I write to offer some background information regarding the ongoing discussion pertaining to the bus stop by officers of a Georgia sheriff’s office.
While I have no direct source of information, based upon published news articles and my service as a former Delaware police officer, I believe that I can offer some clarity as to what occurred.
On its face, the actions of these sheriff deputies are consistent with what is referred to as a drug-smuggling interdiction stop. This is a law enforcement practice that has been in use, at least in the mid-Atlantic region, since the late 1980s.
An officer will initiate a traffic stop, then use his five senses to determine if there is probable cause to suspect that the vehicle operator might be engaged in potential criminal activity. In the Georgia case, the deputies used a “drug-sniffing” dog, who allegedly “alerted” to potential drugs on or about the subject vehicle. On my various trips to Florida over the past 20-plus years, I have seen evidence of these stops on northbound Interstate 95 in southern Georgia, with vehicles pulled over on the northbound shoulder and the contents of the vehicle being examined on the shoulder of the roadway.
With respect to the allegation that this traffic stop was racially motivated, I see no evidence to support that charge. The vehicle involved appeared to be a full-size, tour-type bus with no apparent markings on its exterior and with heavily tinted windows. The racial makeup of the passengers of this bus would be impossible for the police officers to determine when making their initial determination to stop this vehicle.
Robert Gouge
Middletown
