Because I'm white, I stand out when I go places where everyone else is Black. Because I'm a white guy hanging out in a place that scares deputies, they honored me by giving me the "Black" treatment, i.e. pulled over for no reason, just so they can run a warrant check.
This was a violation of the 4th Amendment (Supreme Court, Terry v. Ohio, 1968). I filed a formal complaint, denied. I asked the officer who denied the complaint, was he telling me the Supreme Court is WRONG ABOUT THE 4TH AMENDMENT? He said, yes, they were. He was in effect overruling the SCOTUS.
The deputies retaliated against me for filing a complaint. I was easy to spot, driving a commercial vehicle with my name in three-foot letters. The pulled me over again on a bogus seat-belt violation, frisked my Black passengers and were going to frisk me, but I beat them to it. I dropped my jeans to the ground, flashed the deputy on the road side, while my two Black friends laughed their a$$es off. First time I made a cop so mad he cried! He searched the vehicle even though I told him I did not grant permission, didn't find anything criminal. Later I beat the seat-belt charge in court, and the judge admonished the officer who pulled me over for lying in court.
I know when an officer is entitled to ID and when he isn't. Justice Byron "Whizzer" White clarified that in his concurring opinion in
Terry v. Ohio:
"There is nothing in the Constitution which prevents a policeman from addressing questions to anyone on the streets. Absent special circumstances, the person approached may not be detained or frisked but may refuse to cooperate and go on his way. However, given the proper circumstances, such as those in this case, it seems to me the person may be briefly detained against his will while pertinent questions are directed to him. Of course, the person stopped is not obliged to answer, answers may not be compelled, and refusal to answer furnishes no basis for an arrest, although it may alert the officer to the need for continued observation.
I have on a number of occasions refused to identify myself to a police officer who is not entitled at that time to that information. If a cop asks you for identification, just ask if you will be arrested if you don't provide it. If he says no, don't tell him who you are. Police have no business monitoring lawful activities by having law abiding citizens identify themselves.
I will be 70 y.o. in two weeks, US Army veteran (E-5, Honorable Discharge), and I have
never been arrested.