KENS TV in San Antonio reported yesterday that the New Braunfels City Council finally approved a parking permit plan for areas of New Braunfels in the vicinity of the Comal River. As I have previously blogged ("What Parking Permits Have to Do With Criminal Cases on the Comal River") this parking permit plan has less to do with traffic control than it does with a pleasing a faction within the city that is hostile to tourists.
Under the plan, you will not be able to park in areas near the Comal River unless you have first obtained a parking permit from, and approved by, the City of New Braunfels (parking permit applications forms are now available online). Daily visitor permits can be obtained, but must be gotten in advance, and are subject to city approval. In other words, tubers wanting to float the Comal River with their own tubes will have to be willing to hike in order to get access to river. If you are getting your tube from an outfitter, you will have to find an outfitter that has managed to secure alternative parking for its customers.
The City of New Braunfels, of course, has no plans to build or acquire any public parking close to the Comal River or downtown. This is just another of a long line of ordinances passed by the City of New Braunfels in order to harass tourists. Over the last decade, many people have moved into New Braunfels who have no direct ties to the local economy -- they work in San Antonio or Austin, they are retirees, etc. Rather than valuing river tubers as a boon to the local economy, they are viewed as a problem to be eliminated. Thus, you have seen a procession of weird ordinances only to be found in New Braunfels, such as the one regulating the size of a cooler.
Ordinances which allow police enforcing zero tolerance policies to issue criminal citations to people innocently minding their own business and not bothering anyone. Perhaps when the New Braunfels City Council manages to drive tourism elsewhere, and revenue from tourism dries up, the Council will begin to use its ordinance making power to actually protect public safety and welfare, rather than as tool for harassment.
With college Spring Breaks taking place across the U.S., many of America's young people (who are our future) will experience the annual rite of passage of being detained by the cops. The best way to avoid law enforcement (although not foolproof) is to not break the law to begin with. Nevertheless, the as the sun rises in the morning, Spring Break is Spring Break, so I give the following commandments for not getting arrested. These also work at other times of the year, as well:
COMMANDMENT NO. 1: DO NOT FAIL THE ATTITUDE TEST WITH THE COP Never, ever be confrontational or disrespectful to a cop when detained, even if you think the cop is wrong or acting rudely. The difference between annoying and irritating most people and annoying and irritating a cop is simple: when a cop is fed up with you, he can arrest you. Cops are human. If you you catch one at the end of a long, tiring, and frustrating shift and you are viewed as being disrespectful, your chances of getting arrested go up exponentially. I have lost track of how many roadside videos I have watched where the person being detained might have walked away free if they had just been polite, instead of going to jail for something relatively minor. Manners can go a long way.
COMMANDMENT NO 2: DO NOT LIE ABOUT YOUR IDENTITY OR AGE In many jurisdictions, lying to a cop about your name or age when you have been lawfully detained is a jailable offense. Unfortunately, most of the people I see get arrested for failure to identify are people who are trying to talk themselves out of a citation or ticket. The getting caught lying to a cop about identity or age is almost always far more serious than the offense these folks were trying to avoid in the first place.
COMMANDMENT NO. 3: DO NOT CLAIM OWNERSHIP OF ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU. Chivalry is not dead. I know this because, at least once a month, a young man comes into my office who was arrested because he claimed ownership of marijuana that belonged to his girlfriend or his buddy, because he didn't want to see that person get arrested. And usually, by the time the case gets filed in court, the girlfriend or buddy is now an ex-girlfriend or ex-buddy and Mr. Noble is stuck holding the bag (excuse the pun). Of course, I could explain to the prosecutor that the this young man with a heart of gold simply lied to the arresting officer, but in Texas, making a false report to a peace office is often far more serious than the offense my client is actually charged with. You claim it, its yours.
COMMANDMENT NO. 4: DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH If a cop already has probable cause to believe you are possession of drugs or other contraband, he doesn't need to ask for your consent to search the place where he believes the item is located. If he asks you for consent, it means one of two things: either he doesn't have probable cause and he's going on a fishing expedition, or he's doing CYA in case his reason for searching is later found to be lacking. Never convert a bad search into a good search by giving consent.
