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Floyd v. City of Crystal Springs11/24/1999
he suspect was detained for something unrelated to the traffic violation. See, e.g., Chapman v. State, 284 So. 2d 525 (Miss. 1973) (defendant was stopped for speeding and was detained because she and her companions fit the description of the persons who had recently robbed a grocery store). This Court has never applied the language relied upon by Floyd to simply a stop made for purposes of investigating a possible traffic violation.
. Third, applying the felony/misdemeanor distinction in traffic violation cases would require law enforcement officials to ignore communications of other officials warning of drivers who may be impaired, ill, reckless, or dangerous to the public unless the officer has probable cause to arrest. The State urges this Court to recognize the common sense rule enunciated by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in State v. Alexander, 721 A.2d 275 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1998):
" hen police cross a threshold not in their criminal investigatory capacity, but as a part of their community caretaking function, it is clear that the standard for assessing the Fourth Amendment propriety of such conduct is whether they possessed a reasonable basis for doing what they did . . . . he question is whether there were reasonable grounds to believe that some kind of an emergency existed, that is, whether there was evidence which would lead a prudent and reasonable official to see the need to act . . . ."
Id. at 284 (holding that marijuana discovered in plain view was admissible where police entered a residence without a warrant to investigate a potential breaking and entering and to determine whether there were any victims). The Fifth Circuit has recognized a similar rule, cited by this Court in Singletary v. State, 318 So. 2d 873, 876 (Miss. 1975): "The local policeman . . . is also in a very real sense a guardian of the public peace and he has a duty in the course of his work to be alert for suspicious circumstances, and, provided that he acts within constitutional limits, to investigate whenever such circumstances indicate to him that he should do so." United States v. West, 460 F.2d 374, 375-76 (5th Cir. 1972).
. The United States Supreme Court has noted that determining the reasonableness of a detention less intrusive than a traditional arrest depends "on a balance between the public interest and the individual's right to personal security free from arbitrary interference by law officers." Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. at 50, 99 S.Ct. at 2640 (quoting Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. at 109, 98 S.Ct. at 332). "Consideration of the constitutionality of seizures involves a weighing of the gravity of the public concerns served by the seizure, the degree to which the seizure advances the public interest, and the severity of the interference with individual liberty." Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. at 50-51, 99 S.Ct. at 2640. Returning to the case at bar, there was no reason to believe, at the time Officer Palmer stopped Floyd, that the short detention would turn into a more permanent detention, that is, an arrest for DUI. Officer Palmer merely investigated a complaint received from the dispatcher regarding a reckless driver. The public concern served by the seizure is evident - a reckless driver poses a mortal danger to others. There exists in such a situation an absolute necessity for immediate investigatory activity. The severity of interference with individual liberty was minimal - Floyd was required to pull over to the side of the road. Officer Palmer had a duty to investigate the detailed complaint given to the police department concerning a driver who may have been ill, impaired, reckless or dangerous to the public. To cling to a rule which would prevent a police officer
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