There might be a situation where the officers pull you over on the street when driving a car. Driving your car at high speed, using a cellphone while driving, or not using your car’s equipment properly could be the reasons.
At that time, you may notice that the officers are touching the back of the car before starting to speak with you. Immediately, you’re panicking, right? We think you’ll be worried about what they’re actually doing to you and your car.
Even if you haven’t experienced this situation, you may have witnessed the incident directly against someone’s car on the road or even in several videos posted on social media. And apparently, there’s a meaning behind why the officers touch the back of your car when pulling you over.
Okay, here’s everything you can know about it!
Here’s Why Officers Touch the Back of Your Car When You Get Pulled Over!
Instead of directly approaching you and starting to talk to you, the officers might prefer to walk to the back of your car and then touch it. One thing is for sure: the officers will not harm you if they touch the trunk and back of your car.
The officers do that, but not without reason. Dating back decades, the practice is totally common and legal. It was initially implemented to prevent and reduce the risk that the officers confronted when enforcing traffic rules.
According to the Legal Dictionary, which supports this theory, this practice is a common one carried out by police officers to obtain evidence before the camera is installed on the dashboard of a police car.
But today, due to the large number of cameras installed on every street corner and at every traffic light, as well as on car dashboards, the officers may do this just out of habit, not obligation, as well as simply adhere to protocol, ensuring everyone’s safety, and/or stick to a custom. However, it is reported that some police departments still instruct their officers to do this.
In addition, there are several reasons why the officers touch the back of the car when you get pulled over. Here they are:
1. To leave evidence
Leaving behind fingerprints on the back of your car is the main reason why the officers do that. They do this because this is the only thing that proves that they were present at the scene upon finding themselves in a dangerous situation while pulling over the subject’s car. But this is not the only evidence, as fingerprints left on the car could be damaged, smudged, or rubbed off by snow.
Since there are no laws requiring officers to leave fingerprints on the car of someone who is ticketed, it is at the discretion of the police department or the particular officer whether or not to do so.
However, this practice will continue to do so even though dashcam footage is currently used as the majority of evidence in traffic incidents, as the technology may fail to detect this.
2. To check if the trunk is locked
There’s no doubt that the work of a traffic police officer carries high risks, and they must be prepared to face danger and violence that can occur at any time.
In addition to leaving fingerprints, it’s a tactic that officers use to make sure there’s no one hiding in the trunk who could come out and point a gun at him. To ensure they are not attacked from behind, the officers will press the trunk before approaching the driver.
As a flashback, car trunks before 2002 don’t have safety latches, which means someone could be hiding inside. It is known that touching car trunks has been mandatory since September 1, 2001, which aims to thwart trunk traps in kidnappings and related incidents.
3. To startle the driver and the occupants
Basically, it’s not the standard police protocol, but rather to help them more easily detect drug use or fraud, such as carrying prohibited items or smuggling illegal substances in their cars, such as ammunition, firearms, or drugs.
Of course, when officers touch the back of a car and they are carrying a suspect item, they will try to hide it. When they hear a knocking sound behind their car, both the driver and car passengers will become more nervous, especially when the officer approaches them.
When they are shocked, they will automatically stop for a moment. Now, at this point, officers can easily see what they are doing or what they are trying to hide.
Reportedly, this shocking practice carried out by officers towards drivers and passengers has succeeded in:
- Increasing the arrest of intoxicated drivers.
- Increasing the arrest of sellers of illegal substances.
- Increasing the arrest of people who were found in possession of firearms without a license.
- Wiping out road-related offenses.
It’s important to note that not all officers mean to scare or startle you—it’s just a tactic that they use, though it causes controversy.
For more information, touching the back of someone’s car is rarely used because now there are security cameras installed on almost every street corner. In addition, it has become standard for all officers to install dash cameras or body cameras that record the live video of the vehicle and every interaction that occurs between the driver and officers.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
