HFA WP member thrown in back of police car for no reason.

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I have just gotten word from a member of WP that she was thrown in the back of a police car for no reason. Basically, she was walking to work, the police officer asked her several very nosy questions, and then told her to get in the police car. She did not have any form of ID with her. The cop let her out of the car only after he realized he had nothing to hold her on.

Is it illegal now to walk around without an ID? I did not think so. Can a police officer tell you to get in a police car for no reason? I am not sure. It just does not seem right that this individual, one of my best online friends, was. She is a perfectly good, law-abiding citizen, not to mention highly intelligent. Also, she is currently in college, studying to become a paralegal.

It made me angry enough to post her story here in the haven.

One thing she has done after the incident is order a medical bracelet. She thinks that because of her Asperger's Syndrome, the officer may have been more suspicious of her. The bracelet she has ordered mentions High Functioning Autism (HFA) and not Asperger's Syndrome because, she says, the term "autism" is recognized by more people.

Another thing she has done is consider to file a complaint against the officer. She is currently discussing with her father whether or not to do this.

I may post updates or more details here or elsewhere as becomes necessary.

What country is this?

They may have been looking for someone of her description, or something like that. They don't have to tell you whatever reason they have for detaining you, but I am suspicious, if the officer thought enough to put her in the car, why he didn't take her to the precinct house for questioning. Something seems odd here.

I think you are right for being angry. I'm not happy, either, and I don't know the poor girl. I don't know exactly what happened, but generally if they think enough to put you in the car, you are going 'downtown'. She is also probably right about her AS arousing suspicion, also. No input on the complaint.

Give her a hug for me...

It's always good to mention to police that you have a mild form of autism. The lack of eye contact and 'drugged' look makes us seem suspicious. They may never have heard of autism, but you have to let them know. They can't mind read.

Since nothing untoward actually happened, I think the guy was just doing his job. It's never pleasant being involved in this sort of thing, but I don't think he did anything wrong.

It happened in the U.S. and in a large, well-known city.

My boyfriend used to get harassed by the police. He used to get stopped by the police all the time. He was just minding his own business by walking and he get stopped and get questioned. One of them was the same officer and one day he threatened to report him if he kept harassing him. The officer never stopped him again. He figures he was stopped because of his weight and it made them suspicious but you can't stop someone for being overweight if they aren't doing anything suspicious. That's why he called it harassment.

Must've been traumatizing I hope she's ok.

one time I got stopped by the cops because they thought I looked like a shoplifter who was described as a "white male." I matched the description, I guess. This was the campus police, however.

in which country did this happen (and im asking anyone who this happend to)

Well I live in America and over the years I have had a few encounters. The problem is aside from high school and collage of hanging out with the wrong crowds sometimes, you become associated with them. Also I like to just get out and be on my own, I creep into the woods, park my car in weird areas and sometimes go for long walks into the city late at night. I have a 3rd shift scedual so I am up while others sleep, this kind of behavior seems odd sometimes to some people, especally cops cause they are trained to look for suspision. Tho I have been in trouble a few times for various youthful indescretions, nothing too serious, most of the times an officer encountered me I really was doing nothing wrong I just looked weird walking down by the river at 3am or parking my car on the side of the road and gettin out with a backpack hiking into the woods. I just comply, GIVE IDENTIFICATION BECAUSE IT IS ILLEGAL NOT TO HAVE ID ON YOU AT ALL TIMES! and then am sent on my way.

Sorry this happened to her, its too bad she does not know what reason the officer had for detaining her, but not showing ID at least means the cop has to detain her to check out her information on the computer and if all checks out then they are let go, I think this is what happened.

Yea thats absolutely horrible that had to happen to her, hope she is ok!

I had two police officers ask what was wrong with me when i was reaching for their badge haha, i just pointed to the back of my bfs car, he has a license plate that is dedicated to autistics, and they were like oh, then my bf goes yea shes autistic, as i walked in circles made weird noises, no eye contact, jumped up and down, and screamed out of nowhere haha. Luckily police officers by me are now trained to deal with autistics, they told me and my bf shortly after that they were just at a meeting where autism society of new jersey set up to train police officers, the fire department, and other professions about autism, and what to do and look for. I was very surprised, and amazed how nice they were.

I think there should be more of that going on especially with police officers, because they need to know more then anybody!

I'm sorry but in the USA you are not required by law to have any form of identification on you. All you're required by law to give an officer and this is only on request is name and home address. If you're driving then you are required to have ID but that is a different story.

I happen to be very anti-government so do things on purpose to get reactions and learn these little things. Like walk downtown at midnight in a hooded sweatshirt with no id. They really don't like it when you know your rights. Now, because of the highly unconstitutional "Patriot Act" (ha! what a misnomer that is) if they want to charge you as being an unlawful combat in the action of perpetrating an act of terrorism they can detain you indefineatly without any rights. But there is still nothing that requires you to have ID.

I had a police car follow me in the early morning hours as I was going into work at a local hospital in my hometown. He followed
me for such a long time...until he saw me turn to drive into the hospital entrance. Guess he must of thought I was a drug dealer
in that early morning hour.

Anybody who's seen a World War II movie has heard the tagline "Show me your PAPERS!" usually with a heel click and a swat of a riding baton. There is no requirement in the United States to show papers. You must comply with the officer and give your name (and usually address) depending on which state you're in. You may have to state your business, as in, "I was taking a walk", or "I was running drugs for the mafia". Actually, that one's not a very good idea. If an officer is suspicious, or, as someone pointed out, looking for someone of your description, he or she is not going to have much of a sense of humor about that. Officer's are at risk every day. Unfortunately, sometimes they are assaulted or killed while doing their jobs protecting us. This is all specific to WALKING. As someone already said, if you're operating a vehicle, you must produce an operator's permit.

Identifying that you have a condition that may affect how you appear to the officer is always a good idea.

I have security guards trailing me in museums. We attract attention because of aloneness and 'poor' body language. Theyr'e trained to look for 'odd' people, 'suspicious' people. It's all part of the asperger experience, encounters with security forces.

When I am at the airport (which is rarely) I have been stopped, twice, the last time the most intensely. Security took me into their room, with many computer monitors (I have an eidetic memory), and asked me verbal questions. A lot of questions and many of them repeated. I was nonplussed! I was taking a day-flight within Alaska. The security guard said I was 'too observant' and kept looking at everything in the airport area, even looking through the one-way glass. He said I did a few 'full circles' of observing/spotting. This is true, I do.

This just was a nuisance for me but I didn't do anything wrong or bad. I look fine. BUT - I had to explain: I had a lot of chemistry notes in my pack - I was going to Anchorage to another laboratory! This was...hard to explain but I think security finally 'got it.'

Sorry about one of ours being taken into a police car....I hope she's ok and not - panicked?