This topic caught my attention, and was wondering somethings along this line for a long time. I was wondering, since most PD's now have onboard computers, is there anything prohibiting them from randomly running tag numbers? I live in a fairly large city in Florida, and more and more, I hear of the local PD's cruising parking lots, punching in tag numbers. Do the same rules of highway stops count here? Anyone with information or firsthand knowledge about this seemingly common practice, please contact me with links, or anything.
Has Highway Stop Procedure Changed? Part II
- Thread starter Wingnut
- Start date
Ed Brunner
New member
Florida police cruise parking lots looking for new residents who have not bought FL tags.
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Better days to be,
Ed
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Better days to be,
Ed
RE: Ed's post...
Calif does it too. In years past lots of folks used to maintain out of state registration...lots cheaper than Cali. So, they check now...if they see the same out of state tags over a month, they "look into it".
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
Calif does it too. In years past lots of folks used to maintain out of state registration...lots cheaper than Cali. So, they check now...if they see the same out of state tags over a month, they "look into it".
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
I have no problem with it, I live in a large Florida city too, and anything they can do to look for stolen cars or tags or carpetbaggers. It is a good practice, LEO's can help in many ways, they are not omnipresent and can only go fight crime if they know about it. So if he's running numbers in a parking lot because nobody's in a gang fight right now and busts a felon or finds your stolen car or tags, more power to them. I also like how many people they catch with expired stickers, they come into our workplace and find violators and issue them well deserved citations. (This is not pointed at anyone, just a generalized statement) The only peope who cry about this kind of thing are people who have something to hide! i.e. parking tickets, outstanding warrants, etc., etc., etc.
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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
"The only peope who cry about this kind of thing are people who have something to hide!"
We need to be careful with that "something to hide argument." The line can be drawn many places.
If you are stopped for a burned out tail light, why would you refuse to let the police search your car if you have nothing to hide?
If there is a shooting in your neighborhood, why would you refuse to let the police search your home for guns - or take your guns for a few months for testing purposes - if you have nothing to hide?
The argument is dangerous. It must be limited. Where and how we limit our right to privacy (should such a right exist) differentiates many gun owners from many liberals. We, as citizens, should not be subject to surprise inspections without due cause (and a valid, moral warrant).
Doc, for the record, I don't have a big problem with cops running my plates and checking my registration and inspection stickers. If they want to search my car, my home, etc., they better have a good reason. We just need to be careful of that argument. It is used to justify gun control.
If you have nothing to hide, why would you be against registering your guns? If they were stolen, it could facilitate their return. It's all for your benefit.
Oh, yes, and "for the children".
It's like Al Gore - "close, but no cigar!"
We need to be careful with that "something to hide argument." The line can be drawn many places.
If you are stopped for a burned out tail light, why would you refuse to let the police search your car if you have nothing to hide?
If there is a shooting in your neighborhood, why would you refuse to let the police search your home for guns - or take your guns for a few months for testing purposes - if you have nothing to hide?
The argument is dangerous. It must be limited. Where and how we limit our right to privacy (should such a right exist) differentiates many gun owners from many liberals. We, as citizens, should not be subject to surprise inspections without due cause (and a valid, moral warrant).
Doc, for the record, I don't have a big problem with cops running my plates and checking my registration and inspection stickers. If they want to search my car, my home, etc., they better have a good reason. We just need to be careful of that argument. It is used to justify gun control.
If you have nothing to hide, why would you be against registering your guns? If they were stolen, it could facilitate their return. It's all for your benefit.
Oh, yes, and "for the children".
It's like Al Gore - "close, but no cigar!"
Dennis, roger that.
With the multiplication of laws in America, it is virtually impossible to not have done "something", no matter how innocuous (swearing, sex with the lights on, etc). The declaration that it's okay to allow one's rights to be violated because one "has nothing to hide" is farcical...
With the multiplication of laws in America, it is virtually impossible to not have done "something", no matter how innocuous (swearing, sex with the lights on, etc). The declaration that it's okay to allow one's rights to be violated because one "has nothing to hide" is farcical...
RE: Ed's post II: He's right. A buddy of mine worked for Motorola in Boynton Beach, Fla. as a contract programmer. These contracts are usually for 6 months and then you're on the road to somewhere else.
Well, the police while routinely cruising the parking lot, spotted his Alabama tags and forced him to buy Fla. tags or he'd be ticketed every day. When he tried to explain that his was transient work, they blew him off. In fact they had a Bonanza there as the company had about 70 out-of-state con-tractors there and were constantly changing personnel, so there was a fresh source of income every few months. The company said they couldn't do anything about it.
Catching people with expired tags or out-
standing warrants is OK by me, but this kind of crap only turns the police into uniformed tax collectors in my eyes.
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If you can't fight City Hall, at least defecate on the steps.
Well, the police while routinely cruising the parking lot, spotted his Alabama tags and forced him to buy Fla. tags or he'd be ticketed every day. When he tried to explain that his was transient work, they blew him off. In fact they had a Bonanza there as the company had about 70 out-of-state con-tractors there and were constantly changing personnel, so there was a fresh source of income every few months. The company said they couldn't do anything about it.
Catching people with expired tags or out-
standing warrants is OK by me, but this kind of crap only turns the police into uniformed tax collectors in my eyes.
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If you can't fight City Hall, at least defecate on the steps.
I read an article a few months back that stated the average american broke two laws a day with out knowing it. So the statement of "if you have nothing to hide" takes on new meaning now doesn't it. These types of invasions of our privacy are just reinforcing the notion that the US is becoming a police state.
Technicaly LEO are not supposed to run your tag unless they have some type of reasonable suspicion. But I know many LEO that, when stopped at a red light, run every tag they can see around them. Heck even when I'm riding I'll do the same thing. I have no problem with this perse, because all that shows up on the computer is your name address etc.. and driving record. If the LEO hits a stolen vehicle or a vehicle wanted in conection with a crime the computer alarm goes APESH*T and it tells what the vehicle is wanted for and then the LEO progress to make a traffic stop/felony traffic stop on the subject vehicle. Overall its a lot of hype created to get everyone fired up. Local LEO are on our side, there just doing their jobs. Its federal that you need to worry about abusing power.
Solo,
"They"? (Chuckle) I sure hope you don't think TFL personnel take the time to screen messages. As hard as it may be to believe, we have "outside" lives too. There is NO pre-screening.
However, someone more computer-wise than I may be able to explain how the lines get clogged and sometimes we must wait a frustratingly long time.
"pre-screening"? I don't know whether to be insulted or complimented! Hee hee.
"They"? (Chuckle) I sure hope you don't think TFL personnel take the time to screen messages. As hard as it may be to believe, we have "outside" lives too.
There is NO pre-screening.However, someone more computer-wise than I may be able to explain how the lines get clogged and sometimes we must wait a frustratingly long time.
"pre-screening"? I don't know whether to be insulted or complimented! Hee hee.
Gwinnydapooh
Retired Screen Name
Spectre, you can have sex with the lights on? Hmm . . . excuse me a moment . . .
OK, I'm back. I bet they'll be doing this in Illinois soon, too, now that our beloved Governor, Pope* Ryan, has basically doubled the "user fees" on our license plates. (Doubling "user fees" doesn't count as raising taxes, which Ryan promised not to do during his campaign, of course. Lying Republicrats. Vote Libertarian!)
*For those of you not familiar with the land of Lincoln, the guv is "Pope Ryan" to me because last spring he held a press conference to eat a McDonald's McRib when they brought it back (the move helped our hog farmers, who were dropping like flies.) That was fine until he noted that it was Good Friday (I think, I'm not Catholic) but that he "absolved" himself and the media present, so they could eat pork! He even did the sign of the cross and the hand-waving-Catholic-blessing thing. Moron.
OK, I'm back. I bet they'll be doing this in Illinois soon, too, now that our beloved Governor, Pope* Ryan, has basically doubled the "user fees" on our license plates. (Doubling "user fees" doesn't count as raising taxes, which Ryan promised not to do during his campaign, of course. Lying Republicrats. Vote Libertarian!)
*For those of you not familiar with the land of Lincoln, the guv is "Pope Ryan" to me because last spring he held a press conference to eat a McDonald's McRib when they brought it back (the move helped our hog farmers, who were dropping like flies.) That was fine until he noted that it was Good Friday (I think, I'm not Catholic) but that he "absolved" himself and the media present, so they could eat pork! He even did the sign of the cross and the hand-waving-Catholic-blessing thing. Moron.
