Can cops pull you over for no reason?

Can a cop make up an excuse, such as a brake light out, to pull you over? Because last nite I was pulled over and the cop told me my brake light was out, and I checked later and it was not. They did not give me a ticket, but they did flash lights in my car, as if I was hiding something. I think they just wanted to find drunk teens in the car, with open alcohol in the back. Is it possible that they made up the brake light as an excuse?

The police never pull anyone for no reason. If they're bored and want to do something, then that's a reason to pull you over. Of course, that isn't a good reason, but a reason to pull you over nonetheless. If a police officer suspects you of anything, then it's a reason to pull you over. It's a hassle, but that's how some of them are.

It's possible (bad apples in every bunch), but not likely....also possible that lightbulb works intermittently....routine to flashlight on the inside of your car....he/she wants to go home at the end of the night also (ex: may be a gun on the seat)....in other words, for their safety....the fact, no ticket, would indicate a ligit traffic stop. (not looking for a reason to 'stick it to ya)

They could have made it up and been looking for some drunk teens or someone who did bad that had the same kinda make or model of your car and they were just checking. Depending on what night it was they were looking for something.

Yeah,they do that a lot. Some cops that get bore do that. They arrest you if they are having a bad day!

-Wall although you are not subject to unreasonable searches according to your 4th ammendment, it is what we see, once again. U.S citizens having to give up ammendments to protect ammendments,although we have our 4th ammendment, it is very very minimal in comparison to what it used to be, becasue it's hard to keep privacy while keeping saftey.

By the way, the sig..I'm not really an advisor... I just really wanted to see if it would work.lol

My friends dad is a cop and I asked him about this a while ago. He said that if you look suspicious, they can pull you over and it actually is a leagl reason to. Sometimes they do this to check for seatbelts. Also, depending on the time of night, they pull you over to check your age to see if you're out past curfew.

I got pulled over for the same reason, 3 times. Turns out I had a short in my tail light, everytime it was jarred it went out. But hey you know cops the are the law, they just don't have to follow it.

Sort of. They can pull you over for no reason, but they have to concoct a story that gives them probable cause, unless it's a check point in which case they can legally pull you over with no probable cause at all (although I suspect Jefferson would disagree with the legality of that).