That is exactly the right thing to do. Don't worry about pissing off the cop, he wasn't going to cut you a break anyway. Just watch COPS every now and then -- you have no 4th Amendment rights and they suggest that if you don't cooperate with them, there will be dire consequences.
I am pro-police but the tactics they use skate the line of Constitutionality.
I'm pro-police as well but here is a question that has been on my mind. Perhaps a LEO member can help.
Suppose a person is stopped and the officer asks to look in the vehicle. The citizen denies the request. He isn't hiding anything he is simply denying the officer permission. From that point on the officer--as the theory goes--cannot inspect the vehicle interior without probable cause.
Absent the smell of marijuana or anything plainly visible through the windows or other such motivators the officer sees nothing amiss.
Still, because he may think the citizen is hiding something or maybe because he's simply irked the officer requests a K-9 unit join him at the location. The unit arrives but the dog does not trigger. Again, probable cause has not been substantiated and the driver continues to refuse a search of the vehicle.
But now the police have a vested interest in finding
something. It essentially comes down to: who will decide the amount of time spent on this stop has reached its reasonable limit?
If the police want to stall this guy in the hopes he will consent to a search just to be allowed to leave are they constrained by statute or precedent or can they hold him indefinitely? If they find nothing but are responsible for him suffering some economic loss, i.e. a job as he was late for work or the loss of a sales contract or spoiled goods, are they liable for economic damages?
Normally, I'd say economic damages are the cost of "doing business" but a citizen who will never be charged with a crime should not unduly suffer loss of time or money, i.e. if the cops read the wrong address and busted down my door I damned well want my door replaced on their dime, not mine.
