Cop was cool on my traffic stop

[GWK4667]

In IN we are not required to say we are carrying. unless asked. But I have read on the internut that.....They Know.

I will only know if I run your name and date of birth - - - not your plate number. I would feel much better if you informed me than to find out on my own, I would wonder what else you were trying to hide.

Be courteous and normally you will be treated that way!

 

[MrTrolleyguy]

Last year out in the 'burbs I went through a yellow light later that I should have. Fifty feet ahead I see the LEO sitting here waiting for people like me. He was looking right at me!

I did not even wait for him to put on the lights. I put on my flashers and pulled right over to where we could both be out of traffic. Of course I rolled down all the windows, keys on the dash, one hand on the wheel and the other holding my IDs. Hello Officer.

After he ran my numbers he gave me a written warning and said he liked that I pulled over with out him having to pull behind me with lights flashing etc. He said that it was cool that I was that cooperative. He liked it. It was so obviously a speed trap and I was so obviously wrong.

Changing topics a little...

Now I gotta say I liked and trusted all police officers until I started hanging out at my local gun shop.

What an education I am getting! In there you hear the stories of what happens to idiots who mouth off or don't follow instructions.

I still 95% trust them but hanging out with these active duty and retired cops has been interesting. To tell the truth I enjoy it most of the time. In this friendly atmosphere everyone gives everyone else a raft of .....

One thing I notice is that it is always guys like me, wetdog or some other civilians that will stop at the bakery and bring in the donuts or pastries. The store owners provide the free coffee and a half dozen chairs to relax in.

Is it just Philly cops who have a hard time getting off their wallet?

Yo, just sayin'

 

[Franklin]

"The cop isn't required to let the bad guys get the first shot off. In fact, it's ill-advised."


Well said!

 

[RSanch111]

Now I gotta say I liked and trusted all police officers until I started hanging out at my local gun shop.

What an education I am getting! In there you hear the stories of what happens to idiots who mouth off or don't follow instructions.

I still 95% trust them but hanging out with these active duty and retired cops has been interesting. To tell the truth I enjoy it most of the time. In this friendly atmosphere everyone gives everyone else a raft of .....

I'm pretty sure you're not getting a representative sampling of cops by hanging out in local gun shops. While I and most cops I know may run in and out to pick something up, I can't think of any of us who like to "hang out" in gun shops unless we or a close friend own the place, make money teaching CPL classes there, etc. Even then....The great majority of us would probably rather be somewhere else.

Also....People love to hear war stories from soldiers....and cops.....And like a lot of war stories, "What I did to the jerk who pissed me off" war stories tend to be embellished.... Most old-time cops are well beyond taking a bad attitude on a traffic stop (for example), personally. The youngsters may get some relief from their stress by getting vindictive with the ticket book (for example), while the oldsters avoid the stress in the first place.

 

[Trons]

My thought, what's the first thing a LEO is going to ask at any traffic stop? License and Registration, please. As soon as you get pulled, even before the LEO walks up to your car, have them out and both hands clearly visible by the time they get to your car. If you want to inform about your cc pull the permit and hand it to the LEO with your license and registration. Very simple and effective, if the LEO wishes to go further with questioning they will do so at that time.

Okay, Let me get some information, not that I'm planning on getting pulled over anytime soon. When I get pulled over, I turn the radio off, I shut the vehicle off and I put my hands at 10 & 2 on the steering wheel and my sun glasses (if I'm wearing them) go on my dash. I don't make a move, from that point on, until the LEO asks me too. Wouldn't reaching for my license and registration/insurance (license in my back pocket, insurance in glove compartment) make a LEO looking through my rear window think something is up?

I only ask about if I should inform because I've been nervous that as I'm reaching for my wallet, the gun becomes visible and tension ensues. I'm thinking it would be best to inform if, especially if my hand has to go anywhere near it, is this wrong?

 

[BB57]

Okay, Let me get some information, not that I'm planning on getting pulled over anytime soon. When I get pulled over, I turn the radio off, I shut the vehicle off and I put my hands at 10 & 2 on the steering wheel and my sun glasses (if I'm wearing them) go on my dash. I don't make a move, from that point on, until the LEO asks me too. Wouldn't reaching for my license and registration/insurance (license in my back pocket, insurance in glove compartment) make a LEO looking through my rear window think something is up?

I only ask about if I should inform because I've been nervous that as I'm reaching for my wallet, the gun becomes visible and tension ensues. I'm thinking it would be best to inform if, especially if my hand has to go anywhere near it, is this wrong?

You are correct that you don't want to make any sudden movements or make a lot of them to suggest you are doing something like loading a gun and a spare mag etc, but getting your wallet and drivers license out is a pretty common activity and not unexpected. If you finish the dig by holding the wallet up and placing it on the dash so he can see it, it will help confirm what you were doing.

