Passengers Are Not Free to Leave Motor Vehicle Stops
A big question has been raised, that should be well-understood by all police officers is, “Are passengers detained on a motor vehicle stop?” The answer is yes.
Imagine if passengers were allowed to leave motor vehicle stops when being stopped by a police officer. Imagine a drug dealer or some kind of narcotic mover, a murderer, or a passenger in a motor vehicle that just never drives. That way every time they got pulled over, they could just walk away and the cops wouldn’t be able to do anything. That would mean that person could essentially avoid questioning or apprehension every single time. That is clearly untrue and there are multiple instances of case law that support this.
As a police officer, you want to know that case law so that you can advise people in your agency in a constructive manner such as, "Hey, I know you guys think this, but why don't you read this here?" The case law this comes from is Brendlin vs. California 2007, which New Jersey adopted for traffic stops. Essentially it states that you do not have to let passengers go on motor vehicle stops (Brendlin vs. California, 2007). This case law entails a seizure of the driver, even though the purpose of the stop is limited and the resulting attention is quite brief (Brendlin vs. California, 2007).
The stop also entails the seizure of every passenger in the vehicle along with the driver. Passengers unlawfully leaving a motor vehicle stop will be arrested and charged with obstructing administration law (Brendlin vs. California, 2007). A Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when there's a governmental termination of individual's freedom of movement through means intentionally applied. This was tested against State vs. Sloan in 2008 as well, in which it was stated, “We hold that at the time of the stop, the passenger, like the driver, was seized under the federal and state constitutions” (State vs. Sloan, 2008). Another case in which this is seen is the State in the interest of D.K. in 2003.
In D. K., the court held that the passenger's incidental detention as a result of a valid motor vehicle stop is unchallengeable (State in the interest of D.K. 2003). “For if a stop of motor vehicle for a motor vehicle violation is reasonable, the police do not have to show an independent basis for detaining the passengers unless the detention goes beyond what is incident to a brief motor vehicle stop.” (Also see State v Daniel Hickman Jr. 2000 ).
We need to continue to educate everybody to help fellow officers do the best job possible. Hopefully, this information is useful. Use it correctly and to your advantage but remember three things. One, listen to your bosses. Two, everything I teach is legal. I provide the documentation where it comes from, the case law that proves it is the truth. Three, I am not your boss, I teach classes to educate to help make every police officer the best officer they can be in the field. If you would like to find out more about upcoming courses, go to my website, https://streetcoptraining.com to learn more.
References
Brendlin vs. California (Supreme Court of the United States June 18, 2007)
State vs. Sloan (Supreme Court of New Jersey February 11, 2008)
State in the interest of DK (Appellate Division May 1, 2003)
State v Daniel Hickman Jr. (Appellate Division Dec 26, 2000)