Traffic Stop

[ksjane]

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What is the name of your state? KS

Is there a "certain" distance that an officer can "follow" you "before" stopping you for a minor traffic infraction?

Thanks in advance.What is the name of your state?

 

[justalayman]

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What is the name of your state? KS

Is there a "certain" distance that an officer can "follow" you "before" stopping you for a minor traffic infraction?

Thanks in advance.What is the name of your state?

Did you mean "can" follow you or "must" follow you. In either case,,,no.
As soon as he observes the infraction,,,,,bang,,,,,, "hit the lights Friday we've got us a violator, let's go violate him!!!"

 

[ksjane]

So can they "legally" follow you for roughly 7 blocks before stopping you for not making a complete stop and not using your turn signal? I thought I saw something somewhere (way to be specific huh ) that said they can only follow you X-amount of blocks before pulling you over. I know they can pretty much do what ever they want, but I am wondering if this is something worth fighting? It happened to a friend, I was not there so I cant really say for sure what happened, but it is a VERY hefty fine. He says he did make a complete stop and used his turn signal, and the cop followed him for quite a while before calling 4 other cop cars for back up? So should he pay the fine, or fight it? Just curious. Thanks again.

 

[justalayman]

So can they "legally" follow you for roughly 7 blocks before stopping you for not making a complete stop and not using your turn signal? I thought I saw something somewhere (way to be specific huh ) that said they can only follow you X-amount of blocks before pulling you over. I know they can pretty much do what ever they want, but I am wondering if this is something worth fighting? It happened to a friend, I was not there so I cant really say for sure what happened, but it is a VERY hefty fine. He says he did make a complete stop and used his turn signal, and the cop followed him for quite a while before calling 4 other cop cars for back up? So should he pay the fine, or fight it? Just curious. Thanks again.

Not to be a doubting Thomas, especially since my name is not Thomas, but there is probably more to the story.

There is nothing wrong with the stop as you present it. They were probably just running the plates before they pulled him over and apparently waiting for the others to get close.

What else did they nab him for? 5 cars is not your average stop. I suspect they suspected more than a simple traffic stop.

 

[ksjane]

Not to be a doubting Thomas, especially since my name is not Thomas, but there is probably more to the story.

There is nothing wrong with the stop as you present it. They were probably just running the plates before they pulled him over and apparently waiting for the others to get close.

What else did they nab him for? 5 cars is not your average stop. I suspect they suspected more than a simple traffic stop.

-----What more could there be?

-----That is what I was thinking, I just thought it was strange that it took 7 blocks in a 30 mph zone to call in legit tags and back up for a minor traffic infraction.

-----I saw the traffic ticket. The only 2 infractions were the ones mentioned above. Well, bummer, I guess legally, he is just out 200 bucks, ouch. Anyway, thanks for your help.

 

[CdwJava]

We can follow people anywhere we have a lawful right to be, and for as long as we wish. There can be any number of reasons why the officer followed you for blocks before stopping you. i can't begin to guess the reason only to say that more than a dozen come to mind immediately. But, even if it is to follow and wait for a violation, that is lawful.

And additional officers respond for any number of reasons ... boredom, safety concerns, vehicle matches a stolen car, etc. There are dozens of reasons why additional officers showed up.

- Carl

 

[ksjane]

We can follow people anywhere we have a lawful right to be, and for as long as we wish. There can be any number of reasons why the officer followed you for blocks before stopping you. i can't begin to guess the reason only to say that more than a dozen come to mind immediately. But, even if it is to follow and wait for a violation, that is lawful.

And additional officers respond for any number of reasons ... boredom, safety concerns, vehicle matches a stolen car, etc. There are dozens of reasons why additional officers showed up.

