Positive LEO Encounter

No surprise, for the most part LEO's choose the craft because they truly want to benefit the people at large.

Before Dad retired (farmer) he would invite local LEO's out to his private shooting range. For the most part they were safety conscious and good neighbors. It is a pity that two individuals made the practice too risky for Dad to continue.

No surprise, for the most part LEO's choose the craft because they truly want to benefit the people at large.

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Truer words were never spoken.

It is always good to hear a positive story about LE. This is the way it is supposed to be.

I'm glad more people are writing about it. It happens all the time, it's just that there's usually no story. Get pulled over for speeding, let off with warning. Nothing to really tell. Only bad stuff really makes stories people want to tell and read, and thus it seems like those happen more often.

Most LEO's are truly good people. They may have some qualities that most people don't have but then it takes a certain type of personality to be willing to confront the worst of the worst in society and that's exactly what LEO's do. Some will give a lot of LEO's a bad name and that's a shame but we're human. There will always be bad apples no matter where you look. But I've know lots of LEO's that not only have respect for their fellow man but they are willing to go out and defend the weaker people among us. That says a lot about them.

I just had a very good encounter with a deputy last week when I went to get my CCW renewed. The guy was gung ho about guns and we talked about everything from the ammo shortages to the gun grabbers. He actually said he would never go out to collect firearms from people who weren't causing any problems. He said others wouldn't either. I didn't bring that up. He did. He wanted it known to me that he would not be part of the gun grabber movement no matter what.

My county is pretty much gun friendly as you can see. Every deputy I've ever talked to when getting my CCW renewed was like that. My LEO instructors for my CCW class were like that. LEO's I have met were like that. Heck some even encouraged me to carry a gun before we had a CCW law. He said he knew almost every LEO in the county and that very few of them would ever say anything about me carrying since all the local bad guys have them already. I saw that work in real life too when I had an accident and my car weapon ended up laying in the middle of the road. I got a ticket for it because too many people were watching but they dropped the charges at court and gave me back my gun. The area is a high crime area anyway and they know who the trouble makers are. They always tell me they appreciate all the help they can get from the law abiding people. Yeah I know I was breaking a law at the time but I just took the advice of that LEO who told me I should be carrying a gun with me.

My brother's brother in law is a LEO too. We're good friends and almost all we talk about is guns. We do talk about bluegrass some but mostly it's guns. He brought one of the sweetest weapons I ever saw to our Christmas party once. It was a full auto Colt M4 with a titanium can and a 12.5" barrel. The whole gun weighed about 4 lb.s with the silencer. I've seen and shots lots of full auto weapons but none have impressed me like that one. It felt like a toy but wow that ain't what it was.

When I was growing up- (ten years ago) there was a special deputy that was older than dirt and slightly younger than God that would get insulted if you called him anything but a peace officer. His claim was that if people couldn't understand that hating the idea the job of law enforcement was necessary was not the same as hating the man doing the job didn't have any business with a badge. The county lost a very good man and a dedicated civil servant when he died.

My brother in law on the other hand... Sister Beatrice told me if I couldn't say anything nice then say nothing at all. So I'll just say he only represents my sister's poor judgment and not the state police.

Officers'Wife said:

No surprise, for the most part LEO's choose the craft because they truly want to benefit the people at large.

Before Dad retired (farmer) he would invite local LEO's out to his private shooting range. For the most part they were safety conscious and good neighbors. It is a pity that two individuals made the practice too risky for Dad to continue.

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take away their multi million dollar pensions and see how many people they want to "help". a chief retired here with a check for $469,000 in unused sick and vacation days on top of his $169,000 pension. he really helped us

I had one a few weeks ago. I was at my pickup, parked along the street in front of my house, about 9PM one night. As always, I was armed. I was on the city swale, which is technically considered the city "right-of-way", but it is also considered my property, since I am responsible for its upkeep.

Anyway, a car turned onto the street (from the end, about a fifth of a mile away) and immediately gunned down headed toward my house, which is halfway down the street. I figured he was racing, and immediately swept him with the beam from my 4-cell. He slowed down, and pulled up alongside me in a now-clearly-marked patrol car. He put his right side window down, and I apologized, telling him "sorry I beam-swept you; I thought you were racing down the street." He immediately replied: "That's okay; I saw you and thought I might have a car burglar!" (Our city is rife with car burglaries.) He never did ask me to show I lived where I was, or that the truck was mine. I think he just took my demeanor, along with the T-shirt I was wearing that is splattered with an EMS-themed image (ambulance, helicopter, caduceus, etc.) to mean I was a "good guy."

