Police traffic stops

Status
Not open for further replies.

KK4JUG

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2014
Messages
4,246
Location
GA
Years ago there was a lot of officers (and others) abusing the LEIN system. Looking up plates and related info to find out where an a-hole lived, or a cute girl, a neighborhood nusance or road-rager that the locals wanted to deal with rather than have the police handle it. This was especially true with the Detroit, Michigan police department. I think going through dispatch gives them a better filter and accountability of those using LEIN and the reasons why.
In Georgia, registration information is privileged and not public. Misuse is punishable by jail time.
 

ecps92

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,360
Location
Taxachusetts
Driver's Privacy Protection Act - Wikipedia
Most states have adopted and enforce the Federal DPPA [Driver Privacy Protection Act, 1994] based on
the Rebecca Schaeffer murdered in 1989 by a deranged fan who located her through DMV records, the laws were changed drastically, regarding the release and access to such records.


In Georgia, registration information is privileged and not public. Misuse is punishable by jail time.
 

radioman2001

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2008
Messages
2,974
Location
New York North Carolina and all points in between
Quote"
Ha - people want to talk about "when they started" when I started a look up of a license plate required a voice phone call to DMV HQ at 25 South Montgomery Street in Trenton, you had to have the "code of the month" and the person who answered the phone would have to go to a bank of file cabinets and look thru paper cards on file to get the information.

That's how I remember it in Ole Miss when stationed there in the mid 70's. Index cards in the back room, if you were lucky they were up to date otherwise you had to call Hattiesburg.
 

spacellamaman

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2014
Messages
1,288
Location
municipality of great state of insanity
oh yeah?!?!

hows about I was mad about the voice phone call thing cause i had taken all that time to learn CW !

and it aint no small trick holding a bridle in one hand and having to balance the key on my knee!

try and beat that without resorting to pigeons!
 

APX8000

Sarcastic Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
4,230
Location
AES-256 secured
Wow, all the oldies are waking up from the recliner to post back in the day messages ! I’m just waiting for you guys start signing off your posts with 73....




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ecps92

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,360
Location
Taxachusetts
OR for those who used the ASR-28 "Figures" "Letters"
Wow, all the oldies are waking up from the recliner to post back in the day messages ! I’m just waiting for you guys start signing off your posts with 73....




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Ishmole

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
376
Location
Walden, NY
Especially when more and more PD's are going to plate readers in their cars so EVERYONE's plate gets a 'lookup'.

I don't know about NJ, but that is not true in NY. The plate readers update every morning with a file containing wanted,expired or suspended and such plates only. The operator is notified when one of the above passes through the scanner, not every plate that it sees.
 

WB9YBM

Active Member
Joined
May 6, 2019
Messages
1,390
This is something I have been wondering for a while. Most police units have computers installed within the vehicle, yet you constantly hear units calling in plate numbers to a dispatcher during traffic stops. I'm wondering why this information is not available to the officers via the vehicle's computer. It seems archaic that they have to tie up the dispatcher to look up and relay this information via radio. Many times when the dispatcher is busy they tell the unit calling in that they have to wait. Is there a particular reason this information cannot be made available by the unit's computer? I listen to Montclair PD a lot and at times these guys are calling in plate numbers every 5 minutes.
Yes, officers have the ability to check plates on their computer. Several reasons they do it via the radio: boredom; wanting to talk to someone; otherwise occupied (like making sure the person they pulled over isn't doing anything suspicious, etc). As an ex-dispatcher, I've got to admit it can get a bit much sometimes for example when there were only three or four dispatchers on duty with their hands full (taking telephone calls, dispatching, etc.) having several cars at once request license plate checks can be a bit irksome.
 

ecps92

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,360
Location
Taxachusetts
:unsure: Sit back and re-think your statements :whistle:

The file is basically New at midnight, so when yo log in sometime later in the day, it loads, the file from Midnight
Not a file from the time you start the cruiser. So when you log in at 9am, get the 00:01 hr file, it is "Out of Date"


No. Like God's Grace, the data is new every morning.
 

Ishmole

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
376
Location
Walden, NY
Correct! Even if the data is loaded at the beginning of the shift, it is old a hour later. However most if not all police agencies have written procedures that addresses this possibility.
Procedure and law states that a "hit" is not probable cause for an arrest. If the hit happens on a plate scanner the officer will then run the plate/person on his computer or through dispatch, to check that the want is still active.(See how this circles back to the original posters question). If it is for a wanted person, dispatch then calls the originating agency to see if the current want or warrant is still valid, if extradition is positive for out of state before an arrest is made. If it is still valid, a copy of the verification printout or warrant is attached to and part of the arrest record.
That is all for the officers and agencies protection from liability.
Courts sometimes screw up and do not cancel or vacate an active want. As long as the officer does CYA that liability attaches to the court not the officer.
 

KK4JUG

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2014
Messages
4,246
Location
GA
Courts sometimes screw up and do not cancel or vacate an active want. As long as the officer does CYA that liability attaches to the court not the officer.
Is "CYA" another term for acting in good faith?
 

APX8000

Sarcastic Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
4,230
Location
AES-256 secured
da24a3bbf9367069f68284e5bb37ffb4.gif



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top