How far can LEO go?

[deepNdirt]

I own and keep a Police scanner turned on in my office, I hear most everything goes on within 5 counties surrounding, over the past 6 months I've been hearing more things about none traffic related issue's,

for instance: a LEO will pull over someone for speeding or what ever reason, if this person happens to be towing a trailer with a pc. of equipment on it , could be a tractor, trencher,loader, Motorcycles, etc,,etc, LEO will take down the serial No# and call in to dispatch to have the No# run, None of any that I have heard has come back as stolen or with any problems,

I find it curious as to how a traffic LEO would have the authority of an Investigator to perform a roadside check on privately own items,.....
Has it got to the point now that we must start carrying around proof of ownership of our personal belongings, such as cell phones, laptops, GPS's and even tractors? This has me wondering what might happen if I am transporting my gray tractor and if I'm stopped and cannot proof it is mine
I do have a BOS from when I purchased it, although there is no owner registration for it, I realize that in these days and time the LEO's are working harder than ever to catch the Bad guys' but isn't this up to the higher authorities than a traffic cop? like an investigator, or have these LEO's been instructed to stop all who are transporting equipment? this might go under the heading of routine traffic stop, I don't know! But I do know I been hearing more of it lately, what is next? asking you to step out the car and perform a strip search as routine ...... this isn't a rant, but more of an observation IMO of things to come.

 

[JB4310]

May be a rash of stolen equipment going on in your area.

I don't think it's unreasonable to check equipment to see if it's stolen.
That's different than you having to prove you own it.

I do agree that the trend is towards less freedom not more though

I have a scanner also, but our local radio systems have become so complicated it's difficult for me to track the action anymore.

JB.

 

[LD1]

I dont have a problem with them running a serial # to see if it is stolen.

But that is where it stops. If I am towing something on an open trailer, and they want to run the #, so be it.

But IMO they dont have the right to ask you to prove ownership (unless it comes back as stolen). And they also dont have the right to search, like enclosed trailers and such. But if on an open trailer...or visible in the bed of a p/u, I have no issues with it. I have nothing to hide, but have had things stolen, so anything that may help...

 

[bigtiller]

It doesn't surprise me any, they make the rules, it's their game. Or at least they choose when and which ones to enforce. It's all for our safety.

 

[deepNdirt]

It's all for our safety.

yeah... I'll save this for the next chapter: it will be titled

50ft of truck and trailer + 2 cop cars on side of the road while drivers are trying to maneuver around it, "all for our safety"

 

[two_bit_score]

I'm really glad to hear that traffic officers are checking equipment they come across for stolen notices. There is a lot of stolen equipment being transported on the highways these days. The more eyes we have out there looking for it the better.

Would you really feel good if you found out the crooks who stole your tractor got stopped for speeding on their way to Mexico but the cop who wrote the ticket didn't check the tractor on their trailer for stolen??

In Texas we have a program through DPS where an owner can register equipment and mark it with a number. If that equipment is spotted any cop can run it and have access to the owners name and phone number to call to se if the equipment is where it should be.

Simply checking proprty for being reported stolen is their job. I just with more of them would do it.

 

[two_bit_score]

Of course we do have some guys who would rather spend their time checking parking lots for farm tag violations. That's the problem with some of the squirrels out there these days.

For my tax money I'd lot rather see a guy out on the streets working looking for stolen equipment.

Got involved in a case out in west Texas recently where a local cop saw a trailer with two skid steers covered by a tarp. He took the time to stop them and check it out and both of the skids were stolen out of OK. Along with the trailer and everything else that was on it. It was all on the way to Mexico. I'm sure the legit owners were glad he checked.

 

[Alan L.]

If you have had equipment stolen then you could appreciate them checking if they have someone pulled over anyway.

 

[deepNdirt]

I'm not saying that it shouldn't be checked, I just think they should know what it is their looking for,
Actually I have been a victim of theft and I have no use for a thief or a druggie, and they usually go hand-in-hand, Those of you live close to the border states should know better than any of us,,,, they cant get things across the borders and is the last place they head with them, if the criminals do then they sure enough are dumb, Because the authorities check items and loads at the borders, I'm sure not if any go directly to the borders, I suppose many things wind up at chop-shops etc right here in our country,

What I am concerned more about is of the legitimacy of the stop in the first place,
Yeah sure if there has been an alert put out to all agencies to be on look out for such and such, I can then see the excessive stops, but what I am hearing day in and day out is just simply running serial numbers as routine and all coming back clear,

for example: If there has been a Green JD tractor reported stolen 1 hour ago then why would a LEO pull over someone hauling a RED MF, personally I think some take it too far, whats next? should they pull over every truck they see because its a truck, when it was a white truck reported stolen

I can't seem to look at it as them protecting our safety, would be my luck they actually did pull over a theft and just as I pass by get hit by a stray bullet while the LEO and criminal start shooting it out, so much for my safety as it may seem to some of us it is our tax $$ being put to work for the right reason's,
But traffic cops are not the right agencies for this job, This kind of thing take special planing and coordinating of a sting operation through special agencies,

I'm waiting to hear what the local Leo's do when they actually do pull over someone that has something stolen, its going to be such routine to the Leo's that whatever accrues they won't be ready for it,.................................

I guess what it comes down to is I'm glade to hear that they are keeping an eye out for such things, but on the other hand haven't they got speeding tickets to write these are the people who's really breaking the laws, not some farmer trying to move his hay bailing equipment from one field to the other,

 

[chuckd1277]

We can do whatever we want, whenever we want! Kidding, kidding...

I'll try my best to shed a little light on this subject but I'm not sure how much of this is regional. I am a LEO in CT. I am a police officer, not a traffic cop, not an investigator, not a narcotics detective...I am all of these and some more depending on the day. I started in a small department that did not have any specialized units, I was the specialized unit. One day I might be investigating a burglary, the next a domestic dispute and a DWI arrest on another day...if it was a busy day I might have been doing all of these in the same shift on top of performing CPR at a medical call. Around here it is not uncommon for cops to wear many hats. While detectives or investigators are great, they spend a lot of time at the computer. The guys and gals on patrol are the ones that interact with the people on the street and they are often the ones who develop the leads that detectives use to "crack the big case". It's a team effort.

As for the traffic stop, as long as it does not delay the person stopped for an unreasonable amount of time, it is within our scope to do a little investigating if we have the opportunity. For the same reason I check to see if the operator has warrants, I might want to know if he owns the equipment that he is hauling. It doesn't take long for me to find out and I will happily send them on their way when everything checks out. I hate to use the term but a large majority of my job is "routine" but I always plan for the small percentage that is not. I hope that people don't take it personally, I treat everyone with guarded respect. After all, I have a wife and kids that I WILL come home to every day after my shift.

Hope this helps. :thumbsup: