What's your opinion?

[ak474u]

So... I was on the way to pick up my son from preschool this afternoon. I took the 2 lane back road so I could stop at the local truck stop and get some gas. I came to the cross street behind the truck stop and noticed the "commercial vehicle enforcement" police truck was parked in the intersection. I proceeded on my way, and as I pulled into the gas pumps, he's behind me lights blazing. That's when I remember, my registration sticker is out, but the new one is on the visor... No biggie. The officer approached pretty fast, so I just put my hands on the door frame instead of digging thru my heavy coat to get my wallet. I informed him I was armed, and didn't want to be digging in my jacket when he walked up. I told him my gun was on my hip, and I'd get my CHL out for him...

He says "ok, no problem, are you on a tactical team?"
Me, as i look down and realize my maxpedition pack with a light in a holster, on top is right beside me, "nope, just an American"
Him: "where are you coming from?"
Me: "home"
him: "where are you headed?"
Me: "to get my son from school".
Him: "your registration is out".
Me: "I forgot to put it on, here it is right here".
Him: "oh, great, you'll want to put that on, that's why I stopped you".
Me: "sorry". He walks back to truck with my DL and CHL. 1 minute later, he comes back and says: "have a good day, thanks for your cooperation".


So... I forgot to put on the sticker, my bad, I deserved to get pulled over. That's really not the issue. Should I be pissed that the local police want to know where I'm going, and where I've been? My personal opinion is: F-off, none of your business, write me a ticket, or go away! But... I'm not that kind of guy, and I don't want to be "that guy" and pull out my copy of the bill of rights while respectfully requesting that a guy who probably is more like me politically, than most other citizens to pound sand.

I'd love to have the opinion of our LEO members as well.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

I would take it as the "situation dictates" such as, officer's disposition, what are the circumstances of being pulled over, etc. Assessing the situation always comes first. I think you did that in your case. There was nothing in your situation to really make you feel you had to answer like you were being "interrogated." First came the "I am armed, then where ya going, came from, theeeeeeeen, ah your registration sir." So let's clear up the important stuff first before we get to the little old registration. Remember you said you were armed first. So then you ask yourself, should I have done it this way or that? Right?

Me, I don't mention anything about the fact that I'm carrying period unless it comes up. It usually does when my permit gets exposed, not my piece. I carry mine in my wallet so that the leading edge gets exposed when the wallet is opened. LEO's notice it, no one else does unless they know what it is. The other thing is I use a shoulder holster, less likely to get exposed reaching for my wallet.(but that's not why I use that holster) At's my roll a quarters.............Oh, and don't forget to stick on your stickers.

[ak474u]

I would take it as the "situation dictates" such as, officer's disposition, what are the circumstances of being pulled over, etc. Assessing the situation always comes first. I think you did that in your case. There was nothing in your situation to really make you feel you had to answer like you were being "interrogated." First came the "I am armed, then where ya going, came from, theeeeeeeen, ah your registration sir." So let's clear up the important stuff first before we get to the little old registration. Remember you said you were armed first. So then you ask yourself, should I have done it this way or that? Right?

Me, I don't mention anything about the fact that I'm carrying period unless it comes up. It usually does when my permit gets exposed, not my piece. I carry mine in my wallet so that the leading edge gets exposed when the wallet is opened. LEO's notice it, no one else does unless they know what it is. The other thing is I use a shoulder holster, less likely to get exposed reaching for my wallet.(but that's not why I use that holster) At's my roll a quarters.............Oh, and don't forget to stick on your stickers.

You have to notify the officer about CHL here, I usually just start off with it, and since I don't want lead poisoning, I don't want to reach for anything with the way people get these days about guns, its more for my safety than the officer's.

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Gotcha.........

[ladyhk13]

Last time I got pulled over for something stupid the officer saw my carry permit and asked "which one of you are carrying?" And I pointed over to BWRR. I happened not to have mine with me that night. Funny he figured if the woman had one the guy did too. I don't think the he even asked where the gun was. Guess being in a small town with so many people with guns if ya don't look like a criminal they don't worry about it much. They mostly get ya if they are bored and I think since we have no crime here they just want to shoot the shit just to stay awake. Lol.

