MikeM@ECS

Probable cause is requred to arrest. Reasonable suspicion is required to detain (traffic stop). Reasonable suspicion is based on the totality of the circumstances.

One circumstance could be time of day, another location (high crime area or an area where drag racing often occurs for example). Another circumstance could be the young girl with an older guy in a nice car... None of these alone are reasonable suspicion but certainly each alone is grounds to observe for more circumstance that in total add up to reasonable suspicion.

No cause needed to drive behind you, it's a public road and you are not being delayed or inconvenienced in any way until you are stopped (detained). NJ is also the ONLY highly liberal state in the nation that REQUIRES a special software on their police car computers that limits their ability to run a registration FULL DISCLOSURE without reasonable suspicion.


What does that mean?

In any other state a police officer can run any plate he wants and get full information on you and your car.

In NJ, a police officer can run any plate in RANDOM mode on the computer. If you have no wants, hits, suspensions etc. He only gets back the vehicle type, year, and validity of owner's credentials. No address, nothing.

If you live in a town where you feel the cops are bored. That's a good thing don't you think? You'd probably be surprised if you knew how much they do even in the "quiet" towns in NJ

MikeM@ECS

These are NJ laws but VA is probably very similar if not the same.

Probable cause is needed to arrest. Reasonable suspicion to detain (traffic stop). No cause needed to drive behind you. NJ is also the ONLY highly liberal state in the nation that REQUIRES a special software on their police car computers that limits their ability to run a registration FULL DISCLOSURE without reasonable suspicion.


What does that mean?

In any other state a police officer can run any plate he wants and get full information on you and your car.

In NJ, a police officer can run any plate in RANDOM mode on the computer. If you have no wants, hits, suspensions etc. He only gets back the vehicle type, year, and validity of owner's credentials. No address, nothing.

If you live in a town where you feel the cops are bored. That's a good thing don't you think? You'd probably be surprised if you knew how much they do even in the "quiet" towns in NJ

peter pan

Cops never follow my stocker

zonsolo

I feel your pain. Just last week I had a local officer do a u-turn on a 4 lane road just so he could pull up behind me at a traffic light. He then proceeded to follow me thru about 5-6 turns until I pulled into someone's driveway. Figured I was going to call him out. If he wanted me, it was time to call his bluff. Needless to say, he drove past.

Benpup

I have a friend on the HP here in Ohio. He said that 50% of the time when an officer follows a car, no matter what make of model, the person in the car will get nervous and screw up. He said on a slow night it's kinda fun to see what a driver will do. 1% of the time the car will take off running and turn into a high speed chase because the person might not have a valid license, registration or something else that is stupid.

candacedianne

Not all cops are bad, that's what you have to remember. My husband did have an incident about 3 months ago where he was pulled over and his car searched. The cops in the area he was pulled over are known to be kind of dirty. He said he knew if he said 'No' to the officers, then they would find something to arrest him for or give him a ticket (I cannot remember if the windows were tinted or not). So he decided to just let them have their "fun" and search the car. He did tell them to make sure they didn't mess up anything though. My husband said they were very polite to him and were not disrespectful in anyway. And I can understand why they did what they did; that area is known for a good bit of drug dealing, and when you see a young guy in a vette, sometimes people wonder how you can afford the car. They just wanted to make sure he was clean! No harm, no foul!

ACR Z06

I have a '04 Z06 with Bullets, and to be honest, the cops out here don't even look at me. I'm always conscious when i see them on the road and i never got pulled over in the 'Vette. I guess the NYPD really don't care about fast cars out here in NYC. I'm installing LG Headers soon, so well so how that goes, lol!

I got pulled over once when i was 19, i was driving my uncle's '92 Camaro RS, the officer could of got me for failing to carry a driver's license, no seatbelt, and no registraion card (my uncle forgot to replace it, car is never used). When i told the cop i lived right up the block and he could take me home to see all my information, he said "Go home and get your licesne". I guess if you don't bull**** them, they will treat you with respect.

Patrick

Fast Cop

OK, so let me get this stright, you DID NOT get pulled over and your here complaining........, wow hate to see what you would have had to say if you did get pulled over!!!!!

frcftw

still waiting on pix of the sister???

EDenney

Going to start out by playing Devil's advocate...

