¶ … Officer Smith have reasonable suspicion to make the initial stop of this vehicle?
As per the facts of the case, Officer Smith was informed of a car of the similar make and color which was involved in the killing of a police officer. The impugned car seems at first sight to have a broken taillight which appears to be covered with color tape. Since the officer feels that the make of the car and the broken taillight may be indicative of it being involved in the death of the officer, the vehicle was pulled up. The subtle point is that the officer remembered this possibility after pulling up the vehicle. The question is if the broken taillight is a reasonable cause for suspicion. It was ruled in Arizona v. Johnson that while in the normal circumstances the police ought to have a warrant to make a search and seizure, "that procedure cannot...
Reasonable suspicion must exist before the stopping of the vehicle and search. It was held that where an officer suspects someone to appear to be in a suspicious situation the officer's conduct would not violate the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures. (Citelighter, 2012) Doing so was a process of the duty and it is further observed that in the context of a vehicular stop for a minor traffic infraction, an officer can…
