HOUGHTON — A persistent rumor continues circulate throughout Michigan, including the western Upper Peninsula, that law enforcement agents are stopping motorists on suspicion of violating the state’s stay at home order. No, police cannot stop motorists on the simple suspicion that the driver is violating Michigan’s stay at home order, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

In a published memorandum, Guidance on Traffic Stops, Nessel stated that no, police cannot pull motorists over for that alone. The memorandum was in response to rumors circulating throughout the state, as well as the Copper Country, that police are pulling motorists over under that suspicion.

“Absent (are) articulable facts that would lead a police officer to believe the driver of the vehicle was in violation of Executive Order 2020-21,” the statement reads, “a stop strictly to inquire about compliance is improper.”

A police officer may properly make an investigative stop of an automobile, if the stop is based upon specific, articulable facts which, the summary states, when taken with rational inferences from these facts, would lead a reasonable police officer to believe that a crime had been committed or criminal activity is taking place.

“Or a violation of a traffic law,” Houghton Police Chief John Donnelly said. “We still have to perform legal traffic stops, but there has to be a clear violation of the Motor Vehicle Code. We cannot pull people over for no reason in the state of Michigan. We have to have a legal reason. Normally, that’s going to be a traffic violation, or if there is obvious criminal activity occurring.”

This standard is subjective, however. There is no definite line between what a reasonable officer would or would not find to be evidence of a crime. To meet this standard, law enforcement officers must articulate the facts they believe show a suspect has committed a crime.

Examples of reasonable articulable facts are running a stop sign, or speeding. Articulable fact come into play if an officer observes a motorist driving erratically, such as driving too slow or swerving within a lane, that may lead the officer to driver the motorist is intoxicated. Once an officer has stopped a motorist, he or she can, however, ask reasonable questions, like the driver’s purpose for the trip or their destination.

The AG’s summary also states that a traffic stop is reasonable “as long as the driver is detained only for a reasonable period of time to ask reasonable questions concerning the alleged violation of law and its context, to obtain additional information about the offense, e.g., the circumstances leading to its commission, the reason for the stop, the driver’s destination, travel plans, the purpose and itinerary for the trip, in order to determine what violations have taken place, and whether to issue a warning, a citation, or to make an arrest.”

Nessel, in her summary, said that considering the foregoing laws and authority, the lone act of driving, in absence of articulable facts, such as an alleged violation of Executive Order 2020-21, does not satisfy Probable Cause for a traffic stop.

Captain John Halpin, District 8 (Upper Peninsula) Commander of the Michigan State Police, also addressed the nagging rumor.

“That is not true,” Halpin said in a press release. “We are not just randomly stopping vehicles to see if people should be out or shouldn’t be out. We’re requesting that people use common sense and they know if they should or shouldn’t be,”

Officials believe the rumor may have started due to essential businesses asking their employers to carry letters stating that they are allowed to drive into work, the release said. This would be necessary if the Governor had issued a “shelter in place” order.

“You don’t need to carry a letter saying that you’re entitled to go to work, you don’t need to carry a letter to go to the grocery store, or travel from your primary home to your secondary home,” said Matt Wiese, Marquette County Prosecuting Attorney, according to the release. “Actually, the order doesn’t restrict you from just going out for a drive.”

A March 30 Lansing State Journal article stated that “Although Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order mandates everyone except workers deemed essential stay at home, several exceptions apply.”

Anyone is allowed to go to the grocery store, the Journal stated, engage in outdoor activities, pick up food from a restaurant, care for minors and elderly people, or people with disabilities.