Skagit DUI/Snohomish DUI News: Can an Officer Stop a Driver based on a 911 call?

Presently I have a few DUI cases that involve a citizen calling 911 to report a possible DUI driver.  In every one of these cases the officer then contacts my client and ultimately, according to script, arrests my client for DUI.  Sounds relatively normal, doesn't it?  Yes and no.  While it is true that the law allows (and encourages) citizens to report possible DUI drivers the law demands that details be reported if the officer bases the stop or contact of the driver based on the phone call only.  In situations such as this the case Campbell v. DOL, 31 Wn. App. 833, 644 P.2d 1219 (1983) proves very helpful.  In a nutshell, when an office stops or contacts a driver based solely on the report from a citizen then officer must corroborate the information.  This means, essentially, that the officer must first possess a well-founded suspicion based on articulable facts that such a violation has been committed or is presently being committed.  General information from an anonymous call will simply not suffice. 

For information on your Washington State DUI please contact our Snohomish County DUI attorneys, Whatcom County DUI attorneys, King County DUI attorneys, Whatcom Island County DUI attorneys, Island County DUI attorneys, or Skagit County DUI attorneys at 425-493-1115 or check out our website at http://www.washdui.com