It's a lot better than reaching for your wallet with your gun on your hip, and if you need to do that you'll want to disclose the concealed carry status and the location of the firearm.

Personally, when I was an LEO, I preferred concealed carry on the hip drivers had their license out, covered the gun back up and re-buckled the seat belt before I got there. The gun is all tucked away and there no issue about having a hand near it during the stop.

In most cases now, VDL and concealed carry data bases in states are merged, so when the officer runs your plates, if it is your car, he'll probably know you have a concealed carry permit. If you hand him the permit with the license, insurance and registration, he can inquire further if he chooses, or you can just ask him how he'd like to handle it. Either way he knows you're being up front with him, and that's the critical issue.

If you don't tell him and he sees a weapon on your hip with your hand near it, you might not get a very positive response from the officer.

 

[RSanch111]

For what it's worth, your actions, short of obviously reaching for a weapon or hiding something from me on a traffic stop really don't influence what I do or think. I'm going to assume you may be armed whether your hands are on the steering wheel or in your lap.

Your attitude might make a LITTLE bit of difference to me after you run the red light, but most likely not. It is more likely to make a difference to me in court if you fight the ticket or ask for a break there. And here's why: You don't know what a person is REALLY all about until you give them the ticket. When I did a lot of traffic, I was used to having people be gratuitously polite...Until I gave them their ticket for blowing the light or rear-ending the car in front of them or whatever. THEN you saw their true colors.

It's just like the hot chickedy who flirts with you when you approach the car and then turns total bitchtone when you give her a ticket. "What's up honey? I'm not nearly as attractive as I was 5 minutes ago?" Just because you're polite on the stop doesn't mean you were any less likely to kill someone when you blew the light while texting.....

You know who also is very polite to cops and who keep their hands in sight on traffic stops? So much so that it sets off warning bells? Former convicts who spent a lot of time in the penitentiary. They want you to feel complacent until they put a bullet in your face.

 

[Trons]

Well, RSanch111, don't know about the people who you've pulled over, but I've always been polite and respectful even after getting the ticket. Wasn't the LEO's fault I was speeding (all of my tickets). I've been arrested twice for driving on a suspended license, when I was much younger. Why was my license suspended? Not paying speeding tickets.

I was nice to the cops arresting me. Before, during and after.

The single exception was trying to get a friend to Scott AFB in southern IL from Great Mistakes so he could grab a MAC flight at 0400. Got pulled over on some 2 lane back road so we could bypass St. Louis. When I asked why I was pulled over, the LEO said it was because I had FL tags and the road I was on was a major drug trafficking highway. I95 is a major drug trafficking highway, not some podunk road. they searched my car and didn't find anything, but it still took almost an hour and we barely got there (had to speed to make up time). I was a little less the respectful to him, but still not rude.

Sounds like you pulled over some douche bags in your time. Sorry to hear that.

 

[S&W SS Revolvers]

Good for you !

I must say that while I endeavor to obey the law at all times I have been pulled over 3 times in the last 20 years, All of the officers were polite and obliging after I showed them the respect and courtesy they deserve...something rare in todays thug society...

Another good tip is to roll the windows down and have both hands on the wheel looking the officer in the eyes as he approaches your vehicle instead of fishing around in the glovebox.

Excellent advice and more than that courteous. If I were an LE those damn darked out windows would make me REAL nervous...I hate those things for our good guys.

 

[CH4]

Yes, I agree the officer did a great job! In the business we call that,
"selling a ticket." If he worked for me, I'd give him an A+

He pinched you for speed, which cost you $48 and you're online doting on him. The officer gets a stat and plays with your gun. Yes sir, that's definitely an A+ in my book.

Seriously, I am glad it was a good experience for you. The vast majority of officers are solid, respectful individuals that understand who they truly work for.

 

[RSanch111]

Sounds like you pulled over some douche bags in your time. Sorry to hear that.

I wouldn't necessarily call them "douchebags" just for having an obvious change in attitude.....Just human nature...And it takes all kinds.

As far as your stop for being on the "drug trafficking" road, I'd be pissed about the illegal stop and search too. Local cops tried to talk their way into my house to search it once when they showed up after getting a call to the wrong address with no complainant on "someone inside cut their wrists and there's blood all over..." I politely told them to get lost when they didn't get the message politely. My wife kept telling me "tell them who you are, tell them who you are!" She was pissed that I didn't. I told her you shouldn't have to be a cop to be treated with respect by the police at your own house.

I did used to pull over a lot of scumbags though....Most of us aren't really out there looking for traffic tickets when we stop a car. The tickets are usually just a necessary evil....