idodishez Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Got pulled over today on the bike. Wasn't breaking any laws. I saw the cop eyeball me as I passed him while he was parked. Sure enough he pulled out and started following, though he was 2 or 3 cars behind. He finally passes the cars behind me and flips on his lights immediately. He said he pulled me over because he ran the plates and they came back as the owner not having a motorcycle endorsement. (The bike is registered in my dad's name) After he confirmed I had an endorsement, ran my DL, he let me go. He asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. I said because plates came back to a 74 y/o w no endorsement, not a 44 y/o w an endorsement. I asked him why he ran the plates in the first place. He said "That's what I do. All day long. You'd be amazed at how much stuff we catch" Before he pulled me over, he wasn't behind me until he was at the moment of flipping on the lights. So he had to have gotten my plate # in the brief second or so when I passed him as he was parked. He was cool about my CHL, being armed, and wasn't one of the cops that have issues w armed citizens. In fact he was cool all together. This isn't a huge deal, it just struck me as odd and unwarranted. As a stop w no probable cause. Am I right? Or is running plates w no reason other than "just because" normal SOP? "I miss America" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Which side do you want to pay me to argue on this?I can see both sides 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 I'm unsure of the legality of him just running plates without reasonable suspicion. Seems like it's not warranted but idk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDuty Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) My son was a full time cop for 8 years you would be surprised how many criminals with warrants out on them that they catch that way also some of the newer cars have scanning cameras that do it automatically Welcome to the new world I could argue both sides of this also Edited May 5, 2014 by HeavyDuty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerpaw Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Bullshit. No need to run your plate if not breaking a law. If he can't find true criminals he is wasting taxpayer dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Cops routinely do a lot of things that aren't necessarily legal. Police don't need probable cause to run plates, just to initiate a stop. That's what I meant when I said I could argue it either way. Is knowing the vehicle owner doesn't have an endorsement probable cause for a stop? That's what I could argue either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snot Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 If he was patrolling he might of caught an asshat kicking over a ninja.... I would be angry at the inconvenience, especially if it made me late for work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Idk...pretty good argument here for unreasonable search and seisure....akin to cops randomly stopping people and asking for papers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Had the same thing happen when I was rolling down 71 to the dragon once. One of the other riders...her bike was in her husbands name and he didn't have an MC endorsement. He didn't tell you the whole story....'HE' doesn't run plates, a camera and a computer do it for him. http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/2013/11/06/licenseplatescanners/3435031/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Like I said twice already, I can argue it either way.It is totally reasonable for police to randomly run plates. It allows then to track stolen cars, catch people with active warrants, and even impound people with enough parking tickets. Stopping a rider because the registered owner of the vehicle doesn't have an endorsement is trickier. I do think it's reasonable to assume that the owner is likely to be the "driver." That said, there are a lot of scenarios where that wont be the case. But a traffic stop is not a "search." Until it becomes unreasonably long, I don't think it's a seizure either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 For those of you saying this is a bad or illegal stop, google 'Terry Stop'. I think the plate/DL information is more than enough for a Terry Stop. And yes, scanning the plates is legal. Just like I can take a picture of anything I see in public, he can look at your openly displayed plates and run them. In fact the case can be made that since they run every plate there is no bias or discrimination involved. This has been going on for a long long time, Ohio is late to the game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 But a traffic stop is not a "search." Until it becomes unreasonably long, I don't think it's a seizure either. This is the correct opinion. It was a Terry stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Yup, auto scanning cameras reading all the plates. I watched one in front of me, alert on another car.Those scanning cameras were hidden on freeways years ago, to check all traffic passing.Scanning cars on freeways seems weird. But on a patrol car it seems like a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAC Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Yup, auto scanning cameras reading all the plates. I watched one in front of me, alert on another car.Those scanning cameras were hidden on freeways years ago, to check all traffic passing.Scanning cars on freeways seems weird. But on a patrol car it seems like a good idea.I actually feel the opposite way. I've got no problem with the remote cameras. But,,, a question out of geniune curiousity: Can we have fewer cops now? At least the dudes running around in Crown Vics and Chargers with radar guns? Mount the cameras in fixed locations and let the junior detectives do the work in the back room. Ask discrete questions by phone or whatever where there is a genuine concern about whether a person is endorsed to opearate the vehicle they appear to have been riding. They can sic the uniforms on the parole jumpers or whatever all day long if they want.Another newb question... why should you be able to register and plate a vehicle if you can't operate it? Seems odd. I can see titling it to a non-operator if they own it - or maybe register it to a company that rents vehicles. If you are legally able to register a vehicle as a non-operator, then the LEOs should not be allowed to use that as a pretext to stop you. Edited May 5, 2014 by DAC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idodishez Posted May 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Well given my views on LEO abuse of powers and government overreach in general, I didn't feel this was justified. I was profiled????. If I had been in my car he wouldn't have run my plate. But since I was one of those "troublemaking sportbike riders"........ "I miss America" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDuty Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) If you were in your car the automatic camera on the patrol car would not have alerted him to the owner of the car not having a license since you have one to drive it so yes you would not have been pulled over Edited May 5, 2014 by HeavyDuty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodninja420 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Sometime before I die I would love to see a cop pull someone over for doing something actually unsafe on the road. Texting, tailgating, speeding in <45mph zones, dallying in the left lane, passing in the right lanes at a high rate of speed, not maintain line markers in a curve. Basically anything other than plain vanilla speeding and trivial infractions to sniff out drunk drivers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 As stated before, I can see both sides of this. If all plates are scanned, could be helpful for finding stolen cars or warrants. A motorcycle endorsement is needed to operate a motorcycle, so I can see reason for the stop.As my in-laws get older, I can see them getting to a point eventually were they would not drive, but may own a car. They would own a car and I would drive them around for shopping and appointments. In a car, it might be easier to see that a newer car driven by a 40 year old is not the 80 plus year old the car is registered to. Maybe I would be pulled over sooner due to the LEO seeing a younger person in the car, thinking it was stolen, but not reported? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Well given my views on LEO abuse of powers and government overreach in general, I didn't feel this was justified. I was profiled????. If I had been in my car he wouldn't have run my plate. But since I was one of those "troublemaking sportbike riders"........ "I miss America"They have built in cameras that scan plates constantly. It's not a conspiracy against sport bikes. I got randomly stopped by a plate scanner on the freeway in an average old f150, nothing stood out at all, but when I drove near him his scanner hit my plates for no license (I was in hs and my truck was in my dad's name who had a suspended license) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idodishez Posted May 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 They have built in cameras that scan plates constantly. It's not a conspiracy against sport bikes. I got randomly stopped by a plate scanner on the freeway in an average old f150, nothing stood out at all, but when I drove near him his scanner hit my plates for no license (I was in hs and my truck was in my dad's name who had a suspended license)Until this thread, I don't think I knew that. I assumed he did it manually. Doesn't make me feel any better though. Still big brother;)"I miss America" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAC Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Sometime before I die I would love to see a cop pull someone over for doing something actually unsafe on the road.Texting, tailgating, speeding in <45mph zones, dallying in the left lane, passing in the right lanes at a high rate of speed, not maintain line markers in a curve.Basically anything other than plain vanilla speeding and trivial infractions to sniff out drunk drivers. This. I see at least one person run a red every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Yes they can run plates for no reason, that's how they get warrants, stolen vehicles, no ops etc. And since I assume you were wearing a helmet, it's more difficult to tell if the owner is the driver. Right or wrong, he was legal to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpoppa Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Cops routinely do a lot of things that aren't necessarily legal. Couldn't agree more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idodishez Posted May 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Yes they can run plates for no reason, that's how they get warrants, stolen vehicles, no ops etc. And since I assume you were wearing a helmet, it's more difficult to tell if the owner is the driver. Right or wrong, he was legal to do so.So if I didn't have a helmet on, he could have (hopefully) determined that I was not 74. But then he would for possible stolen vehicle. So should they pull over anyone who doesn't match the ethnicity of the registered owner? Black nanny driving white bosses kids around in bosses car. Husband driving wife's car who has her Liscence suspended? All these are lacking PC if you ask me. "I miss America" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cdubyah Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 The way I understand camera scanners, is that they are supposed to scan for license plates that are associated with Hot Files.Hot files being this already entered into LEADS: Warrants, stolen vehicles, plates, missing persons, amber alerts, etc. I'm unaware that the camera's allowed to run BMV queries. Or if those are included from ODPS to departments that run plate scanners. As far as I know, that's a violation of the LEADS system. As you can't willy nilly run a tag without investigation or reason. Regardless of human or computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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