Originally Posted by
mikemey
Well the vehicle checks are to check for a stolen vehicle. The cops would also cruise the local mall overnight and we ran any vehicles parked (the mall was notorious for stolen cars being dumped there)
Also, anyone arrested was run, but the reasoning for this is obvious.
My guess (again, I'm not LEO nor was I) is that there could be any reason to run someone that a LEO encountered, tho I know that not every person was run in the jurisdiction I worked in. (Now that the computers are in the cars, that may have changed.) I also know that the computers in the car, when they run a plate, run the registered owner through NCIC.
As some have stated the simple act of checking into a hotel is enough to get a person run through NCIC. I see no supportable evidence that a crime has or is about to occur just from going to a hotel for the night.
If I park my car at the mall to go shopping I see no valid reason for police to investigate that act unless they can point to some other factor.
I believe the use of NCIC for all manner of things is a case of giving an inch, taking a mile. Seems to me that police are abusing the system for investigation things that do not meet RS or PC standards.
Still haven't heard any one of our law enforcement types stating what constitutes "reasonable suspicion". Is it really that hard to articulate something that is dealt with every day in the life of a LEO?