Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

Re: geting pulled over

Sometimes. Police officers are able to ask an individual to get out of the car. They have wide latitude with reference to this. However, a police officer may not arbitrarily search someone without a reasonable belief that they are carrying a weapon. This is called a "terry pat". It permits officers to do a light pat down of anyone whom the officer believes may be in a position to cause them harm. They may not pat down someone just to look for drugs unless that individual is under arrest or if there is reasonable articulable suspicion that they have drugs on them.