. I can't count how many TDY's to random countries anymore but I have been to 50/50 US States and every country in Europe. There is no law giving military or veterans special treatment when we break the law. You may get lucky a few times and let off with warnings but take it from a First Sergeant, people do get punished a lot. Take advantage of the police officer giving you a break and don't do it again. Overseas sometimes we fall under the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) but that doesn't mean you cannot be punished. It just means the local law enforcement "can" hand you over to the military police if they wish to do so (among other things).

I personally hold my men and women to higher standards because you are representing our military, and while overseas you represent our country. So many times I want to slap them upside the head and say



Military towns with a large community most the time have a bad rap for the local military. It's mostly our fault though. People act like fools and give us all bad names. I can name a bunch of Navy ports overseas, a few training bases stateside, and a few popular bases where the locals wish we would leave. Then again, I know some bases where they treat us like royalty. Ft Bragg, Ramstein, Okinawa, Biloxi MS, Wash DC, and Chicago stick out to me as towns that 'tolerate' the military but we have lots of fools there.

Really lol?? the CHP, LA Sherriffs and LAPD are notoriously corrupt. If you have money they will look the other way. Sherriff Lee Baca let Paris Hilton out of jail on DUI charges 2x, even though the judge had sentenced her for time.

Then Mayor Villaraigosa's ex wife was speeding in downtown and the cops didn't do anything.

Amen First Sargent. I'm an E-5 myself so now that I am a bit higher in rank and no longer "junior" i get a little taste of what that is like and see these FNG's joining in and acting a fool. And sadly i have to agree, we in the navy have really mucked up a few of our ports.

We had one guy get drunk enough to go parasailing in Marmarus, Turkey start freaking naked........Was not a good day

Law enforcement are not allowed to overtly lie in order to get you to incriminate yourself. Can always argue entrapment in court.

It's a grey area whether they refuse to answer a question asked back (i.e. are you a cop) or whether they choose not to volunteer information in the absence of a direct question AND this omission would have prevented you from incriminating yourself.

Cops lie. They even lie under oath shocking as that may seem. They even have a word for it, testilying.

No one EVER has to tell a cop anything except "I want a lawyer".

The point is to get the subject to incriminate himself. For whatever.


/rolleyes

Lying to a suspect is not illegal.

They do many flatly illegal things in court and under oath. But that one isn't illegal. If it were undercover cops would be illegal, think about it.

And why do you say this?

Was on the post after hours "baby sitter" duty at Okinawa many years ago and had to pick random people up from the police office a few times a week. I've seen every branch of the military and nearly every rank acting like a 5 year old. I've seen an Army male O-5 lay on the floor and throw a temper tantrum like a child because he missed the bar "last call". I sometimes think I've seen it all -- but every now and again, I'm proven very wrong. Why it happened just the other day. E-1 USMC fresh from Parris Island picked a fight with a guy about 3 times his size over a seat at the bar he thought he had. Turns out, he was in the wrong bar completely. Needless to say it didn't end well.

Sometimes I wished I can share pictures. It would make a wonderful GIF meme.

there really isnt a law saying you have to tell them, being a retired navy man. and as Vanderbilt said you are held to a higher set of standards and you are bound by both civilian law and ucmj when not on a military facility. But I will tell you this from having family being in law inforcement, most states do require to ask if they feel that someone might be military to ask cause they have to report it as such cause of being bound by 2 sets of laws. but in alot of cases, it usually is best to let the officer know that you are military, depending on the situation.

One of my assignments before Katrina wiped the place out and the beach front was loaded with stuff to do. The USAF trainees went downtown and got smashed and used to do some childishly stupid things. A rule was made because of MadiGras and MTV holding a "MTV's Spring Break" there in 2000. We must have had 100+ trainees get arrested that week so the Base Commander didn't allow them to drink, regardless of age, while under AETC orders. I assume you know what that is if you are asking about Biloxi ;) Keesler wasn't the worst I've been too by any means but it just stuck out in my mind as a problem base for our "kids."

I was more referencing the part where they 'tolerate' the military, as I don't agree with that at all. I've never seen any negativity towards military there.