Canadian Says She Was Jailed In Georgia Because Police Wouldn't Accept Her Driver's License

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed May 9, 2018, 09:48 AM - Edit history (1)

Canadian Says She Was Jailed In Georgia Because Police Wouldn't Accept Her Driver's License

David Tracy
Today 9:30am

On her 27th birthday in early April, Ontario-native Emily Nield got pulled over by Georgia police for speeding. After a police officer allegedly said her documentation—which included a Canadian driver’s license and not a hard-copy of a passport—was invalid, the officer handcuffed Nield and sent her to jail, CBC reports.

This whole situation seems silly. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Nield got pulled over on Interstate 75 in Cook County, Georgia for doing 87 MPH in a 70 MPH zone as she returned to her former university in Tennessee.

Upon showing the officer her Canadian driver’s license, the story continues, the officer told her the document wasn’t valid, with CBC reporting:

“She kept saying, ‘No, Canadian licences are not accepted,’” said Nield. “I was flabbergasted. I just kept saying this can’t be right — a Canadian licence is always valid.”

The officer allegedly asked for proof of Canadian citizenship, but when Nield offered to show digital versions of her passport, Nexus card and birth certificate—all of which were on her phone—the officer reportedly wasn’t satisfied, ultimately handcuffing Nield, putting her in the back of the police cruiser, and impounding her car.

[PoliticAverse]

1. I hope she gets a decent wrongful arrest settlement. n/t

[LisaM]

2. It is silly, but....

that is an excessive rate of speed. She shouldn't have been going that fast, so I hope she still gets the ticket for that (I hate speeding, full disclosure).

[Haggis for Breakfast]

3. What is WRONG with you ?

Okay, she was speeding, and she got a ticket for that. She didn't contest that. But to be told that her VALID Canadian license was not good enough and all of the other copies of documentation she provided were rejected ? Plus she was handcuffed AND her car impounded ?

Disrespecting her Canadian license was bad enough, but the rest of it was sheer over-kill, power-tripping by the officer.

What's wrong with you ??

[LisaM]

5. Actually, I agree with you. The police should know the law.

I live in a state next to Canada and there are Canadian drivers all over, and I have many colleagues who drive down here from Vancouver for business but geesh, that's almost 90 mph. What was wrong with her? I think they were both in the wrong (and the cop needs more training).

[Haggis for Breakfast]

7. Speeding at that level is dangerous.

You are right about that. It is too easy for a loose rock or something on the road, even an animal skittering across the street, to cause you to swerve. And at that speed, physics takes over. And who among us has conquered physics ?

Sorry for being snarky. I'm just so tired of hearing about over-reaction by LEOs, especially for people of color. The article doesn't mention that, but because of the location, I might have assumed the worst.

[LisaM]

9. No worries!

I just feel that there are many levels on which this situation could have been avoided.

[appalachiablue]

4. This is awful for the woman, parts of GA have quite a reputation

for pulling and ticketing cars, esp. out of state drivers. There's much desire for revenue collection according to Atlanta natives who've been charged there for speeding.

The invalid document claim is BS, and it's the second time there's been a post here lately about people having difficulty with digital ID records, specifically passports.

A few years ago students from DC were leaving Arizona after a hiking trip and agents at the airport held them due to their DC drivers licenses. The agents kept asking around whether DC was a state, ie valid, to the point where the couple almost missed their flight.

[LisaM]

6. There is no excuse for that lack of training.

I never heard that you didn't need hard copy ID in another country though (not referring to DC).

[Haggis for Breakfast]

8. Love your bottom quote.