Can cops pull me over for nothing?

Many more times than I can count, someone has asked me, "Can the cops pull me over for nothing?" My answer is always, "They can't just pull you over for nothing". But as always the devil is in the details, what does it take for the police (including Tennessee State Troopers) to be able to pull you over in your car? http://nashvilleduiinfo.com

Lets just start with the presumption that you have a lesser expectation of privacy in your car, (privacy is derived from the 4th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to be free from unreasonable search and seizure)for public policy reasons such as public safety. So starting with that premise, what does it take to get pulled over? There are two ways to find yourself pulled over in your car in Tennessee by the police, one is Probable Cause that a Tennessee traffic violation has been committed, the other is Reasonable Suspicion that crimes is a foot supported by specific and articulable facts. Ok, now what does that really mean?

Probable Cause to believe a Tennessee traffic violation has occurred, it is quite simple regarding this requirement, if you are violating a traffic law, they can pull you over. Probable cause could be a license tag expired, no headlights on, and failure to stop at a stop sign, the list can go on for as many traffic rules as there are in Tennessee. They can also pull you over in Tennessee for violation of the seat belt law.

Pulling someone over in Tennessee for a traffic violation under probable cause is simple enough, but the complex part of this stop becomes, how long can they hold you once the reason for the stop is over, at what point does that become unreasonable and violate your Constitutional Rights. In essence, once the stop is over for the original reason they stopped you, have they obtained further evidence to continue to hold you for something else they suspect you of, this is the argument that is contained in so much case law from The Tennessee Courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. Each case stands on its own facts to determine what point and time a valid stop under Probable Cause becomes invalid.

What is Reasonable Suspicion that crimes is a foot supported by specific and articulable facts? if you have not violated a Tennessee traffic law, how can they pull you over? What are the specific and articulable facts? They are facts that the police can specifically point to that taken with rational inferences can allow for a stop of your vehicle.

How does that (reasonable suspicion) work in Tennessee? Lets say there is a car parked behind the Piggly Wiggly in Nashville, just sitting there at night, say around 12 midnight. The car is breaking no laws that we know of, so this could not be a stop based on probable cause of breaking a traffic law. The next step would be, is there reasonable suspicion in the police officers mind supported by specific and articulable facts to make the brief detention of the car. Well the officer thinks it odd that the car is sitting there, is that enough? probably not. The next fact might be that there had been some break ins at the Piggly Wiggly in recent days, and the surveillance camera caught a car pulling away from store after one of the break ins. Is this enough, probably, the police officer can probably stop the car from leaving. You can say this is the totality of the circumstances that resulted in there being specific and articulable facts for the officer to make the stop. The facts of the break ins, being after closing hours, a car sitting behind the store, and the police officers own observations, all these things would probably be specific and articulable facts that the office could then draw rational inferences from to think crime is about to happen or has happened. Thus the stop of the vehicle behind the Piggly Wiggly becomes valid.

Can they just stop me arbitrarily to check my drivers license? No, absent some other information that they would have to know about you, they cannot just pull you over to check your license.