Private Citizens Empowered to Select Others for Warrantless Stops
A couple of weeks ago, the Court of Appeals published an opinion discussing what has become a common method of law enforcement – pulling drivers over based upon the anonymous tip of another driver or drivers observations of erratic driving. In this day of ubiquitous cell phone use, it is not uncommon for motorists to anonymously pick up their phone and dial 911 because they believe another driver, based upon their untrained eye, may be intoxicated. In People v Barbarich , ____ Mich App ____; ____ NW2d _____ ( Docket No. 290772 , February 1, 2011), a state trooper was conducting what he called a “property inspection” at Malarkey’s Pub in Southgate on St. Patrick’s Day in 2008. The parking lot was full and the pub had erected a large “party tent” on the premises. Finding nothing amiss, he pulled out onto Dix Road and headed south. Immediately after he pulled out, a woman in a red pickup truck headed in the opposite direction made eye contact with him and mouthed the words, “Almost hit