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How far can a police officer follow you?

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jewregister

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Michigan

After clocking you with the radar gun, is there a maximum distance the officer can follow you before pulling you over? My friend was clocked at 20 over, and the cop did not turn on his lights or anything until my friend had turned onto a different road over 2 miles later. Is there a limit as to how far he can follow you?
 


Curt581

Senior Member
jewregister said:
After clocking you with the radar gun, is there a maximum distance the officer can follow you before pulling you over? My friend was clocked at 20 over, and the cop did not turn on his lights or anything until my friend had turned onto a different road over 2 miles later. Is there a limit as to how far he can follow you?
No. The officer can follow as long as he wants.

He can wait until you both reach a safe area to stop you, or he can wait until the computer check of the registration comes back, or he can wait to stop you until he's darn good and ready.
 

jewregister

Junior Member
well ive heard theres a limit from a whole lot of people, but if not thats gay because the cop obviously wasn't pursuing him very well because he didnt even make it to him until after he stopped at a sign 2 miles down the road for a few seconds, turned left, went down the road the road a quarter mile way slow because he was looking for an address to deliver a pizza to, pulled into a driveway, to turn around then the cop just then turns onto the road then turns on his lights.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
jewregister said:
well ive heard theres a limit from a whole lot of people,
Then a "whole lot of people" are wrong.


but if not thats gay
And that statement is juvenile.


because the cop obviously wasn't pursuing him very well because he didnt even make it to him until after he stopped at a sign 2 miles down the road for a few seconds, turned left, went down the road the road a quarter mile way slow because he was looking for an address to deliver a pizza to, pulled into a driveway, to turn around then the cop just then turns onto the road then turns on his lights.
Apparently he wasn't in pursuit. He took his time for whatever reason. All that matters is that he observed the driver make the violation.

- Carl
 

mometal77

Junior Member
off subject

I dont drink but have been followed for over 15 miles and gotten pulled over. They look to see if you are going to speed more. Usually just pull over let them pass. I mean what you pull over and you stop they get behind you and say they pulled you over? Funniest thing i ever saw a guy on cops drive all the way home brand new chevy truck pulled up at his driveway got out they arrested him but couldnt take his truck.
 

Crazed98

Member
mometal77 said:
I dont drink but have been followed for over 15 miles and gotten pulled over. They look to see if you are going to speed more. Usually just pull over let them pass. I mean what you pull over and you stop they get behind you and say they pulled you over? Funniest thing i ever saw a guy on cops drive all the way home brand new chevy truck pulled up at his driveway got out they arrested him but couldnt take his truck.

Huh?? What does not dinking have to do with anything.
 

JETX

Senior Member
jewregister said:
Is there a limit as to how far he can follow you?
Yes, there is. The 'limit' is his jurisdictional line (city limit for city officer, county line for county sheriff, etc.).... unless he is in pursuit. Then, there isn't a limit.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
JETX said:
Yes, there is. The 'limit' is his jurisdictional line (city limit for city officer, county line for county sheriff, etc.).... unless he is in pursuit. Then, there isn't a limit.
I suppose it depends on where you are ... in some states (like CA) that isn't really a problem. But then, we define "pursuit" as an event where someone is actively failing to yield from an officer with lights and sirens.

How 'bout: The limit is the amount of gas in the car? :D

- Carl
 

Curt581

Senior Member
JETX said:
Yes, there is. The 'limit' is his jurisdictional line (city limit for city officer, county line for county sheriff, etc.).... unless he is in pursuit. Then, there isn't a limit.
That's not entirely true.

Vehicles can be followed and stopped after crossing jurisdictional lines, as long as the violation occurred inside the officer's jurisdiction. If the officer can articulate why doing so was reasonable and prudent, he won't have a problem.

For example:

An officer clocks a speeder on a road leading to a bridge. The bridge crosses over a river separating two jurisdictions. There are no shoulders or distress lanes on the bridge, making stopping the vehicle hazardous to oncoming traffic. The officer can follow the speeder over the bridge and stop him on the other side in an area it's safe to do so.

Here's another.

A person driving in Smith County witnesses a male driver in another auto punching a female passenger, while their vehicle is going down the road. The witness calls 911 and gives Smith County Sheriff the car's locations while following. If the vehicle crosses into Jones County, Smith Co. Sheriff can still stop and arrest the driver for battery.

