340 to 350, among other traffic laws. Thus, contrary to Powers' assertion, statutory authority does exist for a state traffic patrol officer to make traffic arrests regardless of whether he or she is on-duty. Reasonable Suspicion to Stop. The Fourth Amendment prohibits the unreasonable seizure of a person without a warrant supported by probable cause. U.S. Const. amend.
Statements given and items seized during a period of illegal detention are inadmissible.
The question of what constitutes reasonable suspicion is a common sense test. The test is designed to balance the personal intrusion into the suspect's privacy occasioned by the stop against the societal interests in solving crime and bringing offenders to justice. In this case, Jenswold had an abundance of specific and articulable facts to support a reasonable suspicion that Powers had committed several traffic violations. In addition, he had watched Powers drifting from side to side in his lane for a period of eight miles, prior to the stop. These circumstances provided a reasonable basis for the traffic stop, both to issue citations and to investigate the cause of Powers' erratic driving.