Does pulling over a vehicle by police without reasonable suspicion constitute false imprisonment in California?
<p>When a police officer pulls over a vehicle without reasonable suspicion required for this stop to be lawful is that considered false imprisonment? Or would that require the driver also to be arrested to constitute false imprisonment?</p>

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<p><strong>NO</strong></p>
<p>Unlike some other jurisdictions, there is no requirement for an officer to have &quot;probable cause<sup>1</sup>&quot; or suspect an offence as <a href="https://www.gov.uk/stopped-by-police-while-driving-your-rights" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the police can stop a vehicle for any reason</a> under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/163?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 163</a> Road Traffic Act 1988:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) A person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road must stop the vehicle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.</p>
<p>(2) A person riding a cycle on a road must stop the cycle on being required to do so by a constable in uniform or a traffic officer.</p>
<p>(3) If a person fails to comply with this section he is guilty of an offence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is no associated power to search the vehicle or its occupants but under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/164?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 164</a> and <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/165?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 165</a> the driver must produce <em>inter alia</em> their licence, name, date of birth, address, insurance details and other relevant documents as the case may be.</p>
<p>Note that although vehicle stops can be random, police officers are subject to the public sector equality duty under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/149?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 149</a> Equality Act 2010 and not permitted to stop a vehicle solely based on the occupants' protected characteristics.</p>
<hr />
<p><sub><sup>1</sup>The term &quot;probable cause&quot; is not used in the UK, but roughly equates to somewhere around reasonable suspicion / reasonable belief</sub></p>

<p>Police have the authority to stop a vehicle if they have a reasonable suspicion of a crime. That means that there must be an articulable ground for believing that there probably was a crime, which includes a specific fact (like &quot;seeing a trail of blood&quot;, and not &quot;it's suspicious that an old car would be driving in this neighborhood&quot;). Without a reasonable suspicion, the detention is not with legal authority. <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&amp;division=&amp;title=8.&amp;part=1.&amp;chapter=8.&amp;article=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PC 236</a> states that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>False imprisonment is the unlawful violation of the personal liberty
of another</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The stop is a violation of the personal liberty of a driver, and without lawful authority, the stop is unlawful. Although the doctrine of qualified immunity might suggest that police officers cannot be prosecuted, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=847.&amp;lawCode=PEN" rel="nofollow noreferrer">there is no qualified immunity</a> for California police officers accused of false arrest or imprisonment.</p>

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