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Notes -
Alice suspects Bob has done something wrong. Bob hasn't. If the onus is placed on Alice, she can avoid it by pursuing a different career. If it is placed on Bob, and Bob is not capable of stifling his indignation, is there some way for Bob to avoid being attacked in your proposed system?
Bob is welcome to be indignant, he just still has to do what the officer tells him to do. If the officer tells him to produce his license and registration, he can grumble about how “this is bullshit”; what he cannot do is refuse. (Stalling is a form of refusal as well.)
If Bob does refuse to comply with lawful orders (and again, the officers commands are lawful even if you’re certain you’re innocent) then the next step is that the officer will tell him to get out of the vehicle. This is done for two reasons: 1. To make sure Bob doesn’t flee the traffic stop, and 2. To separate him physically from whatever weapon(s) may be in the car. (Some officers will wait to order the person out of the car until backup arrives, because this step is where the probability of a violent altercation increases substantially.)
Again, at every point of this process it’s okay for Bob to object that he’s innocent. He just has to do what’s being asked of him anyway. If he’s confident of his innocence, he can fight it in court. Traffic citations get dismissed all the time, due to lack of evidence, or due to the police or the prosecutor just not showing up to court. Just because you got a ticket doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to end up having to pay it. All you have ti do is pass the basic civilizational test of complying with the commands of police.
And I expect your next question will be, “Okay, and what if Bob is just too angry, too agitated, too defensive, too full of pride and ego to bite the bullet and comply?” Then he gets yanked out of the car, tackled to the ground or pressed up against the car, placed in handcuffs, and placed in the back of a squad car. As long as he doesn’t do anything spectacularly stupid and irresponsible during that process, the odds of him sustaining significant injury is low. It will be very bruising for his pride and quite humiliating if others are watching, but that’s the price you pay for letting your ego and emotions get the best of you in the presence of an agent of the state.
So you consider it fair for Bob, if he cannot swallow his pride, to be publicly humiliated, without any way of avoiding the situation beforehand, but not right for Alice, if she is incapable of swallowing her pride, to be expected to pursue a different career?
And, in your view, is it a violation of his rights for him to suffer any consequences for grumbling and complaining while complying?
I think both parties should endeavor within the best of their ability to restrain their impulses, and police officers generally do an extremely commendable job of doing so, despite every day at work consisting of dealing with the angriest, most agitated, most disagreeable people around. However, when Bob acts like an asshole toward that officer, he’s acting like an asshole toward an avatar of society at large, and in order for the basic administration of justice to not turn into a massively inefficient series of individuals holding court on the side of the road, police must be empowered to take decisive punitive action to discourage people from offering significant, time-consuming resistance.
Yes, I’ve already said I don’t think there should be significant consequences for just complaining; however, I’m fine with consequences for complaining that takes the form of personal insults and especially threats to the officer. “You a bitch, I’d fuckin’ beat yo ass if you ain’t have that badge on” is a pretty common one I see. Cool, dumbass, how’s pavement taste?
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