—–Original Message—–
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 9:50 PM
To: info@coptalk.info
Subject: Traffic Stop
i was legally waiting, in the center of blvd for cross traffic to clear, to make a left turn into a business-medical center, with my blinker on, when a cop car pulled up behind me flashed his lights and siren . i pulled in to the center and parked. cop told me he pulled me over for a "traffic stop". asked for my license registration insurance everything was in order he ran my license and it was clean asked where i was going so forth than asked me and the passenger to get out of the car and asked to search in car for weapons i consented. i had not broken any laws or made any moving violation. passenger got irritated and wanted to know what the reason was that we got pulled over for the officer got in his face and said "do you want me to write it down on a piece of paper for you?" yes he replied . later was told that i had been co-operative and he was just going to let me go but since the passenger had an attitude he was going to give me a ticket, then he inspected the vehicle up and down and underside looking for something found a small crack in windshield and gave me a fix it ticket , Is that legal>? to randomly pull someone over without just cause?
Our Reply:
It’s hard to answer these types of questions having only one side of the story. If an officer pulls over a vehicle, they must have a reason; a violation or some type of probable cause to make the stop. The bad news is that almost every car on the road usually has something wrong with it giving an officer a legal reason to stop it. No front plate, expired registration, cracked windshield, worn tires, vehicle too high, too low, aftermarket lighting, brake light or signal light out, loud exhaust, tinted windows (some states), no license plate lamp, driver not using a blinker, throwing a cigarette out, no seat belt etc etc. There are literally hundreds of things an officer can pull over a vehicle for.
When an officer pulls over a vehicle they have discretion on what they do. If they pull over an elderly woman for a mechanical violation such as a light out she probably wouldn’t be asked to get out of the car for a search unless the officer suspected something. From your post it sounds like the officer sensed or suspected something and it is not unusual for an officer to ask for consent to search a vehicle if they have suspicions. You do not mention who the passenger was, did they or you have a history with the police? Did you come from an area known for high crime? Drugs? These are all things that make the difference between an officer overlooking a small crack in a windshield vs. using that probable cause to pull a vehicle over. Cracks in a windshield are highly visible from behind the car and that’s all the officer would need as a reason for a traffic stop.
As for your passenger, have you ever seen the comedy clip from Chris Rock titled "How not to get your a** kicked by the police"? If not, google "chris rock what not to say to the police" and watch the clip. Pay special attention to the clip of giving a passenger a ride. It’s exaggerated and funny but partially true, many a person has gotten a ticket rather than a warning because of their passengers bad attitude. If you don’t agree with a traffic stop you can take it up in court or call the police department afterward and ask a supervisor. DON’T argue it on the street with the officer, you’ll always end up with a ticket, towed vehicle or worse, an arrest.
Without all the facts, we can’t comment on why the officer pulled you over but there had to be a violation, reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Officers can not just randomly stop a vehicle for no reason but like I said, almost every vehicle on the roadway has something an officer can legally pull it over for if they really wanted to make a stop……
