No...but they now bring(or threaten to bring) canine units to the scene to let them snif around your vehicle. If one of the dogs "alerts" the police will proceed to search on "probable cause". The handler determines what an "alert" is.
Not only that, but if you were clocked going 56 in a 55 zone, it guarantees you a speeding ticket.
This is my fictional take on the subject of "consent" (sic) searches, from my novel.
*************************************************************************************** The young father in the white Ford Taurus, the second car from the front of the line, said “No sir, I won’t open my trunk without a warrant, and I do not ‘consent’ to be searched.”
The Virginia National Guard corporal standing outside his driver’s side window looked around, confused. This situation had not come up before. Could this guy just refuse? Was that allowed?
The holdout’s young blond wife said “Martin, just do like he says. Don’t make trouble; the girls are frightened.”
“Honey, it’s the point of it. This is still America, and there’s still a Constitution.”
“Daddy, why are there soldiers here? Is there a war?” asked seven year old Danielle from the back seat. Her four year old sister Ashley next to her in her booster seat sucked her thumb, afraid without knowing why.
“No sweetie, there’s no war. The soldiers are helping the police to look for some bad men.”
“Criminals daddy?”
“That’s right sugar plum, criminals.”
Another man walked up to their window. Martin Palmer could not tell if he was from the military or the police: he was dressed in black from his helmet to his boots, with no badge or insignia in sight. The man in black rapped on his driver’s side window with the steel muzzle tip of his black submachine gun. “Open up! Get out! Now!”
“Officer, do you have a warrant? What’s your ‘probable cause’ to search our car?” Martin Palmer was trying very hard not to show the fear he felt, holding onto the wheel to keep his hands from visibly shaking. He hoped he did not sound as afraid as he felt, he remembered the Eagle Scout in Maryland who had had his face shot off point blank by an FBI undercover agent with an M-16 rifle after a mistaken traffic stop.
“My ‘probable cause’ is you’re an asshole who refuses to give consent for a search, that’s what! Now get out! Out! Out!”
(Read the rest of this chapter called "The Checkpoint" by clicking HERE.)
That's when they bring in the dogs. SOP in the Drug War, time and court tested.
Exactly. The state troopers here were playing that little game about 10-20 yrs ago.
I am ~so~ glad to live in Lexington County. Sherriff Metts continues to do a great job, and the police are NICE, even when they have to write you a ticket. Our crime rates are low and people are happy. Step across the county line into Richland County, and it's a whole 'nother place.
I find myself on the anti-cop side of debates often on FR, partly because I have had some bad experiences and partly because I am so apalled by what I read. But the bad experiences have been with other jurisdictions, and maybe the reason I have been so apalled by the stories is because I'm spoiled by the excellent service our local sherrif and his deputies render.
The few times that I have needed to avail myself of their services, I have found them responsive, thorough and sincere in their desire to help -- and I am by no means wealthy(trailer trash here).
The world would be a better place if every police force were like the Lexington County Sherriff's Department.