Cheating death and fighting communism: that is how a fellow officer once described our job. It was meant to be funny, but as time went on it seemed all too true.
I spent more than ten years in law enforcement, all of it on the street in uniform patrol. I've been a patrol officer, instructor, sergeant and lieutenant.
Do not report crimes here. Nothing here should be considered legal advice. All opinions are my own.
No, stopping someone without reasonable articulable suspicion would be a violation of the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution and a bunch of state laws and department policies.
Speeding, even if "everyone does it" is still illegal, hence the reason why you were stopped.
If they are so drunk they won't remember the citation, they are going to jail.
If no arrest was made, then there is no arrest record (at least regarding this incident.) Without the victim's cooperation, the officers probably were not able to establish probable cause to make an arrest.
Saftey checkpoints are a useful tool for helping to reduce drunk driving, accidents, and removing criminals from the roadways. Driving on public roadways is a licensed privledge, not a right, and therefore is subject to limited intrusion. The specific rules on how they are to be run vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and are controled by law, court opinions and department policies.
When adequately staffed so undue delays are not generated, I have no problem with them.
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Reasonable suspicion and probable cause are built by the totality of the circumstances, which may include a citizen complaint. It is impossible for me to tell you how the officers in your case established either since I was not there and I am not privy to the details of the investigation.
If the officer is acting as a police officer and provided his or her name (Officer Smith or whatever) and that the department he or she works for, that may be all of the information he or she is obligated to provide. A specific zone, precinct, or other information may not be required.
If the officer is acting as an employee of the property owner, and not as a representative of the city/county/whatever, he or she may not even need to provide that.
It depends on how the judge applies the laws of your state. There is no set answer, and much of the judge's decision will be based on the circumstances and history of the child.
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