When hustled by the police

Waber

New member
Sep 2, 2013
17
0
0
Hey everyone. This is my first post, but I have been reading lots of information on this site. Thanks to all those that have contributed. I will be living and working in Santo Domingo, about 2 weeks a month for the next 2 years. While I do not know much Spanish ( am learning), I am otherwise comfortable with the travel risks and watching my back.

The biggest concern I have with my travel is being pulled over by the police ( national police) This has happened several time in the few short visits that I have had. Fortunately I had Dominicans in the car each time I was pulled over, but from what I can tell, I was pulled over for driving while americano. I will have to drive for my work, so this situation will be unavoidable.

How do you typically handle these situations? Is there a standard amount that the national police are looking to hustle me for? Or is there a standard amount that they would be happy with?
any advise on how to handle this particular situation would be appreciated. It seems to be a problem that is not going to go away...
 

Castle

Silver
Sep 1, 2012
2,982
1
0
In my experience, as long as you have all your documents, there's nothing they can do. Oh, yes, they will try to intimidate you, but they don't want to take you to "destacamento", all they want is money. if you don't budge and they have nothing against you, they will let you go. Giving them a tip of $100 won't hurt, but you might just have given them a reason (bribing a police officer) to ask for more.
If you are in fact at fault (ran a red light, wrong turn, etc) and don't want to have any problems, $100 or $200 should be enough, but policemen usually go in pairs, so you might have to double that amount.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
48
You're already looking at it the wrong way. Don't break the law, carry the proper documentation and deal with it in such way. Be nice, polite and professional. Police for the most part won't get involved in traffic stops (AMET) does that, they may stop you at the toll booth or checkpoints while driving in country.

Good luck!
 

Waber

New member
Sep 2, 2013
17
0
0
Thanks for the replys, i guess I am looking at it in the wrong way, but through the experiences I've had, the police national pulled us over eaxh time not AMET. They seemed more concerned with lining their pockets than protecting the public.

I'm not a law breaker, an will have all legit papers, just not used to that kind of abuse of power. A lot of comments in this forum mentions that this is common practice by PN, and I want to navigate through these situations as professional and smoothly as possible.

Thanks again for the responses.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
48
Thanks for the replys, i guess I am looking at it in the wrong way, but through the experiences I've had, the police national pulled us over eaxh time not AMET. They seemed more concerned with lining their pockets than protecting the public.

I'm not a law breaker, an will have all legit papers, just not used to that kind of abuse of power. A lot of comments in this forum mentions that this is common practice by PN, and I want to navigate through these situations as professional and smoothly as possible.

Thanks again for the responses.

Hold your ground on those premises and they'll get it.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,328
113
Not always..... you're not in Kansas any more.

You'll see that there are some ( like me) who advocate the "keep moving" strategy.
 

flyinroom

Silver
Aug 26, 2012
3,795
683
113
Not always..... you're not in Kansas any more.

You'll see that there are some ( like me) who advocate the "keep moving" strategy.

lol......
That was our strategy back in the day when the police had no vehicle with them at the side of the road. (They would be bussed in to their spot.) Then, there was an occasional motorbike. Then small vehicles................
I'd probably be a little hesitant to fly on by.
If you caught them on a bad day, they might come after you and they'd probably be really ticked off.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,328
113
I have had 2 on a moto knocking on my window..... 50mph....

You need to discern when to stop and when to not....

this has been discussed at length here
 

wuarhat

I am a out of touch hippie.
Nov 13, 2006
1,378
89
48
Just pull over and resign yourself to fifteen or twenty minutes of explaining, "Pero, no he hecho nada equivocado." Of course make sure you've got the license, registration, and insurance t's & i's crossed and dottedo
 
Been pulled over many times, never a big deal! Sometimes in the middle of no where or at night i will go around them and they never chase me.
I find the best thing is to speak little Spanish and not understand what they are saying. They usually get annoyed and tell me to go.
As long as you have a drivers license and proper insurance etc you should be fine from what i have found. Not an expert but not to worried when stopped.
 