While living in a very criminally active neighborhood which was actually a pretty nice sub division. But after having had my car and multiple car stereo's stolen, my adult Son and I decided to start walking the neighborhood at night. This neighborhood was being over run with gang bangers, home invasions and break ins were also occurring. We contacted LE to let them know what we were going to do, which was to patrol with flash lights and firearms, including a shotgun slung over our shoulders along with side arms, and the amount of support was absolutely amazing. They never once expressed concern about us carrying our firearms. This happened in two different instances, and in two different neighborhoods. The Sargent in charge of that beat even gave us his personal cell number so we could get his burglary guys on scene blacked out, and without having to go through the whole "911" process too.

I have nothing but respect for those LE's who serve us with honest intentions and support. There is no doubt a few that don't wear the uniform with commitment and dedicated to serving the public, but for the most part, they don't represent the majority.

GS

Small towns are great like that. I was involved in a traffic stop not long ago, shotgun and few hundred rounds in the front seat. Not a word said about it

Good story Ten. What side of town do you live on? Deep fried, our town aint so small anymore...wish i woulda bought some real estate about 15 years ago in other words!

Happy to hear it. So far, out of dozens of encounters with law enforcement throughout Arizona I have nothing but praise for their conduct, approachability and professionalism. These encounters range through at least five different county SDs, municipalities and State authorities.

A far cry this, from my experiences living in California after retirement from the Army.

Most places have great cops - some places make their cops... difficult.

wasn't my experience per se
but about 5 years ago we had 2 guys having breakfast at waffle house regular customers
5 other guys walk in and start in on the two guys. it was over country of origin feud
the 2 guys paid up tried to leave they were followed and attacked
one guy got up made it to his car and retrieved his weapon. he was charged by 2 of the attackers as he did so. he fired and wounded them both one fatally. at that point everyone fled victims as well as surviving attackers. the vixctims wwere known to the employees who called them told them to return that they had told the cops what happened. they did.they spent 4 hours in custody giving statements and his gfun was confiscated. after investigation they were cleared gun returned and equally important their names were not released since they had committed no crime and there was/is risk of revenge attacks. i like it here

Sanitation workers are more likely to die on the job than police officers are. Every single day sanitation workers make contributions to our health and welfare by dealing with the trash that none of us wants to. My sanitation worker is a professional, he takes away my trash every week with never even a scrap of paper left behind. Do sanitation workers not deserve a pedestal as well to be placed on beside the police officers?

To make this post firearms related, I was walking out to my mailbox the other day when my trash was being picked up. I said hi to my sanitation worker, and he said hi back and mentioned that it was a nice gun I was wearing.

Officers'Wife said:

When I was growing up- (ten years ago) there was a special deputy that was older than dirt and slightly younger than God that would get insulted if you called him anything but a peace officer. His claim was that if people couldn't understand that hating the idea the job of law enforcement was necessary was not the same as hating the man doing the job didn't have any business with a badge. The county lost a very good man and a dedicated civil servant when he died.

My brother in law on the other hand... Sister Beatrice told me if I couldn't say anything nice then say nothing at all. So I'll just say he only represents my sister's poor judgment and not the state police.

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I have nothing but respect, and support for the ones that do their jobs professionally. Unfortunately that's fewer and farther between around here. What I don't get is the "professionals" that will try to degrade and/or humiliate anyone criticizing the wrong doers. Don't they realize how bad that hurts them all ?

NavyLCDR said:

Sanitation workers are more likely to die on the job than police officers are. Every single day sanitation workers make contributions to our health and welfare by dealing with the trash that none of us wants to. My sanitation worker is a professional, he takes away my trash every week with never even a scrap of paper left behind. Do sanitation workers not deserve a pedestal as well to be placed on beside the police officers?

To make this post firearms related, I was walking out to my mailbox the other day when my trash was being picked up. I said hi to my sanitation worker, and he said hi back and mentioned that it was a nice gun I was wearing.

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There is a distinct difference between the threat of dieing by industrial accident versus by the hands of a violent career criminal. I'm willing to bet that the dangers of many professions are greater than that of even our armed forces, but that does not belittle the gratitude we have for their dedication. Your tagline says you're not anti-cop, but your post reads like a man out to prove a point.

Risky said:

There is a distinct difference between the threat of dieing by industrial accident versus by the hands of a violent career criminal. I'm willing to bet that the dangers of many professions are greater than that of even our armed forces, but that does not belittle the gratitude we have for their dedication. Your tagline says you're not anti-cop, but your post reads like a man out to prove a point.

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I am trying to prove a point. Why is it so special to a lot of people when a police officer treats a law abiding citizen who just happens to be carrying a gun with dignitiy and respect? Why is that post worthy?

I've read it posted that people inform police officers of their lawfully carried firearm when not required to by law due to "common courtesy". Well, is this "common courtesy" extended to others in difficult jobs? How about the convenience store night clerk when you enter their store after dark? The clerk has no idea who you are, or if you are there to rob them or buy a soda? So shouldn't the same "common courtesy" of notifying them be extended as well?