Borders are not "invisible walls" which police may not ever cross for any reason. The definition of 'fresh pursuit' is much broader than you think. It doesn't necessarily involve a high-speed, lights-and-siren police chase.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Curt581 said:
That's not entirely true.
Your examples are all valid.... but unusual and based on special circumstances. My answer was as to the 'normal' circumstances. In any case, the fact remains.... an officers jurisdiction STOPS at his 'line'. If he wants to continue, he either has to be in pursuit... or with the assistance of the neighboring officers.

hot pursuit
n. when a law enforcement officer is so close behind the alleged criminal that he/she may continue the chase into another jurisdiction without stopping or seeking a warrant for an arrest in the other county or state. It is equivalent to fresh pursuit.

fresh pursuit
n. immediate chase of a suspected criminal by a law enforcement officer, in which situation the officer may arrest the suspect without a warrant. It can also refer to chasing a suspect or escaped felon into a neighboring jurisdiction in an emergency, as distinguished from entering another jurisdiction with time to alert law enforcement people in that area. Example: when a deputy sheriff from Montgomery County pursues a car driven by a suspected bank robber into Baltimore County (in which he normally has no power to enforce the law), the doctrine of fresh pursuit allows him/her to make the arrest. It is also called hot pursuit.

Since this writer is in Michigan, I offer the following Michigan caselaw:
People v Hamilton 465 Mich 526; 638 NW2d 92 (2002)
"A police officer may exercise his authority in another jurisdiction when working in conjunction with an authority of that jurisdiction. In this case, the defendant was stopped in Howell Township by a city of Howell police officer who observed the vehicle the defendant was driving, which did not have operating taillights, swerve onto the shoulder of the road. As a result of the stop, the defendant was charged with drunk driving and driving on a suspended license. The defendant moved to dismiss the charges on the basis that the arrest had occurred outside the officer's jurisdiction. Although a police officer may act outside his jurisdiction under certain circumstances, none of those circumstances existed during the defendant's arrest.

Arrest - Legality - Police - Outside of Jurisdiction
Generally, a police officer who makes a warrantless arrest outside of his jurisdiction is treated as a private person for the purpose of determining his authority to make the arrest.

Arrest - Citizen's - Misdemeanor - Elevation to Felony - Effect
Arrest - Citizen's - Standard
A private person may make a felony arrest, and may make a misdemeanor arrest under certain circumstances. In the absence of a warrant, no arrest may be made without an actual belief based on actual facts which establish probable cause of guilt. In this case, the officer arrested the defendant only for misdemeanor offenses. It was later discovered that the defendant had prior convictions which elevated his drunk driving offense to a felony offense. However, at the time of the arrest only misdemeanors were apparent, and thus the office did not have general felony arrest authority.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
Michigan has some silly laws on the matter. And a friend of mine who is in TX has the same problems ... though even he is not sure if it is a political or a legal restriction.

Fortunately, in my state, such a stop and a DUI arrest (as in your example) would have been quite legal.

And out here the term "Pursuit" has some added legal liability so that term is rarely used unless a person is actively fleeing.

And in our OP's case, it sounds as if he's still done.


- Carl
 

Curt581

Senior Member
JETX said:
Your examples are all valid.... but unusual and based on special circumstances. My answer was as to the 'normal' circumstances. In any case, the fact remains.... an officers jurisdiction STOPS at his 'line'. If he wants to continue, he either has to be in pursuit... or with the assistance of the neighboring officers.
I'd hardly call such examples "special circumstances" or particularly "unusual". In my area, they happen all the time.

One of the most common examples are drunk drivers. I usually prefer to follow a suspected DUI for some distance, to establish clear probable cause. Seeing more than one violation speaks to impairment. If I see a vehicle traveling 10 mph or more under the speed limit at 1:00 AM on a Friday night, I'm going to follow and look for more signs of erratic driving, even if that results in the suspect car traveling a short distance out of my jurisdiction before I make the stop.

I've made literally hundreds of DUI arrests, and have yet to have one get tossed due to jurisdictional questions.
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
But, I do know that some states ARE pretty anal about this stuff. Mine isn't - and apparently yours isn't either. The issue is never raised here for a number of reasons ... not the least of which is that among the first acts of any new Chief or Sheriff is that he/she sends out a letter to every other agency in the state granting them permission to conduct enforcement and investigations in their jurisdiction. That and state law render the jurisdiction question moot.

- Carl
 

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