if you have not broken any laws is it legal for cops to randomly run your plates ?

Answer 1

lt is absolutely legal for the police to run the plates of cars that are out on the roads or otherwise in plain view. The legality of any "search" - such as running registration - is considered against the invasion of privacy that such a search creates. Items displayed to the public are open to public (and police) view and there is, therefore, no expectation of privacy when it comes to license plates and, therefore, running the plates is legal.

Answer 2

yes, officers will just randomly check plates driving down the road

But guess what there are so many silly laws that almost 3 in 5 cars driving down the street are breaking some law.

As a police officer I used to bet people on that, and with about 100 to 200 cars passing I was never proved wrong.

In GA for example, your license plate frame can't cover any of the numbers, county or date on the plate ( almost every cover does somewhat)

In GA it was not legal to have anything hanging from the rear view mirros, ( with air fresheners, handicap stickers, and other items, that is over 1/2 the cars right there) Cars in GA can't have any sticker on the back window that blocks view, of course we can stop that car to see if any sticker is blocking the view.

Get the drift, so almsot any car can be stoped if the police want to for some silly reason.

But as a officer we would randomly run plates of cars that fit various profiles.

Answer 3

Yes is it perfectly legal. That could tell them if the tags were stolen - revealing possible stolen car. That could also tell them if there are any bulletins out on the car. Lots of reason why a cop might want to run your plates. All having to do with public safety, if you've done nothing wrong you don't need to worry.

Answer 4

Maybe they just happen to be looking for a stolen car that matches yours, but the plates are different. They just want to make sure the plates come back to the same type vehicle so they can clear you and your car.

Duhhhhhhhh, of course they can. Don't worry unless you or the car are wanted for something.

Answer 5

So think about this, Lets just say YOUR car was stolen, and you reported it to your local PD, they input your plate # in the system, then just b/c a cop felt like it, he saw your car at a stop light, had nothing better to do at the moment, ran the plate, and kazam, you have you little car back, just saying, that's how thousands of stolen cars, wanted criminals, and so on are caught every year..

Answer 6

Unfortunately, yes. I was a police dispatcher and some officers ran the plates of women they thought were hot!! Needless to say, I lost alot of respect for men while working with these officers.

Answer 7

Yes. In fact, my father had a friend run my boyfriend's plates to see if he was OK when he saw that we were getting serious. He thought I'd be angry, but I was glad he did. We've been married five years now so I guess he checked out.

Answer 8

Yes it is legal. People who have nothing to hide should not care. Many stolen cars are recovered and many fugitives arrested due to running tags.

Answer 9

It is normal for officers to run random tags. It's part of their day to day routine. Most of the time thats how they find people who have broke serious laws.

Answer 10

They should have some kind of reason, any kind of reason, to run a plate, if they are asked. It would be some kind of procedural breach of regulations if they did run them for "no reason" not a criminal offence.