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Legal to run a plate for no reason?

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casperlcaf

Junior Member
State Tennessee

Is it legal for a Police officer to selectively pull up behind you and run your plate?
If the answer is yes because of suspicion then the next question would be, If the officer claims suspicion but does not find anything wrong that the officer was suspicious for (since a officer can claim suspicion on anything) but instead says heres a ticket for expired plates.
Does it make it legal?What is the name of your state?
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
casperlcaf said:
State Tennessee

Is it legal for a Police officer to selectively pull up behind you and run your plate?
If the answer is yes because of suspicion then the next question would be, If the officer claims suspicion but does not find anything wrong that the officer was suspicious for (since a officer can claim suspicion on anything) but instead says heres a ticket for expired plates.
Does it make it legal?What is the name of your state?
Q: Is it legal for a Police officer to selectively pull up behind you and run your plate?

A: Yes.



Q: Does it make it legal?

A: Yes.
 

casperlcaf

Junior Member
Thank you I always wondered if it was legal for an Officer to harass the public even under suspicion and we wonder why so many are against them.
I was this victim and yet he found nothing other than a out of state plate, I presented my DL, proof of insurance (valid), registration (valid), Military ID, Military police badge and ID, asked what the reason was and was told suspicion.
My suspicion was fishing, hoping, harrassing out of a state visitor.
I asked because we are not allowed to select a plate/vehicle without just cause, when we do we better be writing a warning, or find a ticketable offence but I guess thats the difference between Military and civilian. And we wonder why its a us against them attitude out there.
 
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CdwJava

Senior Member
casperlcaf said:
Thank you I always wondered if it was legal for an Officer to harass the public even under suspicion and we wonder why so many are against them.
It's not "harassment", it is proactive police work. It is also a great way to find wanted criminals.

If you do not like it, lobby your state legislators to forbid the practice of running plates and names without cause. Until that happens, I can see you walking down the street and if I know your name I can even run you for warrants without contacting you.

I was this victim
You were the victim of what?

...and yet he found nothing other than a out of state plate, I presented my DL, proof of insurance (valid), registration (valid), Military ID, Military police badge and ID, asked what the reason was and was told suspicion.
You say the registration was valid ... but didn't you say you got a ticket for expired registration? :confused:

I asked because we are not allowed to select a plate/vehicle without just cause, when we do we better be writing a warning, or find a ticketable offence but I guess thats the difference between Military and civilian. And we wonder why its a us against them attitude out there.
Local policies (military or civilian) may differ. I know that the military police on at least some of the bases out here do it the way the police officers out here are trained and they can run it if they feel they need to.

The only people that get upset about being run by the cops for "no apparent reason" are the people who get caught in violation of the law. But, there is ample court case law saying that driving is a privelege, and that law enforcement may freely check for registration status, license status, warrants, etc., without articulable suspicion so long as it is for a legitimate law enforcement purpose ... i.e. it is NOT to find out who the cute blonde is in the VW Bug so you can ask her out on a date.

I have found many stolen cars this way, and dozens of wanted felons. It's a great method of proactive policing.

- Carl
 

sukharev

Member
casperlcaf said:
State Tennessee

Is it legal for a Police officer to selectively pull up behind you and run your plate?
If the answer is yes because of suspicion then the next question would be, If the officer claims suspicion but does not find anything wrong that the officer was suspicious for (since a officer can claim suspicion on anything) but instead says heres a ticket for expired plates.
Does it make it legal?What is the name of your state?
You asked the wrong question. The right question to ask is: is it legal for you to drive with expired plates (I gather it's different from expired registration)?

And, of course, you know what the anser is. So, chill out, fix your plates and show the judge the proof of current paperwork. If you are respectful, admit you let your plates expire but show that you took care of it, the judge may either dismiss the ticket or reduce the fine. Even if he does not, take it as inevitable loss due to your own mistake.

Don't blame the officer, he was just doing his job. Expired plates (clearly visible, don't have to run them to see the old sticker) are legitimate cause for running the plates and stopping you.
 

casperlcaf

Junior Member
Yes I did post a ticket for expired plate but I didn’t get one that was a hypothetical scenario maybe I should have regrettably said a broken headlight, wouldn’t matter.
Posting in this manner I received answers to both questions, I’ve been asked more than once by civilians and military personal.

