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chrissci
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| Joined: | Tue Aug 8th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Nov 4th, 2006 09:18 pm |
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I am currently in my second year of CJ. I am doing a term paper on traffic stops. The area I cannot seem to get a correct answer is;
Is a traffic stop an arrest situation? Meaning, since the person you stop has not got the right to leave, they are being detained. The detained individual is actually in an "arrest situation", until the officer states they are free to go, or they are given a citation.
I would love any and all comments about this subject. Thank-you.
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FMPDsgt3002
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Posted: Thu Nov 16th, 2006 05:41 am |
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Chrissci--This a good question. A traffic stop is not an arrest. A traffic stop is a temporary detainment. It is true that the person you stop is prevented from leaving the scene but in all actuality, the offender can leave. Quite frankly, if the offender leaves the scene and you've obtained all of the necessary information, you can get the citation to the offender at a later time. The bottom line is, a traffic stop is not an arrest.
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tmeyer/moorpark
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Posted: Wed Jan 10th, 2007 03:28 pm |
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| Pretty much what the moderator stated. The stop is a detainment and the violator is not free to leave. However, the person can only be detained for the time necessary and reasonable (key word) to complete the citation or investigation. There is no magical time and each case is different.
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tchapple
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Posted: Thu Feb 22nd, 2007 02:30 am |
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| I agree with the moderator and with Meyer. However, if the detainment has not been completed, and the violator wants to leave, he can't until all the need information has been received. As stated, "it is a detainment". Now if he has passengers, and they want to leave, there is nothing you can do about it unless you have something to detain them for as well. Now don't forget, if the violator doesn't want to sign the ticket...well they are going to be going to jail then. You need to remind the violator that signing the ticket is not an admission of guilt, just a promise to appear. Explaining it like that usually gets them to sign the ticket.
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scucmd
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Posted: Sun Apr 15th, 2007 02:25 pm |
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A traffic stop is covered in most jurisdictions by Terry vs Ohio or the "Terry Stop". Simply this means when an officer has reasonable belief that a criminal act is at foot they have the ability to stop the violator to further investigate the crime for a "resonable time". This allows the officer to make their stop, speak with the violator, further investigate their resonable suspicion, and then issue or come to a disposition.
The problem you fall into, is whether the traffic violation is considered a crime or not. In my jurisdiction all traffic violations are simple misdemeanor crimes so this clearly allows for this theory.
Now, there has been case law in 02-04 where the US Supreme Court found that the Texas Civil Infraction Traffic Offenses did meet the standards of a "Public Offense" and Officers were allowed to make arrest for public offenses. With this even the civil infractions meets the "Terry" standard.
JA Hughes
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