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Running of Plates

9119 Views 10 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  MVS
I am looking for any information regarding our ability to run vehicle registrations. I am aware that there is case law stating that the police can run anyone, and everyone without having PC. Can anyone give me information as to if this is Federal/State Case law. When was the law enacted? etc. Any information would be helpful.
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mikemac64";p="61866 said:
The prevailing case is Commonwealth v. Starr. Running plates in Mass is perfectly legal as long as it is random, and you do not engage in a pattern (ie profiling).

The plates belong to the RMV, and the logic is that anyone can get the info. A civilian can fill out a form and go to the RMV and get registration info. It just takes a while where we who are cops can get it instantaniously.

As far as I know, there is no federal case law on this.
If all you remember is getting listings instantaneously, be very thankful! Some of us cops/former cops remember the days when it could take an hour (or longer) to get a listing! :evil: I recall checking out a car parked where it shouldn't be at ~2AM, requesting a listing and the listing came back some 45 minutes later just as I got back to the PD!

Many years ago, the RMV used to sell all our info to anyone that would pay for the lists (not sure if they still do this, but I certainly wouldn't trust them not to). One day I received an unsolicited offer for seat covers for my car, with detailed info on the model, year, color, etc. that could have only come from the RMV.
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