"Welfare Check" may be common practice...but it is my opinion that it is against the law & more importantly a violation of the Bill of Rights. I don't like it, and I don't agree with it. And, I will speak out against unlawful stops and detainment. At least when I get old and find myself under rule of dictatorship, I will be able to say I did not stand silent, I resisted and attempted to educate those around me. This is how I see it.
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
It was a simple check to make sure that there were no other larger problems. He had a reasonable articulatable (I can not spell) suspicion. The officer did not try to harass him about. He explained the reason he was speaking with him, had his suspicions eliminated and let it be. It was legal and sounds like good police work to me.
What would had happened if it would have been a stolen truck and he just let it drive past him? How would you feel about it then?