My first police encounter in the US

[leonidas_alexan 44]

I want to share a certain police incident involving me and I am not quite sure what to make of it. While my wife believes there is perhaps a strong element of racial profiling- I myself did not know what to make of it. Originally I am from India but have moved to the US from New Zealand. So basically this is what happened. Every night around 1 am my wife feeds some cats at a trailer near our home. She feeds the cats at night because that is when she comes back from work. Even though the trailer is just about 500 feet away, I never allow my wife to walk up to the trailer alone and I always accompany her. On the day of the incident I requested my wife to drive me around the neighborhood as I was new to this country. So my wife and I were in our truck and once we fed the cats we were about to drive around. At this point we were about 700 feet from our home and near a big shopping area.

A cop pulled us up. The cop requested our ID's, my wife showed her ID but I was not carrying my passport with me then (I did not yet receive my green card). My wife explained to the cop that we lived just a few hundred feet away and in fact showed the cop our town house from where the cop stood. The cop never gave us a reason why we were stopped. From that point on he asked questions about me--he asked me -which country did I come from, what passport do I have and when I said Indian--he proceeded to question then how did you come here from New Zealand? I told him that I was working in New Zealand. I explained him briefly the K-1 visa process through which I came into this country. The cop went back to his vehicle came back and asked me a few more questions out of which 2 specific questions stood out. Questions enquiring what was my height and my weight. I must stress that he was never rude or discourteous in his conversation with us all through the conversation. After going back to his vehicle the cop came back again and asked me few more questions about what I was doing at this time of the night?

This really stumped me because I was with my wife in the vehicle and my wife already explained to him a few minutes back that she was just driving me around the neighborhood. After about 10 minutes we were free to go. Now to be honest I really did not make much about it until my wife told me there was no reason the cop should have asked me about my height and weight and a few more questions which she thought were redundant. I believe since I come from India and I saw how cops behave there-- this police encounter meant nothing to me but my wife believes that probably he was racially profiling me. My wife believes that the actions/questions of the cop were not based on my behavior or any actionable information but were based on my ethnicity, race and national origin. For a while my wife mulled the idea of making a complaint I told her it really was a non-issue.

What do you make of this incident?

Edited March 22, 2014 by leonidas_alexan

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

My take is that they suspected you of drugs or something because you were hanging out in a truck after 1am in a parking lot.

I think maybe you talked too much about fiance visas instead of just saying that you were married to your wife and that's why/how you came to the US. Maybe that led them to ask more.

I know the repeated questions are a typical tactic, to see if your story is the same the second time (to catch liars).

Not sure about the height and weight, that does seem inappropriate. Since you had no ID maybe they were just checking your name against some database or something.

You could complain if you like, though I would have asked them right then, "what seems to be the trouble?"

[Boiler 43,438]

You do not realise you need to carry your Passport?

Sounds like you were lucky.

[Lynkali 163]

You do not realise you need to carry your Passport?

Sounds like you were lucky.

The OP was a hundred feet from his house. Our mailboxes are about 100 feet from our house -- does my husband have to carry his passport/green card when he walks out to check the mailbox? Or to water the lawn? What about if we greet a neighbor and wander a bit off our driveway in conversation?

I'm puzzled why they didn't volunteer to get his passport from inside the house. I don't like the way the situation went down, but I doubt there was any specific violation on the policeman's side -- he was probably just suspicious (as Harpa said) of late-night odd activity and wanted to nip anything in the bud. Was there a racial component? Possibly, but it's not obvious ... I wouldn't make anything too much of it, but if I were the OP, I would be annoyed and probably start carrying my passport even to our mailboxes.

[Boiler 43,438]

There is an exception if you are within a certain distance of your house?

[enlijoe 20]

Police can be jerks to many people and you do not need to be of any different nationality either. I'm just a basic wight person that has been a USC my entire life and I will still get harassed by police. Sometimes for no reason. I've been stopped by a cop because he claims I cam to a rolling stop at a stop sign. The thing is this stop sign he claims I didn't stop for is on private property and therefor he can't do anything about it and he knew that. he just wanted to give me a hard time.

I of course was a real jerk back to him for it and there was still nothing her could do about it. He told me to go about my business and be quick about it too. What a jerk.

the moral of the story is yes cops be in a-holes and harass you. But as long as they only harass you there is not much you can do.

[Boiler 43,438]

Probably due to all the a-holes they have to deal with every day.

[leonidas_alexan 44]

The OP was a hundred feet from his house. Our mailboxes are about 100 feet from our house -- does my husband have to carry his passport/green card when he walks out to check the mailbox? Or to water the lawn? What about if we greet a neighbor and wander a bit off our driveway in conversation?

I'm puzzled why they didn't volunteer to get his passport from inside the house. I don't like the way the situation went down, but I doubt there was any specific violation on the policeman's side -- he was probably just suspicious (as Harpa said) of late-night odd activity and wanted to nip anything in the bud. Was there a racial component? Possibly, but it's not obvious ... I wouldn't make anything too much of it, but if I were the OP, I would be annoyed and probably start carrying my passport even to our mailboxes.

If the cop would have asked me to get the passport I would have been more than happy to go home and get it as I was a couple of minutes away from my home. To be honest since we were only a few hundred feet away from our home I really did not think I needed to carry my passport. The neighborhood that my wife and I planned to drive around was overall around a radius of 500 feet. Basically the area around our house.

As I mentioned in my original post I guess my wife was a little bit upset for a few minutes but that was that.

I guess he was just checking my details against a database but if I think about it--perhaps a couple of questions just sounded unusual especially about my height and weight.

