Can you order someone to roll down their windows during a traffic stop?
This one comes from a cop in Arizona.
He writes: here in Arizona everyone has dark tinted windows, which makes it difficult to see into the vehicle when you’re the cover officer. Are drivers required to roll down both windows, since not being able to see inside the vehicle can be seen as an officer safety issue? And are we allowed to open the door during the traffic stop?
Let’s walk through this. The brief answer is I think yes, but let’s walk through why.
Start with Mimms and Wilson
We know the U.S. Supreme Court allows you to pull people out of the vehicle.
Drivers can be ordered to exit under a case called Pennsylvania v. Mimms. Passengers can be ordered out under a case called Maryland v. Wilson.
Here’s the way I look at it. The Supreme Court said ordering those occupants to stay in, or to come out of the vehicle, is minimally intrusive. It’s part of the traffic stop. It’s officer safety related. It’s not that much more intrusive to have them come out of the vehicle versus staying in.
It’s the same deal with the windows. It’s minimally intrusive to have them roll down the windows.
And alternatively, if they say no and they don’t want to cooperate, you have the right under those two cases to pull them out anyway.
So is it a legitimate officer safety issue that can allow you to do it? Yes. And the alternative, if they don’t want to comply and you feel like something is going on there, is to get them out of the car.
What about opening the door?
You’re allowed to open the door if you’re going to get these people out.
But you can’t just routinely open people’s doors to look inside the car.
Look, you can open the door if you have a legitimate reason. But one legitimate reason is not just to poke around and see inside the car. If that’s your MO, that’s not going to work, because that would be a search under the Fourth Amendment.
So going like this, hey passenger, come on out, you open the door and you see a gun in plain view. That’d be okay.
But just opening the door, and then going to court, and they ask you why you did it, and you say your honor, it’s just kind of routine, I like to see people’s hands? That’s probably not going to fly, because you don’t have anything particularly concerning.
Alternatively, if the passenger was engaged in furtive movements, like they’re hiding something, then I can see opening the door being related to officer safety.
So if you have a reason, you can do it.
There’s your answer. I hope it helped.
Related from Blue to Gold
- Constitutional Considerations of Warrantless “Surround and Call-Outs”
- Can Police Officers Open a Car Door for ID Check?
- Can Police Do a High-Risk Stop Just Because a Car Might Be Stolen?
This article is an edited transcript of Roadside Chat Ep. #275. It is legal training, not legal advice. Check your state law and your agency policy, because both can be more restrictive than the Fourth Amendment.