The reason I posted this, this time is when I was much younger, I was constantly pulled over, now that I’m considerably older I’m not about to tolerate it because I simply have a out of state plate and that’s exactly the reason, I’m to old to be intimated.
Can I prove it **************.no other than knowing and doing the same line of work. I know the attitude I work with some of them.

So I would chill out when an Officer of the law actually had a different attitude than simply boredom and harassing an out of state LEGAL plate in this instance.

The true question which was answer already (thank you 1st poster) was is it legal to run a plate without just cause.

Victim of what? Harassment, boredom to simply state "suspicion" and leave it at that is ridiculous and if you think its proactive then so is giving your DNA to the Federal Government at birth why stop there with proactive, we should be cloning perfect humans to erase diseases.
This can easily be debated on and on, on both sides. If you have done this as normal procedure I’m quite sure you’ve found nothing on more than one instance. Just because someone doesn’t complain doesn’t mean they are happy about having their time wasted.
As for bases not sure what ones you are referring to I’ve covered quite a few in 8 yrs, the only time plates or cars get randomly ran (or searched for that matter) on a military instillation is at the gate, or under suspicion of theft or terrorism.
I won’t doubt the statement other bases do, since I can not claim I’ve been to them all and I would suspect it would also be dependant on which branch controlled and authorizes police officers on that base.

"The only people that get upset about being run by the cops for "no apparent reason" are the people who get caught in violation of the law."
(I won’t even waste time replying to this statement other than by saying.....absurd, typical statement and simply not true).

On that note post away, I will no longer post on this topic since it was answered. I will say this, we all bleed the same color, and treat people respectfully as you would like to be.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
and realize there is a difference between "running one's plates" and "pulling one over "

one is legal without justification and the other isn't.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
casperlcaf said:
Yes I did post a ticket for expired plate but I didn’t get one that was a hypothetical scenario maybe I should have regrettably said a broken headlight, wouldn’t matter.
Well, a broken headlight would be an obvious violation.

The reason I posted this, this time is when I was much younger, I was constantly pulled over, now that I’m considerably older I’m not about to tolerate it because I simply have a out of state plate and that’s exactly the reason, I’m to old to be intimated.
To pull you over an officer needs reasonable suspcion to believe you are somehow involved in criminal activity. He can't simply pull you over in order to run your plates. But, since he can do that without pulling you over, there wouldn't be any need.

So I would chill out when an Officer of the law actually had a different attitude than simply boredom and harassing an out of state LEGAL plate in this instance.
If it is legal, then there is nothing to worry about, is there? It's never a good idea for an officer to cite for another state's plates unless they can show they are expired or the officer KNOWS the state's rules for which the officer is citing. There is case law in CA to this effect and officers have lost good criminal cases based upon bad stops involving misunderstandings of other state's laws.

Victim of what? Harassment, boredom to simply state "suspicion" and leave it at that is ridiculous and if you think its proactive then so is giving your DNA to the Federal Government at birth why stop there with proactive, we should be cloning perfect humans to erase diseases.
Issues involving giving up DNA at birth and cloning is a far, far cry from running license plates on a public street.

This can easily be debated on and on, on both sides. If you have done this as normal procedure I’m quite sure you’ve found nothing on more than one instance.
Of course. But all because I have found nothing does not make the practice illegal, immoral, fattening, or otherwise wrong.

I have also found that alarm calls tend to be false 99% of the time. I guess we shouldn't respond to alarms anymore ... after all, only about 1 in 100 is valid. I have a better chance of finding a wanted criminal, suspended driver, or bad registration making random checks of license plates and known drivers than I do for alarm calls.

Just because someone doesn’t complain doesn’t mean they are happy about having their time wasted.
How is it wasting your time if I run your plates while we are both driving?

