Aurora PD

[Irving]

We are missing an important piece of information here. Did the police inform the drivers why they were searching the cars?

If I'm pulled over and told they want to search my car, and only that, I'll inform them that they are welcome to search my nutsack with their tongues. If they say, "Hey handsome, we're lookong for a little girl in a red car, mind if we see if she is in your trunk?" Or "OMG, a bank just got robbed, can we make sure it isn't you?" Then I would likely comply.

[Ronin13]

We are missing an important piece of information here. Did the police inform the drivers why they were searching the cars?

If I'm pulled over and told they want to search my car, and only that, I'll inform them that they are welcome to search my nutsack with their tongues. If they say, "Hey handsome, we're lookong for a little girl in a red car, mind if we see if she is in your trunk?" Or "OMG, a bank just got robbed, can we make sure it isn't you?" Then I would likely comply.

That is a big difference there, my money being on the fact that they weren't like the second example....
I got into some hot water with (what I assume was a rookie) a Jeffco Deputy a few years back while on leave. I was in my mom's pickup truck, got stopped in Evergreen at 11:30ish PM for going 40 in a 35. He asked for consent to search, I refused, he claimed that refusal alone was probable cause because I was "hiding something." A supervisor was called in- who turned out to be a friend of mine- and in the end a 20min traffic stop turned into a 40min one, but at least I didn't have my rights violated. Stick to your guns. YMMV.

[spqrzilla]

All the Aurora PD had was an anonymous tip that the suspects were stopped at a red light.

“We didn’t have a description, didn’t know race or gender or anything, so a split-second decision was made to stop all the cars at that intersection, and search for the armed robber,” Aurora police Officer Frank Fania told ABC News.

That's not probable cause for a search.

[00tec]

I've had my vehicle searched with my consent on a few occasions. No more. They had no respect for my property, literally dumped out my glove box, console and school work from my backpack in the floor, etc. Fuck being the 'obedient citizen', wake up a judge.

Every officer involved should be reprimanded in this case.

[battle_sight_zero]

Personally I find this quite shocking. I know the intent was to catch a armed felon, but there were at least 18 other innocent people just driving along and then finding themselves at gunpoint and then being handcuffed. I would find the situation quite stressful if it happened to me. I believe I would be livid if this happened to me and would make a lot of noise about it to the Chief an City counsel. I am all for police officers and realize the difficult job they have. What if the badguy started shooting and his bullets hit the others in the surrounding cars? The collar in my thoughts was not worth the risk. Sounds like a officer Tackleberry move.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Stopped, OK.
Asked for a search, OK.
Taken from my car and handcuffed in front of my kids? You are out of your mind. Nobody puts Baby in a corner and nobody puts me in handcuffs with 'someone here is a bank robber'.

If they didn't have a description, how did they ID the guy in the end??? The guy with the gun? Since when did having a gun make you a bank robber? Detained and cuffed for two hours, you have to be crapping me.

Under what legal context where these people held? Were they left out in 90 degree weather in the sun?

[StagLefty]

Hmmm, let's see here-
Comply, get cuffed and detained.
Refuse to comply, get cuffed and detained.


Helluva choice eh?

^ My initial thoughts also

[OneGuy67]

Not from official sources but, it appears that the robber was given a GPS tracker in the money and there was no suspect vehicle observed by witnesses. The suspect was tracked to that specific location and all were contacted there. Mind you, I don't know if these are true facts or not.

[battle_sight_zero]

If there was a Gps tracker then this decision was even worse. Follow the GPS until it is in safer area. I feel my car is an extension of my home , thus in my thoughts this invasion of that space was inappropriate.

[bellavite1]

How the hell does the police have the right to handcuff people in the middle of the street without a warrant them committing a crime ???