Articulating a traffic stop

The basis for the stop

A traffic violation observed by the officer is the simplest basis, and it should be stated as an observation: what the violation was, where, and when. An equipment violation should say which equipment and what was wrong with it.

Where the stop rests on reasonable suspicion of something other than a traffic offense, the report has to assemble the specific, articulable facts. Not a hunch, and not experience alone — the facts, then what the officer’s experience made of them.

Scope and duration

A stop may last as long as it takes to address the reason for it, plus ordinary inquiries. Extending it requires its own justification. Rodriguez v. United States is the case usually cited, and the practical effect is that the clock matters.

Record when the stop began, when the citation or warning was completed, and when the subject was released. If the stop was extended, state exactly what new fact justified the extension and when it arose.

Searches and consent

If consent was given, record the exact words used to request it and the exact words of the response. Record that the subject was told they could refuse, if your policy requires it. Record who was present.

If the search rested on probable cause, state the facts that supplied it before the search, not after. A report that lists what was found and then explains why the search was justified has the order backwards, and it reads that way.

• Violation or suspicion stated as a specific observation, with location
• Times recorded: stop initiated, purpose completed, subject released
• Any extension tied to a new fact and the moment it arose
• Consent requests and responses quoted
• Basis for any search stated before its results
• All occupants recorded, not only the driver