I now carry my green card basically where ever I go as I understand that is the law.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Kathryn41
to remove double posting

[leonidas_alexan 44]

You do not realise you need to carry your Passport?

Sounds like you were lucky.

I used to carry my passport everywhere---but it was just that night since we were just near our home and basically driving around our own neighborhood I really did not think much about it.

I am just intrigued if he would have asked the same questions had I carried my ID with me and showed it to him.

[novedsac 355]

You talked too much and provided far more information than you should have. Police are suspicious of overly talkative people as it can be an indication that you're trying to hide something or divert their attention.

You mention that you feed cats at a trailer near your home … your trailer? If not, you should get express permission from the property's owner because otherwise you are trespassing and could be charged as such … and there are many people out there who are more of a jerk than the police you encountered.

[leonidas_alexan 44]

You talked too much and provided far more information than you should have. Police are suspicious of overly talkative people as it can be an indication that you're trying to hide something or divert their attention.

You mention that you feed cats at a trailer near your home … your trailer? If not, you should get express permission from the property's owner because otherwise you are trespassing and could be charged as such … and there are many people out there who are more of a jerk than the police you encountered.

To be honest I do not think I provided any extra information. Since I was not carrying my passport the cop asked me under what visa I came to this country and as I mentioned in the OP I only briefly explained him that it was a K-1 visa meant to marry my wife here in the USA.

The owner of the trailer requested my wife to feed the cats as the cats seem to make an appearance only at night. In fact the owner of the trailer put a sign at the entrance saying that the cats are being fed by my wife.

[novedsac 355]

To be honest I do not think I provided any extra information. Since I was not carrying my passport the cop asked me under what visa I came to this country and as I mentioned in the OP I only briefly explained him that it was a K-1 visa meant to marry my wife here in the USA.

The owner of the trailer requested my wife to feed the cats as the cats seem to make an appearance only at night. In fact the owner of the trailer put a sign at the entrance saying that the cats are being fed by my wife.

I'm just saying that talking engenders suspicion.

I'd be surprised if the police knew what a K1 visa was anyway; heck, most of them probably couldn't locate India on a map if you asked them to.

Glad you've got the permission for feeding the cats - some people can be real nasty about stepping foot on their property.

[elgringo954 7]

From a law enforcement perspective I can tell you that he probably just compiled a field interview document and it's routine to ask for I.D. or drivers license of passengers late at night. The officer encounters all kinds of people late at night and was probably just investigating that you two weren't prowling and or up to no good.

[Jon York 156]

I'm just saying that talking engenders suspicion.

I'd be surprised if the police knew what a K1 visa was anyway; heck, most of them probably couldn't locate India on a map if you asked them to.

Glad you've got the permission for feeding the cats - some people can be real nasty about stepping foot on their property.

But not talking engenders suspicion too! It doesn't sound like the OP talked too much. The cop asked him how he got here and he said on a fiance visa. Sounds reasonable to me.

To the OP - I wouldn't worry about it. You said he was polite the whole time and he let you go after 10 minutes. Just sounds like a cop doing his job. Two people out late at night in a place that made something seem odd to him so he just stopped you to check it out. It sounds like once he talked to you for a few minutes he realized there was nothing going on - so he let you go. Doesn't sound like anything to worry about. And I can attest they do the same thing to very caucasian looking Americans too!

Edited March 23, 2014 by Jon York

[No name 88 48]

There are three levels of police interaction with the public in the US. Consensual Encounter, Detainment, Arrest. The cop didn't ask for your passport because you were not being detained by the officer. It was a consensual encounter as you were freely providing information. Until the officer detains you your'e only required to verbally identify yourself. When you're detained by police that means they have reasonable suspicion that you have done something illegal and requires further investigation. This can be checked by asking the officer if your being detained. If the officer says no you're not required to provide further information. The officer had your name and ran it through his computer to see if you had any warrents. Another man with the same name may have popped so he asked for your hieght and weight to compare. The fact that he let you go without requiring you to get your passport means he believed you so don't sweat it. There is no need to report stops like this for AOS, removal of conditions or citizenship application. There is no need to report a detainment if it didn't result in a summons or arrest.

In the US you are not required to carry an ID unless you are operating a motor vehicle. When I'm overseas I don't carry my passport when walking around; just a photocopy of the biometrics page and visa page in my wallet. If they police need my passport they can go get it from my wife or the hotel.

If the cop would have asked me to get the passport I would have been more than happy to go home and get it as I was a couple of minutes away from my home. To be honest since we were only a few hundred feet away from our home I really did not think I needed to carry my passport. The neighborhood that my wife and I planned to drive around was overall around a radius of 500 feet. Basically the area around our house.

As I mentioned in my original post I guess my wife was a little bit upset for a few minutes but that was that.

I guess he was just checking my details against a database but if I think about it--perhaps a couple of questions just sounded unusual especially about my height and weight.

I now carry my green card basically where ever I go as I understand that is the law.

If the cop would have asked me to get the passport I would have been more than happy to go home and get it as I was a couple of minutes away from my home. To be honest since we were only a few hundred feet away from our home I really did not think I needed to carry my passport. The neighborhood that my wife and I planned to drive around was overall around a radius of 500 feet. Basically the area around our house.

As I mentioned in my original post I guess my wife was a little bit upset for a few minutes but that was that.

I guess he was just checking my details against a database but if I think about it--perhaps a couple of questions just sounded unusual especially about my height and weight.

I now carry my green card basically where ever I go as I understand that is the law.