Q: Can an officer ask for my ID the passenger for not wearing my seat belt but not the reason for being stopped
Driver had no front license plate on vehicle but had license plate inside car
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- Virginia
- (804) 250-1721
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- Answered
A: Appellate courts have held that an officer's request for a passenger's identification is lawful, even without suspicion of a specific crime or infraction. In this case, the officer is also claiming you weren't wearing a safety belt and so they would have reason to investigate that infraction. It seems to me that the request for ID was lawful. If there was any issue with the officer's initial traffic stop you would have standing to challenge that.
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- Virginia
- (804) 873-4004
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A: There's a way to politely say that you prefer not to provide ID. And ask (on video or other recording) if you are required by law to provide ID and what the penalties are if you do not comply. If they tell you it's required and you will be arrested if you don't comply or face other consequences then you have a recording of that. And you can make clear for the recording that you are only complying under threat of said consequences. If you can do that politely without escalating the situation then that's not a bad way to approach the situation.
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