Originally Posted by Max Rep
SC, citizens have no constitutional right right to not be stopped by officers with excessive backup. the officer announces over the radio he is making a stop, and anyone in the area will swing by to see if he's OK. and if they see someone as big as you, or some of our other members, they will stick around. be real, you and many of our other members could easily overpower joe average cop. they're just being realistic and using good tactics.
if the stop and search was unlawful, then you have a legit complaint. but excessively tinted windows IS a violation in most jurisdictions. if they wanted to push it they could have justified a search by towing the car...that is an option if your car is illegally equipped.
i hear a lot of people complain about being stopped for no reason. the fact is, none of these people are mind readers, so none of them know why they were stopped, they're just engaging in speculation. the cops ARE allowed to stop you if anyone even vaguely matching your or your cars description committed a crime in that area. they would need a little more to justify the search. don't know enough the facts to comment further.
filing a complaint - you can't complain about the stop if your windows are tinted. with a legit stop, they're often allowed to do a "wingspan" search of your car, anyplace in the car you could reach for a weapon. thats basicly entire interior of your car.
the search still sounds a little iffy, and you could probably file a complaint about it and get someone reprimanded or suspended..but like the other (very wise) members said, don't do it if plan on going back to that town. especially in your illegaly tinted car.