Legality of a pull over.
I + 2 passengers am leaving a condo; there is a roundabout as I exit. I see an unmarked Ford Explorer with what looks like two men inside pulling in and looking me dead in the eyes. My passenger says it’s police and they’re going to pull us over for sure. I haven’t done anything illegal and there is nothing in the car. We are all Black (I know this about to be some good ole boys Shenanigans, but for argument’s sake let’s set that aside).
I turn right and then right again onto the main road, and in my peripheral vision I see them do a U-turn instead of going through the roundabout. I immediately get the feeling they’re coming for us. They speed up… heavy on the pedal lol catch us, and pull us over.
They say I didn’t signal (I know I did) and that my tints are too dark (they are dark but not illegal). I respond that I did signal and if the tint is an issue they can check it with a meter. They say that’s not how it works “there is no tint meter checker “ and it’s up to officer discretion. ( Red flag 3 for me atp but hey lets play ball)
While I’m getting my ID, one officer takes a more aggressive “bad cop” approach and says the car smells like weed, so everyone has to step out and the vehicle will be searched. I push back because I know there is no weed in the car but i see how horny this guy is to drag us out by force, so we comply and step out. They ask for my passengers’ IDs as well and search the car.
They justify the search by saying there are reasonable grounds based on smell and point to laws about impairment and cannabis in vehicles.
During the search they find a sealed bottle of alcohol I forgot to put in the trunk. They try to use that as justification in their narrative, but eventually they let us go.
In my mind I’m questioning how any of this makes sense — especially how they claim to smell weed and whether that actually provides reasonable grounds for a search or passenger ID requests. When the statues they shown me say if weed is easily accessible or in reach or something along those lines cant remember atm , and the other was impairment which neither was the case . So my questions are does smell alone give grounds for search. Can they search and id passangers ? And do these statues actually give that much powers?
Edit : i believe this was just sauga police and not OPP
iI AM NOT LOOKING FOR SUPPORT OR PITY this is the world i live in regardless , I AM ASKING ABOUT THE REASONABLE GROUNDS OF THE STOP AND WHETHER THEY ACTUALLY HAD ANY SORT OF JUICE THERE.
It was in the day super sunny .
I know it was racism they saw 3 black dudes and were itching to pull us over regardless how anyone may feel about my situation thats the vibe i got.
This all happened in Mississauga. I know this was probably drugs and guns task force so i wasn’t worth the hassle . but all around this def some bs and another day of DWB for me .