Random Traffic Stop Essay

The purpose of this brief detention of the car’s driver by a law enforcement official is to look into a few infractions of the law or potential crimes. The suspect is typically pulled over from the vehicle in order to make a stop, which happens frequently. Typically, the patrol car has sirens, loudspeakers, and lightbars. The police detective uses signals to draw the suspect’s attention. (Klein, 2013).

The law enforcement officers’ random encounters are used for a variety of purposes, not just to apprehend speeders. Some of the most common uses of these random stops include interdiction stops, traffic enforcement, criminal investigation and dull enforcement (Rusonok, n.d).

Why Driver Hate Random Traffic Stops

So many drivers hate random traffic stops because they consider them to be time wasting and also as a means used by police officers to poke a nose into their personal affairs. Some drivers also hate the random stops from the fact that some cops can just stop you for any or no reason and can also decide to detain you for a long time in the name of “investigation” (Legaline.ca, n.d.).

5 Conditions for Random Stop

The arrest

Violation of traffic laws

Suspicion

Brief investigation

Voluntary encounter

The arrest comes first because it is the only way that law enforcement officers can arrest and prosecute criminals. Secondly, when a person violates a traffic law it is important to stop one so as not to cause further harm. Third, when police suspect that the driver has not met certain requirements and drives under the influence of alcohol, then it becomes necessary to stop him or her. The fourth factor, the law enforcement officer has to stop drivers to carry on a brief investigation. The last in the list is a voluntary encounter; this is least important because it might end up wasting innocent drivers’ time.

References

Klein, P. Michael (2013) Motor Vehicle Stops and the Charter: Points to Consider and Some Interesting Cases. CRIMINAL LAW AND THE CHARTER PAPER 1.1. Retrieved on May 31, 2017 from http://www.cle.bc.ca/PracticePoints/CRIM/MotorVehicleStops.pdf

Rusonok, O’Connor, Robbins, Ross, Gorham & Angelini, llp (n.d.) Know your rights. Retrieved on May, 31, 2017 from https://www.criminaltriallawyers.ca/?q=know-your-rights

Legaline.ca (n.d.) Police powers to stop vehicles and question drivers. Retrieved on May, 31, 2017 from https://www.legalline.ca/legal-answers/police-powers-to-stop-vehicles-and-question-drivers/