I always treat police officers with respect and make an effort to tell them, when the opportunity arises, how much I appreciate their efforts (even when they have stopped me with the blue lights). I have always been treated equally with dignity, respect and professionalism. My gun or CPL has never been mentioned by myself or any police officer I have had contact with during a routine traffic stop or when they responded to a possible trespasser on my poperty. I fail to see how the two are related to each other.

I think the worst encounter was when I lived in Yuma. There had been two pretty bad shootings that occurred next door to my house, both over the course of about two weeks. Following the 3rd incident, LE was going house to house asking questions of course, just trying to gather as much information as possible. Well when they arrived at my home they had to jump my locked gate to access my front door. I could clearly see it was several sheriffs knocking at my front door, and although I was a bit surprised to see that they had trespassed my property, I wasn't all that bothered, considering the magnitude of the incident. But when I opened the front door, with the screen door still between them and myself, they saw my holstered side arm and they immediately opened the screen door and then put hands on me, pulled me out the door, and disarmed me while using physical restraint, all while I was non resistant and fully compliant. As soon as the one who had removed my firearm had cleared it, he checked it out to see if it had been recently discharged, and then stated to the other LEO's on scene "it's just been fired" "we've got our guy". At this point in time I got rather vocal and told them your wrong, that firearm has not been fired in over a month. So then the officer said, well then it's just been cleaned within the last few minutes, to which I responded, then you don't know much about firearms do you. I quickly began to get pissed and concerned. But when I demanded to have the supervisor present, and yelled to my Son to call my attorney, after reminding them that they had just trespassed my property, and had pulled me out my front door without good cause, things quickly turned around. They gave me back my side arm right then and there, but they never did apologize. They told me, not asked, me to unlock the front gate so they could leave, and they asked if they could search the yard. At this point in time I was pretty pissed and refused permission to search my yard, and informed them that they seemed to have no problem ignoring my locked gate when trespassing my property, so go back out the same way you trespassed in.

As it turned out my neighbor who doesn't like gun toting individuals, was the one who sent them to my front door and had told them it was probably me, cause I'm always carrying a gun.

But one bad encounter didn't effect my level of respect for the job most LEO's do. As with any profession, there is always going to be a certain percentage that loose direction and perspective, and it shouldn't cause the others to have to suffer for the misconduct of those few bad apples.

GS

any man that shoots someone over a fist fight should be jailed. that is what I do not like about CC

The reason we need to be courteous in letting LEO's know we are armed is that they are assigned the task of keeping order as best as they can and that means confronting bad guys including bad guys with guns. Bad guys with guns aren't likely to admit they have them because their name won't be on the list (the one they can check with their radio). It's not so much to ask to let them know you aren't a trouble maker and can be trusted with that hog leg you have strapped to your chest. And yes I have carried a full size revolver (S&W 629 w/ 8.38" barrel) under my shirt concealed. I had a jacket on too so I didn't print that much. But remember that LEO's are trained to spot concealed weapons whether they can do a good job of it or not. Heck even security guards are taught to look for weapons. I was anyway when I was a security guard back in a summer of one of my college years.

No we shouldn't be forced to reveal that we're carrying because there are too many cops with attitudes that will make up their own laws as they go. We saw all that on that video a few years back where cops harassed a guy to no end because he had a CCW. That was in Ohio too btw.

There is a distinct difference between the threat of dieing by industrial accident versus by the hands of a violent career criminal.

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You betcha!

If you're attacked by a criminal, you have a chance of making him stop by inflicting enough pain to at least make him rethink his chosen profession.

Those industrial machines don't care, don't think, don't feel - they just keep mindlessly chewing you up no matter how much you kick, scream, hit, curse, fight, etc.

From one that retired from the industrial maintenance profession, and who doesn't put LE on a pedestal.

Why is it so special to a lot of people when a police officer treats a law abiding citizen who just happens to be carrying a gun with dignitiy and respect? Why is that post worthy?

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Are you really not aware that lots of people absolutely hate LEO's? They think they're all corrupt and just like to push people around. There are some LEO's like that too. A few can give a lot of them a bad name. But many, many people hate cops. The only time they see them is when they get a speeding ticket.

That's why people here are pointing out that most cops are decent people. Have you ever listened to a gangster rap "song"? Have you not watched "Cops"? And as I said before cops are called on to deal with the armed thugs of the world so letting them know you aren't a thug is not the same as telling a garbage man you aren't. That garbage man isn't paid to confront you. Cops are. And it is a stressful job as I would think you would realize. I suppose the navy hasn't really faced a hostile confrontation situation for quite a while but somewhere in your head you must know it's possible. Imagine not only knowing a hostile confrontation is likely but also that it will be against people from your own country. That's stressful to most people. Yes most LEO's can deal with it or they wouldn't be LEO's. That doesn't mean it's really easy. I know a LEO who works undercover doing drug buys. He knows his life can end every day on the job. And yes I know there are more dangerous jobs. I've worked a lot of them. That doesn't change the fact that it's more stressful knowing that another human could turn on you. Not many construction workers get tortured if they get caught driving nails. There are some LEO's who get tortured.

