"Reasonable suspicion" and "probable cause" - different standards
/One of the areas where there seems to be ongoing confusion is on the "standard" that police officers need to have to just pull someone over for a traffic violation. Sometimes lawyers and judges claim or think that the police need "probable cause" to pull someone over for a traffic violation. However, this is not the law in Ohio. Police officers only need "reasonable suspicion" to believe a traffic offense has occurred to pull someone over - and the "reasonable suspicion" standard is a lesser standard than a "probable cause" standard. It is much easier for a prosecutor to prove that the police officer had "reasonable suspicion" to believe that a driver committed a traffic offense than it is to prove that the officer had "probable cause" to believe that a traffic offense occurred. This issue was recently discussed in a case out of the city of Cincinnati. So drive safely everyone.