looks like the government in the town of paradise valley says their cops can stop any one they want with out the standard probable cause or reasonable suspision other cops pretend to use. Original Article Probable cause ill-defined in Paradise Valley By Victor Allen, Tribune June 20, 2005 Looking out of place in upscale Paradise Valley might get a motorist pulled over under an "aggressive" policing technique some experts said could be prone to abuse. Unlike most other Valley police departments, Paradise Valley has no written code to determine when and why public contact is made. Individuals and motorists in the 16-square-mile town may be stopped and questioned on the slightest suspicion of wrongdoing, said Paradise Valley Police Chief John Wintersteen. The practice helped cut the number of property crimes in the town last year. In other cities, police said they typically must witness a civil traffic violation before making a stop. But in Paradise Valley, which has a population of about 14,000, officers are so familiar with neighborhoods that they know who lives at most of the homes and the owners daily schedules, Wintersteen said. Anyone who looks like they dont belong gets noticed, he said. The officers "are extremely aggressive about finding criminals, often before theyve committed a crime and in circumstances that are not real obvious that theres a crime afoot," he said. Yet the lack of a written standard for officers to follow could lead to future problems, said Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Certainly one of the immediate results the department should think about is liability on their part for having officers who dont understand the parameters and who violate peoples rights, or who have such unfettered discretion that it could be easily abused," Eisenberg said. "They have to understand the legal standards and the constitutional standards that they have to adhere to." In general, police dont need to meet the legal definition of "probable cause" to make a traffic stop or question someone. Instead, an officer must have "reasonable suspicion" of illegal acts X but the term is a legal gray area, experts said. To help define what is needed to stop someone, police departments in Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale and Mesa have developed written guidelines. For example, the Tempe officers manual states: "Reasonable Suspicion is that set of facts which would cause a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been, or is about to be committed." "We cant just blatantly stop vehicles without a reason. Usually that threshold, in most cases, is a civil traffic violation," said Sgt. Dan Masters, Tempe police spokesman. The same practice holds true in Mesa, said Sgt. Chuck Trapani, Mesa police spokesman. Wintersteen said he stands behind his departments methods, adding that his officers do not abuse their authority. He said most of the feedback he gets from residents is positive. "What our officers are hired for is good people skills," Wintersteen said. "We dont want arrest-oriented (people). We do a lot of testing for anger management problems. We dont hire people who our testing shows have a need for excitement." Since last year, the department has increased its crimefighting efforts with big results, he said. Statistics released by the department show that in 2004, car thefts fell 59 percent, burglaries dropped by 33 percent and property thefts dropped by 29 percent. To illustrate Paradise Valleys approach, Wintersteen mentioned one arrest that occurred on June 10. In that case, an officer patrolling near the 6100 block of East Horseshoe Road at 2:40 a.m. caught two people suspected of stealing mail, he said. The officer saw two women in a 1995 Lexus and shined his cruisers spotlight on the drivers-side door. The driver pulled to the side of the road, where the officer questioned the pair, a police report states. Wendy Jo Rabinko, 22, of Mesa rolled down her window and talked to the officer, who asked the women if they were OK, the report states. In law, anything an officer can see is fair game. When he looked into the car, he saw several bags of mail, some of it opened, the report states. The two suspects admitted they began stealing mail in Gilbert and had worked their way to Paradise Valley, the report states. Scottsdale addresses were also found among the mail. Rabinko and Jennifer Ann Fitzsimmons, 22, also of Mesa, were arrested and the case turned over to the local office of the U.S. Postal Inspector. That sort of easygoing, but savvy, law enforcement is what the department is known for and encourages, said John Wagner, day shift lead officer for Paradise Valley. "Were not out here beating heads and doing all that. Absolutely not," Wagner said. "This kind of police work in this town doesnt call for that." Still, making an arrest without a clear reason for the initial stop may prove problematic during prosecutions, said Dawn McQuiston-Surrett, a professor who researches the overlap of psychology and law at Arizona State University. With no standard in place, able defense attorneys can get evidence thrown out of court and criminals can go free, she said. "There has to be a set of factual circumstances that would lead a reasonable officer to believe that criminal activity is occurring," she said. However, Jim Davis, prosecuting attorney for Paradise Valley, said he was unaware of any property crime cases the town lost that could be directly attributed to the policy. Davis deals only with misdemeanor cases. Bill FitzGerald, spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorneys Office, said he did not know whether felony cases originating from Paradise Valley had any problems specific to police tactics. Contact Victor Allen by telephone at (480) 970-2330.