What drivers are obligated vs not obligated to give police during a traffic stop
Nov 15, 2024, 9:48 PM | Updated: Nov 16, 2024, 2:55 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — When you get pulled over by police, what information are you obligated to give them? And if it’s on your phone, does that mean you must hand it over? These questions come on the heels of two cases in Missouri where police were charged for illegally going through drivers’ phones in traffic stops.
License and registration. If you’ve been pulled over, you know that’s what police ask for, along with proof of insurance. But let’s say your proof is on your phone. That doesn’t mean you have to give your phone to the officer.
“I don’t see any reason an officer would need to take the phone back to their car,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
People don’t always know that.
This week, two former Missouri officers were charged in separate, unconnected cases for reportedly searching women’s phones during traffic stops, stealing nude photos or videos they had, and sending them to themselves. Former Missouri State Highway Patrol officer Julian Alcala allegedly did it to at least 20 women there from February to May.
“It’s an invasion of my privacy. I don’t necessarily know where my pictures are. I don’t know who has my pictures,” one victim told NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis.
So, what are drivers supposed to do?
According to Utah laws, you are required to give the officer the information he’s asking for. However, if it’s on your phone, you can keep it in your hand the entire time.
“If they show me the phone, and I look on there and see the insurance appears to be valid, and I see that it matches the car that they’re driving, I don’t take their phone from them,” Cannon said.
To be clear, you still need to have proof of insurance and show it to the officer. You just control where they look at it. If you don’t show it, or worse, if you don’t have it, drivers caught driving without insurance face a $1,000 fine for the first offense.