COMMANDMENT NO. 5: DO NOT RUN OR HIDE FROM THE COP Again, I have lost track of how many people I have seen arrested for fleeing or hiding from a cop over minor stuff -- traffic tickets, minor in possession of alcohol, etc. Running from the cop will not only get you arrested, it can get you seriously injured, and buy you a lousy criminal record to boot. Ironically, I have represented many people in evading cases who would not have been convicted, or even arrested, for the offense for which the cop wanted to detain. Needless to say, if you flee, the cop will assume you are guilty of more than just running. (Also, don't judge a book by its cover. That cop may appear to have eaten too many donuts, but I guarantee you he is almost always faster than he looks -- and has backup. You are likely to lose the foot race.)
COMMANDMENT NO. 6: DO NOT REFUSE TO SIGN THE CITATION If a cop asks you to sign a citation or ticket, it's not an admission of guilt. You can always go to court and fight the charge. However, I have seen many cases where cops decided to take someone into custody after the person refused to sign a citation for a relatively minor offense (See Commandment No. 1).
COMMANDMENT NO 7: DO NOT DRIVE LIKE AN IDIOT The vast majority of arrests in the U.S. arise out traffic stops. A cop stops someone for, say, speeding, and then discovers marijuana or other drugs, open warrants, that the person has been drinking, etc. Don't draw attention to yourself or give the cops a reason to stop you to begin with.
COMMANDMENT NO. 8: DO NOT KEEP ILLEGAL ITEMS IN THE INTERIOR OF YOUR VEHICLE Rule of thumb -- keep your illegal stuff at home. But if you feel compelled to travel with it, keep it in your trunk. If your car is stopped for a traffic violation and the cop sees (or smells) even the slightest sign of illegal activity, expect a detention and search. If he can't see it in plain view or smell it, the chances of a search and arrest drop significantly.
COMMANDMENT NO. 9: DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS (OR THE GLOVE BOX, ETC.) Back in ancient times, when I was a prosecutor, I always told the cops the same thing: when in doubt, search. I would rather go to your suppression hearing than go to your funeral. Cops are killed during routine traffic stops every year, and cops are understandably cautious when detaining someone (especially at night). When you nervously put you hands on or near your pockets, or you dig around in your car's glove box before you are asked to do so, cops start getting nervous about whether or not you have a weapon, or something else you shouldn't possess. If you act this way, you are begging for a search. Don't reach for anything unless the cop asks you to do so and keep your hands in plain view.
COMMANDMENT NO. 10: DO NOT INTERFERE WITH A COP DETAINING ANOTHER PERSON If a cop is questioning your friend or relative and asks you to stand off to the side, stand off to the side. If you start to approach the cop, begin yelling at the cop, or (God forbid) touch the cop, you will be viewed as confrontational and potentially violent and will be treated as such (See Commandments 1 and 9). BONUS COMMANDMENT: BE SAFE Have fun, but not too much. Live to a ripe old age so that you can pay the attorney's fees for your children after they get busted at Spring Break.
There must be a misprint in this morning's New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. Someone is actually making a reasonable proposal having to do with law enforcement on the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers. State Rep Doug Miller is introducing legislation that would change some criminal trespassing cases from Class B Misdemeanors to Class C Misdemeanors. This is being proposed in response to the number of arrests made every summer on the Comal and Guadalupe. Most of the property along these two rivers is private, and when tubers get out of the river at places not open to the public (to rearrange clothing, grab a drink, wait for friends who are upriver, etc.) they may be committing criminal trespass. At the moment, Criminal Trespass is a Class B Misdemeanor, which means it carries a potential jail sentence of up to 180 days, or supervised probation of up to two years (not to mention that is can leave a permanent mark on someone's criminal record).
Changing some Criminal Trespass cases to Class C Misdemeanors would lower the potential punishment to a fine of $500.00, essentially making the offense the legal equivalent of a traffic ticket. Not only would this make life easier for the people being charged (most of whom weren't trying to harm anyone) but also make life easier for local law enforcement. Police now spend countless hours making arrests for Criminal Trespass on the rivers every summer -- which includes the time not only to take a person into custody, but also to transport the person to jail, book them, generate a police report, and take the person in front a magistrate to set bail. Taking these people to jail also takes up badly in needed bed space in a jail that is often bulging at the seams during the summer. Allowing a Criminal Trespass to be a Class C misdemeanor in some circumstances would give cops greatly leeway to simply issue a citation to someone rather than making a full-blown arrest. Like I said, this makes a lot of sense, so I'm not holding my breath on this actually getting passed in the Texas Legislature. But I will cross my fingers and keep you posted as this bill is considered.