Me and a friend were pulled over after reaching our destination for my friend who was driving not wearing a seat belt. He is on probation, I am not .I exited the car as they pulled up and I was ordered back in the car.

I feel I shouldn't have been searched for riding passenger in a car and the driver not wearing a seat belt. I was wearing mine.

Hello g:

I'm sure you WERE illegally searched... But, there ain't nothing you can do about it.

excon

In my state they are suppose to ask for your consent. If they do not ask or you do not give them permission then it is illegal. Also in my state pulled over specifically for not wearing seat belt is illegal. What is legal vs illegal is one thing trying to fight it is another. IF you had gotten in any legal trouble then illegal would be the way to fight it. Since you were clean you are wasting your time wandering about it

In most states seatbelts are mandatory. If one is not worn, one can be pulled over.

The problem that I see here is that they were pulled over and the OP got out of the car rather than remaining in it. This aroused suspicion of the officers.

Yes you never just get out of the car. They still weren't in their rights to search without consent but nowadays they use the homeland security act to get around the law.

Considering the OP got out of the car, when he should have remained, aroused suspicion with the cops. It has nothing to do with homeland security, but rather safety of the OP and the cops.

When you get pulled over you are to stay seated, in the car, until the cop walks up and talks with you. I could give a better explanation if I weren't about to climb into bed.

I know excon hates them, but my two oldest sons are cops. If someone is pulled over and they, or their passenger, gets out before they walk up, the officers get suspicious that there is illegal activity, and also are concerned for their safety.

They said they were ordered right back into the car. If they complied then ordered back out then Im not so sure they had the right. Safety is where the homeland security seemed to supersede laws for safety reasons. But the bottom line is like excon said there is nothing they can do about it.

Hello again, J:

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I know excon hates them, but my two oldest sons are cops.

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I hate all of 'em, cepting your kids.

You know, if I was robbed, I'd call the cops. You should know, too, that my business IS security, and I've worked VERY closely with cops. Not all of 'em are a$$holes.

But, enough of 'em ARE!

Excon

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Originally Posted by N0help4u

Yes you never just get out of the car. They still werent in their rights to search without consent but nowadays they use the homeland security act to get around the law.

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Totally incorrect. As J_9 notes, homeland security has nothing to do with it.

If the police have cause to pull the driver over, they can search anyone in it for their own protection.

OP had the right to get out of the car, but on the other hand, the cops had the right to search OP under those circumstances.

Bottom line is this: even if there was some illegal search (which there wasn't), unless OP was prosecuted for something, he was not damaged, and thus doesn't have a case against these police.

Many cops are rotten, many aren't but even as my law teachers said many police do not know the law, even more do not follow the law. They know procedures. That's why so many get off on loopholes and technicalities.

I agree. Enough of them are a$$holes. However, in this case the OP got out of the car when he/she should have remained in. This raises the cops hackles as to either illegal activity, or a risk of harm to themselves, giving them the right to search.

Had the OP remained in the car, we would be talking a different story now.

I'm not saying the search wasn't illegal as I don't know the location of the OP, however the actions of the OP gave the cops enough reason to think there was something fishy going on.

Oh, and thanks for linking my kids. They've let off more people than they have arrested. They prefer giving warnings than arresting.

They could not search you in the car, so they had to get you out.

First you never get out of car when being pulled over, without being asked, if you do, you can even find yourself on the ground.

How did they search you ? Pat you down, they are allowed to do that, for safety, when they get you out of car.

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They could not search you in the car, so they had to get you out.

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Chuck, re-read the post. They didn't get him out. When they were pulled over he got out. Of his own accord. He should have waited until he was asked to get out, but he didn't.

Your bottóm line same as mine. Can't Link on cell so ill continúe later

But he said they ordered him back in car, normally this would be done from their car before they approach. ** that is proper procedure.

If he would not obey command to get in, or got out as they were walking up, he is lucky he was not thrown to the ground and hand cuffed. ** that is also fairly standard procedure

That I can totally agree with.

Hello again,

Jurisdiction DOES matter. In my state, the cops cannot pull you over for ONLY a seatbelt violation.. If they did, EVERYTHING after the stop, including the search, would be held to be unconstitutional. I'll bet California is the same.

I don't disagree at all, though, about how the conduct of the OP may have precipitated the search. But, if the stop was illegal, the search was too.

excon

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello again,

Jurisdiction DOES matter. In my state, the cops cannot pull you over for ONLY a seatbelt violation.. If they did, EVERYTHING after the stop, including the search, would be held to be unconstitutional. I'll bet California is the same.

I don't disagree at all, though, about how the conduct of the OP may have precipitated the search. But, if the stop was illegal, the search was too.

excon

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I for one have a serious problem with the idea that, if you are in a car which is pulled over, you are obligated to stay in the car. Granted, it may not be wise, but it's not illegal.

If the cops want to exercise extreme caution when that happens, fine. But if they jump on you, put the cuffs on you, etc. they are asking for a civil suit.

A question to my colleagues here who are more knowledgeable than I: given that the driver was on probation, does that give the cops more latitude to pull the car over and/or search the driver, car, and passengers?