Has Highway Stop Procedure Changed? Part II

I humbly apologize for using the term "something to hide" :(
I was merely trying to point out how many people I see with expired registrations and carpetbagging. I have never heard of any of the stops to question how long you had been in the state, but I can see it happening. I know that a majority of us are totally clean. But I also know I pay $$$$$ every year for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. So if they notice an expired sticker and run the plates, MORE POWER TO'EM!

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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
 
A couple of points:

It's illegal for the police to investigate someone unless there's probable cause to believe a crime is being or is about to be committed. I consider running someones plate an investigation.

There is no requirement, in any state, that I know of, to keep the tabs on a car current. It's only if it's operated on public roadways that it needs to be registered. So . . . if a vehicle is parked on private property with an expired tag, there is no violation, and no ticket should be written.

Yes, cops do go around running plates as a kind of fishing expedition. It really pisses off the dispatcher (me.) I have to put down my book or paper, or - god forbid - tear myself away from TFL for a moment, take my feet down off the console, to assist the officer in his illegal investigation.

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“The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals. ... It establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of.” -Alexander Addison, 1789
 
The statement was I believe in a parking lot, and god help us all if you have to put down your paper and do something for the tax dollars we spend. Nothing is illegal about seeing that the color of the sticker on a vehicle in a public parking lot is the wrong color. This is a viloation of the law and thereby legalizes the officer running your tags.

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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
 
DocSpanky; The key there is "Public." An unregistered car with NO plates can sit on private property (as long as it doesn't violate zoning laws). A cop does not have the right to cruise private property and check for expired tags unless he (or his agency) has been given that power by the owner or a local ordinance.

That's why they call 'em "Moving Violations," because you gotta be moving to commit the violation.

However, if the lot is public property, I'm willing to bet that the gloves are off, and they can run expired tags till the cows come home.

-stark-
ShootersNetwork http://www.shootersnetwork.com
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DOC...I believe deanf was attempting a joke...lighten a little. Stark is correct, private property is just that, private property. Let's look at this another way. Would we enjoy having a peace officer site our rusted out 53 chevy pickup that's been litterin' our back yard since 63? You say it's parked out of site behind a fence?? So what pals...private property, you know!!
 
Oh I am fully aware it is all in joking, I out of respect just quipped about the paper, I coulda really chidded him and told him that what he really had to put down was his doughnut ;) I am only kidding with people, but as I was trying to point out the original post was wriiten from the prospective of a PARKING LOT, not a driveway or backyard. Heck yeah I'd be pissed if a LEO came in my back yard and ran the tags on my project Charger. It has not had current tags since 1981. But If I drove it to Dunkin Doughnuts to fetch a snack for deanf ;) (JUST JOKING PEOPLE), then hell yeah I'd expect a ticket.

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DOCSpanky
"Walk softly and carry a big stick, perferably one of the 12 guage variety!"
 
Actually guys, (and gals),
I was really refering to LEO's running ANY tags...not just expired ones. They have a habit here of just running profile cars (i.e. dent in side, rusted hood or roof, just general pieces of sh*t cars, etc.). With the driver in the store, is this a proper procedure?
 
Gwinny- Ryan is NOT a Republican! He's a Democrat in Republicans clothes! This guy is a Democrats wet dream. Why do you think he got voted in in DEMOCRATIC Illinois? All the Dems love the guy! And the Repubs hate him........
 
I was only half joking. It does sincerely piss me off when I have to assist an officer in an illegal investigation, no matter what I was doing when he interupted me.

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“The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals. ... It establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of.” -Alexander Addison, 1789
 
Hey guys....

Guess what phase of the CJA we are in? Patrol Techniques.....

First, some history:

I vividly remember driving around with my father (remember, the same guy who bought me guns and taught me to shoot ;)) as he explained to me how he often ran the tags of the vehicles he was stopped behind at traffic lights. This was probably in the mid to late 70's.. so save the referrences to on board computers and modern liberal conspiracies.. Cops have been checking up on people forever.

