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What Happens If You Drive Away From A WI Cop?
If a police officer in Wisconsin walks up and knocks on your window, motioning for you to roll your window down, the state Supreme Court says you’re free to just drive away.
The 5-to-2 ruling is a surprise to many people. Justice David Prosser explained their decision this way:
“Although we acknowledge that this is a close case, we conclude that a law enforcement officer’s knock on a car window does not BY ITSELF constitute a show of authority sufficient to give rise to the belief in a reasonable person that the person is not free to leave.”
An old case was used throughout much of the hearing where deputy sheriff Matthew Small noticed a car sitting alone in a parking lot. Small walked up and knocked on Daniel Vogt’s window. Small later testified he would have no grounds to pursue Vogt if he drove off because he had done nothing wrong.
Instead, Vogt rolled down his window and the officer noticed he was drunk. The charges held up in court because Vogt volunteered to roll his window down. Had he driven off, he might have escaped.
If Wisconsin officers pull you over for speeding or some other traffic violation, don’t just drive off. At that point, they do have the authority to detain you. But the ruling is still interesting because it highlights that a police officer’s duty is to primarily serve and protect citizens. Judge Prosser even pointed out that police interaction with citizens should not be automatically adversarial.