[mitunnelrat]

We have to notify LEO's when we're stopped here as well, but I'm otherwise with BWRR on this one. "Situation dictates." I don't believe any of their questions on our activities to be idle, though, no matter how friendly the delivery. I also don't think the answers matter much if you don't seem evasive...

I may have an interesting run of it next time I'm pulled over while carrying though. The LEO's in my area are pretty decent for the most part, but they may take offense when I refuse (respectfully) to relinquish my weapon to them if requested. I've only been pulled over once before when carrying, and my pistol came back in pieces, with every bullet removed from the magazine. Then again, both troopers came to my window that time and asked me how it went back together... said they couldn't figure it out? Um, the reverse of how you disassembled it fellas!

But yeah, not playing that game again. I'll stand in the cold first, with my gun in the truck.

[helomech]

If I think answering their questions will get me out of a ticket then I answer, but if I don't think it will help, then they get no answers about where I was, or where I am going. It is none of their business.

[bacpacker]

I think each situation can be different and should be played as such. Sometimes beong cooprative is the way to go. But not always. I try to always start out that way and then see how the officer reacts and take it from there.
I got pulled over last year, I assumed for me hauling ass in a 45 mph zone. The officer ask for my license and regs which I handed over. He came back with only a warning ticket for my tail light being out. A little back story, my car is a 98 civic that rode out the worst hail storm I have ever seen. It beat out my tail lights and tore the license plate off the car. I have put the plate in my rear window and tried to repair the lights. All that plus me speeding, he had me dead to rights but just gave me a warning all the while being a decent guy about it. No reason to get riled up about it.

Situation may be different next time, so could the responses. IMO you did right at the time.

[The Stig]

All depends on the demeanor and attitude of the law enforcement official.

Those seemingly intrusive questions are really just a ploy to get you talking. They aren't asking "where did you come from" to save the information into some big government spreadsheet. Getting you talking makes it far easier to judge if someone has been drinking (slurred speech, smell booze, etc) or is being evasive (giving vague, conflicting answers). They can use that conversation to develop PC if needed.

If it's Officer Friendly and he's just running through his traffic-stop routine I'm totally fine with the questions. It's all part of the process IMO.

If it's Officer Wannbe Badass, he's playing Junior Columbo and he's acting like he's going to "trip me up" then I'm not so fine with the questions.

[Sniper-T]

look at it another way. let's say that you found out after that same said cop approached a vehicle outside your son's school with expired tags. during his routine questions said officer got a ba feeling about the individual, determined he was high, and called for backup, backup arrives while he's running the guys info and it turns out guy is a released sexual predator, whom they arrest for being too close to the school. That evening when you'r watching it on TV, your son pipes up and says "Hey, I saw that truck, I walked right by it. The guy even said hi to me."

personally, I think I would be thankful for the cops diligence.

but yeah, the questions are justa ploy to get you talking and breathing in their direction. And a word of warning, while you are fully in your right to not answer his questions the odds of him giving you a warning to put the sticker on go down dramatically with every smart assed or condescending answer that you may give.

[ladyhk13]

I think each situation can be different and should be played as such. Sometimes beong cooprative is the way to go. But not always. I try to always start out that way and then see how the officer reacts and take it from there.
I got pulled over last year, I assumed for me hauling ass in a 45 mph zone. The officer ask for my license and regs which I handed over. He came back with only a warning ticket for my tail light being out. A little back story, my car is a 98 civic that rode out the worst hail storm I have ever seen. It beat out my tail lights and tore the license plate off the car. I have put the plate in my rear window and tried to repair the lights. All that plus me speeding, he had me dead to rights but just gave me a warning all the while being a decent guy about it. No reason to get riled up about it.

Situation may be different next time, so could the responses. IMO you did right at the time.

Probably because you live in the same kind of area we do in Tn....hmmm. The only place I really see issues here is along certain stretches of the interstate which we have found out that drugs are being transported up from Fl north so they will catch them speeding and most of those LEO's have dogs with them and you will see them taking the car apart. So I guess if I were to get pulled over up near Nashville on the interstate my whole way of dealing with the situation might be different. I still don't think I would offer info of being armed unless asked however, honestly our police don't seem to be concerned with it except as an afterthought. I guess each state and area is different.

