Privacy of Concealed Carry information

Tat for Tit ?

I wonder if as much information on MYSELF as there is available to a LEO, is that amount / type of information available to me in identifying the LEO who has me stopped. Do LEOs carry a license for their side-arms; can I demand to see it? Are LEOs licensed to do their police duties; can I require that sort of I.D./proof? What will be the actions following my request if I ask to see all/any of the above?? Just asking for some clarification of Citizens' rights. DAO

I think it is a state by state issue. I know when crossing into Canada they knew all about my Oregon permit.

Does LE information, driver's license, registration, database link to CCW information?

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Not in my state of Alabama. My DL does put me into the jury pool though.

There have been a few threads on this recently, with alot of people chimming in on various states. One of them specified NC but you need to get your search-fu on

In Texas it's all linked. It's a condition of getting a CHL at all.

If your DL has a bar code on it, you'd likely be startled as to what information is there. Got my hunting license a few days back. They swipe the DL and enter the data and out comes the license. All computerized.

I believe in Colorado, it is against the law for the county sheriff departments to database this info. But some of them do it anyway. During a traffic stop, a local officer told a coworker of mine that he can see that the guy had a permit to carry, and asked if he was armed. So the info has obviously been available to them through drivers' license records.

Odds are that in most states, the CHL is state-issued. Such info is in the state database, so when any LEO accesses it for a traffic stop, all related info on the car's registration and info on the owner (who may not be the driver) pops up--including the CHL. Residence, date of birth, and for many states nowadays, the DL # is the SS #.

IOW, for all practical purposes, forget privacy.

Oh, and in Texas (other states may/will vary) LEO are licensed by the State. The Agencies they work for are also certified. Those agencies that issue arms, retain the ownership, and the burdens thereupon, too.

Art Eatman...Odds are that in most states, the CHL is state-issued. Such info is in the state database, so when any LEO accesses it for a traffic stop, all related info on the car's registration and info on the owner (who may not be the driver) pops up--including the CHL. Residence, date of birth, and for many states nowadays, the DL # is the SS #.

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Curious, what states use the SS for DL numbers? I have seen a lot of state licenses in my life and never seen one that even resembles a SS number, and I have lived in seven states and never had my SS as a DL number. So, just curious....

Colorado sheriffs used to have the option to list in a statewide database linked to drivers licenses (my sheriff never did) but now that database is gone in accordance with new laws.

In Arkansas, when LEO sees your vehicle plate and runs it, the fact that you have a permit appears. If he runs the DL, naturally the permit appears. But by then us Arkansawyers should have already let our LEO know we have a permit. It's the law here.

RETG, I don't know when Texas went the SS# route; mine was prior to that. I've griped to my state rep about the state aiding and abetting ID theft. No actual knowledge of other states; just an assumption about modern governmental snoopiness.

I wonder whether cops need to know whether someone is a "welfare" recipient.

SSN#'s and DLs

In VA your DL# was your SSN. Not sure if it still is but back a few renewals ago VA offered the option of using some other # and I took it. My DL# is starts with an alpha and contains 1 letter and 8 numbers.

Aren't all state DL's supposed to meet some Federal mandated reg? The reg makes its less easy to counterfeit and makes it easier to share info. This push started after 9/11. If you have a kid in college or are in college you know how easy it is to get a fake DL for bar hopping. You send your money to some company in the PRC and wait and a nice fake DL arrives by mail.
Something is seriously wrong here. The product is superior to the job the guy on the 4th floor of your dorm used to do 20 years ago and superior to the job that dude back in HS.

I was told by a Sgt for Texas DPS (CHL Division) that the combination of the data base between Texas DPS and Texas DOT does not exist in relation to CHL holders. That is why Texas DPS has no idea you are carrying, while approaching your car - DPS and DL departments are different in Texas. It is not until they get your Texas DL and can pull your info that way to tie to your Texas CHL. Stated that your DL plate info is pulled from Tex DOT which has no CHL information in that data base. I believe it is an issue with right to privacy and keeping the two departments seperate (that part is a guess).

In Texas there is no public CHL data base that non-leo have access to. There is no where to call and get info on if someone is a chl holder or not.

This was as of 06/2011

I haven't been pulled over in years. I'm a good boy behind the wheel.

However, if I'm involved in casual conversation with a LEO, I'll ask what sidearm he uses. They've never let me handle their guns, don't blame them for that, but they will clear leather and show it off a bit. Last one, a MI State Trooper carried a Sig in .40S&W. I was open carrying my Hi Point .45, he didn't bat an eye. We sat and talked guns for a few, then he went about his business.

In my neck of the woods, most cops are pretty cool about civilian gun ownership. Some even encourage it. Had another ST tell me I was smart to have guns for SD, since there wouldn't be much they could do in an emergency. Sorta confirmed what I've been thinking for years. Cops are a deterent when present, and a clean up crew when they are not.