I beleive it was the computer I was on. I was not on my personal computer at the time and was on a computer at the UT campus and it probaly took a while for it to get out of the system. Don;t mean to sound like a conspiracy nut, at the time I was reffering to "they" as moderators because I thought that lately they have cleaned up the sites posts and threads. Sorry I was totaly wrong and now I feel like an idiot. 
I was not trying to say that everyone is hiding something. But if you come out to your car to find a ticket for your tags which expired in the Carter Administration you should not immediately fly into a conspiracy theory. What I was merely trying to say was, We the lawfull residents of Florida are tired of providing public services to people from out of state who come here and do nothing but tell us how good it is up north. They come here for often greater than 6 months out of the year and do not want to pay taxes of any sort. To quote Lewis Grizzard "If its so great up North, GO! DELTA's ready when you are, have you back in Cleveland by Evening!" We have enough problems with our judicial system and welfare system paying for every illegal immigrant south of New York and West of the Mississippi flocking here. I thought the administrator's just re-iterated the point about foundless conspiracy theories. The LEO's are on our side, alot of the posters here are LEO's. If they ride through a Florida parking lot and see a Indiana tag that expired in 1978 don't think its some intrusion on you privacy. Remember the statement we all signed when we got our license's. It's a privelage, and with an estimated 50% of cars on American roads going uninsured, damn skippy they can check tags all they want. But it DOES NOT mean they are on the way to your house to confiscate your guns, censor your TV, tell you how to vote, rape your women and enslave your children. All these far-fetched conspiracy theories get tiring. Sign the damn ticket and go get your tags renewed. That is what 99.9% of their findings are when they run random tags. As for the buisness, that is one you'll have to take to a higher power. Look in your phone book in the Govt. section and call the DOT or local licensing office to clear this up.
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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
hmmmmm, "something to hide"?
Basically, the thing I see wrong with this practice is from a "right to privacy" issue... for instance, while driving on the roadways, one would tend to believe you are totally anonymous, but in fact, the LEO in the next lane, and two cars behind you knows who you are, how old you are, what your address is, what kind of neighborhood you live in (provided he knows the area), and what kind of traffic infractions you may have had in the past. I thought all this information was reserved for when you were actually suspected of some wrongdoing. Granted, it's nice to know the LEO's are out there serving and protecting, and may even recover my stolen car before it's abandoned or set on fire in an orange grove, but on the other hand, I would hate to be hassled (and it would be a hassle) to be pulled over and subjected to questioning and a request for a search, based on where I live, or that I may have had a drug arrest 11 years ago (not that I have).
My point is, it seems with these kinds of small intrusions into our private lives, we are losing larger and larger amounts of our "right to privacy". What's next? Will we have to wear picture ID's on our collar while we're taking a walk in the park, so our background can be checked to see if we have any past charges for littering?
Solo says "Technicaly LEO are not supposed to run your tag unless they have some type of
reasonable suspicion".
What is "technicaly"? Does that mean it's expressly forbidden? Does that mean it's "against the law"? And these are LEO's doing it? What's wrong with this picture?
Legacy38 says "Georgia law prevents us from doing things like that".
Is that true?....If so, what is the state statue? I am researching this practice, and I would be interested in any other states information, in paticular statue numbers, local ordinance numbers, etc.
Thanks everyone, for your input on this subject. I am enjoying reading your posts and replies!
-Wingnut
Basically, the thing I see wrong with this practice is from a "right to privacy" issue... for instance, while driving on the roadways, one would tend to believe you are totally anonymous, but in fact, the LEO in the next lane, and two cars behind you knows who you are, how old you are, what your address is, what kind of neighborhood you live in (provided he knows the area), and what kind of traffic infractions you may have had in the past. I thought all this information was reserved for when you were actually suspected of some wrongdoing. Granted, it's nice to know the LEO's are out there serving and protecting, and may even recover my stolen car before it's abandoned or set on fire in an orange grove, but on the other hand, I would hate to be hassled (and it would be a hassle) to be pulled over and subjected to questioning and a request for a search, based on where I live, or that I may have had a drug arrest 11 years ago (not that I have).