[helomech]

look at it another way. let's say that you found out after that same said cop approached a vehicle outside your son's school with expired tags. during his routine questions said officer got a ba feeling about the individual, determined he was high, and called for backup, backup arrives while he's running the guys info and it turns out guy is a released sexual predator, whom they arrest for being too close to the school. That evening when you'r watching it on TV, your son pipes up and says "Hey, I saw that truck, I walked right by it. The guy even said hi to me."

personally, I think I would be thankful for the cops diligence.

but yeah, the questions are justa ploy to get you talking and breathing in their direction. And a word of warning, while you are fully in your right to not answer his questions the odds of him giving you a warning to put the sticker on go down dramatically with every smart assed or condescending answer that you may give.

I don't give a smart assed answer, but I also don't give any info that can incriminate me. I do ask them what is the nature of their investigation any time I deal with law enforcement. If I feel like I am being interrogated then I ask them to articulate their suspension of my criminal activity. But like I said, if I have a feeling he will let me off (and I did something wrong) then I will play their game. But i also have a camera in my car.

[LUNCHBOX]

I guess you could take it the wrong way. Maybe he was new, just nosey, had a bad run in with another driver that put him on edge. Who knows.

I would look at it this way....what if he asked those same questions to someone on the way to that school intending to shoot it full of holes and his actions changed the outcome. IMO, steriotyping, but not meaning bad judgement.

[Possom]

I am not a big fan of LEOs that I don't know. I know most of the cops here and know the good and asshole ones.

If asked where I am headed I will answer them but not answer. "Where are you headed sir?" Me: "just out and about, doing some running around". You can not answer a question but still give a response. More then likely his question was just to judge your reaction. Not that he really cared where you were headed. If you acted nervous in your response he would have questioned further.

As for a weapon in my truck, there is always a gun in my truck. I do not have to inform a LEO that it is there. Arkansas act 746 amended the journeyman law of our state and I am covered to carry in my truck and it's none of their business. With the exception of schools and a few other places that are "gun free zones".

[realist]

I've been away for awhile so I'll wade in on this one.

Traffic stop 101

There are different types LEO organizations out there. City cops generate money for their agency by writing tickets. State cops generate money from tickets for the state and the agency with jurisdiction they wrote the ticket in. The Deputy Sheriff on the other hand usually does not write many traffic tickets since it is not one of their primary missions.

Sooo what this means, when you are stopped, depending upon what agency stops you may determine whether or not you get a ticket. If they are just generating revenue the chances you are going to get a ticket are very high, i.e. the traffic cop riding a motor. Manny times a traffic officer will make a decision to write the ticket before they even talk to the driver. It is kind of cut and dry, nothing personal just business.

Now this time you get stopped by a deputy sheriff who does not have to write tickets. So why is he stopping you? It is not to write a ticket but to find out who you are. They want to find out if you are a crook or not. Their goal is to make an arrest not write a ticket. BTW they are not interested in a CS arrest but quality ones, i.e. parolees with weapons, burglars, sexual offenders etc. So why would they write you a ticket? Well if you are a prick then you are generally guaranteed to get a ticket so it would behoove you to be polite. Remember they write tickets for fun or to generate a warrant next time they meet up with you if you fail to pay the ticket.

Quotas in our area are a no, no as well as most areas. So why is it constantly being brought up. Well look at it this way. You have 10 cops and they all write say 1000 tickets a month that would mean each one wrote 100 tickets that month. However officer A wrote only 2 tickets. So you as a supervisor supervising those 10 officers what would you think? You have one guy doing only 2% of the work of the others. The guy is a slug if he constantly does this amount of work day in and day out. It is not the 100 ticket but who is doing the work.

If you look at stats from most traffic agencies, they make the most arrests. Why, because they are making the most contacts on a routine basis. It gets down to numbers, although they stopped the person to write a ticket they found enough to make an arrest.

The thing you need to understand they are doing their job. You are the one in most cases who makes it easy or hard. Yes there are a lot of cops who can be pricks but not the majority. Most are guys and gals who are just doing what they think is right. They are just like anyone else in any other profession. If you are stopped and you did wrong accept the responsibility you were in the wrong. If not take it to court and get another opinion from the judge. Now judges that is another topic for another day……