Maybe it is because you're in the navy and you don't recognize the stress levels involved in being a LEO because you are used to stress too. Or maybe you're in the navy and think your job is stressful because of the possibility of confrontation even though you really know the chances are slim. I'm just guessing. But you don't seem to get it that being a cop can be highly stressful. And if I can take some stress off of one of the good guy cops I will do just that. Yes I've had situations where cops unduly leaned on me even to the point of nearly sending me to prison for being a witness to a crime that no one else saw. They figured since the parking lot was full of people that someone else should have seen the armed robbery of a filing station attendant besides me. I spent all of Christmas Eve speaking up for some poor minimum wage worker who was about to be framed for robbery when I knew he didn't do it. I was almost hung out to dry with him for my efforts. I know that LEO's can be a real pain. I also know they put themselves in harms way (just like armed forces guys) for me at times. I stood up for that attendant because it was the right thing to do. Most cops do their job because it's right that someone does it. I respect that even if I've been falsely accused too many times. I probably would have suspected something was up if I heard a story like the one I told too. It was pretty weird that no one else saw what was happening but me.

from one that retired from the industrial maintenance profession, and who doesn't put LE on a pedestal.

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I've worked jobs as dangerous as they get. It's not the same as having to wonder about another human attacking you. You say machines don't stop no matter what? Machines don't go out of their way to make you feel as bad possible like "some" people do. I don't put cops on a pedestal either. I've probably seen more corruption from cops than 10 average people. I "know" some of them are crooked because I saw them in action. That doesn't change the fact that it's just common courtesy to let them know you aren't a thug (by letting them know you have a CCW for that gun) because most of them are straight arrows doing things many of us won't do.

Cee Zee said:

Are you really not aware that lots of people absolutely hate LEO's? They think they're all corrupt and just like to push people around. There are some LEO's like that too. A few can give a lot of them a bad name. But many, many people hate cops. The only time they see them is when they get a speeding ticket.

That's why people here are pointing out that most cops are decent people. Have you ever listened to a gangster rap "song"? Have you not watched "Cops"? And as I said before cops are called on to deal with the armed thugs of the world so letting them know you aren't a thug is not the same as telling a garbage man you aren't. That garbage man isn't paid to confront you. Cops are. And it is a stressful job as I would think you would realize. I suppose the navy hasn't really faced a hostile confrontation situation for quite a while but somewhere in your head you must know it's possible. Imagine not only knowing a hostile confrontation is likely but also that it will be against people from your own country. That's stressful to most people. Yes most LEO's can deal with it or they wouldn't be LEO's. That doesn't mean it's really easy. I know a LEO who works undercover doing drug buys. He knows his life can end every day on the job. And yes I know there are more dangerous jobs. I've worked a lot of them. That doesn't change the fact that it's more stressful knowing that another human could turn on you. Not many construction workers get tortured if they get caught driving nails. There are some LEO's who get tortured.

Maybe it is because you're in the navy and you don't recognize the stress levels involved in being a LEO because you are used to stress too. Or maybe you're in the navy and think your job is stressful because of the possibility of confrontation even though you really know the chances are slim. I'm just guessing. But you don't seem to get it that being a cop can be highly stressful. And if I can take some stress off of one of the good guy cops I will do just that. Yes I've had situations where cops unduly leaned on me even to the point of nearly sending me to prison for being a witness to a crime that no one else saw. They figured since the parking lot was full of people that someone else should have seen the armed robbery of a filing station attendant besides me. I spent all of Christmas Eve speaking up for some poor minimum wage worker who was about to be framed for robbery when I knew he didn't do it. I was almost hung out to dry with him for my efforts. I know that LEO's can be a real pain. I also know they put themselves in harms way (just like armed forces guys) for me at times. I stood up for that attendant because it was the right thing to do. Most cops do their job because it's right that someone does it. I respect that even if I've been falsely accused too many times. I probably would have suspected something was up if I heard a story like the one I told too. It was pretty weird that no one else saw what was happening but me.

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you want torture try staying on a roof when it is 110 degrees or 20 below zero with the wind blowing. 75% of undercover drug guys become addicts and a lot are taken out of prison to work on an undercover drug force. police have bankrupted every town county and state with their multi million dollar pensions. they are hardly needed and show up to put people in body bags. they could not find the mens room in their own building without an informant and like the boston bombing a civilian found the guy