Does An Officer Need A Reason For A Traffic Stop

[MedicRoy]

Does a police officer need a reason to stop a vehicle? A friend of mine was with his wife the other night, when a police officer activated his over-head lights and stopped their vehicle. When he approached the car, the officer stated " He thought it was his friend" and stopped them by mistake. I realize the officer was probably going to mess with someone he knew and it backfired. Is this a violation of their civil rights? They now want to file a complaint, but they do not know if it was wrong to begin with. Any one ever have this happen or know of it happening? Is there anything they can do to complain?

[Anonymous]

A police officer is supposed to have a lawful basis for the traffic stop - that is, for a traffic violation or equipment violation observed by the officer, or reasonable cause to believe that there is another lawful basis to pull over the driver (e.g., a reasonably reliable tip that the driver is a fugitive, or is transporting illegal drugs).

This type of incident is not unusual with minority drivers (that is, in some parts of the country), or with drivers out around bar closing time, where some officers just want to take a closer look at the vehicle, its contents, the driver, and passengers. Usually, though, in such cases the officer will recite a minor traffic violation as the basis for the stop, even if the driver is subsequently allowed to leave 'with a warning'.

A civil rights violation? Yes, being stopped by the police without a lawful basis would be a civil rights violation. However, the litigation I am most familiar with arising out of such violations has been in the nature of class actions, typically seeking injunctive relief, because it is difficult to establish any appreciable monetary damage to any given driver.

Most police departments have established procedures for accepting and processing citizen complaints about officer conduct. In some areas, there are also citizens watchdog groups which accept complaints.

[lyunardo]

In Washington state, they've passed a law where an officer can run a "plate check" on any vehichle at random, without cause, and stop them if need be. This gives them the leeway to stop anyone they feel like, at any time.