Running licence plates

[Esmeralda Rodriguez]

Jurisdiction

Indiana

I would like to know if it is leagal for an officer to come on to my driveway to run the plates on my car that has been parked with the plates facing the garage not the street. What made me think it was unusual was the fact that it was only one inch from the building so he had to really strain to be able to check the plates, after he had to get off his car and walk up my driveway to go see the car. I have had the problem of them coming to my house for the dumbest reasons just to give me warnings for no apparent reason .

 

[army judge]

I would like to know if it is leagal for an officer to come on to my driveway to run the plates on my car that has been parked with the plates facing the garage not the street.

Call the chief of police (or the Desk Sargent) and pose your question.

As an unknown, unimportant, internet stranger, my guess is it isn't illegal.

 

[mightymoose]

If your property is open (not fenced) then no, nothing wrong.
If your property is fenced, locked, etc. then you might be able to argue a violation of privacy.

In short, as you described it, there is nothing wrong.

 

[adjusterjack]

I would like to know if it is leagal for an officer to come on to my driveway to run the plates on my car that has been parked with the plates facing the garage not the street.

It's legal.

Does your car have current registration? Is it operable? Does it look like a junker? Is there anything about your property that calls it to the attention of the authorities? Like junk in the yards or weeds or such?

I have had the problem of them coming to my house for the dumbest reasons just to give me warnings for no apparent reason .

Warnings about what? Where they written? What did they say?

 

[Esmeralda Rodriguez]

If your property is open (not fenced) then no, nothing wrong.
If your property is fenced, locked, etc. then you might be able to argue a violation of privacy.

In short, as you described it, there is nothing wrong.

So they are able to come and basically harrasse a person on there own property for no reason?

 

[Esmeralda Rodriguez]

It's legal.

Does your car have current registration? Is it operable? Does it look like a junker? Is there anything about your property that calls it to the attention of the authorities? Like junk in the yards or weeds or such?



Warnings about what? Where they written? What did they say?

Yes the car is operable and looks like nothing is wrong I had it parked like that because it was missing one of the air bags and I was having trouble finding a replacement. As for calling the attention from the yard they basically have to walk behind the house to see any mess cuz it's not visible from the street. And they given verbal warningwarnings about cars parked in front of my house for a day or two. Which should not be a problem cuz everyone parks off street. In my block.

 

[flyingron]

Running tags is not "harassment," it's called good police work. Even in the old days, cops with idle time would check tags against a printed "hot sheet." Now they have computers in the car. I've sat with the county sheriff here and they run plates constantly. It's amazing how many hits you get for revoked tags, expired registrations, or that there was some kind of flag on the owner. The latter however requires either the person to do something to justify a stop or to stop voluntarily.

Your car at home is a consensual stop.

 

[mightymoose]

So they are able to come and basically harrasse a person on there own property for no reason?

What you describe is not harassment, and not for no reason. I can only wonder why you would even care if they view the license plate on the car.
If the car isn't on the road you could remove the plate and obscure the VIN.
If you value your privacy take steps to protect it.

 

[Esmeralda Rodriguez]

What you describe is not harassment, and not for no reason. I can only wonder why you would even care if they view the license plate on the car.
If the car isn't on the road you could remove the plate and obscure the VIN.
If you value your privacy take steps to protect it.

I understand that if the plates are visible and they drive by and decide to run it then they do as they please. But what I'm having trouble understanding is that if the car is on my driveway and the plates are faceing the building and only an inch away from the building . Then why would they go through the trouble of struggling to be able to even see the plates and then run them if the car apears to not even have anything wrong with it?

 

[adjusterjack]

You can ask why until you are blue in the face. Bottom line, the officer did it and there was nothing wrong with him doing it.

Whether anything comes of it is anybody's guess.

Perhaps a better question is what is it that brought you to the attention of the authorities?

Do you have a history of complaints by your neighbors? A back yard full of junk? Somebody in your family works on cars in your driveway? Something else?

 

[army judge]

21st century has its advantages.



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