QUESTION:
I was walking from my car to a restaurant on the other side of the parking lot when I get stopped by a cop. Somehow he already knew who I was and that I’m on informal probation, so he tells me to sit down while he waits for back up. Another cop (and an older female civilian?) shows up about five minutes later and they search me, find nothing, and let me go. For some reason I thought my search terms were limited to probation officers or when the cop has at least some sort of suspicion that a crime has been committed. Or is it correct that I can just be stopped, harassed, and embarrassed for no reason?
ANSWER:
Not necessarily. Not all grants of informal probation contain “search terms” but many do. Search terms usually mean that a person can be searched with or without probable cause at any time day or night by any law enforcement agent.
