In Whren v. United States (1996), the Supreme Court affirmed that officers could stop vehicles to allay any suspicions even though they have no evidence of criminal behavior. This type of stop is referred to as a pretext stop, a pretext stop involves a police officer stopping a driver for a traffic violation, minor or otherwise, to allow the officer to then investigate a separate and unrelated suspected criminal offense. According to Whren v. United States (1996), the Supreme Court affirmed that officers could stop vehicles to allay any suspicions even though they have no evidence of criminal behavior that is police officers can stop any vehicle to put at rest any suspicions even though the driver has not committed any crime.