My point is, it seems with these kinds of small intrusions into our private lives, we are losing larger and larger amounts of our "right to privacy". What's next? Will we have to wear picture ID's on our collar while we're taking a walk in the park, so our background can be checked to see if we have any past charges for littering?
Solo says "Technicaly LEO are not supposed to run your tag unless they have some type of
reasonable suspicion".
What is "technicaly"? Does that mean it's expressly forbidden? Does that mean it's "against the law"? And these are LEO's doing it? What's wrong with this picture?
Legacy38 says "Georgia law prevents us from doing things like that".
Is that true?....If so, what is the state statue? I am researching this practice, and I would be interested in any other states information, in paticular statue numbers, local ordinance numbers, etc.
Thanks everyone, for your input on this subject. I am enjoying reading your posts and replies!
-Wingnut
Solo,
"Oh, I'm sorry! I forget there are some other little colleges around!"
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Now, as you look down from the chandelier, note the quotes around that snotty comment. It's the comment I got from a student at a private (Mommy and Daddy pay) university in our area! I DC'd him. (DC: vt. to fillet, cube, and serve with a decent broth preferably to a stray dog which won't be missed)
Our computers at UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) were slower than fact-finding at Waco! Al Gore had not yet invented the internet when I was in college, but our FORTRAN runs took hours... (Happily, UTSA has upgraded.)
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Doc,
No argument on expired stuff. But I was stopped twice in the Daytona/Deland area (visiting my parents) because they wanted to ask how long I had been in Florida. I'd been there two days. They told me I had to buy Florida plates. I said I was a G.I. on leave enroute to Texas from Charleston point of entry. State trooper told me not to give him grief or he'd write me a ticket. Made me feel real good about defending my country.
I've been touchy about it ever since. When registration is used simply for revenue generation it is immoral. When the blighters get a little power, many try to "improve" (expand) on it.
To be fair, I was spared a real ordeal in Georgia one night because I WAS a G.I. - so I'm aware it works both ways.
"If you have nothing to hide" is a trigger phrase - we had a related thread a while back.
If I were working in Florida for six months (and my home registration was valid), I would say that I left Florida every three weeks, thereby avoiding what I believe is a 30-day limit on grace period for out of staters.
We have LOTS of snowbirds in our area too. Their goal in life is to "be on the road" rather than "go someplace". It's rather upsetting when you're trying to go to work and these turkeys block both lanes at 2/3 the speed limit. (Grrrr.) We just take their money, sell them water (grin!) and wait for them to go home in the Spring.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I forget there are some other little colleges around!"
------
Now, as you look down from the chandelier, note the quotes around that snotty comment. It's the comment I got from a student at a private (Mommy and Daddy pay) university in our area! I DC'd him. (DC: vt. to fillet, cube, and serve with a decent broth preferably to a stray dog which won't be missed)
Our computers at UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) were slower than fact-finding at Waco! Al Gore had not yet invented the internet when I was in college, but our FORTRAN runs took hours... (Happily, UTSA has upgraded.)
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Doc,
No argument on expired stuff. But I was stopped twice in the Daytona/Deland area (visiting my parents) because they wanted to ask how long I had been in Florida. I'd been there two days. They told me I had to buy Florida plates. I said I was a G.I. on leave enroute to Texas from Charleston point of entry. State trooper told me not to give him grief or he'd write me a ticket. Made me feel real good about defending my country.
I've been touchy about it ever since. When registration is used simply for revenue generation it is immoral. When the blighters get a little power, many try to "improve" (expand) on it.
To be fair, I was spared a real ordeal in Georgia one night because I WAS a G.I. - so I'm aware it works both ways.
"If you have nothing to hide" is a trigger phrase - we had a related thread a while back.
If I were working in Florida for six months (and my home registration was valid), I would say that I left Florida every three weeks, thereby avoiding what I believe is a 30-day limit on grace period for out of staters.
We have LOTS of snowbirds in our area too. Their goal in life is to "be on the road" rather than "go someplace". It's rather upsetting when you're trying to go to work and these turkeys block both lanes at 2/3 the speed limit. (Grrrr.) We just take their money, sell them water (grin!) and wait for them to go home in the Spring.