Out of curiousity, what time was it when this occurred? If it was near the witching hour (1-2 AM) or shortly before it and they have nothing better to do, they'll often follow any car they come across to look for obvious signs that they've been drinking. This is especially true in small towns with less activity (no idea where you were at).

Is your car completely stock? What about illegal lighting or tinting, front license plate, or a really loud exhaust etc.?

Also, if this cop regularly patrols in your neck of the woods, is it possible he/she has seen you doing things you shouldn't be doing in the past and recognized the car? Heaven knows I built up a reputation for myself in my relatively small town of 50Kish when I was a teenager, and I wouldn't have been surprised at all if a cop would have followed me late at night. With all those sport cars you've owned, call me crazy but if I had to guess I'd say that you didn't buy them because you like to go slow . Anyway, there's usually more to a story than what you hear the first time and from only one side.

I'd consider any of the above a perfectly legitimate reason for the cop to follow you, but if none of them apply and nobody in a Corvette just robbed a convenience store in town , then it does border on harassment IMO, but if you were on the road he was certainly within his right to follow you for a short while.

Now as far as what the cop did when he/she stopped following you, it goes without saying that's completely and totally unacceptable. I really don't need to say anything more than that, an officer should be held to the highest standard and clearly that kind of driving isn't acceptable. I would definitely have reported it, somebody might have been killed and it might happen again, that's more important than any harassment you might incur.

Oh yeah, and as far as my personal experience goes, I've been pulled over more times in my life than anybody I've ever personally known. But I bought my Vette when I was 30 after I had sewed most of my wild oats (certainly not all), and since then I don't think I've been pulled over more than 3-4 times and haven't been harassed at all. Each of those times I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing and received a ticket every time best I can remember. In all honesty I'm usually speeding everywhere I go (like everyone else that lives in So-Cal), but I don't drive recklessly or obscenely fast, nothing like I did when I was young and I don't make any excuses for that behavior.

In short, despite owning a car with a color that stands out more than just about any other on the road, I haven't been harassed in the slightest. However, I live on th edge of the greater L.A. area, about 30 mi. NW of downtown L.A., and Corvettes are a dime a dozen in this region. Just driving one isn't going to get you pulled over in So-Cal, you'd need to be doing something wrong or have built up a rep. with the local LEOs.

MUKAK

the cops in my AREA simply like corvettes!!!

never got hassled by any cop, had some give up!!

and yes a few followed, and those were the 1s to give the up

dont worry bout it.

AC54ME

Sounds like a lot of

ZeroToSixty

I have just one,.............

Merlin02

Why is the officer a D**K? Is that because he was patrolling the strrets and doing his job? I say....no harm - no foul. The original poster wasn't even stopped. I say don't holler until you're hurt. Just my $.02 worth.

ZeroToSixty

True,.......it was late on a Friday night and I live in a sleepy town.

It just seemed like quite a bit of checking out and turn for turn following for someone that wasnt doing anything.

I have nothing against police what so ever, except when their actions seem to be revenue enhancement for the county and or for no good reason.

Run my tags, pull me over, whatever,......but following me into my neighborhood, then out of my neighborhood,..........then pulling a bad ROCKFORD in the middle of the road and amost causing an accident is a little much.

R Devil

She lets little kids climb on railings??

Markss

I have owned two different Corvettes, and numerous DD in the past thirty years and have never felt that while driving the Vettes that more attention was being paid to me by the PD.

EDenney

She must be a Jackson .

ajg1915

Nothing wrong with police officers verifying car info or following you for a few miles to make sure you are not a drunk.

Issue was his poor driving manuever and almost causing an accident. Police Officers are not above the law and have to follow the same rules as we do.

Be lucky, you don't have to deal with the NJ & MD State Troopers, they have got to be the worst bunch that I have dealt with.

Most officers that I know are good people, but there always a few bad apples.

Ran into a crack pot of a police office on the Mass. Turnpike the other week. He drove like an idiot and almost rear ended me when he pulled me over. I was driving the Audi A6 at the time.

I haven't had a ticket in such a long time (at least 5 years) and this idiot wrote me up for so much bull crap. Ticket was like $510 bucks.

I guess I'll see him in court soon.

ZeroToSixty

Yes, I noticed that,........that was the reason I took the pic..........believe me that was the last time that happened. Not too swift even if you are holding them securely.

BTW, I have nothing extra on my car,.........no tint, no aftermarket exhaust or even a loud stereo.