The short, practical and honest answer......yes! Working the beat as a patrol officer and then in the traffic bureau for several years, traffic stops were my life. When there was a vehicle that was suspicious or the occupants seemed to be abnormally nervous, I knew it needed to be stopped. As police officers, we are trained to recognize abnormal behaviors which could potentially lead to something more severe, such as a criminal act. We are tasked with making sure we do everything in our power to identify and prevent crime from happening. So, when we see a vehicle that is suspicious and want to stop the car to dig deeper, we will find a reason to stop the vehicle. Wisconsin has a state statue section called, Trans305. This was one of my favorite legal sections, as it pertains to specifications of equipment on vehicles. Anything from placement and color of headlights, tinting, height of vehicle, how far tires can stick out from the fender and many other very specific laws. If I needed to stop a vehicle, I guarantee you I could find a Trans305 or moving traffic violation that would be applicable.
Now, having said that, law enforcement must have solid reason or suspicion to stop your vehicle. We can't just make something up. Our decision to stop might easily be tested in court by a judge or a jury. Our reason to stop must be within the scope of a violation of traffic law, equipment violation or "reasonable suspicion." A traffic law or equipment violation are pretty concrete, but what about this "reasonable suspicion?" If law enforcement observes a vehicle that is acting suspicious, beyond a reasonable doubt, they can stop the vehicle. The suspicion in court will be tested by what the average person would conclude under the same circumstances, with all the information that the police officer has.
Law enforcement officials are tasked with tremendous responsibility of protecting our communities. While many people feel that police officers stop people unnecessarily or without cause, 99% of law enforcement are doing what they are trained to do for the right reasons. In today's society, we need tools where we can prevent something bad happening before the act is carried out.
Just remember, a police officer might just stumble on a vehicle or person who is driving to a public location to open gun fire and kill people. Maybe the officer just happens to stop a very large transport of drugs that could end up in your kids hands. Maybe the traffic stop is a drunk driver, that if not stopped would have hit you head on a mile down the road and killed you. Law enforcement officials are doing good work to protect all of us and we need to understand and respect them and their invaluable work.
