Is it illegal for a cop to follow you for over a mile then pull you over?
There are many versions of this urban myth. Here is the definitive answer:NO!There is no law that requires police stop following you under any condition. Over the years I’ve heard that they can’t follow if you stay under the speed-limit, pull into a neighborhood, or pull into a business. None of those are conditions that would require the officer to stop following you.One of my favorites is the myth that if you make three right turns in a row then the cop must stop you. Think about it … after three right turns you basically end up back on the same road. One fellow even told me that you can then follow the cop as long as you like.Okay … so why would a cop need to follow you for an extended period of time. First, chances are the officer is not following you, he/she just happens to be going in the same direction.From my own career, I once followed a fellow for almost three miles before I stopped him. He didn’t run from me, but he sure made a lot of right turns. The reason I waited so long is that I had information from a snitch that he had been involved in a big robbery of a local gun store. One of the guns taken was a Thomsom .45 cal machine gun with two drum clips. These are the guns that you see Chicago Gangsters (in the movies) shooting from the side of a 1930s era car.I knew the fellow had the gun with him, was planning another robbery using it, and that I had found him just in time to stop him. I was not STOOOOPID! I was not going to voluntarily stop him knowing he had a .45 cal machine gun with 100 rounds of ammunition ready between the two drums. All I had was a department issued S&W Model 10, which is a 6-shot .38 caliber revolver, and a Remington 870 shotgun loaded with 5 rounds. So I waited for backup to get in place before we used a tactical taken-down technique to nab him.
Can a cop follow you for 3 miles before pulling you over?
I was driving at night, passed a cop, and he immediately turned onto the next road went around the block and pulled out behind me, then followed me for 3 miles before pulling me over. When he was leaving his car i heard him tell the other cop "I don't care, I saw him duck when I passed him" He claims he pulled me over for a loud exhaust but my exhaust was fixed a matter of days ago, so it wasn't to loud. Is that legal?
Can a police officer follow you for over a mile and when you pull in your driveway and get out of the car...?
put his lights on, demand you get back in the car and claim he is pulling you over for not wearing your seatbelt. Can he then force you to sit in the car in 95 degree weather and not let you turn the car back on? In addition he blocked my entire family from entering and leaving our own driveway. I was rather annoyed to come home to witness this happening to my brother as I was forced to sit in the street instead of being able to get into my own driveway. If he was pulling him over for no seatbelt, why did he let him drive over a mile like that. Dispicable..not to mention my brother says he was wearing it, and the car he was driving is not the safest of automobiles...we joke about it, so I believe he had it on. And to make things more annoying, the paper had an article in it the next day about how proud the police department was for giving out record number of no seatbelt tickets that holiday weekend. grrrrr
How long can a cop follow you before they can no longer pull you over for that infraction?
We can follow you as long as we want as long as we are still within our jurisdiction. There is nothing that says we have to pull you over immediately. USUALLY, we wait to pull you over because we like to pick the stop location (hopefully you pull over where we want and don't do something stupid like slam your brakes on or stop in the middle of the road). We do this for both your safety and ours. We would rather have you pull over in a parking lot (or wide shoulder) versus a narrow road. Another reason we may be following you is we could be radioing into dispatch (I always called in my stops prior to lighting up the violator), could also be running your plates, or we could be looking for other violations. There were several times that I witnessed a driver do something stupid but wasn't confident in what I observed so I would wait for a more clear infraction. Real common for cell phone violations. There is no time limit that I have to abide by.
How long can a cop follow you and NOT pull you over before its considered harassment?
I work second shift and I get off of work @ 11:30 at night, so I usually get into town around midnight. We recently just got a new cop in town and he FOLLOWS everyone reguardless of if they are doing anything wrong or not. I live in a small town and last night he pulled over 4 people in half an hour. Anyways I was coming into town the last couple nights around midnight and the officer was going out of town as I was coming in. As soon as I got a couple of blocks in front of him he turned around in the middle of the road and was speeding to catch up to me (I know this because I was going the speed limit and he caught up to me in a matter of seconds) I was doing nothing wrong. He has done this the last two days in a row and I have heard other people complaining about his actions. Is he doing anything illegal? Also he is a new town police officer and I was told that only our chief of police is allowed to patrol gravels but a few people have said that they have seen him patrolling gravel roads outside of town, is he doing something he shouldnt?
Can I get pulled over by the police I’m following if he is also speeding?
Of course you can!Police men and women can drive at any speed necessary to do their jobs but everyone else* has to obey the speed limits or risk getting a ticket.*Ambulance drivers usually speed when they have a seriously injured person in need of quick medical attention onboard. Often, a police squad or two are clearing a way for ambulances which is very much appreciated by the injured person.So when you hear sirens, please pull over and let the ambulance pass!
Cop followed me, but didn't pull me over?
I was heading to del taco to get a late night snack, and I was driving the speed limit, all my lights are on and functioning. I head down the street and about to make a left turn, and I see a sheriff make a right as i make a left. When the light turns green, I make a left turn and he quickly turns around and starts following me. It's only about a quarter of a mile before the turn into del taco, and I make a left. He's still following me, no signals or lights are on to tell me to pull over but he's right on my ***. I make a left and then drive and make a right into the parking lot. He then pulls in the parking lot after me and I reach a stop sign. I wasn't sure what he did afterward, but he sort of drove off or possibly parked. I went passed the stop sign and del taco was not more than 40 feet and I made a right and ordered my food. My heart was pounding, but when I was getting my food I thought I saw a the cop speeding through the parking lot (the other way), maybe he didn't see me pull into the parking lot to get my food. I then head out the other way to semi avoid the cop, and head home. I didn't see any cops around, I just hope he wasn't after me. What was that about, and is that normal or happened to any of you? I don't really disobey laws, and am usually pretty good on the road. I wasn't texting or on the phone, was paying attention to the road, etc. Checked my lights when I got home and everything was fine.