Can a cop run my license plate for no reason at all?

Q: If an officer is driving behind me, can they legally run my license plate for no reason at all? -- Jen A: "That's an excellent question and we get that quite often. The fact is if you're on a public street -- that's what your license plate is for -- if you're on a public street, it is public information and yes, a police officer can run that plate with no other reason. They don't need to have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to run your license plate. Now, if you're following all the laws and your plates are current, but you come back through the system as having an expired or revoked drivers license, the police officer can pull you over. That is reasonable suspicion, but the officer does need to be able to say that your physical description -- if they're able to see you in the car -- is not different than the physical description of the person listed as being revoked or suspended. I hope that makes sense. In other words, the officer can pull you over, and can run your plate, but they have to be able to say that the physical description is not different than the registered owner of that vehicle, and we do that quite often at police and sheriff's offices." -- Bremerton police Chief Steve Strachan