As long as a police officer has reasonable suspicion to believe a crime is being committed her or she may stop a vehicle in North Carolina. The exact circumstances that amount to reasonable suspicion can sometimes be gray area. In North Carolina the case law is fairly settled that if a police officer reasonably believes that a driver of a vehicle has a suspended or revoked license then that the officer would have reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle. What is a reasonable belief on behalf of the officer is generally in cases where the officer knows the driver of the vehicle and fairly believes they have suspended driving privileges.
In State v. Kincaid a police officer stopped a driver because he believed the driver had a revoked license. The officer discovered after the stop that the driver did in fact have his driving privileges restored. The court however still found that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle because the officer was aware of specific facts which lead him to believe the driver’s license may have been revoked. In another case, State v. Hess, an officer knew the driver of a vehicle was the owner of the same vehicle and ran his license plate number. After running the driver’s license plate number it was revealed that the driver’s license was suspended. The court held under these circumstances that the officer did possess reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle.
