Warrants On Vehicles

[NPD21]

Still being a rookie, I havent quite mastered the art of picking the vehicles that have warrants attached to them; this is however, probably my favorite part of police work ( not much activity in my city, population just over 14,000). Just wondering if any of you seasoned veterans have any tips you could pass on?

[PhilipCal]

Warrants on vehicles.

Comes with experience Tadpole. One of my old, old partners referred to such vehicles, and those who drove them as JDLR( Just don't look right). Be patient, it's more an art than a science anyway. Stay safe!!

[That Guy]

Still being a rookie, I havent quite mastered the art of picking the vehicles that have warrants attached to them; this is however, probably my favorite part of police work ( not much activity in my city, population just over 14,000). Just wondering if any of you seasoned veterans have any tips you could pass on?

Basicly they are the "hoopties" and "junk on wheels". Kust go to the poorest section of your city and start there.

TGY

[Bodie]

In Time

Look at the driver not the car. Hour of day, location etc. Driver acting nervous and turning to look at you or refusing to look your way if you give them a good stare etc. If you're following them see if they fix their eyes on rearview mirror and you and not road ahead.

It becomes like a sixth sense as you develope your streets smarts

[TPO]

Still being a rookie, I havent quite mastered the art of picking the vehicles that have warrants attached to them; this is however, probably my favorite part of police work ( not much activity in my city, population just over 14,000). Just wondering if any of you seasoned veterans have any tips you could pass on?

one way is to run every plate you see on the laptop. another good way is to look for inspection and registration stickers. people are afraid that if they go in to renew those with warrants, they'll be picked up. we have some guys who'll arrest on every warrant. i don't care about traffic warrants unless i need a reason to look further. after a while, you'll pick up on which ones you need to get into and which ones are just people who forgot.

[SinePari]

Go to the "No-Tell Motel" in your town and run plates on cars that are parked there. You are also allowed to ask the desk manager to see the guest register and you can query the names as well.

Stand by for at least one good arrest each time you do that.

[OffDuty]

Plates.

On an older Caprice/Cutlass, etc with the fold down plate for gas access- are the bottom tabs bent? It should, because they all do it. A non bent plate is worthy of running.

If the plate is in the back window or only one screw is on it.. I run the plate. Most often it is just stuck there on a temporary basis, and it mostly doesnt belong on THAT car.

Expiration stickers- Go to the BMV in uniform & see if they will give you a copy or the set of stickers (if you have diff. colored ones) to be able to quickly ID them. Its super easy PC to see whats up.

Broken quarter window? Punched out to get in & steal? Better check the plate for a hit.

Like Bodie mentioned.. learn the "no look rule". Watch the drivers vs the cars.

And simply, just know traffic & equipment code. My partner (who has 8 months on more than my 2.5) gave me the best tip out of any "veteran" officer or FTO. His theory is that people who cant take the time to fix a headlight out or to repair a loose or hanging something on the car or a loud exhaust also probably dont take care of other matters... like tickets or court dates. I remained skeptical and for a week I started to pull over EVERY car i found with a headlight out.. And I got into so many things & found numerous warrants.

Try it & see. PM me if you need anything!

[depdawg]

warrants

anybody in a car that won't look at you, or "are singing a song" and won't look at you, run that plate

[Frank Booth]

Drivers who wait for you to go first at a 4-way stop even though they have the right of way.

[Da Po-po]

There are all sorts of tricks of the trade for finding the crims. The best one I read so far is the "just don't look right" thing. I always enjoy running random tags for violations and see what I can get into. This is even easier at night since after a certain time, the only ones out are cops and crooks. Some little clues I use are tags on vehicles without trailer hitches that are all dented up, tags held by one screw (or an odd method to mount it), tags in back windshields, tags that are really clean and the car is reall dirty (or the other way around), and tags that have rust stains around the screw holes and shiny screws. The other posts talking about folks who try to avoid passing, turning in front of you, or won't look at you are good clues as well. Have fun and stay safe!!!

[OffDuty]

There are all sorts of tricks of the trade for finding the crims. The best one I read so far is the "just don't look right" thing. I always enjoy running random tags for violations and see what I can get into. This is even easier at night since after a certain time, the only ones out are cops and crooks. Some little clues I use are tags on vehicles without trailer hitches that are all dented up, tags held by one screw (or an odd method to mount it), tags in back windshields, tags that are really clean and the car is reall dirty (or the other way around), and tags that have rust stains around the screw holes and shiny screws. The other posts talking about folks who try to avoid passing, turning in front of you, or won't look at you are good clues as well. Have fun and stay safe!!!

All good stuff there too. I just found two days ago a plate with a month sticker that didnt look right, and a motorcycle with a month sticker that was off.. along with plate color (which changes year to year on bikes). In both cases the plates were expired, doctored, and both drivers were unlicensed. One got hooked, the other signed & released.. Both vehicles impounded. Just because the plates looked odd. Check em out!

[PeteBroccolo]

As long as you have time during your general duty patrolling, or between calls or investigating files, then do high-volume stops for whatever violations - you do not necessarily HAVE to charge someone for a broken tail light lens, burned-out headlight, loud muffler, cracked windshield, tinted windows, but make sure that you run EVERY driver and EVERY licence plate through NCIC and your State CIC EVERY time (don't forget to ask your dispatcher to check CPIC on any of my Canadian "clients", just in case Customs/Border Patrol forgot to!).

If your State, or Agency, have a system of written warnings and/or you operate a patrol vehicle with an in-car camera system, then you should use either, or ideally both, systems for recording these stops, so that you can not be falsely accused of picking on "clients" by their sex, race or whatever other bogus reason they may choose to complain about.

If you do discover "just" traffic warrants, take the time to execute them - no sense leaving those things hanging there, which can give the "client" that you let go on some other Agency's warrant the excuse to complain when the warrant IS executed by another officer that YOU did not do your job properly. We have it relatively easy up here, in that we can do most releases on the road side, as long as we can confirm the validity of the warrant, either by admissions by the "client" or from the Agency holding the CPIC entry. Almost all Provincial Statute traffic, wildlife and liquor, and even many Criminal Code and Federal Statute, warrants do NOT require the "client" to be lodged in cells and remanded pending appearance - we can either release on their signature on a promise to appear or recognizance without, or with, paying cash bail.