Police powers to stop & question a motorist

[Guest]

Hello all - I have a question regarding a stop made whilst I was a passenger in a car driven by my brother. The car in question is a company vehicle and, as such, is registered on the PNC as originating from London. On Friday evening I was accompanying my brother on a journey across town from my house to his house to babysit whilst he and his wife went to a restaurant. During the journey we passed a marked police vehicle that was parked up off the main carriageway. As we passed it, the car pulled off and followed us for around 1 mile before signalling for us to pull over. My brother pulled over, switched off the engine and opened his window. The Constable approached and explained that he had stopped us as the car had flashed up on his screen as not being from the area and he wanted to know why we were in the area. My brother explained that it was a company vehicle and that he was collecting me from my home address and heading up to his own house for the evening. The police officer then requested to see identification from my brother so that he could ascertain that he was telling the truth, made a note of all his details etc and let us go on our way. All in all the PC was very polite and we were dealt with fairly - in actual fact - it was quite refreshing to see a bit of "proactive" policing. My question centres around the request to produce ID. Given that no crime had been reported/committed/observed can we be asked to produce ID or is this at odds with the notion of a right to travel/right to a private life. I'm guessing this all comes down to "reasonable grounds" from the police constables perspective - 2 young men in a nice car passing through a high-crime area on a Friday night. No issue here from our side I'm just interested to know the ins & outs of how it all works as I've never been stopped in a car before so it was all a bit of an eye opener - I've lived a sheltered life!

[bluebottle]

Re: Police powers to stop & question a motorist

I'm a retired policeman and have carried out stops myself. The main reason they are carried out is to detect crime. In your case, the vehicle flagged up as being used habitually in another area. Unfortunately, criminals are as mobile as innocent citizens. By asking for ID, the police can check whoever they are dealing with is who they say they are. From what you've said, the police officer who stopped you followed procedures to the letter and is one of those who doesn't behave like a total moron as some do. By "total moron", I am referring to those who are aggressive and confrontational from the outset. Take a look on YouTube and you'll see what I mean.

[Eloise01]

Re: Police powers to stop & question a motorist

I am not sure whether I am mega impressed by the diligence of the police officer, or mega worried that they have records of where my car is habitually used!

Reminds me of a time some years ago when my friend and I got stopped by customs, who asked whether the car was mine and got the answer "Yes... no... yes... ermm... I don't know what the answer is!" Yes, it was a bit of a blonde moment for me - it was a leased car, leased to me, so I didn't know what the answer was since I had never stopped to think about it. The by now somewhere in between suspicious and bemused customs officer then asked if we had brought anything in from abroad, and my friend listed everything she had bought ending with ".... and several pairs of frilly silk knickers". He gave up at that point having clearly decided we were too stupid to be smuggling...

[Sapphire]

Re: Police powers to stop & question a motorist

He gave up at that point having clearly decided we were too stupid to be smuggling...

Please don't give me a mental image of two ladies carrying a kilo of cocaine in the knickers.

[bluebottle]

Re: Police powers to stop & question a motorist

I am not sure whether I am mega impressed by the diligence of the police officer, or mega worried that they have records of where my car is habitually used!

Reminds me of a time some years ago when my friend and I got stopped by customs, who asked whether the car was mine and got the answer "Yes... no... yes... ermm... I don't know what the answer is!" Yes, it was a bit of a blonde moment for me - it was a leased car, leased to me, so I didn't know what the answer was since I had never stopped to think about it. The by now somewhere in between suspicious and bemused customs officer then asked if we had brought anything in from abroad, and my friend listed everything she had bought ending with ".... and several pairs of frilly silk knickers". He gave up at that point having clearly decided we were too stupid to be smuggling.

I can picture the look on his face. The thought going through his mind at that moment must have been something like, "Oh s***. How do I get out of this one without making myself look a complete berk?"

[CleverClogs]

Re: Police powers to stop & question a motorist

I can picture the look on his face. The thought going through his mind at that moment must have been something like, "Oh s***. How do I get out of this one without making myself look a complete berk?"

Nick them both on suspicion of sex trafficking? msl:

[Eloise01]

Re: Police powers to stop & question a motorist

I can picture the look on his face. The thought going through his mind at that moment must have been something like, "Oh s***. How do I get out of this one without making myself look a complete berk?"

Yes I know, Embarassing or what? I just hadn't ever thought what the answer was, having never leased a car in this way previously. Because it was my car but it also wasn't! And I think the fact that I was totally flummoxed was contagious, because my friend was equally confused. Mind you, she is easily confused. Before we set off a few days beforehand she had been staying over, and since we were driving a long distance I did the usual checks - water, oil, tyre pressure - nothing complicated! She asked what I was doing and was a little perplexed to discover that drivers are supposed to do these sorts of things. She thought all you did was put fuel in it!