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in Texas can a police officer pull you over for no reason?

I live in Texas , and the other day , my cousin and I was cruising down a street . but my cousin was wearing a cowboy hat , so the police officer told us he pulled us over because in TX is illegal to have anything around the rear license plate ,and when my cousing asked him what was he talking about , the officer told us the frame around the plate , you know the kind , when you purchase any vehicle ,anywhere , they give you this frames with the name of the dealer ,and the address , I mean if you put like a lighted frame or some fancy design like chain or something that obstruct the view of the plate I understand but the dealers . frame . so anyway back to the officer , he ask my cousin to get off the truck , after he gave the officer the documents ,, and he took him to the back of the truck and ask him to remove his hat , so my cousing respond with a "why " and the officer told him "cause I said so" and then my cousing remove his hat and the officer just went back to his cruiser then after he ran the registracion , and drivers license, came back to my cousin and he did not say another word just hand my cousing back his documents went back to his cruiser and left. so we was like in shock you know . we did not comment anything between us after a while . now then my cousing just called me a moment ago , and asked me what we should do so I told him to just wait that I'll be posting this here and see what advise you guys can give us, thank you . what ? jerk friend? you don't hide a weapon under a hat , you nerd , if he was suspicios of concealing a weapon how come he did not asked him to get naked , you don't know what you are talking about. so move on/ OK maybe I did not explaing it very well when I said "cruising" Idid not mean like a homeboy , what i meant to say was driving down the road . I m not a youngster I'm 37 yrs old . and the car dealers frame is not blocking any part of the plate you can clearly see it from any angle. well thanks so now they pull you over for DWM or Driving While Mexican?

Public Comments

1. then the officer didn't pull you over for no reason as you put it. You were breaking the law in Texas with the frame as you put it that was around the plate you answered your own question. don't get mad at the police for doing their job.the officer asked your jerk for a friend to take off his hat to see if he had any weapons or drugs under it.
2. Actually it is illegal in texas to have anything obstructing the view of your Texas Plates. So if the frame is cutting off any view of the word "Texas" or anything like that, it's illegal. I think it's a dumb rule, you can still tell it's texas plates so...I just don't see the point.
3. the officer didn't do anything out of the ordinary
4. for a cop to pull u over they must have probable cause the fram around a license plate can be construed as probable cause so can vaving your radio too loud or driving too slow the problems with cops is they have too much power ont the street they are judge, jury & executioner and dont try to go against them b/c u are fighting the USA which has stealth bobmbers & attack helicopters
5. Ain't nothing you can do, stay at home or go for a walk instead of going 'cruising,' because that's what gets you in trouble is the cruising. See, the officer don't care who you are, he just has to find A reason to pull you over, just because when you're cruising, in a policeman's mind you COULD be up to no good (I'm not saying you were, I'm saying in his mind it is the possibility), so he pulls you over because now he can check out your license / registration / see if you been drinking etc... It's just that thing, idk why, cruising makes you fit the profile of a possible criminal activity, so they pull you over to check, is really all it is anyhow. Of course it's against the law to pull you for 'profiling,' so they invent a reason if you have to look at it that way, anything at all they can see could be wrong with the car... Because if you were up to no good, whether the frame is legal or not makes little difference now because it won't get you out of say a DUI... In the end the officer never wrote you a ticket, so it could've been a bs reason but the officer believed it was reason enough to pull you over. So long you have a purpose when you're driving, it's nowhere near the hassle, like if you are on your way to work or church or the grocery store then it is unlikely you are doing something criminal, but cruising sometimes means someone is... I know, sux, but it's just the way this world works. Peace
6. He pulled you over because of the license plate frame, so it wasn't for no reason. Just get rid of the frame, they are nothing but free advertising for car dealers anyways. He didn't ticket you, so why are you complaining?
7. I believe it is the same for all states, but an officer only needs probable cause or a traffic violation to pull you over. I would assume, and you know what that means, that the officer may have felt your cousin was dirty for something and wanted to stop you to confirm who he was. Maybe a crime happened describing two males in a truck with one wearing a cowboy hat and you fit the description and he just wanted to make the stop so when you asked why he gave you an little known vehicle section that is never enforced but is used to make traffic stops. More than likely the reason he asked him to remove his hat was to match his picture to his driver’s license and because he wanted to make sure he was who he said he was. Once he confirmed the picture matched he checked for warrants and then let you go and went to go look for the bad guys he was really looking for. While I agree the officer could have said something like, “Sorry for the inconvenience you fit the description of someone we are looking for.” He instead gave him a warning on the licenses plate and let you go instead of writing a citation. I had a similar situation go down coming out of a bar one night. My friend and I looked like two white males that just beat up an old lady and took her purse. We had just gotten into my truck and a LAPD unit pulled up behind and turned on the lights. As the officer walked up to the car I noticed he took his gun out of the holster and new it was more than a “I hope you too aren’t going to drive after coming out of that bar, let me give you a ride to the gray bar hotel.” Pulled us out of the car, made us lay in the street, and brought the victim over to do a curbside lineup. Stayed calm, didn’t give him attitude, and we were on our way. Buy the way I was not drinking but my friend was hammered. I was more worried about my friend turning into an Adam Henry and getting me shot than the officer pointing the gun at me.
8. Actually the police only need reasonable suspicion to stop a car. It is a lower threshold to meet then probable cause. Probable cause is a clear cut violation such as having an obstructed license plate (enough proof to cite someone or arrest them depending on the violation). Reasonable suspicion is the belief that a crime is being committed or is about to be committed. Reasonable suspicion maybe seeing someone who appears to be intoxicated (dazed look, slumped forward, windows rolled down on a cold night) sitting behind the wheel of a car stopped at a stop sign. Probable cause would be seeing a vehicle run a stop sign and stopping it for that violation. Either one will work for stopping a vehicle.
9. Many cops are racist even with their own kind!!! He should at least apologized make a complain that you felt harrased because its not even your fault the dealer sold the car and they put the logo on the frame plus the frames you get in a dealer go around it. It doesn't obstruct anything take pix of the plate and tell them in your complaint that he had no right to tell him to remove his hat I understand that they have to see everyone as a suspect but there has to be a limit of how they do things just because she said so is not right I remember after giving birth to my son right after coming out of the hospital I went to my bank I was crossing the street and there was a sqat car and they guy looked at me the cop he was a hispanic cop there were two other guys in front of me that looked like gangbangers as I was walking toward the parking lot across the street from the bank the cop made a u turn and stoped us I didn't even know the guys they were about four feet away from me he told me to get on the floor and put my hands above my head and I asked why sir he said in a loud voice get on the floor and put your hands behind you head. I was trying to explain that I just had come out of the hospital bc I gave birth and I couldn't kneel down he pushed me against his squat car and told me to give him my id's he checked me out and like I have no background he said what's your address and kept asking me stupid questions I asked him why and he just told me to shut the F. up I was so angry that the anger made me cry he made fun of me in front of many people. He asked me where is your car I said for what he said I have to write your license plate number I am filling out a suspect card. I said No he told me you wanna go down to the station I said lets go I have done anything wrong and I am not afraid after that I told him that he told me to get up and go. I have seen that cop bf and everytime he see me he laughs I felt so violated and angry that he did that to me! I filled a complaint and he apologized but I got my self a lawyer and its been a year since that happend I am not going to be happy until they fire him people like them we don't need patroling our streets we try to make it safer for our children and they think their doing good ohh the other guys in front of me he didn't tell them anything he didn't even stop them what an @sshole so go file a complaint and get your self a lawyer nobody knows how your cousin felt violated so no one can give you their opinion bc they don't know