As for bases not sure what ones you are referring to I’ve covered quite a few in 8 yrs, the only time plates or cars get randomly ran (or searched for that matter) on a military instillation is at the gate, or under suspicion of theft or terrorism.
I dunno ... I knew quite a few. Maybe the Marines do it differently. Or, maybe the policies vary by base or by state.

I won’t doubt the statement other bases do, since I can not claim I’ve been to them all and I would suspect it would also be dependant on which branch controlled and authorizes police officers on that base.
Sure.

"The only people that get upset about being run by the cops for "no apparent reason" are the people who get caught in violation of the law."
(I won’t even waste time replying to this statement other than by saying.....absurd, typical statement and simply not true).
Well, if I run your plates and there is nothing wrong, you would never know I did it, and you would never have a beef with it. The only people that raise a stink about it are those that get caught.

On that note post away, I will no longer post on this topic since it was answered. I will say this, we all bleed the same color, and treat people respectfully as you would like to be.
I do just that. I have never had a beef for attitude, demeanor, etc. Been doing it for 15 years and have managed to avoid any kind of attitude complaint and only one use of force allegation that was determined to be "unfounded" (i.e. it didn't happen - which it didn't).

So, if you don't like cops running your plate or even your name when you are tooling along in your car, speak to your local legislators or law enforcement officials. Legally, it is permissable. Politically, it can go any way.



- Carl
 

AHA

Senior Member
casperlcaf said:
Yes I did post a ticket for expired plate but I didn’t get one that was a hypothetical scenario maybe I should have regrettably said a broken headlight, wouldn’t matter.
Posting in this manner I received answers to both questions, I’ve been asked more than once by civilians and military personal.

The reason I posted this, this time is when I was much younger, I was constantly pulled over, now that I’m considerably older I’m not about to tolerate it because I simply have a out of state plate and that’s exactly the reason, I’m to old to be intimated.
Can I prove it **************.no other than knowing and doing the same line of work. I know the attitude I work with some of them.

So I would chill out when an Officer of the law actually had a different attitude than simply boredom and harassing an out of state LEGAL plate in this instance.

The true question which was answer already (thank you 1st poster) was is it legal to run a plate without just cause.

Victim of what? Harassment, boredom to simply state "suspicion" and leave it at that is ridiculous and if you think its proactive then so is giving your DNA to the Federal Government at birth why stop there with proactive, we should be cloning perfect humans to erase diseases.
This can easily be debated on and on, on both sides. If you have done this as normal procedure I’m quite sure you’ve found nothing on more than one instance. Just because someone doesn’t complain doesn’t mean they are happy about having their time wasted.
As for bases not sure what ones you are referring to I’ve covered quite a few in 8 yrs, the only time plates or cars get randomly ran (or searched for that matter) on a military instillation is at the gate, or under suspicion of theft or terrorism.
I won’t doubt the statement other bases do, since I can not claim I’ve been to them all and I would suspect it would also be dependant on which branch controlled and authorizes police officers on that base.

"The only people that get upset about being run by the cops for "no apparent reason" are the people who get caught in violation of the law."
(I won’t even waste time replying to this statement other than by saying.....absurd, typical statement and simply not true).

On that note post away, I will no longer post on this topic since it was answered. I will say this, we all bleed the same color, and treat people respectfully as you would like to be.
Calm down, you are blowing this way out of proportion. Surely there are bigger issues in the world to be upset about.
 

xylene

Senior Member
AHA said:
Calm down, you are blowing this way out of proportion. Surely there are bigger issues in the world to be upset about.
Like government DNA databases, and cloning, the illuminati and its New Wolrd Order...

and Greys, and secret underground Airforce bases, and HAARP, and Chemtrails, and Bio-implantaion of microchips (666 the mark of the Beast) and EMP and Red Chinesse Bird Flu, and cattle mulitation, and microwave harassment (aluminium wallpaper time :D ) and FEMA concentration camps and citizen relocation codes, and the UN Draft, and depleted uranium in the sperm, and Nuclear dump sites on indian reservations, and Autism (Assburgers ;) ) we all know who cares about that, and chemical weapons being reproccessed into children's toys, and the Reptoid connection to the GOP, and glass in babyfood, and strychnine in their candy.

So many thing to care about...
 

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