TropicalPaul

Bronze
Sep 3, 2013
1,366
614
113
I live in the Colonial Zone and I am constantly driving around Santo Domingo. You get used to where the police checkpoints tend to be set up, and you avoid them when you live here - there is almost always a route around. I'm not sure where you'll be living, but here in Zona Colonial the main checkpoint is down by the river near the floating bridge. There are routes around it, and they always have a meal break between 12 noon and 1pm, so I try to time journeys to pass them then.

Never drive at night, there are far more checkpoints at night and the police are much more aggressive.

There are some guys who are not real police, they are wearing police uniforms which they have somehow got hold of. Two of them go up and down the 27th February on a motorbike and always stop foreigners. They stopped us once and my friend called a General in the police, who confirmed they were not real police. They are only looking for money.

In my experience, if the police see a foreigner driving they tend to hesitate as to whether to stop you. They don't want hassle, and it's very risky taking money from us as they are worried we will tell our embassies who will complain to the government. Whilst they are hesitating, that's the time to wave or just keep driving. Many times I've seen one policeman say go and another say stop, so I take the go option.

I honestly wouldn't worry about being stopped by police though. Provided you plan your routes, you'll avoid them most of the time.
 
Mar 1, 2009
941
144
0
It's true night driving is where they will get ya. I got stopped by two Moreno cops on bike, I couldn't lose 'em. I kept smiling and waving but that big m-16 finally compelled me to stop. Which I did in front of the hotel Melia. So if you can and if you are driving at night. Stop in a well lit place and let the process run its course. You won't have to give 'em a dime. If your in a hurry that's another story but otherwise don't budge & you will be fine.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

Jumbo

Bronze
Jul 8, 2005
1,503
94
48
Having the right #'s stored in your phone might speed up the process of going on your way with the same amount of money in your pocket as before you were stopped. Seems this DWG ( driving while gringo ) thing is getting out of control recently.
 

anthony

Member
Mar 17, 2010
242
4
18
I got pulled over in the parking lot of the Puerto Plata airport by 2 cops. We all know the lot is too small to make an illegal turn anywhere , lol. He told me that they usually take the car away when making an illegal turn in the lot. So I turned off the car , took out the keys and handed them to him. He got so angry that he let me go with a " warning "- what a joke, lol
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
I live in the Colonial Zone and I am constantly driving around Santo Domingo. You get used to where the police checkpoints tend to be set up, and you avoid them when you live here - there is almost always a route around. I'm not sure where you'll be living, but here in Zona Colonial the main checkpoint is down by the river near the floating bridge. There are routes around it, and they always have a meal break between 12 noon and 1pm, so I try to time journeys to pass them then.

Never drive at night, there are far more checkpoints at night and the police are much more aggressive.

There are some guys who are not real police, they are wearing police uniforms which they have somehow got hold of. Two of them go up and down the 27th February on a motorbike and always stop foreigners. They stopped us once and my friend called a General in the police, who confirmed they were not real police. They are only looking for money.

In my experience, if the police see a foreigner driving they tend to hesitate as to whether to stop you. They don't want hassle, and it's very risky taking money from us as they are worried we will tell our embassies who will complain to the government. Whilst they are hesitating, that's the time to wave or just keep driving. Many times I've seen one policeman say go and another say stop, so I take the go option.

I honestly wouldn't worry about being stopped by police though. Provided you plan your routes, you'll avoid them most of the time.

Timing my trips and taking another route to avoid them? Not necessary at all. I drive through the capital everyday, great part if the day and when I'm stopped it's when I was actually doing something wrong (calling, turning where I shouldn't). I either paid something or talked my way out of it, or if Amet received the penalty. The 2 or 3 times I was stopped without a reason, I gave my papers and no problem.

Some of us want to make of the DR some kind of jungle whete you need special surviver skills to move around / be able to live. I'm no surviver at all and even though can think of reasons to go back home, can manage living here, cause its nothing extraordinary.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,069
6,216
113
South Coast
Mr. AE's brother - Dominican - was pulled over a couple of days ago by AMET. They said he ran a red light, which he says he didn't. They impounded his vehicle, and he had to go watch a 20 minute video about safety, then pay a 1600 peso fine, then go to Km 12 to pick up his truck. When he got there the guy asked for permission to search his vehicle. BIL asked if he had an order from the fiscal, guy said no, BIL said 'in that case, no'. Guy asked if he had a gun in there, BIL said no, guy said, 'okay, go'.