But Michigan, CC licenses are attached to your DL, I believe. I don't have mine yet, but I have friends that do. They have told me that when carrying (and we are a must inform state) the cop knows if you have a CCW. A LGS owner wasn't carrying on a particular day, got pulled over, cop asked him if he was carrying before he even handed him his license. Although, it was a small town, cop may have known him personally.

It depends on the state.

In Virginia CHPs are court records and open to some inspection (SSNs do not have to be revealed).

The Virginia State Police get a cut of every CHP fee to maintain a data base of CHP holders.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308

The clerk shall charge a fee of $10 for the processing of an application or issuing of a permit, including his costs associated with the consultation with law-enforcement agencies. The local law-enforcement agency conducting the background investigation may charge a fee not to exceed $35 to cover the cost of conducting an investigation pursuant to this section. The $35 fee shall include any amount assessed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for providing criminal history record information, and the local law-enforcement agency shall forward the amount assessed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the State Police with the fingerprints taken from the applicant. The State Police may charge a fee not to exceed $5 to cover their costs associated with processing the application. The total amount assessed for processing an application for a permit shall not exceed $50, with such fees to be paid in one sum to the person who accepts the application. Payment may be made by any method accepted by that court for payment of other fees or penalties.

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The State Police shall enter the permittee's name and description in the Virginia Criminal Information Network so that the permit's existence and current status will be made known to law-enforcement personnel accessing the Network for investigative purposes. The State Police shall withhold from public disclosure permittee information submitted to the State Police for purposes of entry into the Virginia Criminal Information Network, except that such information shall not be withheld from any law-enforcement agency, officer, or authorized agent thereof acting in the performance of official law-enforcement duties, nor shall such information be withheld from an entity that has a valid contract with any local, state, or federal law-enforcement agency for the purpose of performing official duties of the law-enforcement agency.

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NC is linked. When the good LEO walks up to your window he/she KNOWS you have a CCW. NC is a notify state.

Florida is not linked and is NOT a notify state

AFS

doc.lonestar, Texas driver's licenses come from DPS. Texas CHL's come from DPS. License plate registration goes from DOT to DPS.

Nowadays, the Trooper enters the license plate into the computer and it shows ownership and (IIRC) a picture of the driver's license of the registered owner. And the CHL info.

Even our SO deputies down here in the middle of nowhere have computers in their pickups/SUVs.

Only a rent-a-car would be unknown as to the driver, but the LEO would know it's a rental.

Here in Georgia information is not linked. Permits are issued by the county, and only issuing county Police can look them up if they get into the right system. Get pulled over in another county, they have to call the issuing county court house during business hours. Nothing is connected, or linked to the state.

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I wonder if as much information on MYSELF as there is available to a LEO, is that amount / type of information available to me in identifying the LEO who has me stopped.

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10-4

Do LEOs carry a license for their side-arms; can I demand to see it?

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My firearms rights are no different than yours. In AZ, you don't need a license.

Are LEOs licensed to do their police duties; can I require that sort of I.D./proof?

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Yes (cops are certified), and yes all I know of carry a commission card.

What will be the actions following my request if I ask to see all/any of the above?? Just asking for some clarification of Citizens' rights. DAO

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I'd advise you to call the non-emergency number, request a copy of the desired documents, and pay the $12 document fee.

Additionally, no cop will tell you precisely what records we get, even from a license plate, but it is safe to assume that the officer already knows all the answers to the questions he asks. (ask yourself what records are attached to a license plate, and which records are attached to that, and which records are attached to those, etc. A few iterations of *copy/paste/search* and the officer has 20 pages of information to verify during a traffic stop interview.) If the driver verbally confirms the information, a LEO sometimes will presume he/she's generally honest. If the driver lies about known facts, some LEOs may assume there is more hidden.

Now ask yourself, do you think CCW information comes up on the search?

FWIW, I don't need a CCW, #1 because of HR-218, and #2 because AZ made CCW legal across the board... but I still have a valid CCW permit.

Ironically, the CCW permit makes buying a firearm very efficient... and actually carries more weight than a badge & LEO commission card. SO... it makes sense for me to keep mine active. I think I'm due for renewal this year.

Here in Georgia information is not linked. Permits are issued by the county, and only issuing county Police can look them up if they get into the right system. Get pulled over in another county, they have to call the issuing county court house during business hours. Nothing is connected, or linked to the state.

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I would expect that each county has an online database of the CCW holders. I would also expect that each officer has the web address & password.

Failing that, any cop could simply whip out his cell phone and call the dispatcher for the relevant county in your state, 24/7/365 and have that dispatcher tell him the CCW status... any second of any day of the year.

I could do that from my patrol car in Phoenix.

I tell the dispatcher in Georgia my name/SN and she calls my dispatcher and verifies my name/SN... and in about 5 minutes I've got the goods. She can email the records to me and I can view them instantly on my smart phone. Then I print the records out and attach them to my report as evidence.


This is 2011, not 1991.