In my previous life in TN, Tags were regularly run, not as much out in the counties, but Metro would run them routinely. Not only to check for proper registration, but also to see if a warrant hit came back on the owner of the vehicle. Obviously, this was done more in high crime areas than low-crime.


Now, here at the CJA, the official line is "Reasonable suspicion" to run a tag. So, if anything, LEOs are LESS LIKELY today to run a random tag than ever. Not only are supervisors listening to the radio traffic, but the dispathers will have a record of who ran who, so, if a complaint was made you would be asked "why?". Apparently (at least in VA), you can find out if and when your tags/SSN have been run through "the computer", which I just learned last month.

Do I run tags "at random" ?

No, but I am a pretty creative guy and "Articulable Reasonable Suspicion" is pretty vague. ;)



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-Essayons
 
Sportster, I don't buy it. Republicans and Democrats are just too damn close to tell the difference. As for the Republicans hating Ryan, I'm sure a lot of Republican VOTERS do--they were expecting something different from what the Democrats offered. They were foolish to expect that. The Republican leadership, however, has a strict policy against disliking or in any way threatening things that make them more powerful--and a candidate who can hold the governor's office, no matter what kind of weasel he is, comes under that banner.

Besides, notice how now that George W. is starting to have his own troubles with drug use and draft dodging, it's as if the Dems and Reps from '92 have simply changed places? That's not a coincidence--neither side believed in what it was saying 8 years ago and neither side really believes it now. All they believe is that they're smarter than you and me and they should be in charge.

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Don

"Its not criminals that go into schools and shoot children"
--Ann Pearston, British Gun Control apologist and moron
 
Dennis, re your post of Sept 22 --

Be careful about your 'aggie' remarks, those folks are everywhere.

By the way, there are only three Aggie jokes -- all the rest of those stories are TRUE!

My gosh, I can't believe many cops have time to run all those plates. I know I don't. I'd rather be serving bonafide arrest warrants on felons (rapists, child sexual assaulters, murders, etc) who have be indicted by a grand jury of their peers.
 
I agree with Doc. Anyone remember Ted Bundey(sp?). The regular cop on the beat is not part of any conspiracy or member of any Black Orcad team. He's just out there looking for bad guys. But, then again, I'm one of the guys doing the looking.

Joe

I want to keep my guns too!
 
The law would say that there is simply no expectation of privacy in a license tag publicly displayed (as required) on the outside of a vehicle. Though perhaps morally wrong, there is nothing unconstitutional about systematically running all tags possible. However, it may very well be made illegal for police to do this by certain states - I don't know - It would definitely be constitutional for a state to prohibit their police from running arbitrary searches. The constitutional law on this issue (4th Am search & seizure) is indeed about safeguarding the right to privacy, balanced against the competing interest of solving crimes. There is no one more in favor of total privacy against the gov't for those areas in which we do, in fact, have a legitimate expectation of privacy, than myself. I think the law here does apply a fair, correct GENERAL test (Do we have a reasonable expectation of privacy?), though I certainly don't always agree with the Supremes about the result in many instances, especially about searches inside one's car or home. Here, though, I would agree with the result - I personally don't expect the gov't/police to do anything less than they apparently are, with info like tags openly displayed. Not a slam on police - that is just their mindset/training; to be suspicious by nature and stick their nose in wherever they can. I will be the first to want to kick their nose out of where it doesn't belong. But it's hard to argue that they don't have a right to check any and all tags, esp. since one of the specific reasons for the state requirement that the tag be publicly displayed is so that LEOs can readily obtain info about the vehicle, and also the likely driver. This is true because driving is a privilege, not a right (in the law's eyes). This privilege should be distinguished from one's separate RIGHT to keep certain personal areas INSIDE the vehicle's compartments/containers private and free from searches, absent prob. cause.
 
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