- Carl

-----I am only going to assume here, so correct me if I am wrong, but you say "We can follow people anywhere we have a lawful right to be, and for as long as we wish." I am assuming by "we" you mean you are a cop? Just out of curiousity, would you care to elaborate on the dozen that come to mind? I am just rather curious now. I certainly can understand the safety precautions, but one person, in one vehicle, for a minor traffic infraction---sounds a bit odd to me?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

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What is the name of your state? KS

Is there a "certain" distance that an officer can "follow" you "before" stopping you for a minor traffic infraction?
?

No.

And the reason it took so long to run the tags may not have anything to do with the officer. IT could have been that dispatch was busy and this was a low priority 'run' or any number of reasons.

And I've been followed for more than 10 miles on several ocassions, although it was on the freeway. Even in town, I've been followed more than a mile. Does that mean the officer is 'running' me or that we are going in the same direction?

 

[CdwJava]

-----I am only going to assume here, so correct me if I am wrong, but you say "We can follow people anywhere we have a lawful right to be, and for as long as we wish." I am assuming by "we" you mean you are a cop?

Yep.

Just out of curiousity, would you care to elaborate on the dozen that come to mind?

Officer happening to be going the same way ... thinks he recognizes the driver and is waiting to see if he can get a glimpse of him/her ... Dispatch is slow running the license plate ... priority traffic on the radio so officer waits to make stop when air is clear ... license plate is a "near match" to the plate of a stolen vehicle and is waiting for other officers to get in the area ... officer is waiting for a good, safe location for the stop ... officer really wants to stop the car and is waiting to observe the violation ... somehow thinks driver is DUI and is waiting to see probable cause to make contact ... officer thinks suspect or vehicle are wanted or are involved in a crime somewhere and is waiting to find cause to pull it over ... officer is bored and wants to scare John Q. Public ... officer's radio isn't working properly ... officer is flirting with Dispatcher on MCT and realizes he's behind a car and decides to make a stop ...

In any event, he CAN follow you as far as he wants.

I am just rather curious now. I certainly can understand the safety precautions, but one person, in one vehicle, for a minor traffic infraction---sounds a bit odd to me?

The only person you can ask who can give you the answer is the officer himself. And he doesn't have to tell you.

- Carl

 

[ksjane]

Flirting with the dispatcher eh************** Well, I guess all is said and done. Buddy is out 200 bucks Anyways, thanks everyone for their responses.
Hey CdwJava---this is completely off topic, but how do you reply with the quotes only on certain lines? I've tried, but have "operator error" apparently. Thanks again everyone.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Flirting with the dispatcher eh************** Well, I guess all is said and done. Buddy is out 200 bucks Anyways, thanks everyone for their responses.
Hey CdwJava---this is completely off topic, but how do you reply with the quotes only on certain lines? I've tried, but have "operator error" apparently. Thanks again everyone.

It's a cop THANG

 

[CdwJava]

Flirting with the dispatcher eh**************

Well, I haven't done it, but I have known officers to carry on lurid discussions with certain dispatchers via the car computers (MCT, MDT, or whatever they call them this week). Unfortunately, the bosses now review those messages so it's pretty rare these days. But it used to be REAL entertaining when you figured out how to "listen" in on your beat partner's MCT messages.

Hey CdwJava---this is completely off topic, but how do you reply with the quotes only on certain lines? I've tried, but have "operator error" apparently. Thanks again everyone.

They are html tags ... simply type (without the space between the bracket and the letters): "[ quote ] to start, and [ /quote ] to end. Or, highlight the text you want to quote and clip the "quote" button at the top of the text box.

- Carl

 

[BelizeBreeze]

They are html tags ... simply type (without the space between the bracket and the letters): "[ quote ] to start, and [ /quote ] to end. Or, highlight the text you want to quote and clip the "quote" button at the top of the text box.

- Carl

Not bad. I might have to offer you a 'second-career'

 

[CdwJava]

Not bad. I might have to offer you a 'second-career'

One of my "other duties as assigned" is to act as the city's computer weenie.

I offered to do it on a contractual basis but they balked. However, I do NOT do networks ... that's a contract job! Which is good because I do not know networks and routers with a dang.

- Carl